Catching back up with this gem of a series, the cast truly is terrific and the writing frequently sharp. Seems amazing in view of the revisionism the US has gone through since 1980 that such strong anti-war dialogue could make it on to mainstream TV.
I could nitpick some aspects of race and gender that have not dated well but even in these regards, the show was more progressive than any others I can recall.
Will be a joy to get through as many episodes as I can, although the overall count of 251 might just be too many, stretching the ideas thinly. You can see there was a lot of attrition in the fact that only Alda and Swit appeared in every show, although Farr and Christopher also appear in both the first and last series. Some actors felt their characters were being marginalized in favour of Hawkeye. It seems rather scandalous that Swit was not allowed to take the Cagney and Lacey job, although it would have left the writers without a character who carried many of the plots, being sole strong female.
I could nitpick some aspects of race and gender that have not dated well but even in these regards, the show was more progressive than any others I can recall.
Will be a joy to get through as many episodes as I can, although the overall count of 251 might just be too many, stretching the ideas thinly. You can see there was a lot of attrition in the fact that only Alda and Swit appeared in every show, although Farr and Christopher also appear in both the first and last series. Some actors felt their characters were being marginalized in favour of Hawkeye. It seems rather scandalous that Swit was not allowed to take the Cagney and Lacey job, although it would have left the writers without a character who carried many of the plots, being sole strong female.
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