MASH

TV

Buzz In: What Acclaimed TV Classic Do You Just Not Get?

30 Rock made a M*A*S*H joke this week, and my friend practically threw a fit telling me all about her hatred for that show.

30 Rock made a M*A*S*H joke this week, and my friend practically threw a fit telling me all about her hatred for that show. She said every time her parents turned it on and she heard that famous theme song, she wanted to cry from boredom. I actually know quite a few people who feel that way, even though M*A*S*H is considered one of the best shows of all time.

Maybe it's an age thing — do teenagers love Mad Men as much as I do? Then again, I know plenty of people my own age who think Mad Men looks boring despite all its critical acclaim. And even though I'm a huge fan of The Wire, I know there are lots of folks out there who don't get it and don't care to.

I'm wondering: What critically acclaimed show — whether now or in the past — do you just not think deserves all the fuss?

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TV

Buzz In: Which Series Have You Hated to See End?

HBO's The Wire — many a critic's pick for the best show ever on television — will end its series on Sunday after five gut-wrenching and unabashedly bleak seasons.


HBO's The Wire — many a critic's pick for the best show ever on television — will end its series on Sunday after five gut-wrenching and unabashedly bleak seasons. I sped through all the early seasons on DVD so I could be caught up in time for the finale, but now that it's here, I'm looking at Sunday with equal amounts of excitement and dread. While the show's only been part of my life for a short while, I have a hard time with the fact that it will just end.

I remember feeling the same thing when another great HBO series, Six Feet Under, ended its run in 2005; I believe its ending was utterly perfect, but even thinking about it can make me cry. There's just a special, can't-miss quality to a series finale: The BBC version of The Office needed a couple of specials to wrap up its story, and the 1983 series finale of M*A*S*H is still the most-watched US TV program of all-time.

So tell me, Buzz readers: Which favorite series have you hated to see go? Which could have wrapped up better than they did? Which got the endings they deserved?

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Movies

Movie Night: War Satires

Memorial Day is not a time for cracking jokes, but wartime itself often requires humor as a matter of survival.

Memorial Day is not a time for cracking jokes, but wartime itself often requires humor as a matter of survival. So in honor of this weekend's holiday, I've put together a Movie Night featuring some thought-provoking but entertaining war satires. These three films utilize dark humor while also recognizing and respecting the horrors of war.

Dr. Strangelove

It's remarkable to think that Stanley Kubrick's classic satire of nuclear holocaust was made back in 1964, because not a year has passed since when Dr. Strangelove wasn't eerily relevant. To me, this is not only one of the greatest war satires of all time but also one of the most expertly crafted satirical films overall. That's because it manages to put forth a subtle yet clear critique of deadly serious issues while also delivering laugh-out loud laughs that make you just uncomfortable enough. George C. Scott and Peter Sellers handle their one-liners ("precious bodily fluids," anyone?) with the care one would afford a nuclear warhead, making them infinitely quotable even now.

For two more war satires, read more

Movies

What to Netflix: Robert Altman Retrospective

Today, the Sundance Channel is hosting a tribute to Robert Altman, the groundbreaking director who died this November.

Today, the Sundance Channel is hosting a tribute to Robert Altman, the groundbreaking director who died this November. So next time you're reordering your Netflix queue, why not plan your own Altman tribute? It's hard to pick from so many masterpiece films—from Nashville to The Player—but here are three to get you started.

Short Cuts
I've never seen a movie quite like Short Cuts, which follows dozens of quirky and tragic characters in Los Angeles. Based on Raymond Carver's short stories, the movie deviates from Altman's usual interconnected ensemble formula by offering about a dozen very distinct plots, each of which could be a movie in itself. Nearly everyone in the enormous cast—including Tim Robbins, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Waits, Matthew Modine, and many more—gives a stellar performance.

To see the rest, read more

Robert Altman

Robert Altman RIP

The legendary Robert Altman, probably best known for MASH, Nashville and The Player has died.

The legendary Robert Altman, probably best known for MASH, Nashville and The Player has died. The cause of the 81 year-old director's death has not yet been disclosed. Hollywood will not be the same without this icon, he will be greatly missed.