Ever wonder why Divided We Stand, the Season Two premiere, feels like a premiere episode for a new show rather than the season premiere for a returning series? Because in many ways it was an attempt at a new premiere episode. And here’s the proof: a two page press release announcing M*A*S*H‘s upcoming move to Saturdays at 8:30PM for the 1973-1974 season, currently listed on eBay for $14.95 with free shipping. I often browse eBay looking for interesting M*A*S*H items and I came across this press release the other night (I have no connection to the seller).

1973 Press Release Heralding Move to Saturdays

Only the first page was scanned for the eBay listing and it is a little small so I’ve transcribed it:

(TIME VALUE: Sept. 15)

August 27, 1973

“M*A*S*H” Move Is Almost Like Starting New

The madcap “M*A*SH*” show is on the move this fall and it promises to provide more of its inimitable brand of absurd humor in its new time period Saturdays (8:30-9:00 PM, EDT) on the CBS Television Network.

Co-producer Gene Reynolds, enthusiastically embracing the switch to Saturdays, following “All in the Family,” another pioneer of comedy form on the Network, reports a new excitement among the cast and crew.

“It’s almost like going on the air for the first time,” he says. “Alan Alda, the other actors, the entire staff and myself are very excited about the change. We feel we will be reaching a larger and somewhat different audience. It’s very stimulating.”

In line with this feeling of reaching many unfamiliar viewers, co-producer Larry Gelbart has written a premiere episode, to be seen Saturday, Sept. 15, which will serve to reintroduce the bizarre inhabitants of the 4077th M*A*S*H unit.

The story’s premise has the commanding general worried about a possible psychological breakdown of the unit. Consequently, he assigns a psychiatrist to examine the personnel, to determine individual fitness. Thus, something is revealed about each of the zany “M*A*S*H” principals, from the rebellious Hawkeye (Alda) to the mentally suspect Klinger (Jamie Farr), whose penchant for feminine attire unnerves the psychiatrist.

(More)

Thoughts?

Believe it or not, I’ve had a 1984 Spring/Summer Sears catalog kicking around my basement for years. Not quite since 1984 but the better part of a decade. I looked through it a few months ago — the amount of carpeting Sears saw fit to put in bathrooms was ludicrous — and came across a set of M*A*S*H boys’ pajamas on page 322, next to similar Knight Rider and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi pajamas. Here’s a scan:

1984 Sears M*A*S*H Pajamas
Copyright © Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1984

Are there any M*A*S*H fans out there who happily wore these faux scrubs pajamas to bed back in 1984?

I have (hopefully) disabled all comments in order to ensure that all existing comments are retained when the move to the new domain name is completed on Tuesday, May 17th. Rest assured, even though you can no longer see the comments, they still exist. I had planned to announce the new domain name but recent computer problems mean I will be working on and testing the new site basically until the very last minute. Check back on May 17th.

Last month I wrote about promotional and behind-the-scenes images from M*A*S*H at the Motion Picture and Television Archive. Big Daddy O’Reilly then took the initiative and checked to see if Getty Images had any M*A*S*H images. A search for “alan alda” returns over 1,000 results, although the bulk are from the past decade or so. Getty Images appears to have purchased the rights to a variety of photographic collections; the bulk of the following images are from the CBS Photo Archive but a few are from WireImage, Time Life Photographs and Getty Images itself.

Perhaps the most interesting image Big Daddy O’Reilly found wasthis one of Harry Morgan, in costume as Colonel Potter, standing in what appears to be a stable. The caption reads as follows:

American actor Harry Morgan as Colonel Sherman Potter on the television show ‘MASH’ as he appears on a cast reunion show, 1991

I don’t recall seeing Harry Morgan in costume during “Memories of M*A*S*H,” the 20th anniversary reunion special broadcast in 1991. Perhaps members of the cast appeared in promotional spots for the special wearing their old uniforms?

Here are the rest of the images Big Daddy O’Reilly found; I’ve broken them into categories as best I could:

30th Anniversary Reunion Special

• Allan Arbus, Harry Morgan, Mike Farrell Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Bill Christoper, Jamie Farr at 30th Anniversary Reunion
• Jamie, Wayne and Bill at the reunion
• Harry, Mike, Alan at reunion

AfterMASH

• Jamie, Rosalind Choa and Bill on the set of AfterMASH
• Episodic promo shot from AfterMASH
• Rosalind and Jamie from AfterMASH
• Bill, Harry and Jamie for AfterMASH promo shot

Behind the scenes

• Behind the scenes with Alan
• Behind the scenes with Alan and Loretta Swit

Promotional

• Promo shot for final day of filming M*A*S*H
• Alan, Mike and Harry promo shot in Officers Club
• Different shot of above
• Promo shot of Mike before joining the cast
• Promo shot of Gary
• Different shot of above
• Promo shot of Loretta
• Promo shot of Alan
• Promo shot of Alan
• Promo shot of Timothy Brown
• Promo shot of Timothy Brown
• Promo shot of Larry

During filming

• Alan, Mike and Harry during filming of "The M*A*S*H Olympics"
• Gary Burghoff, Alan and Loretta during filming of "Bug-Out, Part 2"
• Jamie during filming of "Margaret’s Marriage"
• McLean Stevenson and Gary during filming of "Private Charles Lamb"
• Alan during filking of "Private Charles Lamb"
• Filming of "Pilot Episode"
• Alan, Larry and Wayne during filming of "Rainbow Bridge"

Other

• Mike at signpost
• Loretta in Post-Op
• Jamie in pink dress with rifle on Fox Ranch
• Different shot of above
• Off set shot of Loretta
• Alan in Post-Op
• Harry at the Ranch

• Harry looking serious
• Harry and Jamie in Officers Club
• Harry and Gary in OC
• Alan in Mess Tent
• Alan and Wayne
• Alan
• Jamie in red dress
• Henry in his office
• Alan and Wayne in scrubs
• Loretta and Larry Linville in the scrub room
• Loretta and Larry cuddling on the ranch
• Larry reading a bible at the Ranch

If you’ve ever looked the entry for M*A*S*H at the Internet Movie Database you’ve probably come across the photos section, which includes more than 100 images. A good number of them are DVD covers but there are a few dozen promotional photographs and stills from the series, both color and black and white. Here‘s a nice one of Harry Morgan and Loretta Swit standing with Jamie Farr in his Scarlett O’Hara dress from “Major Ego.” Many of these promotional photos are from the Motion Picture and Television Archive (MPTV) and you can find plenty of others by searching the MPTV website.

Here are a few promotional or behind-the-scenes photographs I found by searching for “mash” or various actors’ names:

• Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, William Christopher and Loretta Swit in their director’s chairs at the Fox Ranch
• Alan Alda and Mike Farrell waiting at the Fox Ranch (notice the police officer in the background)
• Loretta Swit and Gary Burghoff at a Christmas party
• Early cast photograph, perhaps Season Three (notice the obviously fake mountain scenery)

You can also find photographs of the cast in other television shows/movies as well as more candid shots:

• Larry Linville and a glider he is building
• McLean Stevenson on The Dinah Shore Show (with Susan Anton, Teddy Pendergrass and Vicki Lawrence)
• A signed photograph of a very young Alan Alda
• Loretta Swit at home circa 1973 (with an old telephone)

You can find promotional photographs for other television shows at the MPTV website as well, including Bonanza, Star Trek, Batman, The Dick Van Dyke Show and I Love Lucy.

Interestingly, I couldn’t find the photograph of Harry Morgan, Loretta Swit and Jamie Farr that I mentioned earlier at the MPTV website.