Could a M*A*S*H television show remake be successful?
 

Maybe taking place in Iraq or Afghanistan?

Keep in mind the M*A*S*H TV Show was based on the movie of the same name, so they would have to remake the movie before they decide to do another TV series of it.

Yeah I'm aware of the movie. But would they really need to do a movie? I never liked the movie as well as the TV series.

M*A*S*H was one of my dad's all-time favorite shows and I've caught some glimpses of it.

I'd have to marathon the series, but I feel it's a product of its time. It'd be difficult to fully replicate, especially with foreigns affairs. If written well, it could work. Otherwise, it's best it remains in its time period.

It could totally work. It's actually an instance where a remake would be tolerated because the premise is so unique that if an entirely new show with the same or similar premise people would just dismiss it because "it's just like MASH!".

Seems like the police procedural is more popular than ever with shows like True Detective and CSI. But I can't think of any Military shows other than MASH. Also several medical shows nowadays.

I love the show, not sure if I'm interested to see a remake of it, be it a period piece or modern update (Scrubs in Iraq?).

I don't really see why they'd need to remake the movie before a new show. The movie was not the original source material, it was an adaptation of the book MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors.

A remake movie would probably end up as a 22 Jump Street imitator or like the new Baywatch movie or Hangover-esque.

Do they still deploy MASH units?

Anything can be successful with some luck and if done well.

I agree with Cure. If it's done right, it'd work.

i do wonder where to set it. M*A*S*H was "about" Vietnam, but set in Korea. Would New M*A*S*H be set during Elder Bush's War in Iraq but be about the current War on Terror?

I doubt any modern cast would be able to successfully balance the pain and levity of the original show.

I watch M*A*S*H re-runs just about every week. Don't care anything about the movie it's based on. Interested to maybe read the book one day.

Haha, that's well said. It's hard for my brain to keep it straight while watching sometimes. 1970s television did a lot of interpretations of 1950s life. I'm thinking a show made today in the same vein would probably focus on the Persian Gulf War (which would be a very compressed timeframe) or maybe the early days of the second Iraq War.

Scrubs in Iraq sounds good enough to me.

Quick Wiki search completed. So the TV show would be updated and use a Combat Support Hospital CSH. Or a mobile support hospital MSH. I am no expert obviously. The last MASH unit was deactivated in 2006. CSH does not sound as good as MASH however.

No they do not

I've wanted a mash remake for a while but sadly most of the actors I had picked have aged out of the roles.

So....M*S*H or C*S*H (pronounce Cash, according to Wikipedia)?

Would you just do like MacGyver and make the same character names in a different time frame or all new characters...or Son of Hawkeye!?

I suppose. :lol:

It would be great if someone currently in the military clarified this. Can't always trust Wiki.

I was just imagining the same basic character names and show concept. Maybe some new characters.

Sounds like a cluster ****. A show about army medics could work, but linking it to MASH doesn't seem like it makes sense or is worth doing.

I will take that as a 'you don't think the remake could work.'

It could basically just be similar in tone and character names. Some inspiration from the previous show and thats about it. Donezo.

But I am not interesting in writing it, just hearing if folks thought a remake would be successful. :lol:

There was a show like this in 2011 actually. Combat Hospital; I started watching it because Elias Koteas and Ellen Wong were in it but it turned out to be pretty good. It wasn't a comedy-drama like M*A*S*H though, just all drama... and shamefully it only lasted a season.

I guess anything could work if it was done well - I was referring more to transplanting it to a modern war setting. The original was set in Korea but made in the 70s and 80s, so there's no reason that you couldn't do the same in 2017. They could even film it in that same park in California.

A show about the never ending strife in the Middle East set in Vietnam?
Get a good development team and I think that would be a way to print money.

Any favorite episode or character? I always thought Radar was a cool character.

That one slipped right by me. I'll have to try and track it down on Netflix. Thanks dude.

Back when I first moved out on my own I used to watch MASH reruns every night before bed. It was like a nightly ritual for me. I think I went through the entire series at least twice. My favorite episode was the one where a young soldier arrived at the unit and died. The episode followed his "ghost" around as he watched the unit at work and saw all their various problems and perspectives and he slowly realized what had happened to him. It was very powerful, as a view of the suffering and waste of war. There were plenty of other good ones too. I think a show like that could still work very well today. It would remind people of how war touches us all.

Problem is, MASH is still on TV all the time, so it wouldn't be like bringing an old idea back to life - the old show still seems to have legs.

MASH was such a big deal when it was on too, and it was a big deal when it ended. It's not like Hawaii Five 0 or MacGyver. Not to take anything away from those shows, but they were big for a while, then they petered out. Making a new MASH would be like remaking Friends or the Sopranos. It would be a hard sell.