Amazing episode with spot on comedy, extremely witty writing that portrays a lighthearted yet truthful aspect about the war/military. Anyone who watches this will get a taste for ribs.
9 Reviews
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nickmaclaughlin22 September 2018
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utgrad-4406912 February 2021
so hungry...
dimondkittycat12 April 2021
Every single gd time i watch this episode it activates the sleeper agent in me that craves ribs. I live in chicago and it enrages me that Adam's Ribs isn't a real restaurant oh my god im so rib-hungry! I dont even Like coleslaw and i want to have it! Hawkeye infected me with rib-lust through time and space.
Liver or fish, anyone?
ExplorerDS67898 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Ten straight days of eating the same food can grow monotonous and downright tedious to most men, and guys like Hawkeye and Trapper are no exception. On this particular day, Hawkeye decides he's had enough and absurdly puts into words that he cannot stand liver or fish. He's ready to grow gills from the ocean of fish he's eaten, and the river of liver makes it so he is only able to make love if he is smothered in onions. By the way, watch the expression on Alda's face as he delivers this line. I think he can't believe he's really saying those things. So, to further prove his point, more or less, he throws a tantrum in the mess tent, rallying everybody to join him in his plea for "something else", which they all start chanting. Henry Blake is furious with Pierce and makes it known by asking him to never do it again. They want real food, and Hawkeye suddenly thinks of the absolute perfect entrée: barbecue spare ribs. This notion is brought on spur-the-moment by Henry saying, "I don't find that such a rib-tickler, McIntyre." Hawkeye paints a lovely picture of scrumptious ribs that should make the audience's mouths water. This got me hooked on ribs, by the way. Aiding Hawkeye on his fool's quest for ribs, is Radar, more or less against his will. He manages to patch a call into Adam's Ribs, the utopia of rib joints, in Chicago and Hawkeye places a rather large take-out order. Jumbo ribs and a gallon of sauce. All is well, except he realizes he's forgotten one important side dish: coleslaw. Now that the ribs have been ordered, how to get them to Korea? They ask Klinger for help and not only does he refuse, due to Hawkeye's uprising stained his stole, but because he doesn't know anybody in Chicago. Trapper, however, suddenly remembers a one-night stand from the Windy City, and he somehow manages to convince her to pick up and ship the ribs. So, after acquiring his barbecue gold, you would think Hawkeye would invite everybody to bask in its sweetened glory. The people he got all riled up over wanting something else to eat. Nope, wrong. He only invites his close friends- Trapper, Henry, Radar and Klinger, I guess as compensation for enduring all his crap. Watch how Igor and Goldman slowly walk out, awaiting their invite, which does not come. No matter, before they can eat, wounded arrive, and so after the gallant effort, Hawkeye does not get to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Poetic justice.
"Adam's Ribs", it's not a bad episode, actually I kinda like it because of the way they present the ribs. M*A*S*H episodes about food always seem to make you hungry for the food. I know this one made me hungry for spare ribs, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Hawkeye is incredibly selfish here. He whines about the food, in fact, in almost every episode some dumb joke is made about the food. It's amazing how fickle the people at the 4077th really are. I mean, there's a war on (a point the later episodes drive home continually) and these guys get upset over the food. At least they get food, when some Koreans are probably starving; Hawkeye forgets the coleslaw. Big whoop, at least he's getting his ribs! Finally, Klinger's stole. Good God, people are dying in the war, and all that fool can worry about is his stupid ladies' getup. But anyway, it's not my favorite episode, the story is weak and the premise shows promise, but comes off as inferior. It's alright. If you're in the mood for ribs, order up some and watch this episode, knowing you can enjoy them but Hawkeye can't. Again, poetic justice!
"Adam's Ribs", it's not a bad episode, actually I kinda like it because of the way they present the ribs. M*A*S*H episodes about food always seem to make you hungry for the food. I know this one made me hungry for spare ribs, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Hawkeye is incredibly selfish here. He whines about the food, in fact, in almost every episode some dumb joke is made about the food. It's amazing how fickle the people at the 4077th really are. I mean, there's a war on (a point the later episodes drive home continually) and these guys get upset over the food. At least they get food, when some Koreans are probably starving; Hawkeye forgets the coleslaw. Big whoop, at least he's getting his ribs! Finally, Klinger's stole. Good God, people are dying in the war, and all that fool can worry about is his stupid ladies' getup. But anyway, it's not my favorite episode, the story is weak and the premise shows promise, but comes off as inferior. It's alright. If you're in the mood for ribs, order up some and watch this episode, knowing you can enjoy them but Hawkeye can't. Again, poetic justice!
One of the best most forgotten MASH episodes...
cyclingpoet1 February 2024
Funny scene when Hawkeye loses it after hearing fish & liver are being served in the mess tent, starting his quest for Adam's Ribs.
The build up to Hawkeye finally getting his ribs and for them being prepared in the Mess tent is classic. I'm wondering if perhaps he should have taken one bite and then the choppers arrive with the wounded. What do you think? Anyhow BTW, in the trivia section 24 people voted thumbs down to the Biblical reference of Adam's Ribs yes Hawkeye mentions the word "God" twice in the episode and it was written by a Jewish man, lol. Come on...What are you people afraid of?
