123 Fun Facts About MASH TV Show

M*A*S*H originally aired on CBS for how many seasons?

11 seasons for a three-year war: each episode covered an average of about four and a half days of real time.

In what country was the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, the setting for M*A*S*H, located?

South Korea: the 4077th sits a few miles behind the front lines, close enough for wounded to arrive by helicopter, the image that opens every episode.

What was Major Margaret Houlihan's famous nickname in M*A*S*H?

Hot Lips: the nickname stuck after Margaret's tryst with Frank Burns was broadcast over the camp PA in the 1970 film, and the TV series used it from its first season.

Roughly how many viewers did The New York Times report for the record-setting 1983 M*A*S*H finale?

125 million was The New York Times' estimate of Americans who saw at least part of 'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen'; Nielsen's average audience was about 106 million, a 77 share.

Which actor played Captain 'Trapper' John McIntyre in the first three seasons of M*A*S*H?

Wayne Rogers portrayed Captain 'Trapper' John McIntyre for the first three seasons of M*A*S*H, before his character was written off the show.

What was Corporal Klinger's go-to ploy for getting a Section 8 discharge?

Cross-dressing: Klinger paraded in dresses, hats and heels hoping for a Section 8 psychiatric discharge; the outfits ran from a bridal gown to a Statue of Liberty costume.

What is the title of the instrumental theme song used for the M*A*S*H TV series?

'Suicide is Painless' was written with lyrics for the 1970 film; the TV series used it as an instrumental.

How did Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake leave the 4077th MASH?

Blake had already been discharged and sent home when the producers added a last scene in which Radar reads out that his plane went down with no survivors.

From which U.S. state did Captain 'Hawkeye' Pierce hail?

Maine: Hawkeye's father Daniel Pierce is the doctor in a small coastal Maine town, and Hawkeye's 'Dear Dad' letters are addressed to him there.

What did Radar O'Reilly do with his teddy bear when he was finally sent home?

Left it on Hawkeye's bunk as a parting gift, a sign Radar had grown up; in the final regular episode it goes into the unit's time capsule.

Which M*A*S*H cast member directed the most episodes of the series, including the 1983 finale?

Alan Alda directed 32 episodes, the finale among them, and had a hand in writing nineteen, including that one.

What was Major Frank Burns' derogatory nickname among the other surgeons?

Ferret Face was the Swamp's standing insult for Major Frank Burns, the by-the-book surgeon who bunked with Hawkeye and Trapper until his transfer after season five.

The M*A*S*H television series is set during which historical conflict?

Korean War on screen, but the show was as much an allegory about Vietnam, still being fought when it began in 1972.

When did the very first episode of M*A*S*H, titled 'Pilot,' originally air?

September 17, 1972: the pilot aired on a Sunday night on CBS and introduced Hawkeye, Trapper, Henry Blake, Radar and Frank Burns, with Ho-Jon as the Swamp's houseboy.

How many episodes of M*A*S*H were made in total?

256 episodes were made over 11 seasons from September 1972 to February 1983, with the two-and-a-half-hour finale counted as a single episode.

What was the name of B.J. Hunnicutt's wife, often mentioned in his letters home?

Peggy, or Peg, was B.J.'s wife back home in California with baby daughter Erin; in 'Period of Adjustment' B.J. is crushed to learn Erin called visiting Radar 'Daddy'.

Who developed the M*A*S*H television series for CBS?

Larry Gelbart developed the series for CBS and wrote the pilot, running the writing through season four before leaving in 1976.

What was the name of Colonel Sherman T. Potter's beloved horse?

Sophie was the mare Colonel Potter rode around camp; the former cavalryman takes one last ride on Sophie in the finale before leaving Korea.

Whom does Henry Blake appoint chief surgeon of the 4077th in season one?

Hawkeye Pierce is named chief surgeon in the season one episode 'Chief Surgeon Who?', Henry Blake choosing him over the higher-ranking Major Frank Burns.

The M*A*S*H TV series was adapted from a 1970 film that was itself based on a 1968 novel by which author?

Richard Hooker was the pen name on the 1968 novel 'MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors', written from its author's own service as a surgeon in Korea.

