The confusing saga of M*A*S*H on television continues today with the news that ION will be returning M*A*S*H to its schedule beginning this Saturday (February 20th). Recall that ION dropped the series in October of 2009:

There has been a schedule change and the program “M*A*S*H” is no longer part of our lineup. This program’s run on the network has ended. Thank you for contacting ION Media Networks.

On January 13th of this year, however, Sitcoms Online reported that the very first episode of M*A*S*H would air on Saturday, March 6th at 3PM. Then, on February 9th, Sitcoms Online revealed that M*A*S*H would run from 3-4PM on Saturdays. Today from Sitcoms Online comes the news that M*A*S*H will also air Monday through Friday from 4-5PM, replacing Texas Justice, starting February 22nd.

According to television listings at TVGuide.com, M*A*S*H will actually return on Saturday, February 20th at 3PM with the pilot, followed by the second episode at 3:30PM. It will also be seen on Sunday, February 21st from 3-5PM with the next four episodes from the first season, followed by the next two episodes on Monday, February 22nd from 4-5PM. Here’s what the regular weekly schedule looks like at the moment:

Saturdays: 3-4PM (Beginning February 20th)
Sundays: 3-5PM (Beginning February 21st)
Mon-Fri: 4-5PM (Beginning February 22nd)

TVGuide.com’s listings only run through Monday, March 1st; for the next two weeks, at least, this schedule holds true. I don’t receive ION so I won’t be able to confirm that the series is airing, however.

Edit: As I was writing this post, Gavin e-mailed me the following:

This past Saturday, my PVR recorded M*A*S*H from ION. Yay! I googled a bit, and it turns out, M*A*S*H is now back on Ion twice a day Monday through Saturday, starting 22 February.

So Gavin’s PVR adds more confirmation to the return of M*A*S*H on ION. But will the return be Saturday, February 20th or Monday, February 22nd?

Shawn sent me an e-mail to let me know that Hallmark Channel has once again removed M*A*S*H from its lineup. According to Shawn, this is the third time in five months that the cable channel has pulled the series. According to the Sitcoms Online Blog, a two-hour weekday block of M*A*S*H from 5-7PM has been replaced by Seventh Heaven. Shawn also found this January 18th MediaPost article that suggests the move might be permanent:

“Certainly, we keep an eye on all demographics,” says Abbott. “But we don’t program to attract 18-49, and we certainly don’t sell our advertising inventory to deliver 18-49.” Abbott says the new programming efforts, starting in the summer, are intended to shift Hallmark to more 25-54 viewers, from 65-plus viewers.

“It takes a while to build some momentum,” he says. “But we really hit our stride in the fourth quarter in December.” Through it all, Hallmark has remained in the top 10 of all cable networks in household and key women 25-54 ratings.

[...]

He says the network is looking to shift away from older off-network fare, like “Touched by an Angel,” “Golden Girls,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “MASH” and other shows the network airs.

Recall that broadcast network ION dropped M*A*S*H in October of 2009. Cable channel TV Land also airs the series; if Hallmark Channel does decide to remove M*A*S*H for good, TV Land will be the only place to see the series on television unless you’re lucky enough to have a local broadcast station that airs the series.

Monday, February 15th, 2010 Update: According to a post at Hallmark Channel’s Facebook page, M*A*S*H will be returning to the cable channel eventually. Here’s the full post, which was in reply to a question from Matthew about why Hallmark continually removes M*A*S*H from its schedule:

Hallmark Channel USA
Matthew,
First of all thanks for letting us know how you feel. We love praise, but its important to know when our fans have something else to say, too. Also, let us apologize. You are right, we need to do a better job of keeping people up to date on schedule changes. We will try to do that on this page and on our twitter feed @hallmarkchannel. MASH will return to Hallmark Channel, but we don’t have a firm date to give you. But when it does we will post it right here. Thanks
February 2 at 10:25pm

Hallmark’s Twitter page can be found here. Perhaps an announcement regarding M*A*S*H will be forthcoming.

