I’ve added a new feature to the site, Music of M*A*S*H. In the past, I had a section dedicated to various songs used in M*A*S*H. That’s not what this is. I recently acquired cue sheets for the first ten seasons of the series. These sheets identify the music in each episode and I plan on using this information to go through various episodes and point out each use of music.

So far I’ve only done this for “M*A*S*H – The Pilot” but I hope to add additional episodes in the coming months. You’ll be able to listen to audio for each piece of music and it will be placed in its proper context within the episode. I hope this is of some interest to M*A*S*H fans.

Here’s a goof from “The Army-Navy Game,” originally broadcast February 25th, 1973. As Trapper, Hawkeye and a couple of nurses are cheering in Colonel Blake’s office, one of the nurses hits Hawkeye in the nose. You notice this, because Alan Alda grabs his nose and spins around. Take a look:

“The Army-Navy Game”

Thanks to Rick for this goof.

I used to have a section here at my site about M*A*S*H bloopers. There were quite a few of them, mostly about continuity issues (such as Hawkeye mentioning a sister in one episode when otherwise he was an only child) with the occasional production error thrown in for good measure. I got rid of that section because there are plenty of other websites that track bloopers although I did keep this section on anachronisms.

I’ve also recently discussed several examples of scenes from M*A*S*H in which characters were supposed to be naked but the actors themselves weren’t. I find this sort of thing more interesting than, say, the fact that Henry’s wife was referred to as both Mildred and Lorraine. In my mind, anachronisms and other mistakes made during the production of M*A*S*H are goofs. Continuity errors within the series are bloopers. The terms don’t mean much and are nearly synonymous but they’re what I’ll be using going forward.

Every so often I’ll be pointing out specific goofs and I hope other M*A*S*H fans contribute goofs of their own.

I’ve just put the finishing touches on a new article called M*A*S*H in Syndication. Here’s the introduction:

Syndication refers to a method of distribution in which individual outlets are supplied with content by a central provider. Comic strips, for example, are syndicated to newspapers. In the television industry, shows can be placed in “first-run syndication” (where individual television stations are the first to air new programs) or “off-network syndication” (when a program originally broadcast on a network is later sold to individual stations). In the past, networks would also syndicate repeats of their own programming in daytime and late-night time slots.

M*A*S*H, of course, was broadcast by CBS from 1972 to 1983. While it was on the air, however, CBS aired repeats of the series during the afternoon and late at night. The series was also sold into off-network syndication in the late 1970s. Off-network syndication continued long after M*A*S*H went off the air in 1983. In 1998, the series went into cable syndication.

As of February 2009, M*A*S*H is being syndicated on two cable channels, one broadcast network and on local stations.

Did you know that M*A*S*H may be the only network television series ever to be broadcast in three time slots by the same network? After reading this article you will. You can also watch four promotional spots for M*A*S*H in syndication, including one for newly remastered episodes and another for a marathon on FX.

I hope to eventually write another article about M*A*S*H in international syndication but at the moment I have very little information about the show airing in other countries.

Thanks to Tom and the fine folks at The Bulletin Board for confirming that M*A*S*H is still broadcast in local syndication in some areas of the country.

How popular was M*A*S*H in 1981? Forget the Nielsen ratings. Look to T-shirt sales to confirm that the sitcom was beloved. Some $2 million worth of T-shirts with the words “M-A-S-H” and “4077TH” written on them (divided by a white line) were sold in just two weeks, all thanks to Larry Blum and his Sales Corporation of America [1]. He approached 20th Century-Fox, the production company behind M*A*S*H, and convinced them to license the series to merchandisers, including his.

Before long there were between 20 and 30 licensees selling M*A*S*H items, including pants, shorts, jeans, scarves and hats. Clothing was just the beginning. Said Vernon Scott, writing for UPI Hollywood Reporter:

”M-A-S-H” wardrobe, almost exclusively fatigue garb, is at once comfortable and practical. It is also pleasingly sloppy and, happily, figure-revealing for the well-endowed as well as figure-concealing for the less fortunate.

But clothing is only the tip of the ”M-A-S-H” iceberg.

By the end of the year consumers will be able to buy rings, watches, ceramic trays, books, mugs, decals, heat-transfer patches, jigsaw puzzles, greeting cards, stationery, board games and, certainly, posters.

I could go for a nice M*A*S*H ring. Or maybe a few M*A*S*H mugs and a M*A*S*H ceramic tray to keep them on while I work on my M*A*S*H jigsaw puzzle with my M*A*S*H poster hanging on the wall, wearing my M*A*S*H sweatshirt with M*A*S*H heat-transfer patches.

References:
1 Scott, Vernon. “Scott’s World: M-A-S-H T-Shirt Best-Seller.” UPI Hollywood Reporter. 23 Sep. 1981: BC Cycle.

On Monday, March 30th, 1981 at roughly 2:30PM Eastern, John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagen in Washington, D.C., wounding the President and several others. As news of the shooting spread the television networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — interrupted their regularly scheduled programming for live coverage that continued into the evening.

ABC scrapped its planned broadcast of the Academy Awards while NBC went through with its airing of an NCAA basketball game. CBS aired a special hour-long special on the shooting from 8-9:00PM and then began its normal schedule. However, instead of the planned episode of M*A*S*H that was supposed to air from 9-9:30PM, CBS showed a repeat. Concerns over content.

The episode that had been scheduled to air March 30th was “The Life You Save,” in which Charles is shot at by a sniper and becomes tormented with the idea of death. Here’s the description from The Los Angeles Times:

“Maj. Winchester becomes more introspective and reclusive after a sniper attack on the camp.”

For obvious reasons, CBS didn’t think the viewing public would want to watch such an episode hours after their president was shot at. The episode that was shown on March 30th is unknown but it ranked 6th for the week with a 27.2 Nielsen rating. When “The Life You Save” was finally shown, on Monday, May 4th (after a repeat of “No Sweat”) it drew a 23.2 Nielsen rating and ranked 2nd for the week.

M*A*S*H wasn’t the only program affected by the attempted assassination. NBC pulled its scheduled broadcast of Tomorrow Coast-to-Coast because it involved gang influence on President Reagan’s cabinet (the episode prepared as backup couldn’t be shown either because it was about President Kennedy’s assassination). ABC pulled a planned episode of Mork & Mindy over content as well. And ABC executives asked Stephen J. Cannell to change the name of the main character in The Greatest American Hero. It was Ralph Hinkley.

References

• Jory, Tom. “Pre-emptions for Assassination Coverage Cost Networks Millions.” Associated Press. 31 Mar. 1981: AM Cycle.
• Margulies, Lee. “Inside TV: Barney Miller to Return After All.” Los Angeles Times. 2 Apr. 1981: I9.
• “‘Masada’ Helps ABC to First-Place Finish in Ratings Race.” Associated Press. 8 Apr. 1981: PM Cycle.
• “NBC Has Top-Rated Show, BUt CBS and ABC Win Race.” Associated Press. 13 May 1981: PM Cycle.
• No Title. Los Angeles Times. 29 Mar. 1981: 14.