M*A*S*H (TV series)

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M*A*S*H
The M*A*S*H title screen
Genre	Medical drama / Dramedy / Black comedy
Camera setup	Single camera
Running time	24-25 minutes (per episode)
Creator(s)	Larry Gelbart
Starring	Alan Alda Loretta Swit Jamie Farr William Christopher Wayne Rogers (1972-1975) Mike Farrell (1975-1983) McLean Stevenson (1972-1975) Harry Morgan (1975-1983) Larry Linville (1972-1977) David Ogden Stiers (1977-1983) Gary Burghoff (1972- 1979)
Country of origin	United States
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 17, 1972–February 28, 1983
No. of episodes	251
IMDb profile

M*A*S*H was an American television series created by Larry Gelbart, inspired by the 1961 novel Catch 22, the 1968 Richard Hooker novel MASH and the 1970 film of the same name. It is the most well-known version of the M*A*S*H series.

The series was a medical drama/black comedy produced by 20th Century Fox for CBS. M*A*S*H was The show followed a team of doctors and support staff stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Uijeongbu, Korea during the Korean War. M*A*S*H's title sequence featured an instrumental version of the song “Suicide Is Painless” which also appears in the original film.

The series premiered on September 17, 1972 and ended February 28, 1983, with the finale becoming the most-watched television episode in U.S. television history. The show is still broadcast in syndication on various television stations. The series spanned 251 episodes and lasted eleven seasons covering a three-year war. Many of the stories in the early seasons are based on real-life tales told by real MASH surgeons who were interviewed by the production team. Some said the series seemed to be an allegory for the Vietnam War (still in progress when the series began) rather than just about the Korean War,^{[citation needed]} though the show's producers have said it was about war in general. The series has two spinoffs: the short-lived AfterMASH, which features several of the show's characters reunited in a midwestern hospital after the war, and an unpurchased television pilot, W*A*L*T*E*R, in which Walter “Radar” O’Reilly joins a police force. A court ruled ^{[year needed]} that the more successful Trapper John, M.D., is actually a spinoff of the original film.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Cast 2.1 Guest Stars 3 Changes 4 "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" 5 Change in Tone 6 DVD releases 7 Trivia 8 Continuity Errors and Anachronisms 9 Unique and Unusual Episodes 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Synopsis

For a complete list of episodes, see: List of M*A*S*H episodes

M*A*S*H was a weekly half-hour situation comedy, sometimes described as “black comedy” or a dramedy, due to the dramatic subject material often presented. The show was an ensemble piece revolving around key personnel in a United States Army Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH - the asterisks in the name are meaningless, introduced in the novel) in the Korean War (1950-1953). The 4077th MASH was just one of several surgical units in Korea. As the show developed, the writing took on more of a moralistic tone. Richard Hooker, who wrote the book on which the show (and the film version) was based, noted that Hawkeye was far more liberal in the show (in one of the sequel books, Hawkeye in fact makes reference to “kicking the bejesus out of lefties just to stay in shape”). While the show was mostly comedy, there were many outstanding, inventive episodes of a more serious tone (see section below). Stories were both plot- and character-driven. Most of the characters were draftees, with dramatic tension often occurring between them and "regular Army" characters either in the cast or guest-starring.

A letter to TV Guide written by a former MASH doctor in about 1973 stated that the most insane jokes and idiotic pranks on the show were the most true to life, including Klinger's crossdressing. The hellish reality of the MASH units encouraged this behavior out of a desperate need for something to laugh at. (Another former MASHer, though, pointed out later that an habitual crossdresser would not last long in such a place; real women were too scarce.)

[edit] Cast

For a complete list of characters, see Category:M*A*S*H characters.

M*A*S*H maintained a relatively constant ensemble cast, with four characters – Hawkeye, Mulcahy, Houlihan and Klinger – appearing on the show for all eleven of the seasons in which it ran. Several other main characters who left or joined the show midway through its original run supplemented these four, and numerous guest stars and one-time characters supplemented all of them.

