This slipped past me but Aaron Handy III sent me an e-mail reminding me that it was 35 years ago last week that the feature film version of MASH had its network broadcast premiere. CBS aired the movie from 9-11PM as part of its CBS Friday Night Movie (it followed the series premiere of Planet of the Apes). The third season of M*A*S*H had premiered three days earlier on Tuesday, September 10th.

The broadcast ranked 18th for the week (for the record, M*A*S*H was 11th and Planet of the Apes 37th) [1]. CBS aired the movie again on Friday, March 5th, 1976. Here’s part of a full-page ad CBS ran in The New York Times promoting its Friday line-up:

New York Times Ad for MASH

Anyone remember watching this first network broadcast of the movie that spawned the series?

Sources:
“Rhoda Debut Tops National Nielsens.” Los Angeles Times. 19 Sep. 1974: H22.

Related Posts:

• Thirty-Five Years of M*A*S*H
• New Article: M*A*S*H in Syndication
• The Los Angeles Times Reviews M*A*S*H
• “Movie Tonight” Goof
• Trapper John, M.D. Joining American Life TV

This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 9:59 pm and is filed under M*A*S*H, Series History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.