Although I have not seen M*A*S*H 4077 in quite a few years, I grew up with the show, a “comedy.” It was the funniest, most poignant, and insightful television program since the dawn of television and might be one of the best popular tools for understanding war.
Entry on M*A*S*H from Wikipedia
Inspired by the 1970 20th Century-Fox film M*A*S*H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) and based on the book of the same name, M*A*S*H was an American television series about a team of medical professionals and support staff stationed at the 4077th MASH in Korea during the Korean War. The series originally aired on CBS from September 17, 1972 to February 28, 1983, but can still be seen in syndication. The series spanned 251 episodes and lasted almost four times as long as the war which served as its setting.
Behind the scenes, those most involved with the show were Larry Gelbart (1972-1976), Gene Reynolds (1972-1977), Burt Metcalfe, and later, star Alan Alda.
Much like the movie, it combined elements of comedy with a darker antiwar message. Many of the stories in the early seasons were based on real-life tales told by hundreds of real-life M*A*S*H surgeons, interviewed by the production team. Some said the series seemed to be more about the Vietnam War (still in progress when the series began), given the attitudes of the characters, than the Korean War. The show’s producers have said that it was really about war in general.
Although primarily an ensemble show, M*A*S*H became centered around Alan Alda’s character, Hawkeye Pierce, especially as other founding characters left. Alda wrote and directed some episodes; additionally, during the last few seasons, Alda and Metcalfe were listed as the show’s “Creative Consultants.” The tone of the show changed dramatically over the years. Initially, it placed most of its emphasis on the “zany” elements, but later focused on more serious topics and character development; however, both the serious and the comedic sides were present throughout. Alda’s increasing prominence both inside and outside the series led to a change in focus, with more serious topics.
The cast voted by majority to end the series following the tenth season, but CBS and 20th Century Fox offered the actors a shortened eleventh season, permitting an opportunity for the show to have a grand finale.
The series had three spin-offs, the short-lived AfterMASH, which featured several of the show’s characters reunited in a midwestern hospital after the war, the more successful Trapper John, M.D. (which a court later ruled was actually a spin-off of the original film), and an unpurchased television pilot, W*A*L*T*E*R, in which Walter “Radar” O’Reilly (played by Gary Burghoff) joins the police force.
Contents
Synopsis
M*A*S*H was a weekly half-hour situation comedy, sometimes described as “black comedy” 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 4077 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 a habitual crossdresser would not last long in such a place; real women were too scarce.)
Main characters
Full Series Run Characters
Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce (Alan Alda) – Rank: Captain; Chief Surgeon of the 4077th. Hawkeye is from Crabapple Cove, Maine, and is equally skilled at wit and scalpel. Hawkeye was drafted into the war and despises every moment, although he tries to make as many good memories as possible between romancing the nurses, playing practical jokes on other members of the camp, and horsing around with his friends. He once described his role in Korea as: “…to pull bodies out of a sausage grinder, if possible without going crazy.” Hawkeye, Trapper John and Frank Burns all share a tent, known as ‘The Swamp’; his tentmates are later replaced by B.J. Hunnicut and Charles Winchester.
Father John Patrick Francis Mulcahy (William Christopher) – Rank: Lieutenant, later promoted to Captain; chaplain of the 4077th. – Father Mulcahy is a sweet, mild-mannered, somewhat naive Catholic priest assigned to minister to the 4077th. Though he can be stern and implacable when necessary, Father Mulcahy prefers to embody the values of love, compassion, forgiveness and charity. When his time permits, Father Mulcahy also assists the local orphanages and charitable organizations attempting to care for the Korean children lost or displaced by the war. He taught boxing at his parish in the U.S. Interestingly, the role of Father Mulcahy was played by George Morgan in the Pilot episode, with Christopher taking the role in the third episode.
Margaret J. “Hot Lips” Houlihan (Loretta Swit) – Rank: Major; Head Nurse. Once described by Charles as “part seductress and part Attila the Hun,” Margaret is a career Army nurse from a military family (her father was retired Col. Alvin “Howitzer Al” Houlihan). Even when she thoroughly disapproves of their non-military behavior, Margaret still develops a fondness for the men and women around her and is highly protective of them, especially her nurses. Initially, Margaret ensconces herself in a torrid affair with the married Frank Burns, despite the fact that both adultery and fraternization are serious crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Eventually, Margaret tires of Frank’s petty, inept and callous behavior and, after a short courtship, marries Lieutenant Colonel Donald Penobscott. The marriage is short-lived, however, and they divorce. Margaret’s character changes considerably over the course of the show, from a libinious, comic hypocrite to a sensitive, proud and intelligent woman. After the war, Margaret stays with the Army rather than continue her career in a civilian facility.
Maxwell Q. Klinger (Jamie Farr) – Rank: Corporal, later promoted to Sergeant; Company Clerk (after Radar’s discharge) for the 4077th. Klinger is of Lebanese descent from Toledo, Ohio. Though he marries his high-school sweetheart Laverne Esposito via short-wave radio, she later has an affair while he is in Korea and they divorce. Klinger is best known for continually dressing in women’s clothes, the more outrageous the better, in an attempt to gain a ‘Section 8′ (psychiatric) discharge. His campaign is easily seen through by Henry Blake and Sherman Potter, who indulge Klinger’s wardrobe for amusement’s sake. After Radar’s departure, Klinger abandons the dresses and wears the green utilities sported by the other non-coms of the 4077th. Just before the war ends, Klinger falls in love with and marries a South Korean refugee named Soon-Yee; after all of his attempts to get out of Korea before the war is over, Klinger ends up staying after the cease-fire is effected to help Soon-Yee look for her parents in the refugee camps.
