M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Reunion

M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Reunion
Fox
May 17, 2002
Documentary
DVD
B

The then surviving cast, producers, and some of the writers gather together to reminisce about the making of the show.  It's good to see them together, enjoying each other's company-- an anecdote about the late Larry Linville (whom I didn't have room to tag) cracks the whole gang up-- but in a way it's too many people for this format, and not everyone gets an equal chance to talk.  (Alda, no surprise, does more than his share.)  Larry Gelbart, Burt Metcalfe, and Gene Reynolds do contribute a lot.  Note that at the time not only Linville but Stevenson and some of the supporting cast had died since the last M*A*S*H special I reviewed; last year of course we lost William Christopher, and Wayne Rogers the year before that (both on December 31st); Harry Morgan had gone at 96 in 2011.

Memories of M*A*S*H

Memories of M*A*S*H
CBS
November 25, 1991
Dramedy
DVD
B

This is a much better reunion program than the one for The Bob Newhart Show.  It is in a way a clip show, but it is also memories from cast and crew of what it was like to be a part of the long-running series.  There's an added poignancy now, because so many of the cast have died since then.  (William Christopher's death at the end of last year being especially sad, such a gentle soul.)  This is not to say that the program couldn't have been better, maybe putting the series in context more, not only discussing the books and movie more, but noting that it was part of CBS pushing against censorship in the '70s, as with All in the Family.  There's not even a reference to the Vietnam War!  I also would've liked an actual reunion, rather than separate interviews, especially since everyone claims to miss the camaraderie and laughter on and offscreen.  Still, there are some good insights and touching moments, and some chuckles of course.

It's impossible to tag everyone obviously, so I'll list the others who appear, including in clips.  Long hosts the program and of course we see her guest appearance.

• G.W. Bailey (interview and clips)
• Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
• Dr. Walter Dishell
• Charles S. Dubin
• Farrell's children Mike, Jr. and Erin
• Larry Gelbart
• Mariette Hartley (clip)
• Ron Howard (clip)
• Burt Metcalfe
• Kellye Nakahara (interview and clips)
• Leslie Nielsen as Col. Buzz Brighton
• John Ritter (clip)
• Clete Roberts as himself
• Susan Saint James (clip)
• Steirs's parents Ken and Maggie
• Patrick Swayze as Private Gary Sturgis
• Teri Garr (clip)
• George Wendt (clip)
• and others IMDB and I missed

M*A*S*H: Good-bye Radar, Part 2

M*A*S*H: Good-bye Radar, Part 2
CBS
October 15, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B

Yes, Burghoff's final appearance on this show, although he'd appear as Radar on After MASH.  Levine & Isaacs give him a nice send-off, as well as show how Klinger will use his street smarts as he takes over the job of company clerk.  Radar gets some memorable kisses, a big one from "Hot Lips," and a couple cheek kisses that he's to pass on from BJ to Peg and Erin when they meet him in San Francisco (to change planes I assume).  Morgan's tears look genuine when he says goodbye.  And Hawkeye, who's the one that Radar's been closest to all this time, finds his own ways to say goodbye.  The episode is a bit too drawn out to be a B+ but overall satisfying.

David Dozer (this time the Dispatcher) and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.  Whitney Rydbeck, who was a page on the Davy Jones episode of The Brady Bunch, is Sgt. Hondo McKee here and would be the voice of George the Robot in The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island.

M*A*S*H: Good-Bye, Radar, Part 1

M*A*S*H: Good-Bye, Radar, Part 1
CBS
October 8, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B-

As the title suggests, this Levine & Isaacs story prepares us for the departure of Burghoff, after almost a decade in the role (counting the movie).  Radar is done with R & R in Tokyo, but while waiting for a plane back to Korea, he meets an attractive girl who's going back to her home, about 100 miles from his hometown.  When he returns to the 4077th, he unsuccessfully tries to get the generator replaced.  And then his Uncle Ed dies, so Potter offers to get him a release due to hardship.

Johnny Haymer (Zale), Richard Lee-Sung (this time the Driver), and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.  This is Farrell's 100th episode.

