Originally I was going to title this review as "Beating a Dead Horse", but thought that was way too cruel.
If you've read my review on M.A.S.H. itself, you'll know that I got tired of the series after the first couple of seasons. And that's key, because I think most shows actually lose their "freshness" after all of the unique themes are used up, and that's usually within the first season or two. After that the show becomes like a worn piece of furniture; comfortable, familiar, but not all that attractive, yet accepted.
After MASH was a fine looking production from what I remember, but it seemed like the cast had created a familial unit from which they could not escape, and unless they were a marquis player like Harry Morgan, the on screen talent's career would not be TV nor feature film oriented.
When I saw it I felt this tired feeling come over me, like I did when I saw a lot of TV. But After MASH in particular because as I stated in my MASH review, the actual Korean war only lasted a few years, and yet the show just went on forever, ignoring a lot of history of the actual conflict itself, and then taking this very "high and mighty" attitude about how ridiculous the war was, forgetting the fact that it was the Soviets trying to establish a communist Korea in direct opposition to the Korea we had liberated from the Japanese.
But none of that history is mentioned in either TV series. It's just more introspection on the human self, and how violence from doctors is bad, and how army doctors would never take a life. Fortunately real US Army doctors and medics have a much different attitude and training regime; i.e. they shoot and kill the enemy when needed. But you'd never get that from watching either series.
What was good about this show were the production values. Excellent sets, costumes and even some exteriors. You really got a sense of post Korea America in the 1950s transitioning into the early 1960s. But the implausibility of the characters remaining together after being discharged and standing down, was, even from a Hollywood standpoint, just way too implausible for me to swallow.
An interesting effort, but to me it's just another reminder of why I really disliked most of the TV offerings coming from Los Angeles, and a reminder that what the nation needed at the time, and thankfully has now, are actual documentaries about various military engagements, including the Korean War, that the US has been involved with.
Again, not a series I would recommend, but it actually is a handsome looking production.
Give it a shot and see what you think.