Partial Run Characters
“Trapper” John Francis Xavier McIntyre (Wayne Rogers) (Seasons 1-3) – Rank: Captain; Surgeon. Trapper is Hawkeye’s partner in crime, though his skills are never touted as highly as Hawkeye’s. He is better remembered by the camp for his skill at practical jokes. When Wayne Rogers left the show over creative differences concerning Trapper’s character development, it was written into the series that he received his discharge while Hawkeye was on leave following Henry Blake’s death. He left no note or other form of goodbye for Hawkeye, a surprising act of callousness towards a close companion which left Hawkeye profoundly upset. Even years later, when B.J. received his discharge and was not allowed time to leave a note, Hawkeye’s reaction was founded in his initial dismay and hurt that Trapper did not bother to say goodbye. Some fans believe that this was done as an act of revenge by the writers and producers against Rogers, casting Trapper in an unsympathetic light in order to win audiences over to the new character of B.J. Hunnicutt.
Henry Braymore Blake (McLean Stevenson) (Seasons 1-3) – Rank: Lieutenant Colonel; Surgeon; Commanding Officer of the 4077th. Henry is a mild, occasionally uncertain, C.O. who runs the 4077th. A good surgeon but an in-over-his-head commanding officer, Henry turns a blind eye to all but the most egregious behavior of his subordinates, and allows Hawkeye and Trapper a fairly free rein; this proves to be a constant irritation to Frank Burns and Margaret Houlihan, who are ‘regular Army’ and frequently demand that Henry rein in the madcap Trapper and Hawkeye (typically after the pair have pulled some outrageous stunt which humiliates one or both of them). In the final episode of the third season, Henry receives his discharge, but never makes it home. In a gut-wrenching moment of television history, the audience thinks Henry is returning to the U.S. safe and sound when Radar enters the O.R., looking utterly hollow and deflated:
Trapper: Radar, put a mask on!
Hawkeye: If that’s my discharge, give it to me straight, I can take it.
Radar: I have a message. Lieutenant Colonel… Henry Blake’s plane… was shot down over the sea of Japan… it spun in… there were no survivors.
The famous scene was made all the more stunning because the cast (with the exception of Alan Alda) hadn’t been informed of this until just before the scene was to be shot, so their shock and dismay were their real reactions. After Radar’s message is delivered, an unscripted clatter is heard as a cast member accidentally dropped a surgical instrument. The show’s producers decided to leave it in the final cut, because it gave an even greater sense of realism to the shock and dismay felt by the characters.
Franklin Delano Marion Burns (Larry Linville) (Seasons 1-5) – Rank: Major; Surgeon. Frank is a bumbling, egotistical, cowardly man whose poor skills as a surgery are often panned or outright denigrated by others of the 4077th. Though married, he conducts an ongoing affair with Maj. Margaret Houlihan and pursues her even after she becomes engaged to Donald Penobscott. Frank’s behavior ranges from the mildly annoying to the extremely offensive, from blindly patriotic and racist to patently self-serving. Margaret’s marriage to Penobscott finally pushes Frank over the edge, and he goes on a delusional spree in Tokyo attempting to find her while she and Penobscott are on their honeymoon. Frank is eventually cleared of any criminal charges arising from his behavior, given a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, and sent to a veteran’s hospital in Indiana (much to the chagrin of Hawkeye).
Walter Eugene “Radar” O’Reilly (Gary Burghoff) (Seasons 1-8) – Rank: Corporal; Company Clerk. Radar is the classic young Iowa farm boy who is drafted into war and matures twice as fast on the battlefield than he ever would on the farm. Walter is called ‘Radar’ because of his sharp ear for choppers and his always accurate guesses on what Blake and later Potter will want from him next. Radar is in charge of all communications and requisitions for the 4077th, as well as acting as a secretary for the C.O. Radar’s father died when he was young, and his Uncle Ed is his male role model until he arrives in Korea; Henry Blake was like a father to him, and Sherman Potter was a mentor/grandfatherly figure. Radar felt special hero-worship for Hawkeye until, when Radar is wounded and must himself undergo surgery, Hawkeye drinks so heavily that his hangover forces him to leave the O.R. in the middle of an operation. After a serious fight between them, Radar and Hawkeye mend their relationship, and Hawkeye becomes like another elder brother. When Radar’s Uncle Ed dies, Radar is granted a hardship discharge and goes home to run the farm for his mother.
(Note: Gary Burghoff was the only actor from the movie to repeat his role in the TV series.)
B.J. Hunnicut (Mike Farrell) (Seasons 4-11) – Rank: Captain; Surgeon. B.J. is drafted not long before he arrives at the 4077th, and is picked up in Seoul by Radar and Hawkeye, who were attempting to reach Trapper before he left for the States. B.J.’s senses are assaulted by the horrors of war almost from the moment he arrives, and he quickly bonds with Hawkeye. A quiet, fun-loving man, B.J. does not romance the nurses as Trapper had; he is happily married with a baby daughter, who had been born just before he was drafted. Though B.J. has what might be called an ‘affair de coeur’ with a nurse and a journalist while stationed in Korea, his steadfast loyalty to his wife and daughter are one of his defining characteristics, and make him an excellent counterpoint to Hawkeye’s more licentious behavior. In one episode Hawkeye becomes obsessed with finding out what the letters “B.J.” stand for, and eventually B.J. insists (perhaps jokingly) that he was named for his mother Bea and his father Jay. “What’s the B.J. stand for?” “Anything you want.”
Sherman T. Potter (Harry Morgan) (Season 4-11) – Rank: Colonel; Surgeon; Commanding Officer of the 4077th (after Henry Blake). Sherman Potter is a happily-married career military surgeon who is assigned to command the 4077th after Henry’s discharge. Sherman’s military career dates back to World War I, when he was a cavalry soldier(he started as an enlisted man, becoming a commissioned officer later in his career). Though Frank and Margaret initially expect that a regular Army man will impose more discipline on Hawkeye, Klinger and the other draftees, Sherman prefers to allow their horseplay because they are draftees rather than regular Army. He also finds their pranks amusing, although his patience has limits. During the war, Radar presents him with a horse for his wedding anniversary, which he names Sophie; after the war is over, Sherman donates Sophie to the orphanage near the camp and retires from the Army, determined to spend his remaining years with his wife, children, and grandchildren. He is an avid painter, and as the seasons progress his office becomes decorated with his quirky portraits of the hospital staff.
