The November 15th episode of The Simpsons on FOX had a blink-and-you-missed it reference to M*A*S*H. In the episode, titled “Podcast News,” Abe Simpson romances a former TV actress. As proof she was once famous, he holds up a magazine called “Big-Time TV Star,” a spoof of TV Guide.
© 2020 20th Television
Notice the four cover lines on the bottom third of the magazine:
- Rumors Of A Fourth Network
- Is M*A*S*H Sexist Enough?
- Inside Norman Lear’s Hat
- Roots Announces Toy Line
Like I said, if you blinked, you missed this reference. I’ve added it to my M*A*S*H References on Television page.
A nitpicker’s fun fact-finding historical dive: There are some historical anomalies all over that cover. This is clearly supposed to be a parody of a TV Guide cover. But …..
TV Guide had its last 15 cent issue in May of 1974. The UPC symbol didn’t appear on TV Guide covers until October of 1976 (by which time the magazine was 25 cents). This Simpsons “Big-Time TV Star” magazine would be from sometime after “Roots” aired during January of 1977. The rumors of a 4th network is almost certainly supposed to be a joke involving the Fox Network, which 20th Century Fox didn’t announce until October 1985 (and didn’t debut programming for until October 1986), a few years after “M*A*S*H” had already left the air. However, there -was- a pursuit to start a 4th TV network shortly after the 1976 introduction of the “Operation Prime Time” package of specials and TV movies, with Paramount Studios announcing in June of 1977 its plans for a Paramount Television Service” that would have included the “Star Trek: Phase II” TV series.
(Yes, this is also the same universe where currently 10-year-old Bart Simpson at one point in his life met Bob Hope, too….!)
So I just found your blog
Your missing the Community episode where Jeff basically becomes Hawkeye and Abed is radar
Letterkenny has its own Canadian version of mash called Miss Fire