Who directed the 1970 M*A*S*H film and later called the series 'the antithesis' of his movie?

Robert Altman directed the 1970 film, his first major hit after years of television work; he later dismissed the series as the opposite of what his film intended.

Who played Hawkeye Pierce in the 1970 film version of M*A*S*H?

Donald Sutherland played Hawkeye in the 1970 film, released the year before his turn in Klute; Robert Duvall played the film's Frank Burns.

Which cast member played the same character, Radar O'Reilly, in both the 1970 film and the TV series?

Gary Burghoff played Radar O'Reilly in both the 1970 film and the series, staying until the season eight episode 'Good-Bye Radar' in 1979.

The lyrics to the show's theme were written in about five minutes by which unlikely lyricist?

The director's teenage son Michael, then 14, wrote the lyrics after his father asked for 'the stupidest song ever written'; the boy later out-earned him in royalties from it.

Near which city is the fictional 4077th stationed?

Uijeongbu, a town north of Seoul, is where the fictional 4077th is stationed, close enough to the front for wounded to arrive by helicopter and ambulance.

The show's outdoor camp set stood on land that became which California state park?

Malibu Creek State Park: the camp exteriors were shot on a studio ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains that the state bought in the 1970s and opened as a park.

What do Hawkeye and Trapper make in the Swamp's homemade still?

Gin: the Swamp's still turns out the rough 'gin' Hawkeye and Trapper pour into their nightly martinis, to Frank Burns' disgust.

Who played B.J. Hunnicutt, the surgeon who replaced Trapper John from season four?

Mike Farrell joined as B.J. Hunnicutt in the season four opener 'Welcome to Korea' after Trapper's actor quit abruptly, so Trapper's departure happened off-screen.

Which character replaced Frank Burns in the Swamp after season five of M*A*S*H?

Charles Winchester, a Boston Brahmin surgeon, moved into the Swamp in the season six opener 'Fade Out, Fade In' after Frank Burns was transferred stateside.

Which M*A*S*H character took over as company clerk after Radar went home on a hardship discharge?

Klinger got the job from Colonel Potter, and finally stopped chasing a Section 8 discharge with his dresses.

Klinger, like the actor who played him, is from which Ohio city?

Toledo: Klinger and the actor who played him are both Toledo natives; the character forever raves about Tony Packo's, a real Hungarian hot-dog restaurant in the city.

Radar's favourite drink, in keeping with his farm-boy innocence, was what?

Grape Nehi was Radar's drink of choice at the Officers' Club, a kids' soda that marked him as the camp innocent while the surgeons drank martinis.

Radar O'Reilly's hometown is which Iowa town?

Ottumwa, Iowa, is Radar's hometown, where his widowed mother and Uncle Ed kept the family farm he is forever worrying about from Korea.

Hawkeye's nickname comes from a character in which novel, 'the only book my old man ever read'?

The Last of the Mohicans: Hawkeye's father named him after James Fenimore Cooper's frontier scout Hawkeye, the hero of the only book the old man ever read.

Colonel Potter hails from which Missouri town?

Hannibal, Missouri, the Mississippi river town Potter reminisces about, is his hometown; he left it to join the cavalry as a private in World War I.

B.J. Hunnicutt lived in which California town before he was drafted?

Mill Valley, in Marin County north of San Francisco, is where B.J. left his wife and baby daughter Erin; he pines for the town throughout his tenure.

What is the name of Winchester's sister, who stutters?

Honoria Winchester is Charles's adored sister; in 'Run for the Money' a taped letter from Honoria reveals her stutter, explaining his defence of a stuttering soldier.

Margaret Houlihan's brief marriage was to which handsome lieutenant colonel stationed in Tokyo?

Donald Penobscott, a lieutenant colonel stationed in Tokyo, married Margaret in the season five finale 'Margaret's Marriage'; the marriage soon soured and ended in divorce.

Which recurring character was the paranoid, self-important intelligence officer played by Edward Winter?

Colonel Sam Flagg was the recurring intelligence officer whose cover story changed with every visit; in 'Rally Round the Flagg, Boys' he tries to brand Hawkeye a communist.

Roughly how many protest letters followed the season three finale 'Abyssinia, Henry'?

