Alan Alda: Talks M*A*S*H and Life Achievements | Actor-to-Actor Interview

[@redcurrant2023]

I am almost 80 and spend 1 hour every evening here in the U.K. enjoying MASH. Hawkeye, BJ, Colonel ‘Sherm’. Radar, my absolute favourites. Love this show!! I have been enjoying it for a long time in my life.

[@davidadams2395]

In my home, in East Tennessee, we still enjoy the film and series.

[@seamustate]

As a 27 year old in California, I love this show. It's timeless and expresses such joy but also existential sobriety. It's a lovely show that holds up!

[@brianarbenz1329]

Alan Alda has been a blessing and a national treasure. International, in fact. He has inspired me in so many ways I am not even aware of all of them. Thank you, Alan.

[@youverndit1324]

Mr. Alda, my dad and I used to love watching MASH reruns together that played every weeknight at 5pm in the early 90's. He died a couple years ago. Last month, I binge-watched every episode of MASH (Season(s) 1-11) and it brought back a lot of great memories of my dad. That show was a rare vehicle for him and I to share laughter, tears and stories (he was a vietnam veteran) that otherwise would not have occurred. Speaking for my father and I, it made our lives richer and strengthened our father/son bond. I don't know if you will ever see this comment, but I feel compelled to say thank you and thank everyone that was instrumental in creating that show.

[@peterpage1562]

I don't know if you will read this but i too would sit with my dad every Sunday night and watch mash together. Dad is still alive and i am now 52 and although dad was not a Vet considering how much he hates TV Mash was always a show he would make the exception for. Every time i watch mash now or even just hear the theme song it puts me back on the floor in the lounge room of Dads in front of the telly eating me Kentucky Fried Chicken dinner watching the show. I never thought i would ever be able to accept Mr Alda in any other role but then along came the West Wing and what a performance! The debate was just absolute genius Thankyou Mr Alda from Perth WA

[@kencole9669]

Aaa scan CD a sa. A🙏🏻

[@Willysmb44]

Great interview. I just read that only a handful of cast members from the show are still around. So sad

[@mfrmll3786]

I doubt there are a handful of shows I missed..........and LOVED it SO MUCH ............ THANK YOU Mr. Alda...and the ENTIRE fabulous cast.

[@caroljeanscott5571]

My father, was in the Canadian navy and seved in Korea. Some of the stories that he told were the same plots that I saw on M*A*S*H. While there were people who felt that Frank Burns was over the top, my father had to deal with officers who were exactly like that. Well the people under these officers reacted the same way as Hackeye and Trapper John did in the show. I still watch M*A*S*H every night on the CD's. Never get tired of the show.

[@cc1k435]

Whoever thinks Frank Burns is over the top doesn't follow politics. 🙄

[@gemcat7750]

My most favorite actor! I have been fortunate enough to see him perform in the play, Art and years later he was a guest speaker at my town’s library. Fascinating man. I love who his eyes and hands tell a story. God bless him. He is lucky to have his beautiful wife, Arlene at his side.

[@kimiisungstartedthekoreanw2771]

See my channel!

[@gailreese4102]

Enjoyed this, so much! Thank you Gabrielle & Alan!

[@victoriajenkins1424]

I rewatch M*A*S*H every year, it’s just about the best. I cry and laugh every time. 💜

[@brucewayneissupermanquinn601]

One of the most talented “television actors” of all time!

[@kurtbogle2973]

When the last show ended, I felt like my best friend died.

[@jennjeffs4893]

M*A*S*H is very important to me!! It Helped me through some VERY difficult times. I have every episode recorded on my DVR & I own the entire DVD/BLU-RAY collection. I can't sleep without M*A*S*H on. When I go to bed at midnight, I put M*A*S*H on, and it plays untill 10am...

[@cc1k435]

😆 I'm not sure that part about sleeping through it comes across as sounding too flattering, 😆 but I know about it being so familiar as to be a comfort. It's my favorite show of all time, no question. 🥰

[@marisalombardi385]

Alan you are the one and only...

[@needmoreramsay]

My dad has always looked A LOT like Mr Alda. Very similar face, physique, demeanor and even sense of humor. The most in their 30's and 40's. They could easily be mistaken as brothers to this very day. I've always loved MASH but there is this extra special fondness that I have for him over any other character or person from the show.

[@victoriacamarillo6981]

I love you, Alan Alda! Have not tired watching MASH reruns.

