The Interview: Larry Hama

As I approached the commentary track for Season 5's "The Korean Surgeon", I thought it would be a perfect time to have a brief chat with comics writer/artist/editor, musician, and actor Larry Hama, who played one of the two North Korean soldiers in this episode!

I read Larry's answers to my questions on the commentary track for the episode, but I'm also running our talk here on the blog as well. This interview was conducted on May 19, 2012:

AfterM*A*S*H: How did you get the job on M*A*S*H? The show was at the top of the ratings at the time, I can only imagine how many hundreds of actors tried to get an audition for that show!

Larry Hama: I was in LA doing the west coast tour of Stephen Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion. Soon-Tek Oh, who was in a number of episodes suggested I get the Bessie Loo Agency on Sunset to rep me while I was in town (they handled many Asian performers in LA) so I went to talk to them and they set me up with an audition the next week. I did one reading and got the part. Apparently they had a hard time finding Asian heavies.

AM: All of your scenes are with Larry Linville, Gary Burghoff, and Jamie Farr. Do you recall any of the other cast being around the days you were filming? Did you get to meet any of them?

LH: I got to meet Alan Alda. He was extremely relaxed and friendly--a genuinely nice person who didn't seem to have any "star" attitude at all. Pretty much everybody involved with the production was that way. Very good vibes on the set!

AM: Did you talk much with Larry Linville between shooting? What was he like to work with?

LH: I got to talk with him a lot, since many of the shots were with him, Bob Ito and I in the Jeep. In order to do the shot before we kick him out, we had to back the jeep up around a bend in the road and wait for camera and sound to be ready. There were a lot of delays with aircraft passing overhead, so sometimes we were stuck there around the bend for quite a while, and we just shot the breeze. Larry Linville was a sweet and charming guy, and one of the most popular people on the set. Quite the opposite of what he played. I remember that Bob Ito asked me if I was auditioning for some new show that week, and when I asked him what the show was, he said it was a comedy about a medical examiner, and I thought "that will never fly." Bob went, and got the part of Sam on Quincy.

AM: Do you recall shooting any scenes that didn't make it into the show?

LH: No, they pretty much used what they shot.

AM: M*A*S*H frequently re-used actors for multiple roles, especially for Korean characters. Did you ever get the chance to try out for the show again?

LH: I went up to San Francisco to finish out the "Pacific Overtures" Tour, then went back to New York to start a rock and roll band and get back into comics, so I never read for another part on M*A*S*H.


Thanks to Larry Hama for giving us some insight into working on this episode of M*A*S*H!

AfterM*A*S*H Commercial - 1983

A rare promo for AfterM*A*S*H! I love the idea of the show airing in it's "proper place"--i.e., Monday nights.

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1984

A double-dose of M*A*S*H in the afternoon! Hells yeah!

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1980

I'm sure CBS figured pairing the new Wayne Rogers show (where he plays a doctor, no less!) with M*A*S*H was a can't lose proposition...

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1978

I have no idea what Prisoner in the Middle is all about, but damn it looks like fun! All that shooting and killing looks like the perfect movie to follow M*A*S*H...

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1983

A longish commercial for the final episode...

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1984

A full hour of M*A*S*H in the afternoon! Watch it while eating a big bowl of Crispix!

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1983

A commercial all the way from Brisbane, Australia!

Re-runs of M*A*S*H and The Muppet Show, together? Sign me up!

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1972

"Have we got a night for you!"

Wait a second...back up a bit. Go replay the commercial. Do you see what I see?

I don't recall seeing either of these particular scenes in the Pilot, or any other, episode of M*A*S*H:

Of course, the running-up-the-hill shot is famous, but I don't recall ever seeing that blond woman (Nurse Dish?) there before. As to the scene with the dentist...methinks there's a longer version of the M*A*S*H Pilot out there somewhere!

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1983

I probably saw this exact ad when it aired, since I watched "Goodbye Farewell, and Amen" when most of the Free World did--February 28, 1983!

Love the custom graphics, BTW--CBS obviously figured this show was worth spending the couple extra bucks!

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1978

Season Seven's "They Call The Wind Korea"

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1982

M*A*S*H's final Season Premiere!

M*A*S*H Commercial - 1982

"M*A*S*H celebrates Halloween!"

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Conclusion

Okay M*A*S*H fans, our Greatest Hits series has concluded!