M*A*S*H: Guerilla My Dreams

M*A*S*H: Guerilla My Dreams
CBS
October 1, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
C+

I found this story about a Guerilla Woman (Hauani Minn, who had previously played Sung Lee) a little boring, although it is notable that Hawkeye calls someone a "son of a bitch."  Radar has now been in Tokyo a week and Klinger is a month behind in the office.

Connie Izay makes her first of three appearances as Nurse Connie, while George Cheung has his first of two roles, the 1st Korean Soldier.  Joshua Bryant (Scully), Mako (this time Lt. Hung Lee Park), and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.  Marcus K. Mukai, who's the 2nd Korean Soldier, was a Hawaiian Man in Rescue from Gilligan's Island and would be a Ninja Guard on Soap.  Alda directed.  This is Morgan's 100th episode.

M*A*S*H: Too Many Cooks

M*A*S*H: Too Many Cooks
CBS
September 17, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Well, I guess I will count this as the beginning of Phase Four, since, although Radar won't officially leave for another few weeks, things are getting set up for his departure, including Klinger taking on some of his office duties.  The title has to do with the gang's maneuvers to keep Private Paul Conway (Ed Begley, Jr., who turned 30 the day before this aired) around as cook.  Meanwhile, Potter gets an angry letter from Mildred, but Margaret helps explain what it's like for a woman to not see her man for a long time.

John Randolph, who I know best as Emily Hartley's father, plays Gen. Budd Haggerty.  Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky) and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.  This is the first of seventeen M*A*S*H episodes written by Dennis Koenig, who did one for Three's Company.

M*A*S*H: The Party

M*A*S*H: The Party
CBS
March 12, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B

This is a more upbeat season-closer than usual, although still with a melancholy undertone.  BJ is depressed and worried about a patient, so as a distraction he plans a party for the relatives of the main staff of eight.  (Sorry, Roy Goldman's grandmother et al.)  At first, the others think their parents and siblings won't come (well, Sherman knows Mildred will love the idea), but they end up writing anyway, at Hawkeye's urging.  Then they have to coordinate schedules, which takes a long time in itself.

(Note that this would have to be set in 1953 for Valentine's Day to fall on a weekend, but March 15th wouldn't be a Monday until 1954.  Then again, this show is clearly set in some bizarre parallel universe anyway.  For one thing, Potter's grandson is now five.)

One reason why this episode works is that by this point we know all the relatives from the stories, from Radar's Uncle Ed to Father Mulcahy's saxophone-playing nun sister.  It's easy to picture them, especially when Radar reads aloud Peg's letter in the OR.  There are sweet, even moving moments, like finding out that Klinger's mother knows he's no longer in Fort Dix.  The pacing could be a little better, and maybe I'd like to at least see a snapshot of the group gathered at the party, so this isn't a B+ or higher, but definitely a nice note to close the season on.

Kellye Nakahara returns as Yamato and gets kissed by BJ when she tells him good news about the party.  Metcalfe not only directed and co-wrote this episode with Alda, but he plays the driver of BJ's jeep.

The season overall averages to a B-, with a narrow range of C+ to B.  The show is on a fairly even keel by this point, getting a bit "preachier" but still not making drastic changes.  I doubt any of them expected to go yet another four years, and I'm guessing that Season Eight will be a continuation of Phase Three.

M*A*S*H: A Night at Rosie's

M*A*S*H: A Night at Rosie's
CBS
February 26, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
C+

This Levine & Isaacs story, which seems more like 24 hours at Rosie's, doesn't really go anywhere, and I had to mark it down for Hawkeye and Trapper binding and gagging Charles.  Still, there are a couple things I like: Potter standing up for himself and demanding respect, and Margaret relaxing and enjoying herself to the point that she falls a little for Sgt. Jerry Scully (Joshua Bryant in his first of three appearances in the role), who she convinces to go back to his unit after going AWOL.

Richard Lee-Sung (this time Ham Kim), Keye Luke (this time Cho Kim), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), Eileen Saki (a nameless Korean Woman in '76 but Rosie from now till '81), Joann Thompson (Nurse Jo Ann), and Jennifer Davis Westmore (nameless Nurse) return.