Charles Emerson Winchester III (David Ogden Stiers) (Seasons 6-11) – Rank: Major; Surgeon. Charles is the Head of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery at Boston General Hospital. When he is initially drafted, he is stationed in Tokyo, but after beating Colonel Baldwin at cribbage and taking him for $672.17, the colonel transfers Charles to the 4077th to replace the now-insane Frank Burns. Charles is from a wealthy Boston family and deplores every aspect of camp life: “Know this: you can cut me off from the civilized world, you can incarcerate me with two moronic cellmates, you can torture me with your thrice daily swill, but you cannot break the spirit of a Winchester. My voice shall be heard from this wilderness and I shall be delivered from this fetid and festering sewer!” Eventually, Charles learns to accept life in the 4077th, as abysmal as he may find it, and makes do. While his relationship with his swamp bunkmates never loses its adversarial quality, they develop a strong if unspoken friendship. Just before leaving Korea, he meets a roving band of North Korean P.O.W. musicians and teaches them to play one of Mozart’s quartets; they are subsequently killed in a bombing raid and Charles’ attitude towards music is forever changed.
A varied cast of minor characters also added color to the show, and these characters were remarkably fleshed out over the course of the series.
Changes
McLean Stevenson was growing unhappy playing third scalpel 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 a few minutes before 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 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, passed away. Both actors died of a heart attack.
Wayne Rogers (Trapper John McIntyre) was planning on returing 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 was drafted in as Trapper’s replacement. In the season’s second episode, Colonel Sherman T. Potter was assigned to the unit as commanding officer, replacing Blake. 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 (“I could never love anyone who didn’t outrank me”), but the union did not last for long. The “Hot Lips” nickname was rarely used to describe her after about the mid-way 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.
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, that he would leave the series. During the first episode of Season Six, Frank Burns had suffered a 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.” A longtime smoker, Linville died of cancer-related pneumonia in April, 2000.
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 able 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 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, 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 only characters to stay for the entire run were Hawkeye, Margaret, Klinger, and Father Mulcahy.
“Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen”
Main article: Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen
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“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.
Change in Ton
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.
Some fans prefer the more serious and dramatic tone of the later seasons over the more chaotic humor of the early years. Other fans consider the tonal shift, plus the change in cast members, to be an instance of what is unofficialy known in the television industry as jumping the shark.[citation needed] 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 are generally split into two eras: the Larry Gelbart/Gene Reynolds “comedy” years (1972-1977), and the Alan Alda “dramatic” years (1978-1983).
Facts
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* The series lasted eleven seasons, while the actual Korean War lasted only three years.
* Many episodes were based on information from interviews by real life Korean War veterans, including doctors, nurses, soldiers, and helicopter pilots. Burt Metcalfe later admitted that towards the end of the show much of their source material had dried up, with many new interviews only yielding past information, which hurt the show since it was locked in a specific time period.
* Two episodes of M*A*S*H focused on interviews with the 4077th personnel. The interviewer in both of these episodes was Clete Roberts, who was chosen for the part because he had been a Korean War correspondent in real life.
* The character Spearchucker Jones was dropped after only a few episodes when research revealed that there were no black surgeons serving in the M*A*S*H units during the Korean War. Jones’s bunk was left unclaimed (except by visiting officers) for the rest of the series.
* In the first episode of the third season (“The General Flipped At Dawn” [9/10/74]), Harry Morgan made a guest appearance as a crazy major general named Bartford Hamilton Steele who wants to move the 4077th unit closer to the front line. Fortunately, his request is ignored when it becomes apparent that he is mentally unstable. Specifically, at a preliminary hearing to a court-martial, Steele requests that a black soldier break into a song-and-dance number, before doing so himself on the way out of the tent. At the end of the episode, Steele is promoted to lieutenant general, transferred to the Pentagon and placed in charge of operations for the entire Asian theater. A year later, Morgan joined the cast of M*A*S*H as the stern, by-the-book but decent, warmhearted Colonel Sherman Potter, replacing McLean Stevenson’s inept yet affable Henry Blake. At the time of filming the episode, it was well known to the cast and crew that Stevenson wanted to leave. After filming the episode, Morgan was offered the role of Potter. He said that he would if he was availabl * Most of the doctors drafted into the MASH units were between the ages of 21 and 28, usually just out of medical school, chosen because they were young, were less likely to have families of their own and easy to control. In the novel, Hawkeye is 28 when he arrives at the unit in November 1951. Duke Forrest is a year older. On average, the doctors did one year’s tour of duty and were then discharged. Almost all of the actors on M*A*S*H were over 30 when the series began and were well over 40 by the time the series ended. In one episode, Potter’s comment that Hawkeye is okay except for being young seems doubly ironic, given that Alan Alda’s black hair was starting to turn gray.
* In the pilot episode [9/17/72], Trapper is seen wearing a red robe in the swamp while Hawkeye wears a bright orange kimono. In the next episode, Hawkeye inherited the red robe while Trapper took to wearing a yellow robe (ketchup and mustard), and the orange kimono is never seen again. B.J. Hunnicutt would wear a blue robe.
* In “A Full Rich Day” [12/3/74], Colonel Blake refers to the public announcer as Tony.
* Harry Morgan stated that Colonel Potter was one of his personal favorite characters and said he felt he could have “gone on forever” playing that character. When M*A*S*H ended, Morgan, William Christopher and Jamie Farr headlined a short lived spin-off titled After MASH, which took place in Potter’s home town of Hannibal, Missouri, where Christopher and Farr assisted Morgan in the local hospital.