More than 1,000 protest letters reached CBS after 'Abyssinia, Henry' aired in March 1975, its title a pun on 'I'll be seeing you'.

In the seventh season, writers ran out of names for minor characters and named them after what?

The 1978 LA Dodgers roster: season seven writers Ken Levine and David Isaacs, devoted Dodgers fans, handed walk-on soldiers and nurses the surnames of that year's Dodgers players.

The two-and-a-half-hour M*A*S*H finale first aired on CBS on what date?

February 28, 1983: 'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen' aired on a Monday night during the show's eleventh season, with eight credited writers sharing the script.

In the finale, Winchester teaches a group of Chinese prisoner-musicians which piece of music?

Mozart's Clarinet Quintet: Winchester drills the captured Chinese musicians in it; learning they were killed on the way to a prisoner exchange, he smashes his recording of the piece.

The finale opens with Hawkeye being treated where?

In a psychiatric hospital: the finale opens with Hawkeye committed to an Army mental hospital after a breakdown, his psychiatrist slowly drawing out a memory he has buried.

In the series' last shot, what does Hawkeye see spelled out in rocks from his helicopter?

GOODBYE was B.J.'s message: he had refused to say the word out loud earlier, and left it on the ground in rocks instead.

What does Colonel Potter do with his horse before leaving the 4077th?

Donates her to the orphanage: Potter takes one last ride on his mare in the finale, then leaves her with the local orphanage rather than trying to ship her home.

How many Emmy Awards did M*A*S*H win over its run?

14 Emmy Awards over 11 seasons, from more than 100 nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 1974, the show's only win in that category.

The finale was the most-watched US television broadcast in history from 1983 until what year?

2010: Super Bowl XLIV, on February 7, 2010, was the first US broadcast to draw more total viewers than the 1983 finale, which had held the record for 27 years.

Which studio produced the series?

20th Century-Fox Television produced the series, shooting interiors on a soundstage at the Fox lot in Century City and exteriors on a studio ranch in the hills outside Los Angeles.

What motto is painted on the 4077th's camp sign?

'Best Care Anywhere' is the boast on the 4077th's sign, backed by the 'meatball surgery' that sends most of the unit's wounded home alive.

Who played the sanctimonious surgeon Major Frank Burns?

Larry Linville played Frank Burns for five seasons, leaving in 1977 when he felt the character had nowhere left to go; he died in 2000.

Who played head nurse Major Margaret Houlihan?

Loretta Swit played Margaret Houlihan for all 11 seasons and won two Emmys for the role, in 1980 and 1982.

Who played the easygoing commander Lt. Colonel Henry Blake?

He was a relative of Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson.

Who played the chaplain, Father John Mulcahy?

William Christopher took over from George Morgan, who had played the priest in the pilot only.

Who played Colonel Sherman T. Potter?

He had earlier played Officer Bill Gannon on Dragnet.

Who played the Boston Brahmin surgeon Charles Emerson Winchester III?

David Ogden Stiers played Winchester for six seasons, from the 1977 opener 'Fade Out, Fade In' to the finale, giving the Boston snob a plummy accent.

Who played Corporal Maxwell Klinger?

Jamie Farr played Klinger from season one to the finale; the dog tags he wore on screen were his own from his real Army service.

Allan Arbus played which recurring Army psychiatrist?

Sidney Freedman is the visiting Army psychiatrist whose signature advice is 'Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice: pull down your pants and slide on the ice.'

G. W. Bailey joined in season eight as which motor-pool sergeant?

Luther Rizzo, the lazy Louisiana motor-pool sergeant, was played by G. W. Bailey from 1979 to the finale; Bailey went on to Captain Harris in the Police Academy films.

Jeff Maxwell played which much-maligned mess-tent private?

Igor Straminsky, the mess-tent server forever blamed for the food, was played by Jeff Maxwell; Peter Riegert stood in for the part in two season six episodes.

Which instrument does Charles Winchester practise, to the camp's annoyance?

French horn: Winchester's French horn practice is a running gag so grating that Hawkeye and B.J. scheme to silence it.

Which executive producer, the show's co-creator, left after season five in 1977?

Gene Reynolds, the show's co-creator, left as executive producer in 1977 to produce Lou Grant, which he then ran for five seasons.

