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)