M*A*S*H Ad: "Death Takes A Holiday"

I love that inappropriate "a-ok" Hawkeye shot that advertisers used more than once in these ads. Col. Potter seems to disapprove, however.

M*A*S*H Ad: "Give 'Em Hell, Hawkeye"

What an odd headline! I wonder what other CBS shows were involved in the "breaking taboos" theme of the night?

Also, B.J. looks very suspicious of Hawkeye, don't you think?

M*A*S*H Ad: "The Life You Save"

The collection of goofy faces really doesn't quite convey the moody seriousness of this episode--and I can't be sure, but I don't think that still of David Ogden Stiers is even from M*A*S*H!

M*A*S*H Ad: "Rumor At The Top"

I guess they couldn't find a "Surprised Hawkeye" shot, so "Slightly Soused Hawkeye" will have to do!

M*A*S*H Ad: "Iron Guts Kelly"

This is actually a pretty good description of the episode, for once!

M*A*S*H Ad: "Follies of the Living - Concerns of the Dead"

Kind of a goofy description for what was one of the series' most unusual and experimental episodes. But when you've only got one or two sentences to work with, I guess you can't expect too much.

I like Klinger's "I see a ghost!" expression--it was used a lot in these ads, but here its almost appropriate. Almost.

M*A*S*H Ad: "Our Finest Hour"

A very awkward description of what was M*A*S*H's only "clip show."

M*A*S*H Ad: "Bottle Fatigue"

They obviously didn't have a recent picture of Mike Farrell on hand--B.J. had long since grown his groovy 70's 'stache by the time of this episode!

Also, that picture of what looks like a soused Winchester I think comes from another Season Eight episode, "Mr. and Mrs. Who?"--an ironic choice, considering the plot of this show.

M*A*S*H Ad: "Hey, Look Me Over"

While the description of this episode's plot is technically correct, it really does woefully misrepresent what the show was about. I'm guessing Fox did not provide any stock photos or stills of Nurse Kellye.

I love the shot of Hawkeye, B.J., and Winchester, posed as they are in a sort of Three Stooges-esque "wacky hi-jinx" manner.

M*A*S*H Ad: "The General Flipped At Dawn"

Unlike some of the other TV ads for the show, this pic of Alda, Rogers, and Stevenson actually looks like it was all one shot--not cobbled together via cut-and-paste.

M*A*S*H Ad: "Goodbye Radar"

The other day, while surfing eBay looking for "new" M*A*S*H stuff, I found someone selling an unusual item: a collection of 61 different newspaper and TV Guide ads for M*A*S*H, all clipped out by hand!

I've been wanting to put up more new posts here, but without new shows to cover, there hasn't been much to say. But as anyone who visits my other blogs know, I love vintage ads, so this auction seemed custom made for me!

The ads in the auction run the gamut of the show's history: ads for original episodes, ads for re-runs, and more. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do!

I've added a new button to the sidebar ("Struggling in Advertising"), so anytime you want to see all the ads that have so far been posted, just click there!

M*A*S*H Flashlight - 1982

A M*A*S*H flashlight? Why not? They did use them on the show once in a while ("Bombed", "The Sniper") so it makes perfect sense!

M*A*S*H Die-Cast Metal Toys - 1975

More than likely, some toy manufacturer had these little die-cast Army jeep toys sitting around, when someone (probably Morty down in Sales) got the idea that if they paid 20th Century Fox the licensing fee and then slapped a M*A*S*H logo on it, they could sell them as bona-fide tie-in toys and probably make a few bucks. Perhaps I'm being too cynical.

One thing, I do like that drawing of the M*A*S*H chopper: very nice!

M*A*S*H First Aid Kit - 1984

While trolling on eBay for weird and/or obscure M*A*S*H stuff, I found an ad for what might just be the weirdest, most obscure M*A*S*H tie-in ever!

Apparently in 1984 (a year after the show went off the air!), a manufacturer produced this first aid/highway safety kit, slapping the famous M*A*S*H logo on it. Other than that, there's no connection to the show at all, aside from the quasi-medical angle.

