Tonight at 8PM, PBS will broadcast the fourth and final episode of America in Primetime, which from what I’ve read is not your typical documentary but rather a collection of interviews with actors, directors and writers attempting to explain how contemporary television has been influenced by decades worth of creativity and effort. Each episode has focused on an archetypal television character: Independent Woman, Man of the House, The Misfit and tonight, “The Crusader.” Among those interviewed for “The Crusader” were Hugh Laurie, Dennis Franz, Michael Chiklis, Gillian Anderson and Alan Alda, who will presumably be talking about M*A*S*H and the famous crusader he portrayed, Hawkeye Pierce.

Check your local listings to see if America in Primetime is airing on your PBS station tonight.

Actor Alan Fudge, who guest starred in “Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler” as the eponymous Captain Chandler, passed away on October 10th at the age of 67. Fudge also made guest appearances on Trapper John, M.D. and AfterMASH, thereby completing the M*A*S*H trifecta (how many people can say that?). He had recurring roles in several television series, including Man From Atlantis, Eischied and 7th Heaven.

Alan Fudge as Captain Chandler in “Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?”

His nearly four decade career began in 1972 with a guest role on Gunsmoke, followed by dozens of guest spots in shows like The Rookies, Starsky and Hutch, Police Story, Lou Grant, The A-Team and Dallas. According to his IMDb profile, Fudge’s last television appearance was a 2009 episode of The Office. An obituary can be found at Variety.com.

(Thanks to Dan.)

Character actor Leonard Stone, who played Colonel Bidwell in “The General’s Practitioner,” passed away on Wednesday (November 2nd) at the age of 87. Many obituaries (The New York Times, CBS News, The Los Angeles Times) mention his 1971 role as the father of Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as well as his Tony Award nomination for a 1959 play called Rehead.

Leonard Stone as Colonel Bidwell in “The General’s Practitioner”

In addition to M*A*S*H, Stone made guest appearances on dozens of television shows including Gunsmoke, Mannix, Land of the Giants, Mission: Impossible, Quincy, M.E., Perry Mason and Falcon Crest. He was a regular on Camp Runamuck (read more at Television Obscurities), an NBC sitcom that ran from 1966-1967. According to his Internet Movie Database entry, Stone’s acting career began in 1956 and spanned five decades, with his last credit a 2006 made-for-TV movie called Surrender, Dorothy.

Many M*A*S*H fans may not recognize the name Robert Pierpoint but they should recognize his voice from “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” as the radio reporter announcing the end of the Korean War. Pierpoint, who passed away on Saturday (October 22nd) at the age of 86, spent more than four decades as a newscaster for CBS News. Obituaries at The New York Times, CBS News and The Los Angeles Times all discuss how Pierpoint focused on human interest stories while reporting from Korea.

Here’s audio of Pierpoint’s “cameo” from “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen:”

My question: is this an excerpt from a vintage 1953 radio report by Pierpoint or did he record a recreation for M*A*S*H? In its obituary, The New York Times writes that “his voice reporting the Korean cease-fire for CBS Radio was used on the final episode of ‘M*A*S*H’ in 1983″ while The Los Angeles Times states that his Korean war coverage was “a role he reprised when he provided his radio voice for the widely watched final episode of ‘MASH’ in 1983,” suggesting to me that it was a recreation.

(Thanks to Dan.)

TV Land has made some changes to its schedule and is now airing M*A*S*H at the following times:

Monday-Friday from 5-7PM
Saturday from 2-4PM
Sunday from 2-4PM and 8-10PM

Based on Zap2it’s television listings, TV Land is more or less airing the series in order and at the moment is nearing the end of Season One. Note that episodes may not always start on the hour or half-hour. For example, this coming Saturday has episodes airing from 2-2:35PM, 2:35-3:09PM and 3:09-3:44PM (followed by an episode of The Andy Griffith Show). Thus, the two-hour block from 2-4PM is not entirely filled with M*A*S*H.

Whether these longer running times mean certain episodes are aired uncut or just with more commercials is something I cannot answer, because I do not get TV Land. Does anyone know?