Hundreds of votes have been cast, and here's what all you considered to be the finest character episodes of the show:

Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)

Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)

Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)

Margaret: "The Nurses" (Season Five)

Frank: "Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)

Radar: "Fallen Idol" (Season Six)

Klinger: "Period of Adjustment" (Season Eight)

Father Mulcahy: "Mulcahy's War" (Season Five)

B.J.: "Welcome to Korea" (Season Four)

Col. Potter: "Old Soldiers" (Season Eight)

Winchester: "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" (Season Eleven)

Sidney: "Dear Sigmund" (Season Five)

Not surprisingly, most of the winning episodes come from the first couple years of the show, with Season Five nabbing four spots on the list. The only seasons not represented at all are Seasons Nine and Ten, when the show most explicitly used the A-Plot/B-Plot format, which I think didn't lend itself to the deep character explorations contained in shows likes "The Nurses" or "Mulcahy's War."

And while I wouldn't say that "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" represents Maj. Winchester's greatest moments on the series, I would say that of all the characters, his is the most compelling, memorable final storyline, as all the characters were given one last hurrah.

I thank everyone who voted and offered comments and suggestions; I hope it was fun for all involved. Now go and put on your M*A*S*H DVDs!

Picture This: Otis Frampton

I found this keen piece of M*A*S*H fan art over on the DeviantArt page of illustrator Otis Frampton!

You don't see a lot of M*A*S*H fan art, and this piece is especially nice: you've got all the characters in character, and the slight soft focus gives the whole thing a nice, warm feeling. If some studio was crazy enough to bankroll such a project, I could totally see this piece being used as the presentation art to a M*A*S*H animated series.

Head on over to Mr. Frampton's page to see a bigger version of the illustration, as well as a video of it mid-production!

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Sidney

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's the final week of our Greatest Hits series, and it's Sidney's turn!

Since Sidney only appeared in twelve episodes total, I figured why not list them all. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

Sidney's Greatest Hits:
"Radar's Report" (Season Two)
"Deal Me Out" (Season Two)
"O.R." (Season Three)
"Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?" (Season Four)
"Dear Sigmund" (Season Five)
"Hawk's Nightmare" (Season Five)
"War of Nerves" (Season Six)
"The Billfold Syndrome" (Season Seven)
"Good-Bye, Cruel World" (Season Eight)
"Bless You, Hawkeye" (Season Nine)
"Pressure Points" (Season Ten)
"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" (Season Eleven)


Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)
Margaret: "The Nurses" (Season Five)
Frank: "Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)
Radar: "Fallen Idol" (Season Six)
Klinger: "Period of Adjustment" (Season Eight)
Father Mulcahy: "Mulcahy's War" (Season Five)
B.J.: "Welcome to Korea" (Season Four)
Col. Potter: "Old Soldiers" (Season Eight)
Winchester: "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" (Season Eleven)

Hawkeye Variant Action Figure by Tri-Star - 1982

I've covered the quixotic line of M*A*S*H action figures made by Tri-Star in 1982, but while trolling on eBay recently I made this discovery--a Hawkeye "variant"!

I knew Tr-Star had made this anonymous corpsman figure (who I've named "Goldman") to accompany some of their playsets and vehicles, but I had no idea they released the figure on its own, naming it Hawkeye for some strange reason. None of these figures were big sellers, I can only imagine this one was destined to be a peg-warmer before it ever got unpacked at local toy stores, it's so generic.

I guess, if you really wanted to use your imagination, you could pretend this figure is Trapper, and re-enact some of the episodes from the first three seasons.

Movie Tonight: With Six You Get Eggroll

Today is the first installment of a segment I'm calling "Movie Tonight", where we discuss a movie with particularly notable M*A*S*H connections.

The film in question for today is the 1968 Doris Day comedy With Six You Get Eggroll. For those of you really steeped in M*A*S*H arcana (and why else are you here?), you already know why this movie is being mentioned at all in the same breath as the show, so please don't spoil it for everyone else!

I'm not going to bother describing the plot details of the movie (I think the words "Doris Day" and "comedy" pretty much do that job), but rather go right to the end of the film, where Doris' character meets some hippie bikers, played by:

...yep, that's Jamie Farr and William Christopher, a full five years before M*A*S*H started production! Virtually all of their scenes in this movie are together, making them a truly bizarre moment for any M*A*S*H fan, used to to seeing them side-by-side but not looking like this! What are the odds that two character actors would end up on the same show just a few years later?

