Oh 30 Rock, how I love you and your guest stars. It's like you've gone out and made a show just for me — you've had Salma Hayek on repeatedly this season, and now, last night, you had Alan Alda on the show… Alan Alda! I love Alan Alda. Not in the same way that I love Salma Hayek, but come on, Alan Alda, he's fantastic.
I of course associate Mr. Alda with his fabulous multi-year role on M*A*S*H. I know, he wasn't the first Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce – that distinction belongs to Donald Sutherland who played Hawkeye in the film – but it is impossible to not associate him the role. Alda and the producers of the show managed to make Hawkeye a womanizing scoundrel who was still hugely lovable and tragically flawed. Pierce is, perhaps, the perfect example of just what can be done with a character when given time to fully explore him.
Alda also appeared in several Woody Alan films, he even got to say one of my favorite Woody Alan lines ever "if it bends, it's funny; if it breaks, it's not funny." Classic Woody Alan. Classic Alan Alda. Great movie.
Now, more recently, Alda has appeared on The West Wing as Senator Arnold Vinick, the guy on the Republican side in Presidential race during that show's last two seasons. He actually managed to make a Republican a sympathetic, likable figure. That's not an easy task.
Seriously though, that's just a smattering of Alda's career, he's done so much more – Same Time, Next Year; Paper Lion; Jake's Women; Betsy's Wedding (which he also wrote and directed); And the Band Played On; California Suite; The Aviator. Alda's credits are tremendous, and the most amazing thing is that even when he's playing a terrible human being, he seems like a great guy.
Article comments
1 - barbara barnett
I love Alda! Saw him three years ago in Glengary Glenross on Broadway in the starring role. His energy was a sight to behold from the fifth row center of an intimate Broadway Theatre.
2 - Aaron Peck
Fighting about Tom Delay! That was brilliant.
3 - Nick Upton
Loved the obscure reference to the M*A*S*H series finale by Alda's character in 30 Rock. "A man rying over a chicken and a baby? I thought this was a comedy show!"