| AfterMASH | |
|---|---|
The AfterMASH title screen (season 1) |
|
| Format | Sitcom |
| Starring | Harry Morgan Jamie Farr William Christopher Rosalind Chao John Chappell Jay O. Sanders Barbara Townsend David Ackroyd Anne Pitoniak Peter Michael Goetz Brandis Kemp |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 29 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Burt Metcalfe |
| Running time | 22–25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | 20th Century Fox Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 26, 1983 – December 11, 1984 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | M*A*S*H |
| Followed by | W*A*L*T*E*R |
AfterMASH is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from September 26, 1983 to December 11, 1984. A spin-off of the series M*A*S*H (the name is a pun on aftermath), the show takes place immediately following the end of the Korean War and chronicles the adventures of three characters from the original series: Colonel Potter (played by Harry Morgan), Klinger (played by Jamie Farr) and Father Mulcahy (played by William Christopher). Morgan, Farr, and Christopher had voted in the minority when the cast of M*A*S*H elected not to continue the original series. M*A*S*H supporting cast-member Kellye Nakahara joined them, albeit off-camera, as the voice of the hospital's public address system. Rosalind Chao rounded out the starring cast as Soon-Lee Klinger, a Korean refugee whom Klinger met in the last two episodes of M*A*S*H and fell in love with and married at the end of the series.
AfterMASH premiered in the fall of 1983 in the same Monday night 9:00 P.M. EST. time slot as its predecessor M*A*S*H. It finished 10th out of all network shows for the 1983-1984 season according to Nielsen Media Research television ratings. For its second season CBS moved the show to Tuesday nights at 8:00 EST., opposite NBC's top ten hit The A-Team, and launched a marketing campaign featuring illustrations by Sanford Kossin of Max Klinger in a nurse's uniform, shaving off Mr. T's signature mohawk, theorizing that AfterMASH would take a large portion of The A-Team's audience.[1] The theory, however, was proven wrong. In fact, the exact opposite occurred, as AfterMASH's ratings plummeted to near the bottom of the television rankings and the show was canceled nine episodes into its second season, while The A-Team continued until 1987, with 97 episodes.
In 2002, TV Guide listed the show as the seventh-worst TV series ever.[2]
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In the one-hour pilot episode "September of '53/Together Again", Colonel Potter returned home from Korea to his wife Mildred (Barbara Townsend) in Hannibal, Missouri. He soon found retirement stifling, and Mildred suggested he return to work. Potter was soon hired by the cartoonish hospital administrator Mike D'Angelo (John Chappell) as the chief of staff at General Pershing Veteran's Hospital ("General General"), located in the fictional River Bend, Missouri.
Max Klinger had found himself in trouble with the law in Toledo. Colonel Potter wrote to him and offered him a job as his administrative assistant. Klinger's nemesis at General General was D'Angelo's executive secretary Alma Cox (Brandis Kemp), a mean-spirited woman who was forever trying to "get the goods" on him, from giving him a day to prepare for a civil service exam to rifling through his desk.
Father Mulcahy, whose hearing was damaged in the final episode of M*A*S*H, was suffering from depression and drinking heavily. Potter arranged for Mulcahy to receive an operation at another VA Hospital in St. Louis. After his hearing was surgically corrected, he stopped drinking and joined Potter and Klinger at "General General" as its Catholic chaplain.
Also on hand was the idealistic, talented, and often hungry young resident surgeon Gene Pfeffier (Jay O. Sanders), attractive secretary Bonnie Hornbeck (Wendy Schaal), who had an eye for Klinger, and old-timer Bob Scannell (Patrick Cranshaw) who served under then-Sergeant Potter in World War I and was now a hospital resident of 35 years (thanks to his exposure to mustard gas). Unlike the other patients and staff who addressed Potter by his retired rank of colonel, Scannell called him "Sarge" at Potter's request.
The only other main character from the original series to appear on AfterMASH was Radar (played by Gary Burghoff), who appeared in a first season two-part episode. As Potter, Klinger, and Mulcahy prepare to head to Iowa for Radar's wedding, Radar shows up in a panic at Potter's house in Missouri, believing his intended fiancée has cheated on him in "It Had To Be You". The Radar character later appeared in a pilot called W*A*L*T*E*R, in which Radar moved from Iowa to St. Louis, after his wife left him on his wedding night, and became a police officer. (The series was never picked up, and the pilot was aired in July 1984 as a TV special on CBS exclusively in the Eastern and Central timezones; the show was pre-empted in Pacific and Mountain timezones by the 1984 Democratic National Convention.)
