David Ogden Stiers, 1942 - 2018

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

M*A*S*HCast

Coming soon to The Fire and Water Podcast Network!

M*A*S*H Goes To Hollywood

I generally haven't bothered reviewing the M*A*S*H novels on this site, because aside from the characters, they really don't have anything to do with the show. If anything, original M*A*S*H author Richard Hooker (aka Richard Hornberger) went out of his way to disparage the show whenever he could (though I'm sure he still cashed the checks).

Anyway, my longtime pal (and new Swamp Rat) Chris Franklin recently gifted me a copy of M*A*S*H Goes To Hollywood when he saw it at an antique store. So I thought I should at least give it a read. Hollywood is the 11th book in the series, "co-written" by Hooker and William Butterworth. I put that in quotes because supposedly after M*A*S*H Goes To Maine (1972), Hooker/Hornberger had no involvement in these books at all. In fact, it's most likely that the series wouldn't have continued at all if not for the TV series, which of course turned the M*A*S*H name into a valuable property.

I'm giving all this back story because, the short of it, I didn't enjoy this book at all. As a diehard M*A*S*H fan, I have a basic curiosity over the fact that I am reading characters called Hawkeye, Trapper John, and Hot Lips, like I've stumbled into an alternate universe. But Hollywood isn't remotely funny, and worse yet, it's smug and believes itself to be hilarious (there's a character called "Don Rhotten", har dee har har), making it painful to get through.

I've often said that even though I fully acknowledge that Robert Altman's M*A*S*H film is brilliant, I find a little unpleasant to watch because I think the characters are so sour and mean, especially compared to the TV versions. The book's characters have even less warmth than the movie ones, so for me there was nothing to, er, hook into. It was basically just a bunch of unfunny jokes for 200 pages, and then it stops.

Still, I appreciate Chris's generosity, and I was happy to have experienced the book for its own sake. Apparently the last M*A*S*H book, 1977's M*A*S*H Mania, ignores all the previous Butterworth books and presents the characters have grown into middle age, which sounds at least a little more interesting than what's on display here.

One last thing: on the book's back cover, the show is explicitly plugged, going so far as to list the then-cast of the show, despite the fact that most of them do not appear in this book.

Run Till You Fall

A little while ago, I heard about a TV movie from 1988 called Run Till You Fall, starring Jamie Farr. By itself that's not that remarkable--there were a billion TV movies in the 70s and 80s--until you learn that it was directed by none other than Mike Farrell, making this a mini-M*A*S*H reunion!

RTYF is Farrell's sole non-M*A*S*H directing credit, and I haven't been able to learn anything about it other than a one-sentence plot summary ("A small town private eye tries to win back his estranged wife and their young disabled son"). Unlike a lot of TV movies from the time, it's not available on YouTube, though you can watch a fifteen-minute chunk of it there.

Along with Farr, the cast includes Fred Savage, Shelley Fabares (Mrs. Mike Farrell), CCH Pounder, and Clyde Kusatsu, who appeared in four episodes of M*A*S*H--including the classic "The Joker is Wild", where he played an old Army buddy of...B.J. Hunnicutt!

If anyone can help me track down this movie, it would be greatly appreciated!

M*A*S*H at 45

To celebrate M*A*S*H's 45th anniversary, I welcomed film critic Zaki Hasan onto an episode of our FW Presents podcast to talk about our love of the show. Give it a listen!

The Struggle is Real

And yet another reason why M*A*S*H needs to be on streaming!

USS Enterprise NCC-4077

In 1991, David Ogden Stiers made a guest appearance on "Half A Life", a season 4 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I watched TNG when it originally aired, and I remembered being delighted to see Maj. Winchester again!

What I didn't know was that there was an Easter egg buried in the show, as a nod to Mr. Stiers' former TV gig. Look closely on one of the control panels in Engineering, and you'll see a familiar set of numbers:

I never knew about this gag until it was mentioned on the great Mission Log podcast, an episode-by-episode look at Star Trek in all its forms. Nice job, ST: TNG art department!

William Christopher, 1932-2016

Dear Bill,

I hope you don't mind me calling you Bill, considering that we've never met. But every time I saw someone on the show refer to you, it was as "Bill", not "William." Plus, you seem just so darn friendly that I didn't think you'd mind.