Character	Actor/Actress	Rank	Role
Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce	Alan Alda	Captain	Chief surgeon
Francis John Patrick Mulcahy	William Christopher	Lieutenant, later Captain	Chaplain
Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan	Loretta Swit	Major	Head nurse
Maxwell Q. Klinger	Jamie Farr	Corporal, later Sergeant	Orderly, Company clerk
John Francis Xavier "Trapper" McIntyre	Wayne Rogers	Captain	Surgeon
Henry Blake	McLean Stevenson	Lieutenant Colonel	Surgeon, Commanding officer
Frank Burns	Larry Linville	Major, later Lieutenant Colonel (off-screen)	Surgeon
Walter "Radar" O’Reilly	Gary Burghoff	Corporal (briefly Lieutenant & "Corporal Captain")	Company clerk
B.J. Hunnicutt	Mike Farrell	Captain	Surgeon
Sherman T. Potter	Harry Morgan	Colonel	Surgeon, Commanding officer
Charles Emerson Winchester III	David Ogden Stiers	Major	Surgeon

[edit] Guest Stars

See also: List of notable guest stars on M*A*S*H

[edit] Changes

McLean Stevenson was growing unhappy playing a supporting role to Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers by the start of the third season. Midway through, he informed the producers he wanted out of the show. With ample time to prepare a “Goodbye Henry” show, it was decided that Henry Blake would be discharged and sent home for the Season Three finale. In the final scene of his last episode, “Abyssinia, Henry,” Radar tearfully reports that Henry’s plane had been shot down over the Sea of Japan and he was killed. None of the cast (with the exception of Alda, who wrote the scene) knew about that development until Burghoff was told to go in and have Radar report that Blake had died. Up until then, they were going to get a message that Blake had arrived safely home. Although this is now regarded as a classic episode, at the time it garnered a barrage of angry mail from fans. As a result, the creative team behind M*A*S*H pledged that no other characters would leave the show in such a tragic fashion. In a strange twist of fate, Stevenson died on February 15, 1996; the following day, Roger Bowen, who portrayed Henry Blake in the motion picture, also died. Both actors died of a heart attack.

Wayne Rogers (Trapper John McIntyre) was planning on returning for Season Four, but had a disagreement over his contract. He was told to sign a “morals clause” on his contract renewal, but refused to do so. Though Rogers had been threatening to leave the series since Season One, his departure was unexpected, as compared to McLean Stevenson, who decided to leave midway through Season Three. In addition, Rogers felt his character was never given any real importance and that all the focus was on Alda’s character. Mike Farrell (Rogers’s replacement) was hastily recruited during the 1975 summer production hiatus, which explains why there was no “Goodbye Trapper” episode.

As a result of two of the three leads having departed the series, Season Four was, in many ways, a major turning point for M*A*S*H. At the beginning of the fourth season, Hawkeye was informed by Radar that Trapper had been discharged while Hawkeye was on leave, and audiences did not see Trapper’s departure, while B. J. Hunnicutt came in as Trapper’s replacement. In the season’s second episode, Colonel Sherman T. Potter was assigned to the unit as commanding officer, replacing Frank Burns (who had taken over as commander after Blake’s departure). The series, while still remaining a comedy, gradually became more emotionally rounded. Major Houlihan’s role continued to evolve during this time; she became much friendlier towards Hawkeye and B.J., and had a falling out with Frank. She later married a fellow officer, Lieutenant Colonel Donald Penobscot, but the union did not last for long. The “Hot Lips” nickname was rarely used to describe her after about the midway point in the series. In fact, Loretta Swit wanted to leave the series in the 8th season to pursue other acting roles (most notably the part of Christine Cagney on Cagney & Lacey), but the producers refused to let her out of her contract. However, Swit did originate the Cagney role in the made-for-TV movie which served as that series' pilot. As the show progressed into its last few seasons, episodes frequently were used to demonstrate a moral point, most often about the horrors of war, in a move that has been criticized by some fans for overshadowing the careless comedic style the show became famous for. Episodes written or directed by Alan Alda had an even greater propensity to follow a moral path.

