Every year on December 31st, I post an look back at the year in M*A*S*H, recapping the noteworthy revents of the previous year relating to M*A*S*H and this website. Nobody ever reads them, but every year I write a new one. Here they are, complete and unedited (although some of the links may be broken), with the latest entry at the top:
2007, The Year In Review
December 31st, 2007RJ - Webmaster
Here we are at the end of another year, looking back at 365 days of events and happenings, a few of which relate to M*A*S*H. This year was the 36th anniversary of M*A*S*H premiering on CBS (1972-2007) and the 24th anniversary of the series finale (1983-2007). It was by and large a slow year, but here are the highlights:
Anne Pitoniak; Robert Symonds Die
Actress Anne Pitoniak, who portrayed Mildred Potter during the second season of AfterMASH, died at the age of 85 on April 22nd. She recieved two Tony nominations for her work on stage. And in August, Robert Symonds died at 80. He appeared as Colonel Horace Baldwin, the man who sent Charles Emerson Winchester, III (David Ogden Stiers) to the 4077th.
M*A*S*H On TV Land
During the first week of January, cable channel TV Land began airing M*A*S*H (it shares cable rights with The Hallmark Channel). During that first week, a marathon of episodes and specials averaged 1.3 million viewers.
Bonus Material Released
The bonus material originally found only as part of the "Martinis and Medicine" collection was released alongside the final episode in a three disc set.
Awards All Around
In June, M*A*S*H was nominated for a Heritage Award by the Television Critic's Association (it lost to HBO's The Sopranos. Also that month, the "Martinis & Medicine" collection won "Best TV DVD" from the 3rd Annual DVD Critics Awards. And in June, Larry Gelbart won his second Humanitas Prize -- the honorary Kieser Award.
M*A*S*H, Finest Kind (Re)Launches
On Wednesday, August 1st, 2007, the brand new M*A*S*H, Finest Kind website launched, with a variety of interesting and unique articles and features that each and every M*A*S*H fan should read and enjoy. Hopefully, in 2008 I'll get even more content on the site, including more My First M*A*S*H stories, which I for one really enjoy reading.
As always I will close this review with a quote by Colonel Potter, from "A War For All Seasons:"
"Here's to the new year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we may we all be home before she's over."
2006, The Year In Review
December 31st, 2006RJ - Webmaster
Another year has come and gone. And now it is time to look back at the newsworthy events of 2006, at least those that involved M*A*S*H. This past year was both the thirty-four anniversary of M*A*S*H premiering on CBS way back in 1972 and the twenty-third anniversary of the finale airing in 1983. It is hard to believe the thirtieth anniversary took place over four years ago.
So, join me as I recap 2006:
Altman, Others Pass Away:
Robert Altman, who directed the feature film version of MASH, passed away in November at the age of 81. In January, recurring AfterMASH actor Pat Cranshaw passed away at 86. In June, Mako, who appeared in four episodes of the television series, passed away at 72. And in August, Bruno Kirby, who played Boone in the pilot episode of M*A*S*H and appeared in several other first season episodes, passed away at 57. They will all be missed by friends, family and fans.
Complete Series On DVD:
After several years, all eleven seasons of M*A*S*H have now been released on DVD, in various regions of the world. In a move that angered many fans who purchased each and every season, a box set collecting the entire series as well as special features was released in November.
Everything Else:
Cable channel TV Land announced that it would begin airing M*A*S*H in January of 2007. It will share cable rights to the series with the Hallmark Channel. In February, the final United States MASH unit was closed down in Pakistan. Profiles in History auctioned off several items relating to the series, including a cap worn by Gary Burghoff.
As always I will close this review with a quote by Colonel Potter, from "A War For All Seasons:"
"Here's to the new year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we may we all be home before she's over."
2005, The Year In Review
December 31st, 2005RJ - Webmaster
Here we are again at the end of the year and thus, it is time for my fourth annual M*A*S*H year in review. There is little doubt in my mind that 2005 was the year of Alan Alda (who played ole Hawkeye, but given how much he was in the news this year, I bet a few people probably forgot about his most famous role). The year 2005 was both the 33rd anniversary of M*A*S*H premiering on CBS in 1972 and the 22nd anniversary of the series finale airing in 1983.