[@larryulery3729]

I love Mash. The hardest one to watch is Colonel Blake's departure. I like the dream episode. What a great show

[@russnuman]

Lucky enough to see AA in Old Town in the London west end, brilliant actor and in the best TV show ever as Arnie Vinick in the West Wing. Legend.

[@krisone5253]

Me & my Mamaw loved watching MASH late nights in reruns. I can't believe that Alan Alda is Still Here . He looks like he's in his 20'S😉✝️

[@drawfark]

Alan is a Gem.

[@jackdavidson4433]

Well earned Alan Alda your proud understudy and friend 💞

[@jc6594]

Happy 85th Birthday Alan Alda

[@donalddodds8335]

Andrea Zuckerman meets Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce ... Gabrielle Carteris is 61 which means in 1990 she was a 29 year old actress portraying a high school student on 90210

[@emstorm1725]

This is a fantastic interview from 2 people whose shows I admire. Thank you.

[@Bohica6669]

I've always thought the West Wing episode where they do the debate was amazing! I always give actors a ton of credit for doing things like that live. Both guys were incredible in that episode.

[@davidadams2395]

M*A*S*H featured heavily in home for the ten yrs of its run. The final episode was an event that saw us all gathering round the TV to say farewell to that motley bunch whom we came to view as friends.

[@markgowans]

Loved M*A*S*H since i first saw it as a kid in the late 70's. I've been watching the dvds over the last couple of days. Currently on season 5. On a more serious note I noticed Alan's hands shaking a bit. I guess thats because of his Parkinsons which is a shame.

[@ijustlike0010]

Wait why does an interview with Alan Alda only have this many views?

[@imgonnastopyourightthere5924]

Idk

[@imgonnastopyourightthere5924]

I'm here I need answers to my life

[@ijustlike0010]

@@imgonnastopyourightthere5924 just get stoned and watch MASH and forget about life dawg

[@anthonyscully2998]

young people might not know who it is

[@ijustlike0010]

@@anthonyscully2998 facts

[@jeffreysahaida1111]

Don't forget the MASH theme song is " Suicide is Painless"

[@curlyq690]

Bless his heart. Parkinson’s disease is horrible. God bless you Alan. We love you ♥️. I don’t think she should use her hands so much as an interviewer. VERY distracting.

[@aliceinchains9357]

Cool interview! What a guy👍👍

[@BiffJackson-o4i]

Thanks for ruining Mash after Mclean Stevenson left. The bleeding heart, preachy and maudlin scripts you wrote killed the hilarity associated with the first three years of the show.

[@JeffRyan_88keys]

Gabrielle Carteris is so annoyong talking with her hand. God that's obnoxious and distracting as hell!!!! Terrible. She is the interviewer! She's not supposed to talk with her hands. So terrible! I can't believe the producer allowed it and didn't stop her. So distracting and unwatchable. I watched 3 minutes worth and turned it off!!!!!!!!!!

[@frankfeather8548]

That and constantly cutting him off and interjecting when he's answering a question...most annoying.

[@JeffRyan_88keys]

@@frankfeather8548 yup!!!!!

[@nicholasjanke3476]

I liked Mash though I thought that the character of Hawkeye Pierce was often rather unsympathetic. A mean, arrogant kind of guy.

[@SupermanForever1979]

Mean? Retarded comment. You obviously never watched the show.

[@lee-lee2418]

I had to mute the interviewer. She talks too much. It's about him, not her. 😣

[@TherealPolar-B]

It's from actor to actor it's about both

[@Aethelia]

Perhaps you do not understand how a conversation works.

[@james3282]

She had to mention the "Me too " movement, that was a joke movement and fell apart when democrats were accused.

[@Aethelia]

Never ended. Men who assault women must be held accountable.

[@chrishadorn7966]

I know this won't go over in a Lib world but, I'm not a big fan of Mr. Alda. I'm very sorry about his illness. In his earlier work, especially, it was full of his sanctimonious beliefs....in my opinion, he ruined the last 8 years of MASH when he introduced us to his ideology. The real intent to entertain us was lost in an effort to let us know what we couldn't figure out on our own about the Korean War and war in general. Thank you, Hawkeye, for keeping it real. We were too dumb to know how stupid and wasteful war really is. That's the problem with Hollywood. It's full of uneducated types that pretend to know more about the human condition than those that live a real-life every day. Boy, I feel better now.... Four Seasons was a pretty good movie, however.