* At the end of its first season, the show was 46th of 86 in the ratings. CBS responded by moving the show to Saturday night, between hits All in the Family and Mary Tyler Moore. As a result, M*A*S*H would end the next nine of ten seasons in the top ten.
* The show’s theme song was “Suicide is Painless” (by Johnny Mandel), an instrumental version of the song (with lyrics by Mike Altman) used in the film. Due to the nature of the lyrics, the producers could not use the original version for a television series theme.
* In the TV series, Hawkeye Pierce is the unit’s Chief Surgeon and a thoracic surgeon to boot. In the original book and film, however, “Trapper” John McIntyre is the unit’s Chief Surgeon and thoracic surgeon. This change in Trapper’s credentials, an essential part of his identity, was one of many signs that Trapper was being relegated to a sidekick and one of the reasons why Wayne Rogers, who played Trapper, left the show after only three seasons.
* B.J. Hunnicutt, Sherman Potter, and Charles Winchester all outlasted the characters they replaced: “Trapper” John McIntyre, Henry Blake, and Frank Burns, respectively.
* Alan Alda and McLean Stevenson shared a medical book during the early seasons to maintain accuracy in their operating room performances. One day, Stevenson happened by a car accident with a bleeding victim on the side of the road and, drawing upon his research for the show, he was able to keep the victim alive until an ambulance arrived.
* The producers wanted the show broadcast without a laugh track, but were overruled by CBS; eventually, as a compromise, the operating room scenes were shown without a laugh track. It was possibly as a protest that the show’s producers wrote and shot an episode set entirely in the operating room (“O.R.” [10/8/74]), since the network-imposed laugh track was exempt from scenes filmed there. “O.R.” as first seen in the United Kingdom however, was broadcast by the BBC without a laugh track, although the Paramount Comedy satellite channel later rescreened the series there in the U.S. version. The DVD releases offer a choice of soundtracks with or without laughter. As the series progressed, Alan Alda and the producers were allowed to produce a number of episodes without laugh tracks. One of the more notable of these episodes is “Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler” [11/7/75], in which a bomber pilot believes he is Jesus Christ.
* Gary Burghoff said in an interview that he realized it was time to leave the show when he was relaxing in his pool. He heard a plane fly overhead and froze, like his character would do on the show. In truth, he was seriously beginning to suffer from the early stages of burnout, which was taking a toll on him and his family life. Although Radar was only 18, Gary was nearly 30 when he was playing Radar.
* When Gary Burghoff announced that he was leaving, Mike Farrell tried to talk him out of it by pointing out the unsuccessful careers that McLean Stevenson and Larry Linville had when they left.
* Gary Burghoff has a couple of fingers on his left hand that are smaller than normal. Realizing that it is unusual to get drafted with such a hand, Burghoff took great pains to conceal his hand from the cameras.
* The “T” in Colonel Potter’s name is never revealed, leaving fans to theorize that it could stand for anything from ‘Thomas’ to ‘Timothy’ to ‘Tyler’. Harry Morgan himself admitted that he did not know what the “T” stood for, but once suggested that it could have stood for ‘Tecumseh’.
* One of the most asked questions about the series is the name of Radar’s teddy bear. The series never revealed the bear’s name, or even whether the bear has a name. When Radar is discharged, he leaves the teddy bear behind. The doll is buried in a time capsule in the second to last episode of the series, “As Time Goes By” [2/21/83].
* The cast actually did bury a time capsule on the set in the hopes that it would be found many years after the series ended. This plan was thwarted when 20th Century Fox sold the land shortly after the series ended. A construction worker found the capsule soon after the sale and thought that the cast would want it back. When he tried to return it to them, Alan Alda told him to keep it. [1]
* In the series finale, Dr. Sidney Freedman repeats a line from one of his first appearances: “Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice: pull down your pants, and slide on the ice.”
* Whenever a character left, the producers intentionally filled the gap with a character who was wholly dissimilar from his predecessor:
o Trapper John McIntyre, every bit as much a womanizer and prankster as Hawkeye, was replaced by B.J. Hunnicutt, a devoted family man who tended to take life in stride (though he had a knack for practical jokes).
o Lt. Colonel Blake, a buffoonish but likable and friendly draftee placed in charge of the M*A*S*H, was replaced by Colonel Potter, a career soldier who commanded a great deal of respect from the 4077th.
o Major Burns, an incompetent doctor and rather unintelligent person in general, but fiercely loyal to the military, was replaced by stuffy Bostonian draftee Major Charles Emerson Winchester. Winchester was not only a highly skilled surgeon, but frequently outwited Pierce and Hunnicut, as well as showing more humanity than they gave him credit for having.
o Radar O’Reilly began the series as a wise-to-the-ways-of-the-Army-and-the-world teenage boy who was forced to become a man by the war (the way the character was portrayed in the book and feature film). By Season 2, however, the writers transformed Radar into a pure and innocent midwestern youngster with an unflappable ability to keep the M*A*S*H running like a well-oiled machine. This incarnation was replaced (in his job function) with Maxwell Klinger, who was already well known to lie and scheme on a daily basis and who was the epitome of disorder, but learned to handle the day-to-day affairs of the unit tolerably well, though never up to the standard set by Radar.
* Unlike many other series where characters that left the show are never referred to again, Henry Blake, Trapper, Frank Burns and Radar O’Reilly are regularly referred to in the rest of the series.
* Hawkeye (Alan Alda) is the only character to appear in all 251 episodes, by virtue of the episode fittingly titled “Hawkeye” [1/13/76], in which none of the other characters appear. The episode consists of Hawkeye doing a monologue while in the home of a Korean family, to avoid falling unconscious after suffering a concussion.
