Despite its relatively short run, AfterMASH went through three different opening credit sequences. Here they are. The first version was used throughout the 1983-1984 season:

When the show returned for its second season on September 23rd, 1984, a new, jazzier theme song and a reworked version of the opening credits were introduced:

Beginning with the October 9th, 1984, the opening credits were changed again, although the new theme song was retained:

I’ve also updated my article on AfterMASH to include all three versions.

People.com makes almost 50,000 stories dating back to its 1974 debut available in its online archive. You can even download some issues in their entirety. M*A*S*H cast members or the show itself have graced the cover of People several times over the past 36 years. The earliest cover I am aware of is the March 17th, 1975 issue, which featured Alan Alda on the cover, while the most recent was the October 24th, 1983 issue, which featured the cast of AfterMASH. Some of these issues are available online, as are articles from issues that didn’t have M*A*S*H on the cover. Here’s an incomplete list of People covers and articles with links to the online version when available:

March 17th, 1975 – Cover, Alan Alda
March 13th, 1979 – Cover, Loretta Swit (Unavailable)
April 9th, 1979 – Article, Mike Farrell
November 17th, 1980 – Article, Filming 200th episode (Unavailable)
June 15th, 1981 – Cover, Alan Alda
August 21st, 1981 – Article, David Ogden Stiers
March 7th, 1983 – Article, End of M*A*S*H (Unavailable)
May 16th, 1983 – Article, Jamie Farr
October 24th, 1983 – Cover, Cast of AfterMASH
August 9th, 1999 – Article, Gary Burghoff
April 24th, 2000 – Obituary, Larry Linville

Here’s another “bumper” for AfterMASH. Last year I posted another version, one that was used during the first half of the hour-long premiere (“September of ’53″) on September 26th, 1983. Bumpers were used by the networks to remind viewers that after the commercial break their show would be coming back. The only real difference between this version and the earlier bumper is the inclusion of the show’s title. Notice, however, that the still image — a nurse helping a wounded veteran walk down a path — has been flipped. In the first version the two are on the right side; in this second version they are on the right. Strange.

I’m not quite sure when the second version was first used. I do know it appeared as early as the sixth episode (“Night Shift”), which was broadcast on October 24th, 1983.

Here’s a “bumper” for AfterMASH that aired near the end of the first half of the hour-long premiere (“September of ’53″) on September 26th, 1983. These bumpers were used to remind viewers that the very show they were in the process of watching would, in fact, return after a commercial break. I can’t say whether bumpers were used during every episode of AfterMASH or just during the premiere.

Here’s what may or may not be an incomplete promotional spot for “It Had to Be You,” the January 23rd, 1984 episode of AfterMASH. The episode guest-starred Gary Burghoff as Walter “Radar” O’Reilly (he had a cameo in the previous episode). It’s very short but does appear to fade out at the end rather than cut off abruptly.

Speaking of bumpers, M*A*S*H used them, too. You can find one at my feature Watching M*A*S*H in the 1970s. According to this post at the BCA Message Board, it’s actually Harry Morgan doing the “We’ll Be Right Back” voiceover. I didn’t recognize his voice.

I have added a new section about M*A*S*H‘s ill-fated spin-off, AfterMASH: Ratings, a chart of the weekly Nielsen rankings for both seasons of AfterMASH. I also made some minor updates to AfterMASH: Main Article and AfterMASH: Broadcast History.