Today is the birthday of one Alan Alda, a fine human being and a friend of the Toast. There are no iterations of Alan Alda that are not perfect and loveable. Jack’s dad on 30 Rock? Maximum Alda. Classic-M*A*S*H* era? Platonic ideal of Alda. Judge for Math-O-Vision? Alda as he was meant to be. Host of Scientific American Frontiers? All the Alda that’s fit to print.
I will brook no irony, no sly asides, in our celebration of Alan Alda on his 77th birthday today. We will commemorate it by discussing any of his many books, awards, achievements, and notable roles.
First we must begin with The Oh, Hello Walking Tour of NYC from nick kroll on Myspace. Watch it immediately; there is a very good joke about Alan Alda water about 2/3rds of the way through.
This intro to the “Oh, Hello” show features at least one shot of Alan Alda’s autobiography. In many ways I feel like John Mulaney and Nick Kroll are Alan Alda’s comedy sons, and if they were somehow stitched together into one man they would become him.
I cannot say that I advocate stitching John Mulaney and Nick Kroll together, but I would not stop you if you did it.
Happy Birthday, Hawkeye. The only criticism I will ever brook about you is that you are not Peter Falk, but that is hardly your fault.
Alda news that’s fit to print?
*Kroll Show
My boyfriend and I watch an hour of M*A*S*H*every night together. One could say Alan Alda completes my relationship.
Alan Alda confused about procreation as Adam in The Apple Tree.
A guy I dated once made fun of me because he went to use my computer and saw I had “Alan Alda” in the search field. “Why are you googling Alan Alda?” he asked.
What sort of question is that??
A relationship-ending one.
damn skippy.
Well, one could be googling for titillating versus non-titillating Alan Alda; perhaps he was curious if you shared his strong favor for the former?
I raise a glass of moonshine to the still in the Swamp, and to Hawkeye, and the Hallmark channel for running two hours of M*A*S*H a day when I was in high school. Perfect.
I have a wicked bad cold, and all I want is to curl up on the sofa with a mug of tea and a few hours of M*A*S*H*, but it’s not on. Womp.
I agree with this post but have such mixed feelings about him as the opponent on The West Wing. Although, yeah, ok, his vanity and desire to WIN were endearing as hell.
I am doing my rewatch of West Wing and am totally nervous about when that comes around because I remember watching it on TV the first time around and feeling… conflicted. Now I am reassured!
Yes, it’s going to be ok; he’s ultimately still Alda, underneath his Republican facade.
there’s something kindov super sexy about that, right? like, total liberal awesome guy playing snarky Republican? even though he’s hecka old? RIGHT?
Oh man, a re-watch. Every show set in DC that I’ve watched since I finished TWW makes me desperate to go back and re-watch (House of Cards, Scandal, et al)… but that’s such a huge time commitment. When did you finish watching it the first time? I binge-watched the entire thing this past summer.
Maybe a couple years after college? 2010? (with a few assorted ventures over the past few years I never finished. This is the time I commit, ha, in my final semester of grad school, of course!) Also House of Cards totally inspired me too! (Plus Parks and Rec) And, uh, also I just dream of being CJ Cregg, so. Or Sam Seaborn. Both?
I want CJ Cregg and Sam Seaborn to have a love child, and have that love child be me.
I love MASH. Loved it as a kid and I watch it now with my own kids. However, I still think that some of Alda’s best work is from Free to Be … You and Me (I say that because I was born in 1969).
William Wants a Doll http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lshobg1Wt2M
The story of Atalanta http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuyRi2yWWSQ
😀 I was born in 1985, but Free to Be was a big part of my childhood because my mom was a big hippie.
I was also born in 1985 and I see from your post on the synesthesia article (NOT STALKING) that your name is ALSO Laura. HIGH FIVES FOR 1985 LAURAS!
The best kind of Lauras!
I, too, was born in 1969!
Alan Alda is one of those actors where I never want to see him as a bad guy. It would ruin my perfect illusion of him as a giant-hearted man-of-all-work.
Other notables include:
James Cromwell
Colin Firth
Peter Mansbridge
Re: Cromwell, have you seen LA Confidential? I try and forget about the end. But he even pulls off “heart of gold” while being really… well. It is a good one, if crime and shitty urban planning are your things. Also baby!Guy Pearce.
James Cromwell will always be the farmer from Babe for me. But urban planning does really pump my jam…
Well, you too can watch crime and intrigue weave about things like highway systems being built and crooked politicos. Note to self: find way to write paper about LA Confidential in graduate school.
I really appreciate your inclusion of Peter Mansbridge on this list.
My husband met Peter Mansbridge at a town hall meeting once, and was pleased to report that Mansbridge was both delightful and pocket-sized.
Someone who works at CBC once told me he was crochety, but I REFUSED TO BELIEVE. He was probably just cranky that The National was bumped for hockey or the Olympics or something. I mean, the man has a bedtime.
How can I simultaneously love this song and think it’s the perfect accompaniment to this sequence? The two feelings should be irreconcilable.
I was a child in the 70s and early 80s, so I was a perfectly susceptible subject for the Alda indoctrination. I grew up liking my men a little weedy*, dark, snarky, and loudly anti-establishment.