I've never been a believer, of any stripe, but if I had been stationed at the 4077th, I think I would have sought Father Mulcahy out--just to "kick it around", as he liked to say. Father Mulcahy was always so wise, so warm, so understanding, that even though we didn't share any of the same beliefs, you infused the character with such a basic humanity that I never thought you would judge me, no matter how much I might screw up.

You were asked once what M*A*S*H was about, and you cheekily said: "It's about a chaplain in Korea." And while that wasn't strictly true, your presence on the show always offered a stark contrast to the other characters, and the show would have been severely diminished without your presence. And when Father Mulcahy got a big moment--like in "The Interview", "Mulcahy's War", "Dear Sis", or "A Holy Mess"--you knocked it out of the park. In those moments, the show was about a chaplain in Korea!

I grew up on M*A*S*H, and it was an enormous influence on the person I am today. Decades later, I'm still miffed that AfterM*A*S*H--which I watched, er, religiously--was cancelled so unceremoniously, and your character never got a proper goodbye. I like to think Father Mulcahy kept hanging out with his 4077th pals, and continued making life better for anyone who came to him for help. Like the character you so brilliantly played for over a decade, you brought a lot of joy into people's lives.

Rest in peace, William--Bill--Christopher.

Rolling Stone Top 100 TV Shows of All Time

M*A*S*H came in at #16 on Rolling Stone's Top 100 Shows of All-Time list, which is pretty respectable since it's been off the air for so long and isn't a staple of streaming services at the moment. But, of course, I'd still place it much higher!

MASHED: A Korean War RPG

Attention all personnel! Here's a Kickstarter campaign for an RPG called MASHED, which its creators describe this way: "Experience the Korean War with the men and women of the 8099th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) in this unique historical RPG." 

The campaign still has 28 days to go, and it's already met its goal. As someone who has run several Kickstarter campaigns, I can't tell you how impressive that is. There doesn't seem to be any connection to the show (for copyright reasons, I would think), but that doesn't mean it's not an interesting endeavor. Not being a gamer myself, this project doesn't attract me as something I'd want to participate in, but it still looks pretty cool, well researched, and attractively designed. Check it out, MASH fans!

(h/t: Newest Swamp Rat Andy Kapellusch)

M*A*S*H Hardee's Poster

I saw this Hardee's promotional poster for sale on eBay a few months ago. The seller had no info on it, so that leaves me baffled as to the purpose of this. What's the connection between Hardee's and M*A*S*H?

Also, it's interesting(ish)--this shot of the gang is familiar to any M*A*S*H fan, except this is a painted version of the original photo. Was this ever used in another capacity? Why in the world was this painting even commissioned, when they had the photo already? Not that it's not nifty (it is), but it still leaves me baffled.

Maybe Col. Potter painted it?

Col. Henry Blake on "Cher"

The long lost footage of McLean Stevenson as Col. Henry Blake has finally surfaced, thanks to the fine folks over at www.mash4077tv.com. Maybe part of the reason this clip--which supposedly aired just days after "Abyssinia, Henry"--was so hard to find was that it was always credited to The Carol Burnett Show (it even says so on IMDB).

But as you can see from the video above, this weird cameo was on a Cher-hosted show, mostly likely the 1975-1976 variety series simply known as Cher. IMDB lists Season 1, Episode 7 as having aired on March 23, 1975, just five days after the legendary M*A*S*H Season 3 closer. There's no mention of the appearance of course, but I feel like this is a safe bet.

A tip of the martini glass to Swamp Rat Daniel Hopmans for letting me know about this. As Hawkeye Pierce once said, I hate a mystery!

Hop Lips IPA

I haven't tried this, but I really want to. The creators, Dominion Brewing Co., say it contains "post-mash citrus." I bet it does!

Courtesy newest Swamp Rat Hugh B. Scott. Thanks Hugh!

Josh Radnor - Entertainment Weekly

The Fantastic World of D.C. Collins

This might just be the strangest thing I have ever posted on the AfterM*A*S*H blog.