So, dive in as I recap the M*A*S*H-related events of 2005:
M*A*S*H On DVD:
Seasons Eight and Nine were released in Region One during 2005, along with Seasons Five through Eight in Region Two, and finally Seasons Six and Seven in Region Four. Upcoming releases include Season Ten in Region One in June of 2006 and Season Nine in Region Two on January 9th, 2006.
Alda In The News:
Not only has Alan Alda become a regular on NBC's The West Wing (including a memorable live debate episode), he was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in the 2005 Academy Awards for 2004's The Aviator -- but did not win -- as well as a Tony Award nod for Best Featured Actor in 2005's revival of Glengarry Glen Ross -- but again did not win -- and finally an Emmy nomination Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (for The West Wing but once again did not win.
A six-part interview with Alda, conducted in 2000 by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation, was put online by Google Video in October (along with an interview with Gene Reynolds). Alda also released his memoirs, entitled Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: and Other Things I've Learned. For the week starting December 25th, the book was ranked 15th on The New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction best-seller list.
Everything Else:
In July of 2005, Profiles in History auctioned off fifteen lots of M*A*S*H props and memorabilia, including one of Radar's teddy bears and an original 4077th hometown mileage signpost. Wayne Rogers recieved his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 13th, with Loretta Swit and Jamie Farr in attendance. David Ogden Stiers continued his role on USA Network's The Dead Zone as well as various voice work, Mike Farrell was in the news for several socio-political events throughout the year, and several other former castmembers were in the news for acting roles and charity work.
In site news, Finest Kind celebrated its sixth year on the Internet (1999-2005) although I still have no idea when I launched the initial version of the website. October saw the third anniversary of the Finest-Kind.net domain name. Tens of thousands of visitors enjoyed the site throughout the year, accessing nearly 12 gigabytes of pages, images and video clips.
As usual, I will close this review with a quote by Colonel Potter, from "A War For All Seasons:"
"Here's to the new year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we may we all be home before she's over."
2004, The Year In Review
December 31st, 2004RJ - Webmaster
The year is nearly over, 2005 is almost upon us, and for M*A*S*H, it was a bit of a slow year. In 2003, seasons three, four and five were released on DVD and M*A*S*H moved to The Hallmark Channel.
In 2004, the only real M*A*S*H related news had to do with additional DVD releases and an unfortunate issue with an episode on the Season Seven DVD set. Several cast members of M*A*S*H, namely Alan Alda (Hawkeye), were in the news occasionally during 2004.
And now, the top M*A*S*H and M*A*S*H-related events of 2004:
M*A*S*H* DVDs: Only two Region 1 DVD sets were released in 2004, Season Six (June) and Season Seven (December). The tentative release date for Season Eight is June of 2005 (R2 Season Five is set to be released in January of 2005). In October, it was revealed that the first season DVD set has sold over 500,000 units, making the best-selling first season of many "classic" television shows.
Alda In Film/On TV: In July, it was announced that Alda would be starring in a Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross, an award-winning play written by David Mamet. In August, word broke that Alda would be joining the cast of The West Wing for its sixth season in October. The role, a idealistic Republican Senator, was Alda's first serious television role since M*A*S*H ended in 1983. Additionally, Alda had a role in The Aviator, a critically-acclaimed film about the life of Howard Hughes (the film was released nation-wide on December 25th).
Our Finest Hour Issue: The Season Seven episode Our Finest Hour, originally aired as a one-hour episode. When released on the Season Seven DVD set, however, the two-part syndication version was included, due to the fact that the master print of Our Finest Hour has been damaged (according to FOX and the DVD set). This fact has made some waves in the M*A*S*H community, with many fans upset with FOX for not doing more to release the original broadcast.
Also in 2004, it was announced that Wayne Rogers (Trapper) would be recieving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005, Gary Burghoff (Radar) showcased some of his wildlife artwork in an exhibit located in Litchfield, Connecticut, and Jamie Farr (Klinger) went on tour with Say Goodnight, Gracie, a play (he later had to bow up due to a knee injury).
In site news, Finest Kind was down for the first three months of the year, as I juggled with whether or not to keep working on the site. In March of 2004 I began updating the site again, and in October I marked the second anniversary of the Finest-Kind.net domain name (and 2004 saw the five-year anniversary of this website, in various forms).
In mid-December I began work on some ambitious additions to Finest Kind, adding several seasons worth of broadcast history and ratings information for the series. I plan to continue work on these projects as well as several others.