But upon further examination of the movie, Farr and Christopher are not the only M*A*S*H connection this movie has. Earlier in the film we meet a friend of Doris':

That's General Clayton himself, Herb Voland!

Unfortunately, Voland doesn't appear much in the later part of the movie, so he shares no scenes with Farr or Christopher. But as fate would have it, his name in the credits was placed right next to theirs:

Wow, swap fonts and you could think this is a M*A*S*H credit sequence (not really, but go with me on this one). Truly a bizarre grouping of future 4077 regulars, in a setting about as far away from 1950s Korea as possible.

And that's the Movie Tonight!

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Winchester

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's Week Eleven of our Greatest Hits series, and it's Maj. Winchester's turn!

Below are what I think represent Winchester's ten best episodes from his time on the show. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

Winchester's Greatest Hits:
"Fade Out, Fade In" (Season Six)
"The Winchester Tapes" (Season Six)
"The Merchant of Korea" (Season Six)
"Major Topper" (Season Six)
"Major Ego" (Season Seven)
"They Call The Wind Korea" (Season Seven)
"No Laughing Matter" (Season Nine)
"The Life You Save" (Season Nine)
"Foreign Affairs" (Season Eleven)
"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" (Season Eleven)


Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)
Margaret: "The Nurses" (Season Five)
Frank: "Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)
Radar: "Fallen Idol" (Season Six)
Klinger: "Period of Adjustment" (Season Eight)
Father Mulcahy: "Mulcahy's War" (Season Five)
B.J.: "Welcome to Korea" (Season Four)
Col. Potter: "Old Soldiers" (Season Eight)

M*A*S*H Action Figure Four-Pack - 1982

I was recently trolling eBay for M*A*S*H stuff--you never know what you find. Case in point, this little item, which I had no idea existed: a four-pack of Tri-Star M*A*S*H action figures!

I have the entire collection of single-carded figures, never realizing they were ever released in other forms. Usually multi-packs like this are a way for a manufacturer to burn off excess inventory, and since the M*A*S*H line was pretty much a dud, I guess it only make sense they repackaged them in this form.

I'm also guessing that there's another four-pack, with Hawkeye, Hot Lips, Father Mulcahy, and...either the Klinger in Drag figure, or the anonymous "Corpsman" that came with some of the vehicles. Now I have to keep on the lookout for that one, too!

BTW, the seller was asking $150.00 for this set, which I thought was an outrageous price. So I passed on it, but...someday...

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Col. Potter

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's Week Ten of our Greatest Hits series, and it's Col. Potter's turn!

Below are what I think represent Col. Potter's ten best episodes from his time on the show. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

Col. Potter's Greatest Hits:
"Change of Command" (Season Four)
"Dear Mildred" (Season Four)
"The Interview" (Season Four)
"Hawkeye Get Your Gun" (Season Five)
"Ping Pong" (Season Five)
"Lil" (Season Seven)
"The Price" (Season Seven)
"Old Soldiers" (Season Eight)
"Pressure Points" (Season Ten)
"Strange Bedfellows" (Season Eleven)



Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)
Margaret: "The Nurses" (Season Five)
Frank: "Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)
Radar: "Fallen Idol" (Season Six)
Klinger: "Period of Adjustment" (Season Eight)
Father Mulcahy: "Mulcahy's War" (Season Five)
B.J.: "Welcome to Korea" (Season Four)

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: B.J.

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's Week Nine of our Greatest Hits series, and it's B.J.'s turn!

Below are what I think represent B.J.'s ten best episodes from his time on the show. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

B.J.'s Greatest Hits:
"Welcome to Korea" (Season Four)
"The Kids" (Season Four)
"Hanky Panky" (Season Five)
"B.J. Papa San" (Season Seven)
"The Party" (Season Seven)
"Period of Adjustment" (Season Eight)
"War Co-Respondent" (Season Eight)
"Death Takes A Holiday" (Season Nine)
"The Joker is Wild" (Season Eleven)
"Bombshells" (Season Eleven)


Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)
Margaret: "The Nurses" (Season Five)
Frank: "Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)
Radar: "Fallen Idol" (Season Six)
Klinger: "Period of Adjustment" (Season Eight)
Father Mulcahy: "Mulcahy's War" (Season Five)

M*A*S*H Men

Okay, I had this goofy idea months ago and I kept telling myself it was too silly to bother to post about. And yet, here we are...