M*A*S*H: Preventative Medicine

M*A*S*H: Preventative Medicine
CBS
February 19, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B-

This Tom Reeder episode is a bit heavy-handed and I'm not crazy about BJ not actually stopping Hawkeye from performing unnecessary surgery on a gung-ho colonel, but I do like that Hawkeye is wrong about something and seems to realize it at the end.

Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky) and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.

M*A*S*H: Rally 'Round the Flagg, Boys

M*A*S*H: Rally 'Round the Flagg, Boys
CBS
February 14, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B-

This is Mitch Markowitz's second of two M*A*S*H stories and not only has the return of Flagg (with a reference to something he did in the past) but also has Hawkeye and BJ dealing with a patient who's angry at Hawkeye.  Both the patient and Flagg think Hawkeye is a com-symp.  It's interesting to see how Winchester manipulates Flagg, very different from how Burns used to be cowed by him, but the episode feels a little unfinished.

Bob Okazaki makes his first of two M*A*S*H appearances, as Doo Pak.  Jerry Fujikawa (this time Hung Pak), Roy Goldman (this time as Roy Goldman), James Lough (this time an MP), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), and Neil Thompson (this time Corporal Basgall) return.  This is Edward Winter's last appearance on the show, although he would play Flagg again five years later on After MASH.  This episode, which Morgan directed, aired on a Wednesday (hence the "special" above), but it would return to its usual Monday night slot the next week.

M*A*S*H: Hot Lips Is Back in Town

M*A*S*H: Hot Lips Is Back in Town
CBS
January 29, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B

Larry Balmagia and Bernard Dilbert wrote the teleplay based on a story by Dilbert and Gary Markowitz.  Despite the title, it's actually about how Margaret's divorce (now official) has made her realize she needs to focus on her Army career, and not get sidetracked by men, especially the wrong men.  So when she comes up with a workable plan for nurses to help with triage and then finds out that the general isn't taking her seriously, she sends him away.  Meanwhile, Radar falls for a nurse who's lovely inside and out.  (So of course we'll never see her again.)

Jan Jorden (Baker), Enid Kent (Bigelow), and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.

M*A*S*H: The Young and the Restless

M*A*S*H: The Young and the Restless
CBS
January 22, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B-

In this first of two M*A*S*H stories written by Mitch Markowitz, a talented young surgeon, Capt. Simmons (James Canning in his second of two M*A*S*H appearances), puts the doctor's noses out of joint, while Klinger acts like he thinks he's in Toledo.  This episode is mainly notable for, one, Margaret talking some sense into Potter, two, Potter telling Winchester why he doesn't like him, and three, Klinger wearing interesting men's outfits for a change.

Kellye Nakahara returns as Kellye Yamato.  And if I haven't mentioned it before, she's always referred to as "Kellye," unlike Nurse Baker et al.

M*A*S*H: The Price

M*A*S*H: The Price
CBS
January 15, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
C+

Erik Tarloff's second of three M*A*S*H scripts is somewhat predictable, although Morgan does a nice job with Potter's sacrifice of his beloved horse, temporary as it turns out.

Yuki Shimoda makes his first of three M*A*S*H appearances, as Cho Pak.  Johnny Haymer (Zale) and Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky) return.

M*A*S*H: B.J. Papa San

M*A*S*H: B.J. Papa San
CBS
January 1, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Neither of the main plot threads of this Larry Balmagia story feel very fresh.   BJ taking care of a local family is reminiscent of things both Hawkeye and Trapper have done, while Charles hoping to become the personal physician of a gruff general who prefers Hawkeye seems like something I've seen before, more than once.  Still, the show isn't yet stale and at least these threads are well done.

Chao Li Chi makes his first of two M*A*S*H appearances, as the Father.  Johnny Haymer (Zale), Shizuko Hoshi (the Mother), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), Dick O'Neill (this time General Marian Prescott), and Sal Viscuso (PA Announcer) return.  This is only the second M*A*S*H episode James Sheldon directed, the other being the first season's "Edwina."

M*A*S*H: Dear Sis

M*A*S*H: Dear Sis
CBS
December 18, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B

Alda wrote and directed this Christmas episode which is also a tribute to mild-mannered but frustrated Father Mulcahy.  It's also nice to see the interaction between Radar and Winchester.  Note that both Margaret and Klinger are feeling bitter about their exes.  Also note that either Mulcahy's sister deciding to quit being a nun has been retconned out of existence, or he has more than one Sister sister.


