Here we are at the end of another year, looking back at 365 days of events and happenings, a few of which relate to M*A*S*H. This year was the 35th anniversary of M*A*S*H premiering on CBS (1972-2007) and the 24th anniversary of the series finale (1983-2007). It was by and large a slow year, but here are the highlights:
Anne Pitoniak and Robert Symonds Die
Actress Anne Pitoniak, who portrayed Mildred Potter during the second season of AfterMASH, died at the age of 85 on April 22nd. She received two Tony nominations for her work on stage. And in August, Robert Symonds died at 80. He appeared as Colonel Horace Baldwin, the man who sent Charles Emerson Winchester, III (David Ogden Stiers) to the 4077th.
M*A*S*H On TV Land
During the first week of January, cable channel TV Land began airing M*A*S*H (it shares cable rights with The Hallmark Channel). During that first week, a marathon of episodes and specials averaged 1.3 million viewers.
Bonus Material Released
The bonus material originally found only as part of the “Martinis and Medicine” collection was released alongside the final episode in a three disc set.
Awards All Around
In June, M*A*S*H was nominated for a Heritage Award by the Television Critic’s Association (it lost to HBO’s The Sopranos. Also that month, the “Martinis & Medicine” collection won “Best TV DVD” from the 3rd Annual DVD Critics Awards. And in June, Larry Gelbart won his second Humanitas Prize — the honorary Kieser Award.
M*A*S*H, Finest Kind (Re)Launches
On Wednesday, August 1st, 2007, the brand new M*A*S*H, Finest Kind website launched, with a variety of interesting and unique articles and features that each and every M*A*S*H fan should read and enjoy. Hopefully, in 2008 I’ll get even more content on the site, including more My First M*A*S*H stories, which I for one really enjoy reading.
As always I will close this review with a quote by Colonel Potter, from “A War For All Seasons:”
“Here’s to the new year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we may we all be home before she’s over.”