* McLean Stevenson, who played Lt. Col. Henry Blake, died of a heart attack on 15 February 1996. The next day, Roger Bowen, who played Lt. Col. Henry Blake in the movie, died of the same cause.
* Loretta Swit and Alan Alda were the only two actors who appeared in the first and last episodes of the series. Their two characters, along with Father Mulcahy, all appear in both episodes; however, Mulcahy was played by George Morgan in the pilot, while being played by William Christopher for the rest of the series.
* The series was groundbreaking in its use of language, being one of the first network series, and certainly the first comedy series, to allow the phrase “son-of-a-bitch” in dialogue.
* Nearly all the stars of M*A*S*H have guest starred on Murder, She Wrote, The Love Boat, and Pyramid.
* The piece of music Charles is teaching to the Chinese musicians in the last episode is the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings (K. 581) by Mozart.
* In the episode “Edwina” [12/24/72], the female nurses refuse to be intimate with the men unless one of the men date clumsy nurse Edwina. Yet in other episodes, nearly all the nurses refuse to date Radar. Of course, all the women nurses were officers while Radar was an enlisted man. An episode where Radar DID date a nurse led to possible court martial but ended in transfer of the nurse.
* Radar usually pursued nurses who are not interested, yet on at least two occasions (episodes “Lt. Radar O’Reilly” [10/12/76] and “Springtime” [10/14/74]), Radar turns chicken when faced with a woman who wants to get romantic.
* We never knew if Radar’s Uncle Ed was his mother’s (Mrs. O’Reilly’s) brother or brother-in-law.
* On March 30, 1981, American President Ronald Reagan was shot in an assassination attempt. CBS covered the story until Reagan was safely out of surgery, resuming regular programming at 9 p.m. Eastern time. The M*A*S*H episode scheduled to air in that time slot, “The Life You Save”, involved Major Winchester having a close brush with death when a sniper’s bullet passes through his hat. Because of the uncomfortable similarity of the plot to the real-life assassination attempt, CBS hastily substituted a repeat of an earlier episode, and “The Life You Save” was finally broadcast on May 4th, 1981.
* Richard Hooker, who wrote the novel that inspired both the film and television versions of MASH, did not like the TV series version of his book. In particular, he did not care for Alan Alda’s portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce (though he did respect Alda’s abilities as an actor). Robert Altman, who directed the film, also greatly disliked the series, complaining that what his film accomplished through subtle humor, the TV series assaulted with loud, obvious speeches, thus defeating the purpose of depicting people acting absurdly to stay sane against an insane setting.
* Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan was based on a real life Korean War Head Nurse known as Hot Lips Hammerly, also a very attractive blonde with a similar personality and also from El Paso, Texas.
* Captain Duke Forrest, who appeared in the original book and in the film was played by Tom Skerritt, never appeared in the TV series. In fact, he was intentionally left out in order to keep from having too many characters crowding the screen. It is unknown why Duke was not used as Trapper John’s replacement when Wayne Rogers decided to leave the series.
* After the news of Lt. Col. Blake’s death shocked the world, the very next night on The Carol Burnett Show, the opening shot was of McLean Stevenson in a smoking raft, waving his arms, hollering, “I’m OK! I’m OK!”
* In the pilot episode, Henry Blake wears his vest over his army green shirt; this is the only episode which he does.
* In one of the last season episodes, a North Korean pilot defects while the conflict still goes on. A NKP did defect, but that was in September 1953-which was 2 months after the July 1953 cease-fire.
* Another of the 11th season episodes was when Hawkeye crashes into the Peace talks to get them going again and the top U.S. negotiator is an Admiral. At the time of the July 1953 cease-fire the top U.S. negotiator was Army General Mark Wayne Clark.
* A last season episode has the PA announce about the French besieged at Dien Bien Phu; that happened in 1954.
* “A Full Rich Day” [12/3/74] featured a gun-toting GI forcing doctors to operate on his wounded officer. A similar incident actually happened in the World War II during Operation Market Garden, and is depicted in the movie A Bridge Too Far (in a role played by James Caan).
* In John Melady’s history of Canadians in the Korean War, one Canadian doctor related that he provided notes for the series writers based on his experiences with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in Korea. However, not only were his notes never used, his only contribution to the show was when the creators used his name as the name of a fictional US Army general who has a side of beef stolen by the 4077 staff in one episode.
* Canadians are mentioned in at least two episodes; the pilot, when Hawkeye mentions that helicopters are bringing in “wounded Canadians”, and a later episode in which Klinger barters with a soldier named “Turnbull” (Charles Hallahan) from Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
DVD Releases
M*A*S*H Season 11 DVD Cover ArEnlargM*A*S*H Season 11 DVD Cover ArDVD 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, 2006 May 29, 2006
Trivia
* Author Paulette Bourgeois credits an episode of M*A*S*H 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 404) and being lucky enough to submit it “on spec” and have it produced. They wrote no other episodes of the series.
Actress Spring Byington’s photo was used as the photo of Mildred Potter, Colonel Potter’s wife.
Continuity Errors and Anachronisms
M*A*S*H is known for a number of continuity errors and anachronisms. This is not surprising, as the producers never anticipated a run of 11 seasons and no effort was made in the early years to maintain an internal continuity. That the errors continued, and compounded, after the 4th or 5th year, is more striking.
* In his first appearance in the series, Dr. Sidney Freedman’s first name was Milton. (His character was also more cynical and sardonic than later appearances.)
* Mrs. Blake’s (Henry’s wife) name was Mildred in the early episodes; later it was Lorraine.
* Early in the series, Hawkeye mentions spending Christmas at home in Vermont, shows Trapper a sweater that his sister knitted, and writes a letter home to his father where he tells him to “give my love to mom and sis”. Later in the series he makes numerous references to Crabapple Cove, Maine as his boyhood home, indicated that he was an only child, and tells Radar that his mother died when he was a child and his father had never remarried.
