On the first disc of bonus features included in the Martinis & Medicine Complete Collection — and later released alongside “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” — are close to ten minutes of something called “My Favorite M*A*S*H.” It features members of the cast, including Alan Alda, Loretta Swit and Jamie Farr, introducing their favorite episodes of the series.

Alan Alda Introducing “In Love and War”

Both Alan Alda and Loretta Swit are on the M*A*S*H set, wearing their uniforms, which suggests their footage was filmed while the series was still in production. Jamie Farr, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan and William Christopher, however, are out of uniform in civilian clothes, indicating either their footage were filmed after the series wrapped or simply away from the set.

William Christopher Introducing “Dear Sis”

Here is a list of the episodes discussed by each actor:

Alan Alda – “Dear Sigmund,” “In Love and War“
Mike Farrell – “Welcome To Korea,” “Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?“
Loretta Swit – “Hot Lips and Empty Arms,” Margaret’s Engagement“
William Christopher – “Dear Sis,” “Mulcahy’s War“
Harry Morgan – “The U.N., the Night, and the Music,” “The General Flipped at Dawn“
Jamie Farr – “Officer of the Day,” “Big Mac“

I believe this footage was used in promotional spots for the series. The following spot, from September of 1987, is advertising “The Stars Favorite Episodes” week and includes a few snippets of Jamie Farr discussing “The Trial of Henry Blake.” It isn’t one of the episodes included on the bonus disc but he is wearing the same outfit.

I wonder how many other episodes each of the actors introduced.

I’ve just put the finishing touches on a new article called M*A*S*H in Syndication. Here’s the introduction:

Syndication refers to a method of distribution in which individual outlets are supplied with content by a central provider. Comic strips, for example, are syndicated to newspapers. In the television industry, shows can be placed in “first-run syndication” (where individual television stations are the first to air new programs) or “off-network syndication” (when a program originally broadcast on a network is later sold to individual stations). In the past, networks would also syndicate repeats of their own programming in daytime and late-night time slots.

M*A*S*H, of course, was broadcast by CBS from 1972 to 1983. While it was on the air, however, CBS aired repeats of the series during the afternoon and late at night. The series was also sold into off-network syndication in the late 1970s. Off-network syndication continued long after M*A*S*H went off the air in 1983. In 1998, the series went into cable syndication.

As of February 2009, M*A*S*H is being syndicated on two cable channels, one broadcast network and on local stations.

Did you know that M*A*S*H may be the only network television series ever to be broadcast in three time slots by the same network? After reading this article you will. You can also watch four promotional spots for M*A*S*H in syndication, including one for newly remastered episodes and another for a marathon on FX.

I hope to eventually write another article about M*A*S*H in international syndication but at the moment I have very little information about the show airing in other countries.

Thanks to Tom and the fine folks at The Bulletin Board for confirming that M*A*S*H is still broadcast in local syndication in some areas of the country.