[@omikronweapon]

I'll try to bridge a possible gap by stating that I wasn't the biggest fan of the later focus of Hawkeye/Alda. The show even went so far to have an entire episode simply be Hawkeye wandering about with a concussion and doing a monologue. I assumed Alan really enjoyed his stardom and center stage and was pretty much the same egocentrical person as Hawkeye often is. It's only through interviews like these, and learning about Alda's efforts in improving science communication, that I realised how much deeper of a personality he is. I've read many comments on MASH that echo this view. There seem to be two camps. The first camp loved the early seasons for being entertaining and fun, and hate the later seasons for being too political, and the second camp prefers the later seasons and criticising the earlier ones for being too frivolous. Personally, I don't have a particular preference. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the comedic flat stereotypes of Trapper and Hawkeye vs Frank and Houlihan. Usually I prefer the later seasons with a little bit more high-brow humor, as opposed to slapstick-ish. Although I ALWAYS watch the show with the canned laughter OFF. That probably says a lot about what I think of the balance of humor vs seriousness on the show as well. I find it interesting that you condemn Alda, while commend Hawkeye for keeping it real. If, as you imply, Alda's ideology took over Hawkeye, isn't that a non-distinction? At the same time you criticise the audience as being too dumb to understand, but seem to advocate catering to that stupidity rather than trying to educate them with shows that aren't JUST for entertainment. In the end, many shows evolve, to find their own style. While people can fall out of love because of that, I don't think it's right to suggest that a show has been ruined by changes. Ideally, the people involved steer a show more and more towards what they really wanted to make. I'm not sure if you're familiar with Star Trek, but The Next Generation had a similar build up, where the first few seasons were seen by most fans as too goofy, and needing to mature. If anything, I believe the later seasons of succesful shows are MORE true to the vision of the creators. In the case of MASH, certainly the larger part of the audience agreed, because it keep being succesful. The crew must have agreed as well, otherwise they would have left en masse. One of two exceptions did exist of course. Most notably Wayne Rogers, who agreed with you, that Alda became too much center stage for what Rogers preferred the show to be. Though I don't think he left so much on account of disliking the ideology, but disliked the focus of the show being Hawkeye, rather than the ensemble cast.

[@katherynemero4118]

Hmm.... let's see. Alan Alda DID go to college, so he's not uneducated. Jamie Farr (Klinger) wore his REAL dogtags during the filming because he actually was a soldier during the Korean War. I could continue on with the fact that they truly made a serious effort to portray the life of a soldier accurately. This is a perspective that most American citizens don't have. There is value in that. When you talk about uneducated, you mean yourself.

[@NeilTruick]

I was just turning nine years old when "M*A*S*H" debuted and I've been a fan of the show and the cast ever since. In my junior year of high school, I played Hawkeye in our school production of "M*A*S*H". I didn't pursue the theatre after graduation, but I've been an avid supporter of the arts ever since. I've heard the constant criticism about the show becoming too much Alan Alda and about the downturn of the show due to his ego. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. This opinion is one I do not share, and here's why. I remember watching an interview he did with Barbara Walters, which, in and of itself, was a rare interview, because he didn't like doing them. The reason he cited was because he recognizes the interview serves a purpose, but you never get to know the actual person. There is the person you see when they're playing their character, and the person you see in the interview, but those people are not the person. You only get to know the person if you actually know the person in real life and not via some sort of transmission. I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of actors (some well-known, most not) in person. In a few cases, I've been pleasantly surprised or wholly disappointed. In most cases, the experience was mentionable, but not that memorable. Alan Alda was the face of "M*A*S*H", but he wasn't "M*A*S*H". There were a lot of people who contributed to that project over its 11-year run. Some we saw, most we didn't see. Decisions were made, directions were chosen, and, more often than not, the show made money as a result of those decisions. I guess what I'm saying is I liked the show because I like the show, the characters, the writing, the laughs...all of it. Larry Linville studied aeronautical engineering--a rather significant contrast to his role as the mediocre doctor he played. Jamie Farr didn't make a habit of wearing dresses in his personal life (so he says). The studio heads, producers, and the people writing the checks dictated (as they always do) what is in-bounds and what is out-of-bounds. Your suggestion that "he ruined the last 8 years" of "M*A*S*H" is an interesting one, given very few series even last eight years. But, as I said earlier, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[@Aethelia]

What do you hate most about "his ideology"? The idea that people of different races are equal? That women deserve rights? Supporting working people?