* Early in his stint at the 4077th, Colonel Potter mentions going home to Nebraska. Later, Hannibal, Missouri became his hometown.
* When Colonel Potter arrives to take command of the 4077th, the announcer gives the date as September 19, 1952. The Novacaine Mutiny also gives October 1952. In another episode Potter remarks that the Gloucestershire Regiment fight without helmets. This Regiment was in Korean Conflict 1950-1951 not 1952.
* Also when Potter arrived at camp, he explained that he lied about his age in order to fight in World War I. He later said in the episode Pressure Points that he was 62 years old. If that was the case, he would have been at least in his early twenties when World War I began.
* The season 9 episode A War For All Seasons takes place over the full year of 1951, depicting such things as an electric fireplace in the swamp (ordered from the Sears catalogue) and a vegetable garden planted by Father Mulcahy, which do not appear in any other episodes whose content place them in 1951. Potter appears at the camp’s New Years Eve party held on December 31, 1950, in conflict with the first season M*A*S*H Christmas Episode. Klinger and Winchester lose bets after the Brooklyn Dodgers lost the National League to the New York Giants in 1951 – an episode filmed after the “Novacaine Mutiny” of 1952! Major Houlihan’s hairstyle remains constant throughout this episode, even though it had varied considerably across the series and other episodes ostensibly set in 1951.
* In episodes prior to the above, the Public Address system reports that Douglas MacArthur replaced by Matthew Ridgeway which happened on April 21, 1951 and Hawkeye asking if Vice-President Nixon was going to marry Elizabeth Taylor. Richard Nixon was elected Vice-President on November 4, 1952 and did not take office until January 20, 1953.
* Numerous references to pop culture items such as Godzilla, the Blob, Mickey Mouse Club and Spider-Man are made throughout the show, even though they did not exist until after the Korean War.
* At the beginning of Der Tag (episode #4.17), Radar has an issue of The Avengers lying on his bed. The Avengers comic book debuted in 1963. Further, between shots, the exact issue changes between two radically different covers (one with the older ’60s logo, and another with the later ’70s “A” with an arrow logo.)
* In The Incubator (episode # 2.12), Colonel Lambert (played by actor Logan Ramsey) makes reference to the B-52 bomber, which made its first flight in 1954 (a year after the war ended) and did not enter service until 1955.
* In one episode from the second season, a drunken Hot Lips tells Henry he looks like her father before he died. However, her father later appears in the series, alive and well.
* From the overhead establishing shot during the opening credits, the C.O.’s office windows should face the Post-Op room. However the view outside the window is sometimes the Post-Op room, sometimes an exterior of the camp. This opening overhead shot remains constant throughout the series, but never truly matches the ground plan seen in the episodes.
* It is mentioned twice (at the end of the third season and at the beginning of the seventh) that the doctors can be sent home depending on how many points they rack up. In reality, this point system had been used only in World War II and was discontinued before the Korean War began. There was however a new version of the point system instituted during September 1951 [2], for army personnel, but doctors were not eligible for rotation in that system.
* In the Christmas 1950 episode, Hawkeye is shown in a red Santa Claus outfit being lowered from a helicopter to a foxhole under fire; however, in September-December 1950, the fighting line was at the Pusan Perimeter and the Chosin Reservoir, whereas M*A*S*H 4077 was supposedly located near Uijongbu near the 1953 DMZ; furthermore, that winter was one of the coldest on record, whereas the foxhole scene is clearly filmed in summer.
* MacArthur visits the M*A*S*H in 1950. In fact, MacArthur visited the Korean front from January to March 1951. MacArthur is shown in his olive drab uniform; in Korea he wore an overcoat.
* In the series, Maggie Higgins visited in the latter part of the Korean War. In fact, she was in Korea from summer to December of 1950.
* In one episode, Hot Lips goes down the road to deliver a baby; Klinger forgets where she’s gone and Colonel Flagg almost activates an Airborne Division to search for the missing Hot Lips. Of three US Parachute units in 1950-1953 (the U.S. 17th Airborne Division, the 82nd Airborne and the 101st Airborne) none were in Korea. The 187th Airborne R.C.T. (Regimental Combat Team, not Division) made 2 combat jumps in Korea, but those took place in 1950 and 1951; see Airborne Forces. It’s clear from the context of Flagg’s behaviour that he is almost certainly a certifiable loon, so this course of action may well be the rantings of deranged madman.
* When B.J. Hunnicut arrives in Korea, he tells Hawkeye that his wife was 8 months pregnant when he received his draft notice, and that he was ordered to report to ship out just after his first night out with his wife after Erin’s birth. Much later, in the episode following Radar’s departure, we are told that he arrived stateside to be met by B.J.’s family, and Erin called Radar “daddy”, placing this episode at least 18 months after her birth. See above concerning A War for All Seasons (Hunnicut is present throughout 1951) and the date of Potter’s arrival (Hunnicut arrived only a short time prior).
* In one episode Major Winchester turns down Klinger’s idea to invest in a hula-hoop prototype. In an earlier episode, well before Winchester’s arrival, Klinger says at a poker game that he’d wear hula hoops in his ears if it would get him out of the army, when a comment is made at a poker game about his hoop earrings. The Hula-hoop came into being in 1958 (historically, Wham-O just reinvented and trademarked the name Hula Hoop, the term itself can be traced back to the 18th century). See Hula Hoop.
* Frank’s birthday moves from winter to summer. In the episode “For Want of a Boot”, Hawkeye throws Frank a birthday party in what is clearly wintertime with wind, snow, and everyone wearing winter gear. In a later episode, when Hawkeye and BJ have a fight as a “gift” for Frank’s birthday, it is obviously sunny, dry, and B.J. wears a short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt.
* In several first-season episodes, characters refer to Korea being in the Southeast Asia field of operations. Korea is in Northeast Asia.
