Retcon M*A*S*H.

[Mr. Scott]

Howdy!

If they decided to make a movie or a new TV series, based on the Alan Alda series of the 1970's, who would you choose to play the roles? (I have asked this on other boards)

All of the characters would appear together unlike in the old series:

Who would play who, with my suggestions, if no suggestion, don't know, that is the fun of a forum.

Colonel Potter (Dann Florek)
Lt. Colonel Blake
Hawkeye Pierce (Jake Geyllenhall)
John McIntyre (Owen Wilson)
B.J. Honeycutt (Luke Wilson)
Radar
Klinger (my personal favorite) (Zack Braff)
Frank Burns (Greg Kinnear)
Charles Winchester (David Hyde Pierce)
Hotlips (Scarlett Johansonn)
Colonel Flagg (Jeff Bridges)
Nurse Kelly
Nurse Baker

Any suggestions? I bet 99% of Trekkers liked MASH.

 

[Kirby]

I would prefer that they don't retcon M*A*S*H, but for the sake of the game, here is what immediately comes to mind:

Henry Blake - Will Farrell
Frank Burns - David Hewlett
Charles Winchester - Kelsey Grammar
Radar - Gary Jones (Walter from Stargate SG-1)
Klinger - Nice choice with Zach Braff!

 

[ria 75]

The original movie is so good, why make a new one? And historically, it's too late. It would have to be set in Irak, and it wouldn't be M*A*S*H.

We can always make new humour, but that's less easily recycled.
You wouldn't reboot the Monty Python, would you?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Hawkeye: Robert Downey Jr.
BJ: James Callis

The rest don't matter, because they would all be killed in a horrific attack by the enemy (any enemy will do) right at the start of the movie. There would be explosions galore, screaming galore, death galore, gore galore and other general galoreness. Hawkeye and BJ would man up, abandoning their hippie anti-war principals, and go on a two-man, four-fisted crusade of brutal revenge. It would be kewl, dark, edgy, kickass and finely tuned to appeal to the contemporary audience.

In any case, I'm going to send this over to TV & Media for further discussion. Stand back for the Magic Mod Hand Jive. Wheee-oooo.

 

[Broccoli]

Wouldn't that be "Remake" M*A*S*H, not "retcon"?

 

[Aragorn]

Hawkeye: Robert Downey Jr.
BJ: James Callis

The rest don't matter, because they would all be killed in a horrific attack by the enemy (any enemy will do) right at the start of the movie. There would be explosions galore, screaming galore, death galore, gore galore and other general galoreness. Hawkeye and BJ would man up, abandoning their hippie anti-war principals, and go on a two-man, four-fisted crusade of brutal revenge. It would be kewl, dark, edgy, kickass and finely tuned to appeal to the contemporary audience.

Bruce Willis
George Clooney
in a Tony Scott film
M*A*S*H
written by Quentin Tarantino

"It's payback time for the 4077!"

 

[Finngle Bells]

Nobodywill buy greg kinnear as a fink the way Larry Linville carried his character.

 

[Marc]

Nobodywill buy greg kinnear as a fink the way Larry Linville carried his character.

Though it take it's toll - I gather in real life Larry Linville was pretty much the opposite of Frank Burns.

 

[Phoenicianknight]

I saw an interview with Linville years ago.He stated that the role of Frank Burns pretty much killed his career in front of the camera. And, he knew it while it was happening, but did the role anyway.

 

[TGTheodore]

Couldn't have Potter AND Blake at the 4077th.

I don't want to even THINK about recasting.

--Ted

 

[Harvey]

If they were to do M*A*S*H again, why not lose the pretense of the Korean War and set the series in Vietnam? Or, if you want to retool it even further, set in the present in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Couldn't really comment on re-casting. Not knowledgeable enough about the show.

 

[Gojirob]

M*A*S*H was a unique moment in history, a TV show about the 50's made in the 70's, at a time when the nation was radically rethinking the price and effectiveness of war, and TV was just loosening up. It left the movie and novels far behind, in some cases very much to the good, and produced a one-time event that evolved and changed constantly. Remaking it would not work, at least IMHO. In Iraq, considering how many on the edge soldiers were told, sometimes by their staff psychiatrists, not to be 'shirkers', one wonders if an army no longer using the draft has the diversity of opinion to tolerate anything like the 4077th for five seconds.

You'd also have a 'Mad Men' thing going on, regarding the treatment of women. Update that, and you're 'preachy'. Keep it, and you are bound to offend a lot of people, not just feminists. Also, like its contemporary anachronistic shows, Little House and Happy Days, the characters were a lot more tolerant and enlightened than people of their time usually averaged. So do you keep with that, making our medics likable but ahistorical, or do you revise it, making them creeps you want to see punched out?

As a huge fan to the point of a fic-universe and several humor pieces, I vote no on any remake.

 

[Christopher]

Couldn't have Potter AND Blake at the 4077th.

Well, if it were a more realistic portrayal of a MASH unit, it would have a larger staff of commissioned officers (typically ten, whereas the show had about five at any time), so maybe you could've had a colonel as CO and a lieutenant colonel as his executive officer. Of course, having Potter in command with Blake as his underling would've been a profoundly different dynamic. So in that sense, you're probably right.

If they were to do M*A*S*H again, why not lose the pretense of the Korean War and set the series in Vietnam? Or, if you want to retool it even further, set in the present in Iraq or Afghanistan.

It couldn't be set in the present, since the last MASH unit was shut down in early 2006.

As for doing M*A*S*H in Vietnam, didn't China Beach kind of cover that territory already?

 

[Harvey]

It couldn't be set in the present, since the last MASH unit was shut down in early 2006.

As for doing M*A*S*H in Vietnam, didn't China Beach kind of cover that territory already?

Ah, I didn't know that about the state of the MASH Unit, although these units seem to be pretty similar, but with a new name.

I can't comment on China Beach, which (like M*A*S*H) was before my time. A quick sojourn to Wikipedia states that it was a dramatic show, unlike M*A*S*H, although I understand that M*A*S*H shifted in tone over time.

 

[Aragorn]

A new MASH would have Blake turning out to be a traitor and Potter having to bring him down.

 

[TGTheodore]

A new MASH would have Blake turning out to be a traitor and Potter having to bring him down.

And, of course, be "darker and grittier".

--Ted

 

[The]

Hawkeye Pierce (Robert Downey Jr)

Trapper John (Vince Vaughn)

Frank Burns (Will Arnett)

Margaret "Hotlips" Houlihan (Tricia Helfer)

Colonel Henry Blake (Bill Murray)

Radar O'Reilley (Michael Cera)

Maxwell Klinger (Eddie Izzard)

Father Mulcahy (Owen Wilson)

Dr. Sydney Freidman (Morgan Freeman)

Col. Flagg (Patrick Warburton)

Cameos by:

General Reynolds (Alan Alda)

General Gelbart (Wayne Rogers)
​

 

[RJDiogenes]

A new MASH would have Blake turning out to be a traitor and Potter having to bring him down.

And, of course, be "darker and grittier".

You must have missed my earlier Post. I've already sent my proposal off to Hollywood. I expect to be rich soon.

 

[Broccoli]

Your cast list in interesting, The, but I don't think Michael Cera can play anything other than George Michael Bluth.

 

[The]

And thus why he's perfect for Radar. I cast everyone with the idea that the types of humor (save some of the Groucho Marx wit, and the over-talk Henry and Radar do) would be updated for the 21st century. I think Cera and Murray would kill as the Henry/Radar duo....