There was a M*A*S*H reference on last night’s episode of Castle on ABC, which involved a bank robbery. The robbers were using code names, each of them being called Doctor [Something] and one went by Trapper John. Here’s the pertinent exchange:

Detective Kate Beckett: “So what’s your name?”
Bank Robber: “You can call me Trapper John.”
Detective Kate Beckett: “A MASH fan. That’s Nice.”

I have updated M*A*S*H References on Television with this latest reference.

Sunday night’s hour-long episode of Family Guy (titled “It’s a Trap!”) was a parody of Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Although it had its broadcast premiere on Sunday, it was released on DVD in December of 2010. At the start of the episode, in place of the famous “A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” the following text was shown before the opening scroll:

A long time ago, after “M*A*S*H”, but before “After M*A*S*H”…

Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was released on May 25, 1983, after the series finale of M*A*S*H in February but before the series premiere of AfterMASH in September. You can see the gag here (United States residents only, unfortunately):

Also, the April 28th episode of NBC’s Community (“Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts”) included a M*A*S*H reference. Dean Pelton (played by Jim Rash) has just announced that an international cooking exhibition has turned into a riot when he refers to the longevity of M*A*S*H surpassing the length of the Korean Conflict:

Dean Pelton: “I mean, I didn’t even know there was a difference between North and South Korean barbeque. I mean, M*A*S*H lasted longer than that war. Get over it, am right?”

Watch the scene on Hulu (again, United States residents only):

This isn’t the first episode of Community to refer to M*A*S*H; the January 14th, 2010 episode was filled with references to the series.

Earlier this week I wrote about a new CBS drama titled Miami Medical that has connections to and has been compared to M*A*S*H. But Miami Medical isn’t the first medical drama to be compared to M*A*S*H, just the most recent. In September of 2002, ABC debuted a new show called MDs, a comedy/drama set in a fictional hospital in San Francisco known as The Mish (for Mission General). John Hannah and William Fichtner starred as Dr. Robert Dalgety and Dr. Bruce Kellerman, a pair of doctors fighting the administration at every step while trying to save as many lives as possible.

M*A*S*H, the doctors used humor to combat the inhumanity of war; MDs tried to do the same with health care. Critics were quick to note the comparisons between the shows, matching characters on MDs with their new counterparts on MDs. Fichtner’s character was Hawkeye, Hannah was Trapper John, and so on and so forth. Laura Urbani of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review had this to say:

The new ABC medical drama “MDs” finds inspiration in the classic television show “M*A*S*H.” This time, doctors aren’t fighting the Korean War; they’re fighting managed health care.

And, the drama does not provide a comforting view of the system. It makes everyone in health management appear to be greedy and cold-hearted.

[...]

Kellerman is the reincarnation of “M*A*S*H” doctor Hawkeye Pierce. He is the best surgeon around. He’s intense, sarcastic, charming and gives his all for the patients while thumbing his nose at authority. [1]

And here’s what Salon.com‘s Carina Chocano wrote in her review of MDs:

Like the “M*A*S*H” boys, Kellerman and Dalgety have a little problem with authority, especially when it’s stupid, dogmatic and inhumane. The uptight Nurse Poole and her petulant sidekick, sad-sack HMO administrator Chester Donge –”MDs’” very own Frank and Hot Lips duo, sans the mad love — are dying to have the two doctors fired. But the rebel surgeons are in luck, it seems, because the hospital’s board of directors has just hired a squeamish former amusement park manager, Shelly Pangborn (Leslie Stefanson), to run the hospital. As an outsider, she can see both sides of the pressing issue of the day. (Plus, she’s hot.) [2]

Unlike M*A*S*H, which ran for eleven seasons, MDs wasn’t a success. ABC canceled it after just eight episodes; another five were left unaired. It remains to be seen whether Miami Medical will manage to hang on longer.

Works Cited:

The other day I wrote about a M*A*S*H reference in a new CBS drama called Miami Medical, which premiered last Friday (April 2nd). In the episode, the character played by Jeremy Northam called a Miami trauma center “MASH in paradise” and, according to CBS press material, his fictional back story includes a stint at a MASH unit during the first Gulf War. That was enough for me to mention it here. But it turns out the connection between the two shows goes a bit deeper.

Shortly after writing about the aforementioned reference I was contacted by a contributor to a website dedicated to Jeremy Northam called Jeremy Northam Info. She let me know about a Daily Kos interview with the creator of Miami Medical, Jeffrey Lieber, which included the following exchange:

One of the characters in Miami Medical, played by Jeremy Northam, worked in a MASH unit during the first Gulf War. Is he more Frank Burns or Hawkeye Pierce?
Hawkeye, absolutely. M*A*S*H is the great-grandfather of the show and if we have any real level of success, I’ll keep pushing the series more and more in that direction. In fact, for about a week, we were in the process of writing in a research team comprised of the actors who played Radar, Father Mulcahy and B.J. Hunnicutt. We eventually got Mike Farrell, Hunnicutt, into episode #5.

I admit, it would have been neat to see Gary Burghoff, William Christopher and Mike Farrell together again as a crack team of medical researchers but alas it was not to be. While browsing another Jeremy Northam website, JeremyNortham.net, I found a link to a Toronto Sun article titled “‘Miami Medical’ reminiscent of ‘M*A*S*H’,” in which columnist Bill Harris calls Northam’s character “the Charles Emerson Winchester III of the group.” I also came across another article from the Sioux City Journal which touched upon the fact that Northam’s character worked at a MASH unit:

His character’s secrets aren’t immediately apparent — he left a lucrative practice to join the team. In his past: work in a “MASH” unit. The connection? “We’ll discover it through the course of the series,” he says.

“Tortured? I don’t understand the word. Everyone’s got a history. And he’s 47, 48 and he has been around a bit. He makes a conscious decision to make a change in his life. Why? We’ll just have to see.”

So, to sum up, not only was there a M*A*S*H reference in the first episode of Miami Medical, not only did one of the characters work in a fictional MASH unit, but the show’s creator considers M*A*S*H to be Miami Medical‘s “great-grandfather” and hopes to emulate it in some fashion. To be quite honest, though, I only watched the premiere of Miami Medical because promotional spots included the M*A*S*H reference and I don’t plan on watching future episodes. But it is nice to know that M*A*S*H is still influencing new television shows.

The March 25th, 2010 episode of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy was titled “Suicide is Painless,” a clear reference to the memorable theme song from the film MASH and M*A*S*H the television series. The episode featured a flashback to a character’s experience as a medic in Iraq.

Also, during the series premiere of Miami Medical (a new drama from Jerry Bruckheimer) on CBS last night, the character played by Jeremy Northam (Dr. Matthew Proctor), referred to the Miami trauma center as “MASH in paradise.” According to the official CBS description for the episode, Northam’s character “is new to the trauma team after leaving a lucrative private practice following his return from a tour of duty in a MASH unit during the first Gulf War.” I watched the episode after hearing the line in promotional spots but don’t recall any mention of Northam’s character having worked in a MASH unit.

I’ve updated M*A*S*H References on Television accordingly.