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tuttle-did-it · 7 months ago

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M*A*S*H was constantly attacked because it was far left, pro-equal rights, pro-queer, anti-gun, anti-establishment, anti-US government and the gross futility of war. For 11 years, Hawkeye and everyone else railed against war, trauma, the incredible incompetence of governments who use people like tissue paper, the impossible and sadistic cruelty humans were capable of, and the senseless death of every war. Every week, they all got more and more trauma just trying to survive.

Mary Tyler Moore Show was the first mainstream American television show that explored the life of a single career woman. She struggled with relationships in a changing world, workplace sexism and the limitations society put against women. Mary smashed against the glass ceiling every week, and the spin-off Rhoda was the first mainstream American television show that explored the life of a divorced woman.

Frank Burns and All in the Family’s Archie Bunker were the the representations of the Republican American man— and he was the repressed, absurd, sadistic, sexist, bigoted, incompetent, hateful buffoon that was mocked, argued with and defeated every week.

These shows mattered. They changed lives, they changed hearts, and they tried, desperately, to change minds.

Trump is the incarnation of Archie Bunker — but sadly, unlike the actors Carroll O’Connor who played Archie, and Larry Linville (Frank Burns on M*A*S*H) two delightful, incredible humans, who played Frank Burns, Trump has no concept of how evil he really is.

Norman Lear, James L Brooks, Burt Metcalf and Larry Gelbart did more for television and audiences than Jerry Seinfeld ever did.

Every week, these shows tried to say something about something- racial rights, LGTBQIA+ women's rights, the futility of war, the importance of connecting with other people, the dangers of human cruelty-- they TRIED to say SOMETHING.

And Seinfeld? Seinfeld was, famously, about nothing. They said nothing. They did nothing. Which means it means NOTHING.

Oh, and by the way, Jerry— the M*A*S*H finale ‘Goodbye Farewell and Amen,’ had more than 106 million people watching in 1983— and there were a LOT of parties who got together with a big party (HUGE parties) so that’s a low estimate.

More people watched 'Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen' than the moon landing. It is still the most watched television episode of ALL TIME.

It was such a massive event that it caused a city-wide water pressure problem in New York City. Alan Alda wrote,

"the city's water supply was strained at every commercial break because so many hundreds of thousands of toilets were flushed at the same time."

An estimated million viewers in New York City alone used the toilet after the show ended, pouring 6.7 million gallons of water through the city’s sewers, United Press International reported at the time. “In speaking to engineers who’ve been around 30 or 40 years, they haven’t encountered anything like this before,” Peter Barrett, a spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Protection, told UPI.

Seinfeld only got 76.3 million viewers in 1998 compared to M*A*S*H's 106 million. And there were a lot more people in 1998 than there were in 1983, so percentage-wise, it's probably even more significant difference than it looks.

So maybe you didn't make nearly as big an impact as you thought, Jerry.

May 15, 1998: (huge thanks to @mimi-kkyutie for jumping the paywall for this article!)

Article from The Patagraph, Bloomington illinois reads above:

As "M*A*S*H" star Mike Farrell spoke at the Evening of Stars benefit in Bloomington-Normal, millions of viewers were glued to their television sets watching the final, much-hyped episode of "Seinfeld." Farrell was not taping it. While he was careful to insist he meant no offense to the cast or viewers, he said at a news conference earlier in the day that "M*A*S*H" had a far bigger impact on people's lives. "Popular shows come and go," he said. "'Seinfeld' is a show about nothing, as they describe it. I'm proud to be a show about something." For a show to really reach an audience and to make an impact, he explained, it had to have a powerful, lasting theme that resonates with viewers. "M*A*S*H did that," Farrell said. "And continues to do so in reruns. Seinfeld has not. And never will," Farrell said. "These shows come and go. They just try to attract people's attention for a certain period of time and you can do that by making a fool of yourself. For a little while. Then people get tired of you and appropriately so." M*A*S*H was effective on many different levels," Farrell noted, "including comedy and drama. And it carried a great message: the portrayal of people doing a job they didn't particularly like, but which had to be done. And despite difficult circumstances, they did it well, often with great humor and courage."

"That's a terrifically admirable characteristic and people across the country and across the world understand that," he said. Farrel added that there has been far too much hype surrounding the final episode of "Seinfeld," especially when one considers that much of it is self-generated But he understands why. "We have to remember we're talking about selling a product. The network is selling itself as a product. It's ending amid a flurry of publicity, and they're going to use it to wring every drop, every last rating point they can get out of it. That's the nature of the business." Farrell's speech at the Evening of Stars, which benefited the McLean County chapter of the American Red Cross, was held at the Radisson Hotel in Blooming-ton. However, his appearance there was closed to the media. But he said earlier that his message was going to be a simple one: that people matter, and that he was disturbed by the increasing lack of care and concern for those who suffer around the world. "When we make heroes out of people who stand for nothing, as opposed to people who stand for something, we are doing ourselves a disservice," he said.

