re: When did M*A*S*H jump the shark for you?

It only maybe did in hindsight.

Enjoyed most every episode as a kid.

But when Alan Alda got control, the show shifted.

Reruns were more enjoyable during the Trapper and Frank years...if you want to call that jumping the shark.

The show often totally sucked in later years.

"Dreams" & the one where Hawkeye reads the nurse's eulogy (& tells everyone how much he loves them) can battle it out for rock bottom.

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When did M*A*S*H jump the shark for you?

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when they got rid of frank that was the end for me

klinger to radar swap worked but charles swapped for frank just never worked for me

After the movie.

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MASH never had any thing as ridiculous as Fonzie Jumping a Shark Tank or Indy surviving a nuclear blast in a fridge as a movie example. Long running shows have character turnovers and storylines evolve but MASH never "Jumped the Shark" as I accept the term. They show had a wonderful run and ran it's course.

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Fair enough. You’re correct that there wasn’t ever a true jumping of the shark

I liked Mash until the end. Yes some episodes were preachy but I still liked it. I liked Winchester better than Frank who was nothing more than a punching bag. Frank occasionally got some good licks in against Hawkeye and Frank although a snob sometimes showed a different side. He wasn't as one dimensional as Frank. Sure we NEVER wanted to hear about freaking Peg from BJ. He was not as fun as Trapper. Margaret and Donald sucked. I liked Potter. Once again, even though I like Blake he was the stereotypical bumbling boss. Maybe as an adult, my opinion would change if I watched them again, but growing up with Mash, I liked them all.

After Mash.... yikes.

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eliminating Spearchucker

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I seem to recall reading that Spearchucker was removed since there were no black surgeons in Korea. Not sure if that's true or not. I believe I may have read that on the internet, so it's probably true.

I'm not a fan of BJ's character, but the best scene in the series for me is when BJ arrives at camp, steps out of the jeep hammered to the beejezus and gives Frank the "What say, Ferret Face?". Hawkeye loses it right there, and it might have been a genuine reaction.

BJ Arrives at the 4077th

Trapper>BJ
Frank Burn>Charles
Blake>Potter

4 good seasons.

With Frank Burns- awesome

Without Frank Burns- sucks

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I never understood why they let the show become Alda's personal vanity project. When the show started, he wasn't a big star, certainly not a household name. He wasn't more of a draw than Rogers. Yet, the writers and producers favored Alda with jokes and screen time to the point Rogers got fed up and left. Why?

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Because he gave a better, funnier performance from the start, and was the break-out actor. Same reason they attempted to do the same with Fonzie until Winkler put a stop to it for the benefit of his costars.