Jo Ann Thompson makes her first of fourteen appearances as Nurse Jo Ann.  (No, she doesn't get a last name.)  Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), and Perren Page (Driver) return.

M*A*S*H: Out of Gas

M*A*S*H: Out of Gas
CBS
December 4, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B

This Tom Reeder episode is better than the last one.  I particularly like how it teams up arrogant but vulnerable Winchester and humble but tough Mulcahy.  It somewhat resembles earlier episodes where items are traded, but gives it a twist.  Also, the way Hawkeye flirts with Margaret is much sweeter than in the early days, when there was a hostility to it.  They wouldn't have worked as a couple in the long term, but their post-fling chemistry is good.

Byron Chung (this time Myung), Johnny Haymer (Zale), and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.

M*A*S*H: Point of View

M*A*S*H: Point of View
CBS
November 20, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B

This Levine & Isaacs story is shot as if the viewer is Private Rich, a young white soldier from San Antonio, Texas.  For most of the episode he can't speak, although there is a point when he starts writing a letter to his parents, dated September 12, 1951.  And we find out that Colonel Potter forgot to call his wife last Saturday, for their 35th wedding anniversary.  This gives us a date of September 8, 1916 for their wedding.

As for the episode itself, it's a little hard to swallow that everyone confides in Private Rich like they do, especially Potter, but maybe Rich just has one of those faces you can trust.  I like that the script doesn't get to the point of ridiculousness, like if Klinger said, "I see you noticed I'm in drag.  Let me tell you why."  We just see Rich look down at Klinger's heels and then at his skirt, telling all we need to know.

Paul Tuerpe makes his first of two M*A*S*H appearances, as Medic II.  Jan Jorden (Baker) and Sal Viscusco (PA Announcer) return.

M*A*S*H: Baby, It's Cold Outside

M*A*S*H: Baby, It's Cold Outside
CBS
November 13, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
C+

Not long after it was hot and then stormy, it's now freezing in Korea.  Charles gets a very nice, warm jacket but selfishly keeps it for himself, even though there are patients suffering.  Meanwhile, Klinger goes temporarily deaf, Sonja Henie skates in a movie, and Radar has become an idiot who doesn't know who the Rockettes are.

David Cramer makes his first M*A*S*H appearance, as a Patient.  Jan Jorden (Baker) and Sal Viscuso (PA Announcer) return.  Gary David Goldberg, who'd done three scripts for later Bob Newhart Show episodes, contributed this forgettable one for M*A*S*H.

M*A*S*H: They Call the Wind Korea

M*A*S*H: They Call the Wind Korea
CBS
October 30, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B-

This Levine & Isaacs episode is notable for a couple reasons.  One, it teams up Winchester and Klinger for several scenes, and they're about as different as can be.  And two, it shows Margaret showing remorse when a nurse is injured following her orders.


Paul Cavonis, who was Buddy Berkman on the "Johnny Bravo" episode of The Brady Bunch, here has his first of two M*A*S*H roles, as Sgt. Cutrifiotis.  Randy Stumpf, who plays one of the Greek Soldiers, would be Punk #1 on Bosom Buddies.  Tom Dever (his last M*A*S*H appearance, this time as an MP), Enid Kent (Bigelow), and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.

Colonel Potter is running out of things to paint.

M*A*S*H: None Like It Hot

M*A*S*H: None Like It Hot
CBS
October 23, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Levine & Isaacs wrote this story with Johnny Bonaduce, and the main issue I have with it is I don't know how Hawkeye and BJ thought they could keep a tub or ice cream secret during a heat wave.  This has one of the few "Hot Lips" references relatively late in the series.  It also has Klinger asking Margaret out, after apologizing for jumping in the tub with her when his heat-prostration ploy didn't work out.

Ted Gehring (this time Sgt. Rhoden), Roy Goldman (a Corpsman again), Johnny Haymer (Zale), Jan Jorden (Baker), Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), and Sal Viscuso (PA Announcer) return.  This is the first of two M*A*S*H episodes directed by Tony Mordente, as well as the 1100th TV program I've reviewed.