Who was promoted to executive producer for the more dramatic seasons 6 to 11?

Burt Metcalfe, the show's casting director turned producer, ran M*A*S*H as executive producer from season six through the finale and shares writing credit on 'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen'.

Which episode is shown entirely from the perspective of a soldier with a throat wound?

'Point of View' (1978) is shot through the eyes of Private Rich, whose throat wound keeps him silent; the camera is his gaze from the battlefield to the 4077th.

Which episode has staff napping in rotation during a flood of casualties?

'Dreams' (1980) has the exhausted staff sleep in shifts during a deluge of wounded, each drifting into a nightmare; the show's star co-wrote and directed it.

Which episode unfolds minute by minute with an on-screen clock?

'Life Time' (1979) plays out in real time with a clock on screen: the surgeons have 20 minutes to repair a soldier's aorta before the clamp causes paralysis.

How many episodes were produced for the shortened final season, excluding the movie finale?

15 regular episodes made up the shortened eleventh season, followed by the two-and-a-half-hour finale as the season's sixteenth and last entry.

What destroyed most of the outdoor set on October 9, 1982?

A brush fire swept the ranch on October 9, 1982, destroying most of the camp set; rather than rebuild it, the producers wrote the blaze into the finale's story.

In the finale, the fire that forces the 4077th to move is blamed on what?

Enemy incendiary bombs: the finale blames the hillside fire on incendiaries dropped near camp, forcing the 4077th to bug out, a plot that covered the real set's loss.

Which 1974 TV series was also filmed at the studio ranch used for the 4077th?

Planet of the Apes, the 1974 CBS series, shot at the same studio ranch as M*A*S*H, as had the 1968 Apes film; How Green Was My Valley was filmed there in 1941.

Under the compromise with CBS, where could the laugh track be omitted?

Operating room scenes: CBS agreed to drop the laugh track whenever the surgeons were in the OR, the producers arguing that no audience would laugh over open wounds.

Which UK channel apologised after accidentally airing an episode with the laugh track on?

BBC2 had always shown M*A*S*H without the laugh track; after one episode went out with it by mistake, viewer complaints prompted an apology.

How did writer Ken Levine punish the cast for nitpicking a script?

Rewrote it as a freezing winter episode: Levine and David Isaacs set the story in deep cold, so the complaining actors spent a sweltering summer shoot bundled in parkas.

What Nielsen rating did the finale achieve?

60.2 was the finale's Nielsen rating, paired with a 77 share, meaning three-quarters of all sets in use that night were tuned to it.

An urban legend claims the finale's end triggered a record spike in what in New York City?

Water usage from toilet flushing: the legend says New York's water pressure plunged when viewers all flushed at the finale's end; the same tale is told of Super Bowl halftimes.

In its second season, CBS rescued the struggling M*A*S*H by scheduling it right after which hit sitcom?

All in the Family's lead-in turned M*A*S*H into a top-10 show; it took the slot of the cancelled Bridget Loves Bernie.

What is the name of the bar just outside the 4077th's gate?

Rosie's Bar, run by the formidable Rosie herself, is the off-duty refuge just outside the gate where Hawkeye, B.J. and Klinger drink and scheme.

Which organisation's chairman named M*A*S*H the smartest TV show of all time in 2008?

Mensa International's chairman Jim Werdell put M*A*S*H at the top of a 2008 list of the smartest TV shows ever, praising its 'smart repartee'.

How many times did the show's star win the Golden Globe for Best TV Actor in a Comedy?

He won in 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983.

Which broadcasting honour did the show receive in 1975 for its statement on the nature of war?

The Peabody Award cited M*A*S*H for 'the depth of its humor and the manner in which comedy is used to lift the spirit' and to make 'a profound statement on the nature of war'.

AfterMASH reunited Potter, Klinger and Mulcahy at a veterans' hospital in which state?

The fictional General Pershing VA Hospital was in River Bend.

AfterMASH was scheduled opposite which NBC hit, contributing to its collapse?

The A-Team: CBS moved AfterMASH opposite NBC's action hit for its second season in autumn 1984, and the ratings collapse brought cancellation within months.