Larry Linville noted that his “Frank Burns” character was easier to “dump on” after head comedy writer Larry Gelbart departed after Season Four. Throughout Season Five, Linville realized he’d taken Frank Burns as far as he could, and he decided that since he’d signed a five-year contract originally, and his fifth year was coming to an end, he would leave the series. During the first episode of Season Six, Frank Burns had suffered a nervous breakdown due to Margaret’s marriage, was transferred stateside, and was, in turn, promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (in a sense, Frank’s parting shot at Hawkeye), all off-camera. Unlike McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers, Linville had no regrets about leaving the series, saying “I felt I had done everything possible with the character.”

Major Charles Emerson Winchester, III (David Ogden Stiers) was brought in as an antagonist of sorts to the other surgeons, but his relationship with them was not as acrimonious (although he was a more able foil). Unlike Frank Burns, Winchester did not care for the Army. His resentment stemmed, in part, from the fact that he was transferred from Tokyo General Hospital to the 4077th thanks, in part, to a cribbage debt owed to him by his CO, Colonel Horace Baldwin. What set him apart from Burns as an antagonist for Hawkeye and B.J. was that Winchester was clearly an excellent physician, though his work sometimes suffered from his excessive perfectionism when rapid “meatball surgery” was called for.

Winchester was respected by the others professionally, but at the same time, as a Boston “blueblood,” he was also snobbish, which drove much of his conflict with the other characters. Still, the show’s writers would allow Winchester’s humanity to shine through, such as in his dealings with a young piano player who had partially lost the use of his right hand, the protection of a stuttering soldier from the bullying of other soldiers (it is revealed later that his sister stutters), or his keeping a vigil with Hawkeye when Hawkeye’s father went into surgery back in the States, or his continuing of a family tradition of anonymously giving Christmas treats to an orphanage. The episode featuring this tradition is considered by many fans to be the most moving in the series (more so than even the loss of Henry Blake), as Winchester subjects himself to condemnation after realizing that “it is wrong to offer dessert to a child who has had no meal.” Isolating himself, he is saved by Corporal Klinger’s own gift of understanding. For the final moment of the episode, Major and Corporal are simply friends.

[edit] "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen"

Main article: Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

“Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” was the final episode of M*A*S*H. The episode aired on February 28, 1983 and was 2½ hours long. It was viewed by nearly 106 million Americans (77% of viewership that night) which established it as the most watched episode in United States television history, a record which stands today.

For the season 11 DVD release of the final 2 hour episode, it was released on the third disc of the set as how it was originally aired, however, for television re-run's over the years, it was edited into five separate 20 minute long shows.

[edit] Change in Tone

As the series progressed, it made a significant shift from pure comedy to become far more dramatically focused. In addition, the episodes became more political, and the show was often accused of “preaching” to its viewers. This has sometimes been connected with Alan Alda taking a more involved role in production, and many of the episodes in which this change is particularly notable were written and/or directed by Alda. Another significant factor was the change in the cast, as Colonel Henry Blake, Captain “Trapper” John McIntyre, Major Frank Burns, and Corporal “Radar” O’Reilly departed the show. Still another change was a greater focus on the supporting cast (Father Mulcahy, Klinger) as opposed to the top-billed characters.

While the show remained popular through these changes, eventually it began to run out of creative steam. Harry Morgan, who played Colonel Potter, admitted in an interview that he felt "the cracks were starting to show" by season nine, and the cast had agreed to make season ten their last. In the end, they decided to extend the show for an additional year, making for a total of eleven seasons.