If you read the ad (click the graphic to see a readable version), you can see this was kind of an Amway thing, where you bought a bunch of kits with the idea you would then sell them yourself and turn a profit (a very Winchester Season 6 kind of plan). If you bought 12 kits(!) they sent you a keen M*A*S*H cardboard carrying case, which you can see little Timmy holding in the ad.

I looked up this kit on a page about M*A*S*H collectibles, and its listed as "common", which must be true, because I found one for sale online for only $20.00. I wonder how rare that cardboard carrying case is? I bet a lot.

Community - "Investigative Journalism"

I've recently been catching up with the first season of Community, a show replete with meta jokes about other TV series.

In the first season episode "Investigative Journalism" (air date 1/4/10), Jeff (Joel McHale) is pushed into taking over Greendale College's failing newspaper, and his flippant attitude leads the others in the study group to start calling him Hawkeye.

But the M*A*S*H references only start there--Joel starts wearing Hawaiian shirts, and Abed (Danny Pudi) not only builds a still in Joel's office, but asks to be called Radar. Joel's office is even slightly decorated to look like Col. Potter's office, with a big dark green desk.

To top it off, when the show ends, it freeze frames (something Community to this point had never done), complete with M*A*S*H-style on-screen credits and font!


This is the second time M*A*S*H has been referenced on the series (in a previous episode guest star Patton Oswalt, playing the school nurse, refers to himself as "the Hawkeye" around the place). Not only am I finding Community to very smart and very funny, but these M*A*S*H homages make watching it that much more fun!

M*A*S*H Mini-Pinball Game - 1981

Check out this odd little toy, a mini-pinball game manufactured by Ja-Ru, who seemed to specialize in "rack toys" such as this one.

Slapping some M*A*S*H pics on a mini-pinball game seems like a stretch, although I guess if you wanted to be generous you could say there was a pinball game in the O Club, so...

Hot Lips Action Figure Revealed!

This is the Hot Lips action figure/doll that I talked about before here on the blog, at the time not knowing who produced it or what the doll looked like under its cloth outfit accessory.

But thanks to an eBay auction, I've learned two things: 1)the doll body type was the same model as the Hawkeye one (with one, er, major exception) and 2)the dolls were produced by a company called Durham Toys, whoever they were/are. So while it still doesn't present us the full picture, at least we know more now than we did.

That head doesn't really match the body, making Hot Lips kinda creepy!

TV Guide - 2/24/73

Another issue of TV Guide with a M*A*S*H cover--in this case, the very first time the show's cast graced the cover, undoubtedly reflecting that the show, then still in its first season, was gaining steam, creatively and with audiences.

I found this on eBay, so I don't have the actual issue on hand to check out the article. Maybe should I pick it up, if only for the cool vintage ads...

"The Interview" - 35 Years Ago Today

One of (if not the) M*A*S*H's finest episodes, Season Four's The Interview, aired on this date in 1976.

To mark this occasion, The Archive of American Television is featuring clips from the show plus interviews with some of the people who were involved in the creation of this amazing show, like Alan Alda, Harry Morgan, Larry Gelbart, and Gene Reynolds. Click here to check it out!

M*A*S*H Dog Tags - 1981

I found these for sale on eBay the other night. While I wasn't intrigued enough to buy them, I did want to mention them here.

Licensors tried their best to market the massively-popular M*A*S*H brand in the early 1980s, but none of the products: action figures, puzzles, trading cards, or board games set the world on fire. I assume official M*A*S*H-style dog tags met the same fate.

I do, however, love the fairly casual cast photo that adorns the package. The absence of Gary Burghoff suggests it was snapped after the eighth season, but Mike Farrell doesn't look like he has his mustache yet, so I can't be sure!

M*A*S*H XXX

I stumbled across this during a Google search--to say I was stunned was an understatement.

If you need an example of how much M*A*S*H is still part of pop culture, almost three decades after it went off the air, look no further.

The most disturbing part for me? The teddy bear.

M*A*S*H's Final Days - 2/28/84

Another vintage M*A*S*H article, this time from Stars and Stripes that ran on February 28, 1984, one year exactly after the show went off the air. Click to read the whole thing!

M*A*S*H on VHS - 1984

I found this fairly rare single page ad for sale on eBay--CBS/Fox pitching "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" as a standalone VHS for sale.