Who played the title role in Trapper John, M.D.?

Pernell Roberts played the older Trapper John from 1979 to 1986, having earlier starred as Adam Cartwright on Bonanza.

In which city was Trapper John, M.D. set, decades after the war?

San Francisco: Trapper John was chief of surgery at San Francisco Memorial Hospital in the series, which ran on CBS from 1979 to 1986.

In the unsold 1984 pilot W*A*L*T*E*R, Radar joins the police force of which city?

St. Louis: in W*A*L*T*E*R, shown once by CBS in July 1984, Radar has left Iowa behind and is a rookie policeman in St. Louis.

Which coastal town does Hawkeye Pierce most often name as home on M*A*S*H?

Crabapple Cove is the small fishing town Hawkeye calls home, where his father Daniel Pierce practises medicine; a few early episodes placed him in Vermont instead.

Winchester was born in his grandmother's house in which Boston neighbourhood?

Beacon Hill: the Winchester family home is on Boston's Beacon Hill, the old-money neighbourhood that fits Charles's Brahmin pedigree and snobbery.

From which college did Winchester graduate before medical school?

Harvard: Winchester is a Harvard man through and through, college and then Harvard Medical School, credentials he never lets the Swamp forget.

Father Mulcahy coached boys in which sport before coming to the 4077th?

Boxing: Mulcahy coached boys' boxing before the war and is the camp's ring expert, training fighters and refereeing the unit's bouts.

B. J. Hunnicutt was educated at which university?

Stanford: B.J. did his undergraduate and medical training at Stanford, a California pedigree that fits his Bay Area roots.

Radar's running-gag ineptitude involves which musical instrument?

The bugle: Radar is the 4077th's reluctant bugler, mangling reveille and retreat so badly that the camp groans whenever he raises the horn.

In the novel and film, Trapper John played quarterback for which college?

Dartmouth: Hawkeye recognises Trapper John as the former Dartmouth quarterback in the 1970 film, a detail lifted from the novel, where his football past is made much of.

What is Colonel Potter's wife called?

Mildred Potter is Sherman's wife of many years back home; her letters and their long, happy marriage are a running counterpoint to the camp's romantic chaos.

Frank Burns is an ardent supporter of which anti-communist senator?

Joseph McCarthy: Frank Burns parrots the Wisconsin senator's red-baiting, forever suspecting Hawkeye and Trapper of communist sympathies.

Which author's westerns is Colonel Potter forever reading?

Zane Grey: Potter devours Zane Grey westerns, a taste for horses and the old West that matches his years in the horse cavalry.

Klinger's family came to America from which country?

Lebanon: Klinger is a proud Lebanese-American, forever invoking his Uncle Abdul and the family's Lebanese cooking, a heritage shared with the actor who played him.

Radar's announcement in 'Abyssinia, Henry' names which body of water?

The Sea of Japan: the message Radar reads out in the operating room places Henry Blake's plane over the Sea of Japan, the episode's devastating final minute.

In the finale, what does Hawkeye at first believe the refugee woman smothered on the bus?

A chicken: Hawkeye's memory has the Korean woman smothering a chicken to keep it quiet; under his psychiatrist's probing he admits the truth, that it was her baby.

What is the name of the refugee Klinger marries in the finale?

Soon-Lee, a refugee played by Rosalind Chao, marries Klinger in the finale; the couple reappear together in AfterMASH.

Which sense does Father Mulcahy lose in the finale?

Hearing: Mulcahy is deafened by a mortar blast while freeing POWs from their pen during shelling, and resolves to work with the deaf after the war.

What does Sergeant Rizzo plan to do after the war, according to the finale?

Breed frogs for French restaurants: that is the post-war scheme Rizzo describes in the finale, in keeping with his Louisiana roots and endless get-rich-quick ideas.

In 'Death Takes a Holiday', what does Winchester anonymously give the orphanage?

Fine chocolates: keeping a Winchester family tradition of secret Christmas giving, Charles leaves expensive chocolates at the orphanage, then learns they were sold to buy rice and cabbage.

Under what real name did the novel's author, a former Army surgeon, practise medicine?