I got to thinking that if Hollywood ever wanted to remake M*A*S*H--and I'm not for one second saying they should--that you could cast almost all of the show's characters with the actors from Mad Men, another one of my favorite shows.

I first got this notion when I mentally cast one of 4077th with a Mad Men regular, and then as my mind wandered I realized there was (IMO) an astonishing number of good fits to be found all one this one show. Maybe it's Mad Men's just-out-of-the-1950's setting, or its diversity of age, sex, and types in its cast (still fairly unusual for TV), but as I started forming this crazy notion I realized that if 20th Century Fox hired Matt Weiner to redo M*A*S*H, he wouldn't have to look very far to cast it:

Hawkeye Pierce played by Jon Hamm. As we all know, Hamm is Leading Man handsome and can handle drama, but as his appearances on SNL and 30 Rock have shown, he can handle comedy too. And as much as I enjoy him as Don Draper, I'd love to see him tackle someone a little more heroic in Benjamin Franklin Pierce. We know he'd have the martini gulping down pat!

Col. Henry Blake played by John Slattery. Hamm and Slattery make a great team, and I always really enjoyed the scenes of their two characters being pals. The characters have sort of aged past that, but I can totally see that dynamic recreated at the 4077th, with Slattery as the slightly-older-but-still-one-of-the-gang Henry.

Major Frank Burns played by Vincent Kartheiser. Kartheiser is fantastic as the oily, insecure, yet pompous Pete Campbell, and to me he is a natural fit as Frank Burns. He'd be a bit a younger version of the character (compared to Hamm's Hawkeye), but I think that might be a nice change-up.

 

Major "Hot Lips" Houlihan played by Christina Hendricks. Hendricks, with her absurdly pulchritudinous physique and soft-spoken sense of authority, would be perfect as the new Hot Lips. Her character on Mad Men, officer manager Joan, is used to being undervalued simply because she's a woman, a battle that Major Houlihan fought against during many years on M*A*S*H.

 

Father Mulcahy played by Aaron Staton. While certainly no angel, Staton's character on Mad Men seems the most idealistic, the least venal, the most stable of everyone at the firm. Staton's youthful look of idealism would fit just perfectly as the perpetually-optimistic Father Francis John Patrick Mulcahy.

 

Radar O'Reilly played by Elizabeth Moss . Okay, this is where the new version of M*A*S*H would really forge it's own path. Moss' character on Mad Men, the hardworking, uber-competent Peggy Olson, is a more streetwise version of Radar O'Reilly. While not being a doctor, Radar always held his own with the doctors, just as Peggy struggles to do with the men of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. I think Moss would bring a similar energy to the new Radar.

 

General Hammond/Barker/Clayton/Mitchell played by Robert Morse. Robert Morse's squirrely, somewhat-vacant Bert Cooper would be a perfect prototype for any one of the many absent-minded Generals the 4077th had to deal with from time to time. Many members of Sterling Cooper give their eccentric boss a wide berth, simply because he is their boss, even though they think he's nuts--sound familiar?

 

Col. Flagg played by Mark Moses. Mark Moses' creepily confident "Duck" Phillips reminds me a bit of Col. Flagg, with that condescending squint he uses while sizing his opponents up. I think Moses even kinda looks like the late Edward Winter, who was so crazily brilliant as Scourge of Communism Col. Flagg. "Duck" shows up on Mad Men every so often, mostly to just make everyone else's life miserable. Again, sound familiar?




So that's my list! Try as I might, I couldn't really find anyone on the Mad Men cast list that fit Trapper John, Klinger, or Sidney Freedman, but that probably would have been asking too much--I'm a little shocked I found this many suitable replacements at all!


So like I said--Hollywood, don't get any ideas. M*A*S*H probably could not be replicated in any decent way, so when you're looking for the next old brand name to "re-imagine", just keep moving and forget about the 4077th entirely. But if you have to...

So, what do you M*A*S*H fans think? Am I crazy?

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Father Mulcahy, Part 2

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's time for another run-off election!

Last week I presented a list of what I thought were Father Mulcahy's "Ten Best" episodes, somehow completely forgetting to include Season Five's "Mulcahy's War." When you have 251 episodes to look over, I guess somehow missing one or two is inevitable.

