Throughout the eleven seasons of the M*A*S*H TV series, as diverse as the subject matters and themes they tackled were, it is worth noting that only one episode was deemed unfit to air. The episode wasn’t really unlike every one of those that had been shown, but the network regarded it to be thinly unpatriotic.
It concerned a number of military men who were calling for their repatriation back to the States, bidding against each other to travel home first. Management thought the back message controversial and demoralizing and didn’t want to trigger sentiments of those opposed to the war back home. Many soldiers wanted to go home and this episode would’ve incited it even more. So it never flickered to life on our TV screens.
Yea or Nay
In its last year, the M*A*S*H TV series had been struggling coming up with new ideas. People who worked around it started to frazzle, pressured to come up with something fresh; the cracks began to show.
So they all gathered together officially and put the question up for a vote. The future of the show remained in the hands of those who were there for its birth, some newer ones too. Those who voted to continue the show apparently lost, but were responsible for the spin-off, AfterMASH, which commenced in 1983.
Based On A Novel
For all the smashing success the M*A*S*H TV series ended up enjoying, it didn’t show much promise when it began. In fairness to its creators, they were starting something that was relatively new and potentially controversial at the time. It was the first military-drama-comedy ever aired on TV, and many viewers found the amalgam an unusual one.
Even Larry Gelbart, who wrote the pilot show, didn’t know much about it at all while living in the United Kingdom. What made him write M*A*S*H was his deep appreciation for Robert Altman’s film. How the tides have turned since then! While the TV show has been insanely popular, many fans aren’t even aware that it was based on the book and movie that preceded it.
Guest Appearances
M*A*S*H has enriched the lives of many of its viewers through its drama and humor. It provided good company to the anxious during a time of war and tribulation. It also provided great opportunities for artists to expand their careers and for writers to test their skills. It made a tough time in America’s history a little bit livable, which was a big thing.
For some actors, however, their extreme guest appearances netted them some unusual notoriety. John Ritter guested as a soldier who snapped during treatment, his taking of a hostage was frowned upon. Laurence Fishburne played the role of a racist commander who placed black soldiers in hazardous missions. And Patrick Swayze played a terminally ill patient, the tragedy of which foreshadowed his own death from a terminal illness in 2009.
No To Guns
To be in the military and despise guns must be a mountainous oxymoron to tackle. Even when Hawkeye was assigned as the Officer of the Day, he would fulfill his tasks without having a sidearm with him. And this was supposed to be during a time of war!
In one episode, Potter pleaded with Hawkeye to bring at least a pistol along on their way to the aid station, but the latter graciously rejected his request. Pointing his weapon to the sky, he screamed and unloaded all his bullets into the empty expanse above. He was a doctor, in the midst of the war, there to heal the injured, not to injure.