* IN one episode Hawkeye catchs a fraud pretending to be a doctor-but gives him an hour to leave before calling in the MPs. At the end the fraud pretends to be a priest!! As a matter of fact there was an incident of a man pretending to be a doctor in Korea-but this happened in 1951 on a Canadian destroyer-see The Great Imposter.
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:
* Hawkeye, 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.
* Point of View, in which a single camera represents the point of view of a patient who arrives by chopper, is operated on and spends the episode in post-op.
* 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 1, 2, and 3; Radar writes to his mother Dear Ma; Sidney writes to Sigmund Freud (Dear Sigmund); Potter writes to his wife (Dear Mildred); Klinger writes to his Uncle (Dear Uncle Abdul); Father Mulcahy writes to his sister, the nun (Dear Sis); Winchester “writes” home (The Winchester Tapes); and Winchester’s houseboy {and NKP spy!} writes to his own army unit (Dear Comrade).
* The Interview, which is a sort of mockumentary about the 4077th (and in which the actors partially improvised their responses to the interviewer’s questions).
* Life Time, 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).
* Follies of the Living – Concerns of the Dead , 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.
* Dreams, in which the dreams of the overworked and sleep-deprived members of the 4077th are visually depicted, revealing their fears, yearnings, and frustrations.
Regular Characters
Note: Arranged alphabetically by actor. Years in parentheses mark when the character appeared on the show; those without years were on the show for the entire series.
* Alan Alda as Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierc * Gary Burghoff as Corporal Walter Eugene “Radar” O’Reilly (1972–1979) *
* William Christopher as 1st Lieutenant/Captain John Patrick Francis Mulcahy, Chaplain ** (see below)
* Jamie Farr as Corporal/Sgt. Maxwell Q. Klinger
* Mike Farrell as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt (1975–1983)
* Larry Linville as Major Franklin Delano/Marion Burns (1972–1977)
* Harry Morgan as Colonel Sherman T. Potter (1975–1983)
* Wayne Rogers as Captain “Trapper” John Francis Xavier McIntyre (1972–1975)
* McLean Stevenson as Lt. Col. Henry Braymore Blake (1972–1975)
* David Ogden Stiers as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III (1977–1983)
* Loretta Swit as Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan
* The only regular character portrayed by the same actor as in the film version.
** Played by George Morgan in the pilot episode.
Father Mulcahy was also referred to by his middle name Francis, and in the final episode recites his name as “Francis John Patrick Mulcahy” to Klinger in case he wants to name any children after him.
Recurring Characters
The M*A*S*H series frequently used recurring characters, as either supporting staff or visitors to the 4077th. While they were not given “star” credit, their familiarity to the viewers is an integral ingredient to the success of the show.
* Patrick Adiarte as Ho-Jon (first season)
* Allan Arbus as Major Sidney Theodore Freedman, M.D., a psychiatrist frequently summoned in cases of mental health problems
* G.W. Bailey as Staff Sgt. Luther Rizzo, the lazy head of the camp’s motor pool
* Sorrell Booke as Brigadier General Barker (first season)
* Timothy Brown as Captain Dr. Oliver Harmon “Spearchucker” Jones (first season)
* Joshua Bryant as Private/Sergeant Jack Scully, a grizzled combat veteran who has a fling with Houlihan
* Roy Goldman as Corpsman Roy Goldman
* Odessa Cleveland as Nurse Ginger Ballis
* Johnny Haymer as Staff Sgt. Zelmo Zale, the supply sergean * Enid Kent as Nurse Bigelow
* Jeff Maxwell as Pvt. Igor Straminsky, a not terribly bright mess tent assistant and officers’ club bartender
* Linda Meiklejohn as Lt. Leslie Scorch
* Kellye Nakahara as Nurse Keilani Kellye, the most prominent recurring nurse character below Major Houlihan
* John Orchard as “Ugly” John (first season), an Australian anesthesiologis * Karen Philipp as Lieutenant Maggie “Dish” Schneider (first season)
* Peter Riegert as Igor Straminsky in two episodes in 1977
* Marcia Strassman as Nurse Margie Cutler (first season)
* Todd Susman as the P.A. System Announcer (voice only)
* Dennis Troy as various corpsmen/drivers/MPs
* Sal Viscuso as the P.A. System Announcer (voice only)
* Loudon Wainwright III as Captain Calvin Spalding (third season only)
* Edward Winter as Lt.Col./Col. Sam Flagg, a borderline mad U.S. intelligence agen * G. Wood as Brigadier General Hamilton Hammond (first season)
* Herb Voland as Brigadier General Crandall Clayton
* Multiple actors (Beeson Carroll, Mike Henry) as Lt. Col. Donald Penobscot * Multiple actresses (Jean Powell, Linda Kelsey, Lynnette Mettey, Lynne Marie Stewart) as Nurse Baker
* Multiple actresses (Judy Farrell, Kellye Nakahara, Sherry Steffens) as Nurse Abel/Abl * Multiple actresses (Shizuko Hoshi, Frances Fong, Eileen Saki) as Rosie of Rosie’s Bar, a popular eating and drinking establishment close to the camp