The season included home scenes with the Potters, most notably when they were deluged with guests in "Thanksgiving of '53", and Potter tried to keep the phone occupied so Klinger couldn't call his relatives, who were on the way over to surprise him; this episode also marked the only onscreen appearance of Potter's oft-mentioned daughter, Evvy Ennis, and Potter's grandson, Corey. One of the season's standout episodes was the Emmy-nominated "Fall Out", where Potter and Pfeffier considered leaving General General, but reconsidered when they linked the leukemia seen in a patient with exposure to atomic testing; writer-director Larry Gelbart received a Peabody Award for this episode. The season closed in March with Klinger being arrested for decking a shady real estate agent as pregnant Soon Lee went into labor. In May, CBS announced the show was renewed for a second season.
Season Two opened with Klinger escaping from the River Bend County Jail to attend the birth of his child and remaining a fugitive until a judge sent him to the psychiatric unit at General General, where Klinger feigned insanity to avoid prison and the Potters took in Soon Lee and the (as yet unnamed) baby. Mike D'Angelo was transferred to Montana and was replaced by smarmy new administrator Wally Wainwright (Peter Michael Goetz). Anne Pitoniak was brought in to replace Barbara Townsend as Mildred Potter. Dr. Pfeffier was phased out late in the first season and replaced by Dr. Boyer (David Ackroyd), who had lost a leg in Korea and whose bitterness was only matched by his excellent surgical skills. (The character was never given a first name in the series, but publicity photos referred to him as "Dr. Mark Boyer.") An attractive new psychiatrist, Dr. Lenore Dudziak (Wendy Girard) arrived to begin the daunting task of evaluating Klinger, while Potter was horrified that Wainwright assigned Alma Cox as his new secretary.
The recurring M*A*S*H character Colonel Flagg (played by Edward Winter) appeared in the second season, now working for an unspecified intelligence agency whose agents are authorised to carry sidearms in their shoes; he is only too eager to testify against Klinger in "Trials". Character actors Arliss Howard, Timothy Busfield, William Sadler, and David Graf all appeared as patients.
Only three other characters from M*A*S*H were ever mentioned in the sequel series. Hawkeye was referenced in the one-hour opening episode in a voice-over thought by Mulcahy. Frank Burns was mentioned once in the first season (Episode #14: "Chief of Staff") and once in the second season, both times by Sherman Potter. In a second season episode (#26: "Madness To His Method"), Dr. Potter writes a letter to Sidney Freedman, who is mentioned as now working at the University of Chicago, but does not appear in the episode. There is also a touching moment at the end of the "Chief of Staff" episode in which Potter is surprised to see that his hospital office has been redecorated with his desk, paintings, saddle, and other items from the 4077th as "Suicide is Painless" is played; Potter's portrait of Radar and his group portrait of Hawkeye, BJ, Houlihan, Winchester, Klinger, and Mulcahy (from the 10th season episode "Picture This") continued to be seen in his office through the remainder of the sequel series. In the W*A*L*T*E*R pilot, interviewer Clete Roberts is seen on TV mentioning that he had recently interviewed Hawkeye, and Radar mentions a picture he keeps in his wallet of him with Hawkeye, LTC Blake, and Major Houlihan.
In the next-to-last filmed episode, "Saturday's Heroes", the Klingers' baby is finally named. This episode (the final broadcast of the series) aired on May 31, 1985. (Several sources incorrectly claim that this episode ran on December 11, 1984, which was the originally intended air date for this episode. However, CBS had put the series "on hiatus" just a few days earlier and abruptly pulled the episode from the scheduled airing of December 11, even though it had been advertised in several newspaper listings and in TV Guide for that date.)
AfterMASH made frequent references to M*A*S*H, and likewise featured storylines that highlighted the horrors and suffering of war, from the non-combat perspective of a veteran's hospital. The series was canceled after twenty-nine broadcast episodes. "Wet Feet", the thirtieth episode, was never aired.