H. Richard Hornberger, a Cornell-trained thoracic surgeon, co-wrote the novel with journalist W. C. Heinz under a pen name and went on practising medicine for decades after it.

The novel's author served in Korea with which real MASH unit?

The 8055th MASH was the author's real unit in Korea, where he served as a surgeon during the war; the 4077th was invented for the book.

Which surgeon completes the novel's title trio with Hawkeye and Trapper?

Duke Forrest, a surgeon from Georgia, rounds out the novel's trio with Hawkeye and Trapper; Tom Skerritt played him in the film and the character was dropped for television.

Who wrote the screenplay for the 1970 film?

Ring Lardner Jr., a blacklisted member of the Hollywood Ten, adapted the novel and won the film's only Academy Award, for Best Adapted Screenplay.

The 1970 film won the top prize at which festival?

Cannes: the film took the festival's top prize, then called the Grand Prix, in May 1970; the award reverted to the Palme d'Or name in 1975.

Who played Trapper John in the 1970 film?

Elliott Gould played Trapper John in the 1970 film, a role that, with The Long Goodbye three years later, made him one of the decade's defining anti-heroes.

In which year was the 1970 film added to the National Film Registry?

1996: the Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry that year as 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant', in the registry's eighth annual class.

Who composed the music for the film and series' theme?

Johnny Mandel composed the melody, first heard with lyrics in the 1970 film; the instrumental version became the television theme.

Which Welsh band released a 1992 charity cover of the M*A*S*H theme?

Manic Street Preachers took their cover to number seven in the UK in 1992, a double A-side with The Fatima Mansions released for The Spastics Society.

From 1993 to 2005 the show's star hosted which PBS science series?

Scientific American Frontiers: the show's star hosted the PBS science series for 12 years, interviewing researchers in the conversational style that launched his later science-communication work.

The show's star won an Emmy for playing which senator on The West Wing?

Arnold Vinick, the Republican senator from California who lost the final-season election to Matt Santos, won the show's star a 2006 Emmy for supporting actor in a drama.

Margaret's actress originated which role in a 1981 TV-movie pilot but could not continue it?

Christine Cagney: Margaret's actress played her in the 1981 Cagney & Lacey TV movie, but her M*A*S*H contract kept her from the series, so Meg Foster and then Sharon Gless took over.

Which 1955 film gave Klinger's actor his screen debut, as Santini?

Blackboard Jungle: Klinger's actor, billed as Jameel Farah, made his screen debut as the student Santini in the 1955 MGM drama.

Winchester's actor voiced which character in Disney's Beauty and the Beast?

Cogsworth, the fussy mantel clock, was voiced by Winchester's actor in the 1991 Disney film; he also narrated its prologue.

Radar's actor first found fame playing which character in a 1967 Off-Broadway musical?

Charlie Brown: Radar's actor created the role in 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown', which opened Off-Broadway in March 1967 and ran for four years.

Before playing the chaplain, his actor was Private Lester Hummel on which sitcom?

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.: the chaplain's actor was Private Lester Hummel in several episodes of the 1960s Marine sitcom; off screen he was a prominent autism advocate.

The series developer co-wrote the screenplay for which 1982 comedy?

Tootsie: the series developer shared the screenplay credit with Murray Schisgal and an Oscar nomination; he had earlier co-written the book of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Where was the record-breaking 1983-85 exhibition 'M*A*S*H: Binding Up the Wounds' held?

The National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian, showed the Swamp and operating-room sets from 1983 to 1985, drawing record crowds for the museum.

For writing which episode did the show's star win a 1979 Emmy?

'Inga' (1979), about a Swedish surgeon who outshines Hawkeye, earned the show's star the Emmy for writing, making him the first person to win Emmys for acting, writing and directing.

Who narrated the 1981 PBS documentary Making M*A*S*H?

Mary Tyler Moore narrated Making M*A*S*H, a 1981 PBS documentary shot on the set during season eight; a decade later Shelley Long hosted CBS's Memories of M*A*S*H.

Who developed the 1983 M*A*S*H video game released by Fox Video Games?

Doug Neubauer, the Atari programmer behind Star Raiders, developed the 1983 M*A*S*H game for the Atari 2600, in which players fly a helicopter to rescue wounded soldiers.