Farrell currently serves as the co-chair of the Western Regional Branch of the Human Rights Watch in California. He also is the spokesman for CONCERN Ameri- 5 if If -r "MASH" star Mike Farrell, shown second from left in this photo from the taping of the show's final episode in January 1983, believes his show had more significance than "Seinfeld." ca, an international refugee aid penalty, Farrell also has debated and development organization. and spoken about the issue as a lifelong opponent of the death many occasions.

Seinfeld was the empty calories you eat because you want something in your mouth. It's what you put on to kill 22 minutes. But it means absolutely nothing.

I have every episode of M*A*S*H memorised. I have every episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show memorised. I have most of All in the Family memorised (but frankly, America having a president just like Archie Bunker makes it much too real, these days). Why? Because these shows were all so damned good, I thought about the episodes for days and had to rewatch them. And over 40 years later, I am still rewatching them.

I cannot recall a single episode of Seinfeld, save the clip-show of a finale in which it was reiterated what horrible people they all were. And even that is the most I can tell you about it. Because it means NOTHING. Frankly, I forget that Seinfeld ever existed until someone mentions it.

I would take the worst episodes of M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family over the best episode of Seinfeld any day because they were TRYING to say SOMETHING. Even the few episodes that didn't quite land or work-- they were TRYING.

"When we make heroes out of people who stand for nothing, as opposed to people who stand for something, we are doing ourselves a disservice." -- Mike Farrell

“In a new interview with the New Yorker ahead of his 70th birthday on Monday, the comedian explained his theory about why there’s no “funny stuff” to watch on TV anymore. “Nothing really affects comedy,” he said, “People always need it. They need it so badly and they don’t get it.” Instead of getting sitcoms like M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and All in the Family, audiences miss out, he said, as a “result of the extreme left and P.C. crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.” […] A look back at some of his earlier comments on a similar subject adds some context, if not clarity. In 2015, Seinfeld sat down for an episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd podcast, where he explained his aversion to performing stand-up on college campuses. “I don’t play colleges, but I hear a lot of people tell me, ‘Don’t go near colleges. They’re so PC,’” he said on the show. After giving an example of his teenage daughter using the word “sexist,” he concluded that young people “just want to use these words: ‘That’s racist’; ‘That’s sexist’; ‘That’s prejudice.’ They don’t know what they’re talking about.””

—

Jerry Seinfeld Draws Right-Wing Praise for Comments on ‘Extreme Left’

This is such a bummer. Tell me you’re a privileged, entitled, myopic Boomer without telling me you’re a privileged, entitled, myopic Boomer.

It’s interesting to me that he says these legendary sit-coms, none of which were cruel, punching down, or hurtful, but were actually satirizing power, celebrating women, changing societal norms through representation, and using comedy to do it all, wouldn’t exist if “the extreme left” had anything to do with it.

Umm. Who does he think created these shows? And is he really that ignorant? Has this guy never read a single interview with Norman Lear? Or literally anyone in the cast of Mary Tyler Moore? I mean. Come on, man!

Teenagers and college students don’t know what they’re talking about when they tell a privileged, entitled, multimillionaire Boomer that his “jokes” can be hurtful, and maybe he could use his tremendous talent to do comedy that is just as funny without being hurtful. Okay. Got it. Keep saying that, and see how far it gets you, buddy.

Hey, Jerry Seinfeld: when blue checks on Twitter are celebrating you being a dick, it’s not because you’re so funny and such a brilliant comic; it’s because they love how you’re validating what garbage they are. You can’t see that, or don’t care, and that’s such a huge bummer.

#mike farrell #mash #mary tyler moore show #archie bunker #trump is archie bunker #all in the family #alan alda #jerry seinfeld is an absolute prick #jerry seinfeld #seinfeld had 76.3 million viewers. mash had 106 million viewers #mash is still the highest rated tv episode of all time #Norman Lear #James L Brooks #Burt Metcalf #Larry Gelbart #frank burns was the white republican american man #archie bunker was the white republican american man #archie bunker was president #fuck trump #fuck seinfeld #groundbreaking shows #I met Jerry Seinfeld several times #and every time he was one of the biggest arseholes I've ever met #M*A*S*H #MASH 4077th #MASH #Mary Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family mean something #seinfeld is stale popcorn that you don't even care if you eat or not #When we make heroes out of people who stand for nothing #as opposed to people who stand for something

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