* Multiple actresses as Nurse Craddie, a tough middle-aged woman — a kind of female Sherman Potter — who ran first a clinic, then an orphanage, for Korean children and unwed mothers
Notable Guest Stars
* Anthony Alda, brother of Alan Alda, in “Lend a Hand” (episode 820)
* Robert Alda, father of Alan Alda, as “Dr. Anthony Borelli” in “The Consultant” (episode 317) and “Lend a Hand” (episode 820)
* Joan van Ark as “Lt. Erika Johnson” in “Radar’s Report” (episode 203)
* Ned Beatty as “Col. Hollister” in “Dear Peggy” (episode 410)
* Ed Begley, Jr. as “Pvt. Paul Conway” in “Too Many Cooks” (episode 801)
* Andrew Dice Clay as “Cpl. Hrabosky” in “Trick or Treatment” (episode 1102)
* Barry Corbin as “Sgt. Joe Vickers” in “Your Retention Please” (episode 907)
* James Cromwell as “Bardonaro” in “Last Laugh” (episode 603)
* Blythe Danner as “Carlye Breslin Walton” in “The More I See You” (episode 422)
* Brian Dennehy as “M.P. Ernie Connors” in “Souvenirs” (episode 522)
* Laurence Fishburne as “Corporal Dorsey” in “The Tooth Shall Set You Free” (episode 1014)
* Ed Flanders as “Lt. Bricker” in “Yankee Doodle Doctor” (episode 106)
* Teri Garr as “Lieutenant Suzanne Marquette” in “The Sniper” (episode 210)
* Charles Hallahan as “Colin Turnbull” in “Taking the Fifth” (episode 909)
* Gregory Harrison as “Lt. Tony Baker” in “The Nurses” (episode 505)
* Mariette Hartley as “Dr. Inga Halverson” in “Inga” (episode 716)
* Edward Herrmann as “Capt. Steven J. Newsome” in “Heal Thyself (episode 181)
* Ron Howard as “Private Wendell Peterson” in “Sometimes You Hear the Bullet” (episode 117)
* Robert Ito as “Lin” in “To Market to Market” (episode 102)
* Makoto Iwamatsu (aka Mako) as “Dr. Lin Tam” in episode: “Rainbow Bridge” (episode 303), as “Major Choi” in episode: “Hawkeye Get Your Gun” (episode 510), as “Lt. Hung Lee Park” in episode: “Guerilla My Dreams” (episode 803) and as “Li Chan” in episode: “The Best of Enemies” (episode 901)
* Alex Karras as “Lyle Wesson” in “Springtime” (episode 306)
* Bruno Kirby as “Pvt. Lorenzo Boone” in “Pilot” (episode 101)
* Mary Kay Place as “Louise” in “Springtime” (episode 306)
* Clyde Kusatsu as “Kwang Duk” in “Officers Only” (episode 215) and in “Henry in Love” (episode 216), as “Sgt. Michael Yee” in “Goodbye, Cruel World” (episode 821) and as “Capt. Yamato” in “The Joker Is Wild” (episode 1104)
* George Lindsey as “Capt. Roy Dupree” in “Temporary Duty” (episode 621)
* Shelley Long as “Lt. Mendenhall” in “Bottle Fatigue” (episode 816)
* Richard Masur as “Lt ‘Digger’ Detweiler” in “The Late Captain Pierce” (episode 404)
* Noriyuki “Pat” Morita as “Capt. Sam Pak” in “Deal Me Out” (episode 213) and “The Chosen People” (episode 219)
* Leslie Nielsen as “Col. Buzz Brighton” in “The Ringbanger” (episode 116)
* Soon-Tek Oh as “Mr. Kwang” in “Love and Marriage” (episode 320), as “Korean Soldier” in “The Bus” (episode 406), as “Dr. Syn Paik” in “The Korean Surgeon” (episode 509), as “Ralph” in “The Yalu Brick Road” (episode 810) and as “Joon-Sung” in “Foreign Affairs” (episode 1103)
* John Ritter as “Pvt. Carter” in “Deal Me Out” (episode 213)
* Jack Soo as “Charlie Lee” in “To Market to Market” (episode 102)
* Susan Saint James as “Aggie O’Shea” in “War Co-Respondent” (episode 823)
* Richard Lee-Sung as “Cho Man Chin” (episodes 407 and 501), “Sang Nu” (episode 615), “Ham Kim” (episode 723), and other characters (episodes 303, 608, 804, 1007, 1021)
* Patrick Swayze as “Pvt. Gary Sturgis” in “Blood Brothers” (episode 918)
* Jeffrey Tambor as “Maj. Reddish” in “Foreign Affairs” (episode 1103)
* Vic Tayback (episode 412)
* George Wendt as “Pvt. La Roche” in “Trick or Treatment” (episode 1102)
* Larry Wilcox as “Mulligan” in “The General’s Practitioner” (episode 520)
* John Orchard as “Ugly John” later appeared as the M.P. Muldoon (episode 813)
References
Episode 203 credits CNN.com article about Alan Alda and his favorite episodes
See also
Portal:M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H Portal
* List of M*A*S*H episodes
* Cross-dressing in film and television
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
M*A*S*H (TV series)
* M*A*S*H at The Internet Movie Databas * M*A*S*H Timelin * Encyclopedia of Television
* Finest Kind – Fan Site w/ News, Episode Guides, Video Clips
* U.K. Fan Site w/ Interviews, Episode Guides
* Best Care Anywhere – Fan Site w/ Episode Guides, Memorable Moments
* TV Tom * Yahoo Groups M*A*S*H email discussion group
* Funtrivia quizzes w/Episode quizzes, etc.
M*A*S*H
Characters:
Hawkeye Pierce | Trapper John McIntyre | Duke Forrest | B.J. Hunnicutt | Henry Blake | Colonel 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 PenobscoBooks: M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors | M*A*S*H Goes to Maine | M*A*S*H Goes to Paris | M*A*S*H Goes to New Orleans | M*A*S*H Goes to London | M*A*S*H Goes to Vienna | M*A*S*H Goes to San Francisco | M*A*S*H Goes to Morocco | M*A*S*H Goes to Miami | M*A*S*H Goes to Las Vegas | M*A*S*H Goes to Hollywood | M*A*S*H Mania | M*A*S*H Goes to Texas | M*A*S*H Goes to Moscow | M*A*S*H Goes to Montreal
Film: M*A*S*H
TV series: M*A*S*H | Trapper John, M.D. | AfterM*A*S*H | W*A*L*T*E*R
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You can catch four back-to-back episodes of M*A*S*H M-F on Hallmark channel.