Still, I think "Mulcahy's War" is such a big show for the character that it deserves a chance to be voted on, so we're having another run-off election between it and the winner of the last week's poll, "Dear Sis." So here goes:

Father Mulcahy's Greatest Greatest Hits:
"Mulcahy's War" (Season Five)
"Dear Sis" (Season Seven)


Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)
Margaret: "The Nurses" (Season Five)
Frank: "Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)
Radar: "Fallen Idol" (Season Six)
Klinger: "Period of Adjustment" (Season Eight)

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Father Mulcahy

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's Week Eight of our Greatest Hits series, and it's Father Mulcahy's turn!

Below are what I think represent Mulcahy's ten best episodes from his time on the show. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

Father Mulcahy's Greatest Hits:
"Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?" (Season Four)
"The Interview" (Season Four)
"Exorcism" (Season Five)
"Out of Gas" (Season Seven)
"Dear Sis" (Season Seven)
"Nurse Doctor" (Season Eight)
"Blood Brothers" (Season Nine)
"A Holy Mess" (Season Ten)
"Heroes" (Season Ten)
"Run For the Money" (Season Eleven)


Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)
Margaret: "The Nurses" (Season Five)
Frank: "Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)
Radar: "Fallen Idol" (Season Six)
Klinger: "Period of Adjustment" (Season Eight)

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Klinger

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's Week Seven of our Greatest Hits series, and it's Klinger's turn!

Below are what I think represent Klinger's ten best episodes from his time on the show. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

Klinger's Greatest Hits:
"Aid Station" (Season Three)
"Big Mac" (Season Three)
"Bug Out" (Season Five)
"They Call The Wind Korea" (Season Seven)
"Period of Adjustment" (Season Eight)
"April Fools" (Season Eight)
"Your Retention, Please" (Season Nine)
"Promotion Commotion" (Season Ten)
"Follies of the Living-Concerns of the Dead" (Season Ten)
"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" (Season Eleven)



Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)
Margaret: "The Nurses" (Season Five)
Frank: "Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)
Radar: "Fallen Idol" (Season Six)

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Radar

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's Week Six of our Greatest Hits series, and it's Radar's turn!

Below are what I think represent Radar's ten best episodes from his time on the show. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

Radar's Greatest Hits:
"Love Story" (Season One)
"The Sniper" (Season Two)
"Springtime" (Season Three)
"Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)
"Dear Ma" (Season Four)
"Lt. Radar O'Reilly" (Season Five)
"The Colonel's Horse" (Season Five)
"Fallen Idol" (Season Six)
"The Party" (Season Seven)
"Goodbye Radar" (Season Eight)



Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)
Margaret: "The Nurses" (Season Five)
Frank: "Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Frank Burns

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's Week Five of our Greatest Hits series, and it's Frank Burns's turn!

Below are what I think represent Frank's ten best episodes from his time on the show. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

Margaret's Greatest Hits:
"Five O'Clock Charlie" (Season Two)
"Officer of the Day" (Season Three)
"Alcoholics Unanimous" (Season Three)
"There Is Nothing Like A Nurse" (Season Three)
"The Bus" (Season Four)
"Soldier of the Month" (Season Four)
"Der Tag" (Season Four)
"The Novocaine Mutiny" (Season Four)
"Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)
"Margaret's Marriage" (Season Five)



Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)
Margaret: "The Nurses" (Season Five)

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Margaret, Part 2

Okay M*A*S*H fans, I have to admit: I goofed on this one.

Last week, I posted a list of what I thought were Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan's Greatest Hits from M*A*S*H. Not too long after, Swamp Rat Russell Burbage wondered where Season Five's "The Nurses" and Season Six's "Temporary Duty" was. I was dumbfounded--how did I forget to put these two on the list, especially the former? I guess I was having a bad day, and my mind was (at least partially) elsewhere.

So, in the interest of doing this right, we're doing a Part 2 to this poll. I've taken the top vote-getting show from the first poll--Season Four's "Deluge"--and adding Russell's two suggestions, plus two more, for a sort of run-off election. One "Hot Lips" episode to rule them all!

Margaret's Greatest Hits, Part 2:
"Carry On, Hawkeye" (Season Two)
"Deluge" (Season Four)
"The Nurses" (Season Five)
"Images" (Season Six)
"Temporary Duty" (Season Six)


Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Margaret

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's Week Four of our Greatest Hits series, and it's Major Houlihan's turn!

