Another year, another pair of anniversaries. Thursday, September 17th, 2009 was the 37th anniversary of M*A*S*H premiering on CBS while Saturday, February 28th, 2009 was the 26th anniversary of the series finale. Sadly, this will also be remembered as the year Larry Gelbart, the man most responsible for bringing M*A*S*H to the small screen, passed away at the age of 81 (on Friday, September 11th). Other deaths during the year included Patrick Swayze on September 14th at the age of 57 — he appeared in “Blood Brothers” — and Pat Hingle on January 3rd at the age of 84 — he played Colonel Daniel Webster Tucker in “April Fools“
On April 26th M*A*S*H was honored at the Seventh Annual TV Land Awards and members of the cast and crew were on hand to accept the Impact Award. Gary Burghoff released his autobiography, Gary Burghoff: To M*A*S*H and Back, in June. In July, Alan Alda was nominated for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category for his work on NBC’s 30 Rock (he lost to Justin Timberlake). Repeats of M*A*S*H stopped airing on broadcast network ION in October; repeats were also briefly dropped from The Hallmark Channel but soon returned.
For M*A*S*H, Finest Kind, 2009 was a big year. In early January I was able to integrate the WordPress software into the site, which introduced the ability for visitors to comment on articles and posts on the main page. A total of more than 700 comments were made throughout the year, although a good number I made myself. And in April, M*A*S*H, Finest Kind celebrated its tenth anniversary. That same month I posted the very first image in the Name That Episode game. The game has become much more popular than I ever imagined and the 72nd image was correctly identified on December 31st.
When I wrote my first Year in Review way back in 2002, I ended it with a quote from “A War For All Seasons,” in which Colonel Potter toasts the new year:
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.
It was the only fitting quote I could think of but in later years, as I continued to use it, I found myself questioning whether it was truly appropriate. After all, Potter was hoping for the end of the Korean War and a safe return home for members of the 4077th. So this year, I’m asking everyone reading this to try to come up with a better quote. I’ll contribute Sidney Freedman’s famous farewell:
Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice: pull down your pants and slide on the ice
It could work, right?