| # | Title | Director[n 1] | Writer[n 1] | Original airdate | Production Code[n 2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Summer of '53 / Together Again" | Burt Metcalfe | Larry Gelbart | September 26, 1983 | 2E01 (1), 2E02 (2) |
| Potter, Klinger, and Father Mulcahy adjust to civilian life once again. In "Together Again", Father Mulcahy has ear surgery. | |||||
| 2 | "Klinger vs. Klinger" | Will Mackenzie | Ken Levine, David Isaacs | October 3, 1983 | 2E03 |
| Klinger and Soon-Lee quarrel about money problems, but eventually settle their differences. A veteran is admitted to the hospital without paperwork. When he wakes up, he has an interesting secret. | |||||
| 3 | "Snap, Crackle, Plop" | Nick Havinga | Dennis Koenig | October 10, 1983 | 2E04 |
| Klinger must take a test on short notice to secure his job. | |||||
| 4 | "Staph Inspection" | Burt Metcalfe | Ken Levine, David Isaacs | October 17, 1983 | 2E07 |
| 5 | "Night Shift" | Edward H. Feldman | Everett Greenbaum, Elliott Reed | October 24, 1983 | 2E06 |
| 6 | "Shall We Dance" | Will Mackenzie | Ken Levine, David Isaacs | October 31, 1983 | 2E05 |
| 7 | "Little Broadcast of '53" | Burt Metcalfe | Dennis Koenig | November 7, 1983 | 2E08 |
| 8 | "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" | Nick Havinga | Dennis Koenig | November 14, 1983 | 2E09 |
| 9 | "Thanksgiving of '53" | Burt Metcalfe | Ken Levine, David Isaacs, Dennis Koenig | November 21, 1983 | 2E10 |
| 10 | "Fallout" | Larry Gelbart | Larry Gelbart | December 5, 1983 | 2E12 |
| 11 | "Bladder Day Saints" | Nick Havinga | Everett Greenbaum, Elliott Reid | December 12, 1983 | 2E11 |
| 12 | "All About Christmas Eve" | Burt Metcalfe | Dennis Koenig | December 19, 1983 | 2E13 |
| 13 | "Chief of Staff" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Gordon Mitchell | January 2, 1984 | 2E15 |
| 14 | "C.Y.A." | Burt Brinckerhoff | Janis Hirsch | January 9, 1984 | 2E14 |
| 15 | "Yours Truly, Max Klinger" | Burt Metcalfe | Ken Levine, David Isaacs | January 16, 1984 | 2E16 |
| 16 | "It Had to Be You" | Larry Gelbart | Dennis Koenig, Ken Levine, David Isaacs | January 23, 1984 | 2E17 |
| 17 | "Odds and Ends" | Peter Levin | Everett Greenbaum, Elliott Reid | January 30, 1984 | 2E18 |
| 18 | "Another Saturday Night" | Jamie Farr | Dennie Koenig (story) Ken Levine, David Isaacs (teleplay) |
February 6, 1984 | 2E19 |
| 19 | "Fever Pitch" | Burt Metcalfe | Dennis Koenig | February 27, 1984 | 2E21 |
| 20 | "By the Book" | Gabrielle Beaumont | Larry Balmagia | March 5, 1984 | 2E20 |
| 21 | "Up and Down Payments" | Burt Metcalfe | Ken Levine, David Isaacs | March 12, 1984 | 2E22 |
| # | Title | Director[n 1] | Writer[n 1] | Original airdate | Production Code[n 2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | "Less Miserable" | Burt Metcalfe | Ken Levine, David Isaacs, Dennis Koenig | September 23, 1984[n 3] | 2W01 |
| 23 | "Calling Doctor Habibi" | Hy Averback | Dennis Koenig, Ken Levine, David Isaacs | September 25, 1984 | 2W02 |
| 24 | "Strangers and Other Lovers" | Burt Metcalfe | Dennis Koenig | October 2, 1984 | 2W03 |
| 25 | "Trials" | Charles S. Dubin | Ken Levine, David Isaacs | October 9, 1984 | 2W04 |
| 26 | "Madness to His Method" | Burt Metcalfe | Tom Straw | October 16, 1984 | 2W05 |
| 27 | "The Recovery Room" | Charles S. Dubin | Jay Folb | October 30, 1984 | 2W06 |
| 28 | "Ward Is Hell" | Burt Metcalfe | Ken Levine, David Isaacs, Dennis Koenig | December 4, 1984 | 2W09 |
| 30[n 4] | "Wet Feet" | Hy Averback | Dennis Koenig | NOT AIRED[n 4] | 2W08 |
| 29 | "Saturday's Heroes" | Burt Metcalfe | Ken Levine, David Isaacs | May 31, 1985[n 4] | 2W07 |
| 31[n 5] | "All Day All Night, Mary Ann" | Ken Levine, David Isaacs | NOT PRODUCED[n 5] | NONE[n 5] | |
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