Creating the Next Hawkeye Pierce

Creating the Next Hawkeye Pierce



Can't they draft Frank Burns instead?

"The Selective Service System is updating its contingency plans for a draft of doctors, nurses, and other health-care workers..."

(the whole article is on philly.com, requires a sign-up)

Not to make light of this, it's a story that deserves to be a lot bigger. But my brain is stuck on M*A*S*H tangents:

Remembering the entire dorm floor watching the last episode

Watching reruns late at night with my dad and having some very brief but very interesting conversations. I strongly identified with brilliant bad boy Hawkeye's pacifism and contempt for authority. Contrast that with the firm but wise and ultimately gentle father figure of Colonel Potter - give Sherman a coach's whistle instead of a stethescope and that's Dad.

The key cast change was the loss of Larry Linville. Charles Emerson Winchester - THE Third - was pompous and obnoxious... but when push came to shove he was as good a doctor as Hawkeye and he would always do the right thing. He'd be insufferable about it, sure, but in the end he was a Good Guy - and that ruined the dynamic the guys had with inept crypto-fascist Frank. Not that I blame Linville for quitting, Frank was a Johnny one-note character - but what did he ever do after that?

Sorry to tangent. The draft is going to be a front-burner issue in a matter of months and we need to be ready. For motivation I suggest watching the M*A*S*H episode where Henry Blake is killed...