In retrospect, the eleven years of M*A*S*H were generally split into two eras: the Larry Gelbart/Gene Reynolds "comedy" years (1972-1977), and the Alan Alda "dramatic" years (1978-1983).

[edit] DVD releases

DVD Name	Region 1	Region 2
M*A*S*H Season 1	January 8, 2002	May 19, 2003
M*A*S*H Season 2	July 23, 2002	October 13, 2003
M*A*S*H Season 3	February 18, 2003	March 15, 2004
M*A*S*H Seasons 1 - 3	N/A	October 31, 2005
M*A*S*H Season 4	July 15, 2003	June 14, 2004
M*A*S*H Seasons 1 - 4	December 2, 2003	N/A
M*A*S*H Season 5	December 9, 2003	January 17, 2005
M*A*S*H Season 6	June 8, 2004	March 28, 2005
M*A*S*H Season 7	December 7, 2004	May 30, 2005
M*A*S*H Season 8	May 24, 2005	August 15, 2005
M*A*S*H Season 9	December 6, 2005	January 9, 2006
M*A*S*H Seasons 1 - 9	December 6, 2005	N/A
M*A*S*H Season 10	May 23, 2006	April 17, 2006
M*A*S*H Season 11	November 7, 2006	May 29, 2006
M*A*S*H Martinis and Medicine Collection	November 7, 2006	October, 2006

[edit] Trivia

• Author Paulette Bourgeois credits "C*A*V*E" (episode 164), in which character Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce was afraid of being in a dark cave, as the inspiration for the first work in the children's book series Franklin.
• Glen Charles and Les Charles, the creators of Cheers, started their careers in television by writing "The Late Captain Pierce" (episode 76) and being lucky enough to submit it "on spec" and have it produced. They wrote no other episodes of the series.
• George Morgan played Father Mulcahy in the pilot.
• Alan Alda is the only person to win Emmy awards for acting, writing, and directing on the same show. He is also the only cast member to be in every one of the series' 251 installments.
• The series was on air nearly four times longer than the war it depicted.
• The original German and United Kingdom broadcasts featured no canned laughter, as the creators intended. All DVD releases until Season 6 feature an option to turn the canned laughter off; seasons afterward featured no canned laughter at all. The producers did not want canned laughter at all, but the network insisted upon it, finally reaching an agreement with the show's makers that it could be omitted only from the operating room scenes. The episode "O.R.", which takes place entirely within the operating room, does feature canned laughter there. Later reruns on UK satellite channels Sky One and Paramount Comedy 1 and 2 feature the laugh track.
• Radar's teddybear is currently on display at the Smithsonian.
• Actor Jamie Farr (Klinger) is the only regular cast member to have actually served in the U.S. Army during the war in Korea. Alan Alda actually served in the Army in Korea, but only after the war ended.
• The 4077th moved, or "bugged out," five times, usually owing to imminent danger, but returned each time to its original location. The first was an exercise by temporary commander Maj. Frank Burns, referred to and shown in a flashback in the episode "The Novocaine Mutiny." (The camp was moved across the road and then back the next day.) The second time was in the one hour long episode "Bug Out". The third was in the episode "C*A*V*E" (see above). The fourth was in "The Party," during which arrangements for a "reunion" are made for the families of the 4077th staff in the states. The fifth was in the final episode because of a fire headed toward the camp. An additional "bug out" was referred to in a phone conversation by Col. Potter, but probably did not refer to any of the above.
• All the outdoor scenes of the series were filmed in 20th Century Fox's Century Ranch, near Malibu, California, which was sold to the State of California in 1980, becoming Malibu Creek State Park. The state allowed filming to continue on the property, until shooting wrapped in late-1982. During the filming of the final episodes of the last season (1982 - 1983), there was a large brush fire, which destroyed the outdoor set. This incident was worked into the final episode Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, and was explained as a brush fire started by incendiary munitions. The site is currently overgrown, but still recognizable. All that remains is an old rusted Jeep, an ambulance from the show, and the helicopter pad.
• In the original movie, "Hotlips" given names are Margaret O'Houlihan, while on the TV show, her family name is slightly modified to Houlihan , no reason was given as to why the "O'" was dropped from her name, though the Americanization of Irish names by dropping the "O'" was not uncommon at the time.
• The everpresent picture of Mildred Potter on the corner of Col. Potter's desk is actually a photo of actress Verna Felton, who co-starred with Harry Morgan in the 1950's sitcom December Bride.