The build up to Hawkeye finally getting his ribs and for them being prepared in the Mess tent is classic. I'm wondering if perhaps he should have taken one bite and then the choppers arrive with the wounded. What do you think? Anyhow BTW, in the trivia section 24 people voted thumbs down to the Biblical reference of Adam's Ribs yes Hawkeye mentions the word "God" twice in the episode and it was written by a Jewish man, lol. Come on...What are you people afraid of?
We want something else!
safenoe17 March 2024
Warning: Spoilers
A superb episode where Alan Alda displays his frenetic comedic skills as he protests the river of liver that Igor keeps on serving up, as he rouses the 4077th (including Igor) with the chant "we want something else!". Anyway, Igor, played by Jeff Maxwell, talks about this episode in episode nine of the M*A*S*H Matters podcast that Jeff and superfan Ryan Patrick has hosted since 2018. Anyway, Jeff was asked in the podcast whatever happened to the ribs after the scene was shot, but he understandably couldn't remember as it was that long ago. It's hard to believe this episode debuted 50 years ago.
Unique, hilarious, appetite enhancing but why---?
zacdawac12 September 2021
Even when I was twelve years old and watching this rather funny and memorable episode as it debuted, I questioned certain points.
If Henry knew the area near Adam's Ribs well enough to remember the train station's phone number off the top of his head, why didn't he know anyone nearby to pick up and mail the ribs? Henry's apparent lack of willingness to contribute to the cause should have surely banished him from the king's table. If Hawkeye was going to pick a half dozen people, of everyone in the unit, to share his ribs with, Henry shouldn't have been one of them.
If Klinger refused to help them without a price tag, he too shouldn't have been one of the chosen few who got to indulge. This began a trend that would become a flawed plot point, at least for me, and that got worse as the seasons progressed. Of roughly fifty people at the Mash unit, only four were doctors and only the core characters usually got to speak and participate in the story lines. There were at least six or seven doctors in the film, in the book and on very early episodes. Getting back to this one, why didn't Hawkeye share his feast with nurses or other hospital workers before he shared it with Henry and Klinger, who blatantly refused to help secure the ribs?
Why couldn't Hawkeye grab a few of the cooked ribs and eat them on the go, as he was pulled away and rushed to the operating room? And finally, why couldn't Trapper ask his Chicago three night stand to pick up cole slaw when she retrieved the ribs? These were educated, sharp and resourceful doctors. Someone could have figured that out that the woman could have said to the cashier "would you throw a few pounds of cole slaw with that?"
None of these are deal killers, of course, and they're all in the realm of possibility. They're just not probable. Still, for almost fifty years, every time I've eaten really good ribs and cole slaw, I've thought of this episode.
If Henry knew the area near Adam's Ribs well enough to remember the train station's phone number off the top of his head, why didn't he know anyone nearby to pick up and mail the ribs? Henry's apparent lack of willingness to contribute to the cause should have surely banished him from the king's table. If Hawkeye was going to pick a half dozen people, of everyone in the unit, to share his ribs with, Henry shouldn't have been one of them.
If Klinger refused to help them without a price tag, he too shouldn't have been one of the chosen few who got to indulge. This began a trend that would become a flawed plot point, at least for me, and that got worse as the seasons progressed. Of roughly fifty people at the Mash unit, only four were doctors and only the core characters usually got to speak and participate in the story lines. There were at least six or seven doctors in the film, in the book and on very early episodes. Getting back to this one, why didn't Hawkeye share his feast with nurses or other hospital workers before he shared it with Henry and Klinger, who blatantly refused to help secure the ribs?
Why couldn't Hawkeye grab a few of the cooked ribs and eat them on the go, as he was pulled away and rushed to the operating room? And finally, why couldn't Trapper ask his Chicago three night stand to pick up cole slaw when she retrieved the ribs? These were educated, sharp and resourceful doctors. Someone could have figured that out that the woman could have said to the cashier "would you throw a few pounds of cole slaw with that?"
None of these are deal killers, of course, and they're all in the realm of possibility. They're just not probable. Still, for almost fifty years, every time I've eaten really good ribs and cole slaw, I've thought of this episode.
A Rib, A Rib, My Kingdom for a Rib
Hitchcoc6 March 2015
I've probably seen this episode fifteen times and that "river of liver and an ocean of fish" line is pretty memorable. If you put that aside, the whole thing is a bit ludicrous. If it weren't for a series of really benevolent people, few of whom share in the spoils, it could not happen. The former girlfriend of Trapper who gets the stuff on a plane for them deserves a medal. Why should she go through all this trouble. There are times when Trapper and, especially Hawkeye, are like spoiled children. Granted, they are portrayed as amazingly skilled surgeons, but they frequently lust after things that others routinely do without. Hawkeye is tired of the food and wants ribs. But it has to be "the" ribs. There are probably ribs in Tokyo or other nearby places that he could have dined on. But they need to come from Chicago. Anyway, they do present the usual army snafus that prevent a normal operation. Still, there is a back and forth with this camp where one day they seem to have all they could need and the next, they need so much. The writers are often inconsistent in how they portray the camp setting and the needs.
Funny but kind of pointless
jefeplus23 February 2022
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