The Fantastic World of D.C. Collins was a 1984 TV movie starring Gary Coleman as a precocious kid who imagines himself in all sorts of fantastical situations seen in TV and movies. Improbably, one of the places he sees himself in is...a MASH unit in 1950s Korea!

I'm not even sure where to start with this, it's so unfathomably strange. All I can do is thank Swamp Rat Steve Spatucci for sending it to me, I was completely unaware of the movie's existence. I was happier then.

Movie Tonight: The Cat From Outer Space

Today is another, overdue installment of a segment we call "Movie Tonight", where we discuss a movie with particularly notable M*A*S*H connections.

The film in question for today is the 1979 Disney movie The Cat From Outer Space, which I remember my Mom taking me to in the theaters:

The reason we're discussing it here is the cast. Aside from family film stalwarts like Ken Berry and Sandy Duncan, TCFOS features no less than both 4077 commanders, Harry (Col. Potter) Morgan and McLean (Henry Blake) Stevenson! Even better, they share some scenes like together, like this one early in the movie:

As the title suggests, the plot concerns an alien that comes to Earth, that just happens to look like a kitty cat. Morgan is a blustery general who thinks this is the beginning of an alien invasion, and Stevenson is a kind but befuddled doctor who works alongside Berry and Duncan. There's a long scene where Morgan gets to yell at everyone, the first of three or four scenes where both M*A*S*H actors share the screen.

There's various hi-jinx involving Berry and the cat, ending with the alien feline (named Jake) applying for U.S. citizenship! That's where another M*A*S*H veteran comes in: Sorrell Booke, who at the time was famous for being Boss Hogg, but nevertheless appeared as General Barker in Season 1 of the show:

While expecting a lot of from a piece of product like The Cat From Outer Space is a little too much, it's a shame that this movie is so lifeless. Just because a movie is for kids doesn't mean it has to be bad, and all the proceedings here are so dull that it's a shame such a talented cast is wasted (including Roddy McDowall, who spends so much of the movie by himself I'm betting he shot almost all of his scenes over a weekend, then headed off for another Apes project). As we know, Harry Morgan could be very funny, even when playing a mean guy, but here he's just a one-note jerk. Stevenson comes off a little better, but he's playing second fiddle to Ken Berry. Sheesh.

Part of the reason I find these movies with M*A*S*H connections even worthy of noting is, I wonder what the cast conversations were like when they weren't filming? By this time, the show was in its fifth season, and more popular than ever. At the same time, it was obvious that Stevenson's decision to leave M*A*S*H dealt his career a catastrophic blow. Did Harry and McLean chat around the craft services table? Did McLean look at Harry and think "Man, what did I do..."?

Speaking of M*A*S*H connections, there's yet another one: TCFOS was directed by Disney go-to guy Norman Tokar, who helmed Season 2's "Five O'Clock Charlie", one of the funniest shows that season! So the guy knew funny, he just didn't really deliver that here. As I mentioned above, I saw this in the theater, and I think even then I caught the M*A*S*H connection, which probably just confused me.

And that's the Movie Tonight!

TV Guide - February 9, 1974

You can't go wrong with Jack Davis, and TV Guide knew it, so they commissioned him for this great M*A*S*H cover. This issue is from February 9, 1974, while the show was wrapping up its second season.

M*A*S*H Emergency Helicopter

If you were a rack toy manufacturer and had a gross of toy helicopters laying around, it only made sense to spend a few bucks for the M*A*S*H license in the hopes you could move a few more that way.

The only real notable thing here is the card art--I don't believe I've seen that particular piece of art before, featuring semi-caricatures of the gang. Even more unusual is the inclusion of Radar, who (generally) had left the show before the merchandising really kicked in. Still, if I had seen this at a toy store when I was a kid, I would have picked it up, stat!


(h/t: PlaidStallions)

Nehi Magnet

Newest Swamp Rat Christina Stith found this magnet on sale at a JoAnn Fabrics in Maryland and, of course, immediately thought of M*A*S*H. How could you not, especially with those 4077th-esque colors?

Thanks Christina!

M*A*S*Home Buyers

I saw this sign while waiting at a stoplight, and I couldn't believe it. Even having been off the air for more than thirty years, M*A*S*H is still famous enough for someone to think it was a good hook when attracting customers. Frank Burns would be so proud!