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Big Daddy O'Reilly

Posted:
6/13/2019 3:43:37 AM

The Birth of Sidney Freedman

This is another thread that's the result of overthinking things too much. . . .

In the 30th anniversary reunion special, the cast and crew get to discussing Allan Arbus's first appearance on the show as Sidney Freedman, noting that it was the episode "Radar's Report." Larry Gelbart, however, insists it was the poker episode "Deal Me Out."

Interestingly, despite Sidney first appearing in "Radar's Report" (as Milton Freedman instead of Sidney Freedman), when he appears again in "Deal Me Out," Radar welcomes him to the 4077th as if it's his first time in camp.

It's also worth noting that "Deal Me Out" was written by Larry, while "Radar's Report" by Sheldon Keller and Laurence Marks . . . so maybe that has something to do with the difference in Larry's memory.

phantomeagle

Posted:
6/13/2019 7:25:12 PM

sounds like a good thought
Big Daddy O'Reilly wrote:
This is another thread that's the result of overthinking things too much. . . .

In the 30th anniversary reunion special, the cast and crew get to discussing Allan Arbus's first appearance on the show as Sidney Freedman, noting that it was the episode "Radar's Report." Larry Gelbart, however, insists it was the poker episode "Deal Me Out."

Interestingly, despite Sidney first appearing in "Radar's Report" (as Milton Freedman instead of Sidney Freedman), when he appears again in "Deal Me Out," Radar welcomes him to the 4077th as if it's his first time in camp.

It's also worth noting that "Deal Me Out" was written by Larry, while "Radar's Report" by Sheldon Keller and Laurence Marks . . . so maybe that has something to do with the difference in Larry's memory.

Considering that the show was written long before the internet, where keeping track of stuff like that was much much harder.

It's not surprising that a writer would forget one character given the sheer number of people that were on the show, the main cast, and countless wounded.

FinestKindinTN

Email: ryvan@aol.com

Posted:
7/7/2019 11:06:17 AM

Continuity not important

MASH is probably the only show I've really gotten into the minutia of character and storyline inconsistencies. Doesn't seem like continuity was that important to them. In the first season or two, they were probably more worried about getting another season, so Hawkeye's sister and mother disappeared in later seasons, as did any mention of Margaret's sister. By putting Potter's arrival in the latter half of 1952 (September, maybe?), to maintain continuity, they would have to cram the remaining seasons into the last 9-10 months of the war. Charles and BJ managed to keep the same family, but Potter's children and grandchildren changed. My guess is that they never anticipated the length of the show's run and struggled to keep stories coming while maintaining continuity.

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