The ad copy seems to suggest its aimed at individual buyers, but at the time most new VHS tapes were selling for a now-astounding $79.95, so it seems more likely this was meant for video stores to rent.

This tape was one of the first VHS tapes I ever wanted to own (at the time, it was the only episode of M*A*S*H available on tape, and in turn it was the only episode not part of the syndicated re-runs), and it stayed at that $79.95 price for what seemed like forever. Then one, day, all of a sudden, it was knocked down to something like $30 (a steal!) and I snapped it up immediately.

M*A*S*H Finale Review - 2/28/83

Another vintage M*A*S*H articles, this one from the Loganspoirt, IN Pharos-Tribune that ran on February 28, 1983, the day of the series' final episode.

In the intervening decades, newspapers have taken such a hit that a paper devoting this much column space to a TV show--any episode of any TV show--seems kind of inconceivable now.

Since the article was an syndicated piece from the AP, we don't know who wrote it--but whoever did was obviously a fan, and a thoughtful one at that: they manage to encapsulate many of the final episode's best and most important moments.

Four M*A*S*H Articles - 2/28/83

The Lubbock, Texas Evening Journal ran not one, not two, not three, but four different articles about M*A*S*H on the occasion of its final episode. A better testament to the show's cultural impact I can't really imagine.

M*A*S*H Review - 9/15/72

I was searching through an online newspaper archive and found a bunch of cool vintage M*A*S*H articles, like this one, a review of the pilot from the Illinois Galesburg Register Mail that ran on September 15, 1972, a mere two days before it aired.

The writer of the piece seemed like to like M*A*S*H just fine, but seemed more excited about Anna and the King, which lasted a mere thirteen episodes. M*A*S*H, of course, lasted just a little bit longer...

M*A*S*H on The Simpsons, Part 2 - 2002

I found yet another M*A*S*H reference on The Simpsons today, this time in a thirteenth season episode, "The Half-Decent Proposal."

In the episode, Marge receives an offer from former boyfriend, now-internet zillionaire Artie Ziff to spend the weekend with him for a million dollars. Marge, at a low point in her marriage with Homer, agrees. Artie picks her up in his private helicopter, and as Marge watches Homer from above, "Suicide is Painless" begins to play.

Not only that, but Homer has left a note for Marge, written in stones:

I wonder how many people got the reference at the time--M*A*S*H had been off the air for almost two decades, after all.

After M*A*S*H Episode 28 - Saturday's Heroes

Season 2, Episode 28: Saturday's Heroes
Original Air Date: 12/11/84
Written by: Ken Levine & David Isaacs
Directed by: Burt Metcalfe

Klinger, still confined to the hospital's mental ward, receives a weekend pass, which he plans to spend with Soon-Lee, alone. They plan to spend it at the Potter's house, since they are headed off for a romantic weekend. Similarly, Dr. Boyer has made plans with a beautiful new nurse.

Unfortunately, all of their plans are interrupted--Soon-Lee, too, is feeling amorous, but wants to get the business done of naming their child first, going so far as to invite a gypsy (the great Kathleen Freeman) over to try and mystically conceive of the perfect name. Potter is similarly non-plussed when he finds out that Mildred has offered Alma Cox a ride to a rendevous a couple of towns over where she has a date planned.

Back at the hospital, the new administrator, Wally Wainwright, talks with his family back in Washington. He is bored and lonely in this new job and town, and in his pique cancels all the weekend leaves for the mental ward patients. The staff psychiatrist Dr. Dudziak tries to talk him out of it, but it doesn't work.

That causes the beautiful nurse Dr. Boyer planned to spend the weekend with (lots of sex, then ice cream is the plan) has to cancel on him because she has to work. Boyer is crushed, and decides to hang out at the local bar and get drunk. Wainwright shows up, and after some initial tension (it is Wainwright's fault, after all), Boyer and he decide to get drunk together--Boyer having sympathy for the man who is so far away from his family.

Back at the Potter house, Klinger is willing to rush through the naming process to get upstairs, but Soon-Lee is having none of it. He goes through a list of baseball players to name their child after, at first settling on Jackie Robinson Klinger. Soon-Lee wants something that blends the child's Asian/Lebanese background more, and they keep going.