Below are what I think represent Margaret's ten best episodes from her time on the show. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

Margaret's Greatest Hits:
"Hot Lips and Empty Arms" (Season Two)
"Iron Guts Kelly" (Season Three)
"Deluge" (Season Four)
"Margaret's Engagement" (Season Five)
"Hot Lips Is Back In Town" (Season Seven)
"Are You Now, Margaret?" (Season Eight)
"Stars and Stripes" (Season Eight)
"Father's Day" (Season Nine)
"The Birthday Girls" (Season Ten)
"The U.N., The Night, and the Music" (Season Eleven)



Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)
Henry: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Henry

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's Week Three of our Greatest Hits series, and it's Henry's turn!

Below are what I think represent Henry's ten best episodes from his time on the show. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

Henry's Greatest Hits:
"Chief Surgeon Who?" (Season One)
"Henry, Please Come Home" (Season One)
"The Army-Navy Game" (Season One)
"The Trial of Henry Blake" (Season Two)
"Henry In Love" (Season Two)
"Crisis" (Season Two)
"The General Flipped At Dawn" (Season Three)
"O.R." (Season Three)
"Life With Father" (Season Three)
"Abyssinia, Henry" (Season Three)



Our results so far:
Hawkeye: "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
Trapper: "Kim" (Season Two)

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Trapper John

Okay M*A*S*H fans, it's Week Two of our Greatest Hits series, and it's Trapper John's turn!

Below are what I think represent Trapper's ten best episodes from his time on the show. As before, you can click the link to revisit each episode's recap, and then go ahead and vote in the poll in the sidebar!

Trapper's Greatest Hits:
"Requiem For A Lightweight" (Season One)
"Ceasefire" (Season One)
"Radar's Report" (Season Two)
"Kim" (Season Two)
"Mail Call" (Season Two)
"O.R." (Season Three)
"Check-Up" (Season Three)
"Bombed" (Season Three)
"Love & Marriage" (Season Three)
"Payday" (Season Three)


The winning episode (by a hair!) from last week's poll on Hawkeye was the Season One episode, "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet." We'll be compiling the list of winning episodes as we go on!

M*A*S*H's Greatest Hits: Hawkeye

With M*A*S*H's 40th Anniversary just a half year away (September 17, 2012, to be precise) I've been wanting to post some more content as (small) way of celebrating.

One of the things I've wanted to do for a while was ask you M*A*S*H fans out there what you think are the best moments (or, in my parlance, "Greatest Hits") of each of the show's characters: what episodes feature them at their funniest, dramatic, memorable, or just offered the most compelling insight.

So of course we're starting with Hawkeye, the only character to appear in every single episode. Since running a poll featuring 251 different choices is, well, insane, I've decide to do a little self-selecting and boil the choices down to 10 different episodes, episodes that I think feature some of Hawkeye's greatest moments.

You can refresh your memory by clicking the link to each episode's recap, and then vote in the poll in the sidebar. In a week we'll have the totals then move onto the next member of the 4077th!

Hawkeye's Greatest Hits:
"Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" (Season One)
"L.I.P." (Season Two)
"Adam's Rib" (Season Three)
"The Late Captain Pierce" (Season Four)
"The More I See You" (Season Four)
"Hawkeye Get Your Gun" (Season Five)
"Peace On Us" (Season Seven)
"The Best of Enemies" (Season Nine)
"Sons and Bowlers" (Season Ten)
"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" (Season Eleven)


Vote early, vote often!

M*A*S*H at The Pop Century Hotel

Swamp Rat Shawn Myers sent me this photo from Walt Disney World's Pop Century Hotel. Here's Shawn's explanation as to what this is:

"On my most recent trip to Walt Disney World I stayed at the Pop Century hotel. One early morning I decided to take a walk around Hourglass Lake where they have a pathway called 'Memory Lane'. Different pop cultural historical events of note are represented by signs along the way. When I saw THIS one I thought of you straightaway and knew I had to send you a picture. I hope that you're able to use this on the blog, and if not, I'm sure you'll just enjoy knowing that the sign is there."

Right on both counts, Shawn, and thanks!

I love that this single episode-record M*A*S*H set will almost assuredly never be broken, and that fact keeps the show in people's consciousness, even three decades after it aired.