As has become tradition, I will close this year in review with a quote by Colonel Potter, from "A War For All Seasons:"
"Here's to the new year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we may we all be home before she's over."
2003, The Year In Review
December 31st, 2003RJ - Webmaster
The top M*A*S*H events of 2003:
DVDs - The third, fourth and fifth seasons of M*A*S*H were released on DVD in 2003. The sixth season is expected in 2004, and the rest of the series should be released within a couple of years.
Hallmark - In August of 2003 Hallmark began airing M*A*S*H, taking the rights from FX. A lot of M*A*S*H fans don't get Hallmark and are therefore rather upset about this. Myself, I get Hallmark until 12PM when it turns over to a religious channel. Nutty.
M*A*S*HBack - CBS may or may not be considering a M*A*S*H documentary of sorts. Reports indicate that it would have various actors playing the actors who played the characters on M*A*S*H and involve the first three seasons. Fan reaction has varied, but most seem to be against the project.
Alan Alda Undergoes Surgery - A bit of a scare with this one, Alan Alda was in Chile when he went under the knife for an emergancy appendectomy. He recovered completely, but any type of surgery is always frightening.
2003 also saw the 20th anniversary of the final episode of M*A*S*H airing, in striking contrast to 2002 being the 30th anniversary of the first episode of M*A*S*H airing, making 2003 the 31st anniversary of M*A*S*H.
Site-wise, 2003 was a super year for Finest Kind. Thousands of visitors, hundreds of thousands of hits, tons of e-mail, a lot of fun.
As with last year, I'll wrap this up with a quote from M*A*S*H, Colonel Potter to be exact. "A War For All Seasons:"
"Here's to the new year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we may we all be home before she's over."
2002, The Year In Review
December 31st, 2002RJ - Webmaster
2002 is almost over, and for M*A*S*H, it's been quite a year. What with the first two seasons being released on DVD and the 30th Anniversary Reunion Special, not to mention the 30th Anniversary, 2003 may go down as being the biggest year for M*A*S*H since 1983.
Sadly, I have to start this off with two good-byes. The M*A*S*H community lost Barbara Townsend Wheeler on January 29th. Wheeler played Mildred Potter on AfterMASH for one season. James Gregory, who played Iron Guts Kelly in the episode of the same name, also passed away, on September 16th. On the flip side, all the surviving main cast members celebrated birthdays in 2002.
And now, the top M*A*S*H events of 2002:
DVDs - The complete and uncut first two seasons of M*A*S*H were released in 2002, the first on January 8th, the second on July 3rd. The highly anticipated third season is to be released February 18th, 2003.
Reunion Special - On May 17th M*A*S*H fans sat down in front of their TVs to watch a two-hour reunion special air on FOX. The special was put together to mark the 30th anniversary of M*A*S*H. Over 10 million people watched the special, which was re-aired later in the year. Another documentary, E! TV Tales M*A*S*H also aired, but with much less fanfare.
Hallmark Buys M*A*S*H Rights - Finest Kind broke this story to the M*A*S*H community on July 1st, confirmed the next day by a TV Barn article. FX, the cable network in the US that airs M*A*S*H up to 8 times a day, will be losing the rights to air the show, and the Hallmark Channel will be picking up M*A*S*H sometime in 2003. Finest Kind will be keeping a close eye on this, so check back often to see the latest developments.
A lot of other events took place this year, but none were as huge as the three aforementioned stories. David Ogden Stiers (Major Charles Emerson Winchester, III) began co-starring in The USA Network's original series, The Dead Zone; E! ranked M*A*S*H 6th out of the 25 best comedies of all time; TV Guide ranked AfterMASH the seventh worst TV show of all time; M*A*S*H showed up in numerous TV-related books; and many former M*A*S*H cast members appeared on stage or were otherwise engaged in acting.
In terms of this site, 2002 saw the site move to it's own URL, www.finest-kind.net, get a complete site overhaul, and become one of the most well-known and frequented M*A*S*H sites on the Internet. I have to take the time to thank everyone who has e-mailed me this year. I've tried to, and in my opinion succeeded, in making this the foremost M*A*S*H news site, bringing more M*A*S*H-related news to the fans than anywhere else. I hope to have an even better year with 2003.
It's only fitting that I wrap up this article with a quote from M*A*S*H. In the words of Colonel Potter, spoken in "A War For All Seasons:"
"Here's to the new year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we may we all be home before she's over."
Last updated December 31st, 2007