Just when it looked like M*A*S*H was back on the Hallmark Channel schedule for good it seems that Hallmark has decided to pull the bulk of its regular programming in order to air holiday movies through December. Shawn e-mailed me a few days ago to let me know that M*A*S*H was off the Hallmark schedule through December 12th. According to the Hallmark website, although various sitcoms will still be shown from 9:00AM-12:00PM, movies will fill the schedule from 12:00PM to 12:00AM. Once the holiday season has passed I imagine Hallmark will revert to its normal schedule and M*A*S*H will return.

According to Hallmark Channel’s online schedule M*A*S*H will return to the cable channel on Monday, October 19th with a three-hour block running from 5:00PM to 7:00PM featuring the first six episodes of the series. Here’s a static version of the day’s schedule. Last Monday (October 5th) both Hallmark and ION dropped repeats of M*A*S*H from their schedules but it appears Hallmark has either had a change of heart or always planned to bring back M*A*S*H (it will not be back on ION).

Based on Hallmark’s schedule for the rest of October and the first week of November it looks like M*A*S*H will be shown Monday through Friday from 5:00PM to 7:00PM for the foreseeable future. Thanks to Alice for bringing this to my attention.

Due to the fact that I no longer receive Hallmark Channel or ION, I wasn’t aware of this until a few days ago when Shawn contacted me, but both cable channel Hallmark Channel and broadcast network ION have stopped airing repeats of M*A*S*H. Sitcoms Online reported on September 17th that ION would replace the 4-5PM airings of M*A*S*H with extra airings of Reba beginning Monday, October 5th.

I e-mailed ION and received the following reply:

There has been a schedule change and the program “M*A*S*H” is no longer part of our lineup. This program’s run on the network has ended. Thank you for contacting ION Media Networks.

As for Hallmark Channel, Sitcoms Online reported on September 21st that the weekday block of M*A*S*H (from 5-8PM) would be replaced by I Love Lucy, also beginning Monday, October 5th. Well, today is October 5th and M*A*S*H is gone from both Hallmark Channel and ION. It still airs on TV Land from 5-6AM on Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri, 9PM to 12AM on Wednesdays and 8-11PM on Saturdays (at least that’s the schedule for the next two weeks).

I sent Hallmark Channel an e-mail as well but have not received a reply. It is possible M*A*S*H will return in the future. And there’s always the complete series on DVD.

MAGNA, a “global media forecasting and investment strategy unit” of Mediabrands (itself a “media holding company” and part of Interpublic Group) has released a report detailing the state of comedies on television today. Written by Steve Sternberg and titled, appropriately enough, “Comedies on Television,” the report notes that while the number of comedies currently on the broadcast networks in the United States is low that doesn’t mean viewers aren’t watching comedies. They’re just watching older ones.

Included in the report is the following:

What are the most popular comedies on television today?

Would you believe, the top 15 are Family Guy, George Lopez, Two and a Half Men, Home Improvement, Fresh Prince, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, Family Matters, That ‘70s Show, King of Queens, Friends, Frasier, Andy Griffith, Roseanne and M*A*S*H? Of these, only two, Family Guy and Two and a Half Men, will be on a broadcast network this fall.

Helping M*A*S*H is its exposure: it currently airs on two cable channels (TV Land and The Hallmark Channel), a broadcast network (ION) and in broadcast syndication in local markets. Nevertheless, I was very surprised to see the series among the most popular comedies of 2009. The report doesn’t specify how the list was compiled but I would assume Nielsen ratings were compiled for every comedy on the air — likely the aggregate of all airings — and they were simply ranked in order of viewers or household rating.

With M*A*S*H being shown so often, even if every individual episode is only watched by a relatively small number of viewers, the total number of people watching the show is pretty high. Thanks to TVbytheNumbers for linking to the report; the actual report can be viewed here.