[edit] Continuity Errors and Anachronisms

See also: List of continuity errors and anachronisms in M*A*S*H

[edit] Unique and Unusual Episodes

The series had several unique episodes, which differed in tone, structure and style from the rest of the series, and were significant departures from the typical sitcom or dramedy plot. Some of these episodes include:

• The "letter episodes", which are flashback episodes narrated by a character as if they are writing a letter: Hawkeye writes to his Dad (Dear Dad, Dear Dad Again, Dear Dad...Three, and he tape records a message in A Full Rich Day); Potter writes to his wife (Dear Mildred); BJ writes home to his wife (Dear Peggy); Radar writes to his mother (Dear Ma); Sidney writes to Sigmund Freud (Dear Sigmund); Winchester "writes" home by recording an audio message (The Winchester Tapes); Winchester's houseboy -- a North Korean spy -- writes to his superiors (Dear Comrade); Father Mulcahy writes to his sister, the nun (Dear Sis); and Klinger writes home to his uncle (Dear Uncle Abdul).
• Hawkeye (1/13/76), in which Hawkeye is taken in by a Korean family (who understand no English) after a jeep accident far from the 4077th, and he carries on what amounts to a 23-minute monologue in an attempt to remain conscious. Alan Alda is the only cast member to appear in the episode.
• The Interview (2/24/76), which is a sort of mockumentary about the 4077th. Shot in black and white, the cast partially improvised their responses to the interviewer's questions.
• Point of View (11/20/78), which is shot entirely from the point of view of a soldier who is wounded in the throat and taken to the 4077th for treatment.
• Life Time (11/26/79), which takes place in real-time as the surgeons perform an operation that must be completed within 22 minutes (as a clock in the corner of the screen counts down the time).
• Dreams (2/18/80), in which the dreams of the overworked and sleep-deprived members of the 4077th are visually depicted, revealing their fears, yearnings, and frustrations. This episode was a hybrid that Alan Alda had been wanting to complete for years.
• Follies of the Living—Concerns of the Dead (1/4/82), in which a dead soldier's spirit wanders around the compound, and only a feverish Klinger is able to see him or speak with him.

[edit] References

• CNN.com: "Alda's favorite 'M*A*S*H' episodes"

[edit] External links

• M*A*S*H at the Internet Movie Database
• M*A*S*H at TV.com
• M*A*S*H in the Encyclopedia of Television
• finest-kind.net | Finest Kind
• Best Care Anywhere - A thorough fan site

M*A*S*H

Film: MASH TV series: M*A*S*H | Trapper John, M.D. | AfterMASH | W*A*L*T*E*R Characters: Hawkeye Pierce | Trapper John McIntyre | Duke Forrest | B.J. Hunnicutt | Henry Blake | Sherman T. Potter | Frank Burns | Margaret Houlihan | Charles Winchester | Radar O'Reilly | Father Mulcahy | Maxwell Klinger | Igor Straminsky | Sidney Freedman | Col. Flagg | Spearchucker Jones | Ugly John | Walter Koskiusko Waldowski | Ho-Jon | Lieutenant Dish | Donald Penobscot Episodes: Season 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 Books: M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors | M*A*S*H Goes to Maine Related material: Continuity errors and anachronisms | Guest stars | Differences between book, film and TV versions of M*A*S*H | Suicide Is Painless