*My dad was a skinny little guy, too, which certainly contributed to that preference. It’s telling that as an adult, I started turning my eye toward big, tall, barrel-chested men without even noticing it was happening. I’m sorry, Alan Alda, Carl Sagan, Kermit The Frog, and other childhood crushes. Even Sagan couldn’t explain the mysteries of the human heart.
“Even Sagan couldn’t explain the mysteries of the human heart.”
I will hold on to this phrase, tuck it somewhere deep and small, and let it burst out again when next I am called on to explain the sweet tender pain that is love.
If you haven’t already heard Ann Dryan’s Radiolab segment on falling in love with Carl Sagan, you will swoon. Perhaps my favorite phrase: “it was this great Eureka! moment, it was just like scientific discovery.”
That sounds DELIGHTFUL! I will check it out post-haste!!
I’m just now getting to that section in The West Wing where he’s the opponent. He’s kind of great in that, too.
And now he does all these fun science-outreach challenges where he makes scientists explain things like “fire” and “color” to children! I got to interview him once about it. He’s a good hand.
I had a Hawkeye crush when I was little, watching M*A*S*H in syndication, but now I am a grownup. Now, whenever I see modern-day Alan Alda, I have in the back of my mind a quiet fantasy in which he is the father of some faceless friend of mine, and one day I’m invited to family dinner, and he talks to me a lot and thinks I’m interesting.
The end.
TOAST TOAST I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.
ALAN ALDA LOVE. I am like, quivering in excitement about this, you guys. This is perfect, because I just read Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, and I’m at the start of Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, so if anyone wants to talk about the books, I’m totally down. Oh my god, the parts where he talks about fighting for the ERA! And about his daughters. Christ, what an amazing human. He is just so genuine and wonderful in every conceivable way.
I love M*A*S*H so freaking much, I can’t even be coherent about it. I will THROW DOWN with anyone who says that the show went downhill after it got more serious and Alan had more creative control. For one thing, Alan ALWAYS had a lot of creative input on the show. And also, those later, more character-driven episodes with heart are some of the ones that have really stuck with me. (And Dreams is awesome and trippy, and I will hear not one word to the contrary.)
As much as I loved Hawkeye, though, he wasn’t my biggest M*A*S*H crush — that was always Charles.
Hahaha, I was a Hunnicutt fan, myself, but my love for Alan Alda is strong and true nonetheless.
Oh, man, Mike Farrell was gorgeous. (He still looks good!)
I love how little effort they put into making anyone look like they could actually be serving in the Army in the 50s. Everyone’s hair is too long, Margaret has the Farrah hair, and BJ has his awesome mustache and wears a pink t-shirt and a pair of Chucks.
I could have written your entire post myself, except that my #1 M*A*S*H crush was Father Mulcahy.
Anyone remember the episode where Margaret is having problems with her nursing staff – they can’t stand her, she’s behaving like a martinet, etc. – and then toward the end she nearly breaks into tears because none of them ever asked her if she wanted to get together for “a lousy cup of coffee”? As God is my witness that is one of my favorite acting moments ever in a show that is full of moments like that.
I think Loretta Swit took quite a few chances with that role as long as they were writing it to be interesting. Unfortunately they sanded a lot of the edges off the character as time went on (as the seventies segued into the eighties, no accidents there), but I’ll always remember her with her hair in a bun, a little bit chubby, and a sour puss on her face.
Oh, and wicked huge crush on Alan Alda right around 1980 (10th grade). When I watch the reruns I still think he was hot as hell.
I loved that episode.
And I also think Alan Alda was hot as hell in reruns.
<3 M*A*S*H
When I was a massively sleep-deprived teenager, the only thing that would get me out of bed on Saturday mornings is my Dad saying “hey, there are M*A*S*H reruns on” and I’d stumble from my bed, down the stairs, and Alan Alda would wake me up properly.
I have been late to parties because I got caught in rerun marathons also.
And I think casting him in West Wing was a brilliant choice – they needed someone who was so fucking awesome you actually did want to root for him, despite the whole Republican thing.
Anyway, Alan Alda is the best. Happy Birthday, dear sir.
I walked past Alan Alda on the street a few months ago. He was with his wife. He blew his nose. It was nice.
GUYS
GUYS
TODAY IS ALSO MY BIRTHDAY
OMG I HAD NO IDEA I SHARED THIS PROLIFIC DAY WITH ALAN ALDA
Happy birthday!
YOU ARE SO LUCKY TO BE BIRTHDAY BUDDIES WITH ALAN ALDA.
Alan Alda’s birthday is the perfect reason to call in sick to work and sit at home watching M*A*S*H all day, right guys? Good, I knew you’d all agree with me.
Oh, lord, re: James Cromwell, never watch the second season of American Horror Story. His character is horrific (and because HE is awesome, he plays it very convincingly. It's awful.)
I could have written your entire post myself, except that my #1 M*A*S*H crush was Father Mulcahy.
omg omg omg.
Any love here for Same Time, Next Year? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078199/
It’s the sweetest, most heartwarming movie about infidelity that could ever exist.
omg omg omg.
Any love here for Same Time, Next Year? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078199/
It's the sweetest, most heartwarming movie about infidelity that could ever exist.
Alan Alda started a school of science communication that I’m applying to! He teaches scientists improv. For real, he is awesome.
If you haven’t seen ‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’, you should. It’s an understated hit, but Alda’s just grand.