Almost exactly a year ago–on Sunday, May 3rd, 2015–MeTV aired a three-hour special presentation titled “MeTV Remembers the M*A*S*H Finale” featuring the series finale and new interviews with members of the M*A*S*H cast and creative team. According to scriptwriter Ken Levine, the interviews were taped in 2014 “for a proposed documentary on MASH (that is still in the works).”
I don’t get MeTV, so I wasn’t able to watch “MeTV Remembers the M*A*S*H Finale” when it debuted in May 2015 (or when it repeated in November 2015). The interviews were made available on the MeTV website a few days after the special broadcast and I meant to watch them. I really did. But I never got around to it. Even after MeTV uploaded the interviews to YouTube in December 2015, making them easily accessible, I still put off watching them.
Last week, inspired by watching the WGTV “M*A*S*H Memories & Magic” special, I finally sat down and started watching these interviews. I’m sure there are plenty of M*A*S*H fans who haven’t had a chance to watch the interviews, so I thought it might be fun to spend the next 10 days discussing them. I’ll embed one of the YouTube videos each day, give my thoughts, and see what others have to say.
Here’s a complete list of those interviewed:
- Alan Alda
- Loretta Swit
- Wayne Rogers
- Gary Burghoff
- Jamie Farr
- Mike Farrell
- William Christopher
- Gene Reynolds
- Burt Metcalfe
- Ken Levine
- David Pollack
- David Isaacs
- Elias Davis
- Dan Wilcox
- Thad Mumford
Other than David Ogden Stiers, that’s every member of the main cast who was still with us in 2014 when the interviews were taped, plus many of the creative personnel involved in making M*A*S*H. Wayne Rogers, of course, passed away in December 2015 which means this may have been the last time he talked on camera about M*A*S*H.
There are nine interview segments on YouTube. I don’t know exactly what order they aired during “MeTV Remembers the M*A*S*H Finale” so I’ll be posting them in the order they were listed at the MeTV website:
- A National Phenomenon
- A Series Ends
- War Stories
- A Thankful Vet
- The Studio Fire
- An Existential Paradox
- A Bittersweet End
- The Cost of War/War’s Cost to the Characters
- Final Goodbyes
Late last month, MeTV uploaded three 30-second interview segments to YouTube. I’m not sure whether these were originally aired as part of “MeTV Remembers the M*A*S*H Finale” or not. I’ll be discussing them after getting through the above segments.
Be sure to check back tomorrow around noon (Eastern) 1PM ET to watch and discuss the first MeTV interview segment.
ME TV still airs brief snippets from these during some commercial. Most often I see Alan Alda and Gary Burghoff, but occasionally they throw in Jamie Farr or Loretta Swit.
I have also noticed that they cross promote M*A*S*H a great deal. They regularly show promos for the 4077th during Hogan’s Heroes, Mayberry RFD, Gilligan’s Island, and even some of their westerns and dramas. I am guessing the ratings for M*A*S*H are pretty solid for ME TV as they seem to keep it locked in to the ‘early prime’ time slot (7-8pm Eastern/6-7pm Central). M*A*S*H also shows up on Sunday evenings at 9:30/8:30 after Columbo (except when Columbo runs the full two hour slot).
Most of my TV watching these days is via Amazon, Netflix, and Youtube, but if I am watching over-the-air TV then 90% of the time ME TV is the station I am watching, with PBS making up the other 10%.
…I’ll should think of M*A*S*H everyday till I die…Love you all guys, Lenny
Your link for “An Existential Paradox” goes to “The Studio Fire”. For anyone looking for the missing video: https://www.mash4077tv.com/2016/05/metv-interviews-an-existential-paradox/
It’s a shame, I just learned about these videos today, and they are all unviewable (set to “private”) on YouTube.