Meanwhile, the Potter's car breaks down just out of town and they all walk back home, destroying any idea of romance Klinger might have had. Then Father Mulcahy arrives, ready to christen the child. After some more discussion, where everyone throws out the names of baseball players, they settle on Cy Young Klinger.

Dr. Boyer and Wainwright, drunk, also show up, and Wainwright is perturbed to see an unauthorized Klinger out of the mental ward. They try to explain the situation, and he seems to relent. Watching the christening, he grows so sad over his absent family that he asks to use the Potter's phone to call them. Potter agrees.

He places a call, but its not to his family--its to the hospital's security, telling them there's an escaped mental patient at the Potter house!

Later, we see Klinger in isolation at the hospital's mental ward. But its not so bad---Dr. Dudziak arranged Soon-Lee to be in there with him, finally giving the young couple some time alone.


Fun Facts: An alternate title for this episode could have been Coitis Interruptus, since its essentially about how Potter, Klinger, and Dr. Boyer are all getting thwarted in their attempts to spend some alone time with their women. Kind of a startling concept for such a family-oriented show--no wonder Father Mulcahy only shows up at the end!


Favorite Line: When Dr. Boyer's hot date arrives--still dressed for work--he grits his teeth in anticipation and says, "Oh, good--she's wearing her nurse's uniform. That woman knows my every sick thought."

I never thought I would see this episode (the last one of the series ever aired), until Swamp Rat Kevin Greenlee offered to send me a copy of the show once he read here on the blog that I'd never seen it. Thanks Kevin!

This episode was one of the funnier ones, with a lot of good, quick lines being tossed out by the cast. The aforementioned adult premise of this episode is somewhat hidden by the show's overall genial tone, which to me seems the best way to do material like this, and was one of the things M*A*S*H excelled at.

Having now seen every episode of After M*A*S*H that ever aired (there is still one unseen episode, "Wet Feet", that must be around somewhere in some dusty vault), I stand by my earlier opinion that the show should have been given more time to find its creative bearings.

To the show's credit, it wasn't just aping M*A*S*H; no, After M*A*S*H was its own entity and it was criminal of CBS--who made untold millions of dollars of profit and earned tons of prestige from the original show--to cancel it so abruptly. As silly as it might sound, I'm still kind of aggravated that three characters I love so much--Col. Potter, Klinger, and Father Mulcahy--never got a proper send off here; they just disappeared.

Thanks again to Kevin for giving me the chance to see this elusive episode!

M*A*S*H On Futurama - 2000

The Simpsons is not the only Matt Groening show to reference M*A*S*H. In the second season Futurama episode "War Is The H Word", Fry, Bender, and Leela enlist in the Army and end up on some faraway planet fighting a race of aliens that look like bouncing balls. Killer bouncing balls.

Bender is severely injured, so he is taken to nothing less than a MASH unit set up on the planet. When we first see it, we hear a take-off of "Suicide is Painless", and the unit looks very much like the 4077th. The producers even got an actor from M*A*S*H who was one of the voices of the P.A. on the original series to do the same job here!

Not only that, but we see the unit is staffed by a joke-telling, martini-guzzling robot surgeon named iHawk, who toggles a switch on his torso (labeled "Irreverent" and "Maudlin"), simultaneously paying tribute to the show while also mercilessly poking fun at it. Priceless.

I had completely forgotten about this whole scene until Swamp Rat Eric Miller reminded me of it on the Simpsons post. I guess if Matt Groening ever does another series, there'll be a M*A*S*H parody on that show, too.

M*A*S*H Live!

No, M*A*S*H Live isn't some sort of horrifying MASH On Ice type of thing, its just my name for a very exciting event this November 6th. Namely a screening of the MASH movie, followed by a Q&A with Elliott Gould, then two episodes of the series, followed by a panel featuring William Christopher, Jeff Maxwell, Gene Reynolds, Ken Levine, Dr. Walter Dishell, Burt Metcalfe, and Charles Dubin. As Radar would say, Holy Cow!

This is all to benefit the California State Parks Association, where the series (as well as many other classic movies and TV shows) were filmed. You can out more about the event and the association at their website. Man, do I wish I could go!