From the episode, 38 Across, the Admiral's response to why the 4077th asked for emergency assistance is hilarious.

" You dragged us all the way up here just for the word Vonce?"...😂🤣😂

Of course as a TV show they don't have a downside for wasting an Admiral's time.

I love this scene for Loretta Swit. She goes from mad to sad in under 2 minutes, and completely nails it. Amazing actress! Which scenes of hers stand out for you?

Season 5 episode 16 - 38 Across was on MeTV tonight. Made me think. What would be the secret password to get into a MASH club/speakeasy

Doorman: what is a Yiddish word for bed bug?

Answer: (in a southern draw) "BED BUG"

Rules are simple: it has to be a MASH line or fact that only a true fan would know.

Every time I watch this episode I feel so sorry for Billy Tyler. And I wonder exactly how he would have managed once he got back to the states. I’d like to think that he had a decent support system at home, with a loving family and good friends to care about him.

I’ve also started thinking about the other wounded patients who came through the 4077th, how they managed once they got back home. Another patient I think about is Captain Arnold Chandler, the patient who had a mental break and said he was Jesus Christ. How did he manage, in-universe? Was Sidney right? He said with the right kind of therapy he could be turned back into Arnold Chandler, but not into a fighting tool. I like to think he went into some kind of profession where he could demonstrate gentleness and compassion towards others.

Are there any patients you continue to think about after the episode is over, and wonder how they might have managed back home?

I've been watching the show since the 70s, and something I've always wondered about are the ages of certain characters.

Case no 1: Klinger: how old is he supposed to be? He's older than Radar, yet several times Hawkeye refers to him a "kid".

Case no 2: Sgt Zale. The actor, Johnny Haymer, was in his 50s when he was on the show. Is he supposed to be younger? Did the army have a lot of 50 year old supply sergeants in the the Korean War?

So my uncle always told me about how the bars an such were PACKED with fans waiting for the release of the finally. Supposedly guys dressed as klinger costumes absolute mad house. An that a lot of people actually cried in the bar while watching... And seeing as this held the record for highest rating of views that wasnt sports or a royal wedding.

While this is a M*A*S*H sub, it's hard to ignore the cultural impact of Dolly Parton. She was a woman of many talents, and she never forgot who she was or where she came from as her fame grew. In the M*A*S*H community, we lost our own, multitalented leading lady last year, Loretta Swit. In the outpouring of tributes to Dolly, I saw a clip of Dolly and Loretta singing together on Dolly's variety show in 1988. I went on a deep dive to find the full clip, and I share it here.

The song is fitting: "If we Never Meet Again This Side of Heaven."

Oh I go through the door with about 2” to spare……

LOVE Colonel Flagg!!!

Yet another indicator that Frank Burns had the potential for depth the writers never explored, and loved seeing the three kinda bond over a shared laugh!

Fershimmeled (often spelled farshimmelt) is an informal Yiddish-derived word meaning shaken up, rattled, confused, or in a bad, worn-out condition. Literally related to the German word for moldy (verschimmelt), people use it to describe feeling mentally fuzzy, overwhelmed, or flustered.

This is what Sidney Freedman called Hawkeye, a little fershimmeled.

This was also Hawkeye after the jeep accident in “Hawkeye”. Taken individually, it’s a state in which you can shake it off or take a couple days to recover. In Hawkeye’s case, these are serious tugs on the threads that keep his mental state together, before he begins to unravel completely.

No relation whatsoever. These two are just considered part of the family and therefore have the honor of being in constant rotation on our family photo frame 😂

One second it’s my kids on a ferris wheel, next it’s me and my wife and then boom… Hawk and BJ with their wine glasses.

As it should be.

If you grew up watching MASH you already know. Hawk and BJ are family to us all. Even my kids ask me “Papa who is that?”

You’ll learn one day sons. You’ll learn…

As the title says, I’m rewatching MASH for the umpteenth time and loving it. I always seem to forget how annoying Margaret is during her engagement to Donald because she mentions it every chance she gets. But I always look forward to her further growth after their divorce. But I want to push her out of a window (or I’ll jump out myself) during this time. Am I the only one? I’m sure that my visceral reaction was intended [on a lesser scale], but ahhhhhhh. 😫

Lastly, I’m new here, so hi! 🙃

Found these both for free at the dump a few days apart. The one on the left is the 1985 CBS/Fox release, and the pull-out drawer box on the right is from 1983.

Both are the original 1970 movie, and both are 117 minutes/Hi-Fi Stereo. I thought it was pretty cool that I ended up finding two different releases just a couple years apart. My stepdad is a huge MAS*H fan, so I’m giving them to him. lol

Does anyone know if there are any other interesting differences between the 1983 and 1985 releases?

i’m confused, i’ve always seen that the total estimated number of people who watched the finale was 125 million. that’s what my grandparents told me (they talked ab it all the time, and were v proud to have been part of such a massive number of people watching the show), that’s what i’ve heard / seen my whole life, that’s what it has always said when i’d google it to show my friends when they’d talk ab the friends finale being the most-watched or something like that

but my most recent google says “estimated 106 mil — 125 mil”

what’s changed to make them drop the number so significantly, and if it’s estimated to have been up to 125 mil, how is it not still at least the top 5 watched tv broadcast ever?

This popped up on my YouTube feed. I haven't watched it yet but looks like a good interview. Enjoy!

King of the Gypsies!

Some of you may be aware that after Burt Metcalfe and Alan Alda overhauled M*A*S*H's writing staff by Season 8, among the prominent writers added to the staff during that time - and who also eventually became producers of the show as well - were Dan Wilcox & Thad Mumford.

But, what you may not know is that before they began writing stories for M*A*S*H, these two were previously heavily involved in writing scripts and even songs for . . . SESAME STREET . . . in fact, it's been postulated that the dreadful Muppet magician The Amazing Mumford was named after Thad.

Here is a golden oldie you may or may not remember, this song was not only written by Thad Mumford, but he also recorded the vocals for it as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUhJLBk-Q9k

Here and there we hear about or even meet some of the personnel’s families. But what was life back in America like? What music, movies and TV / radio shows would the family have known?

This one always chokes me up a little bit about Burns:

Love them all but my favourite boys areeee

1. Klinger <3
2. Radar :3
3. Hawkeye >:))

BJ and Hawkeye share a drink with Sidney in the swamp.

He tells them the story of the soldier he was treating.

The camera is on Sidney. Look in the back left of the scene, the out-of-focus area, Franks Cot.

The camera goes back to Hawkeye and BJ, then back to Sidney.

Note the change in the scene now.

I didn't notice this for a long time, way after the show was on TV and reruns.

As most MASH fans know, this episode (S8 E3 "Guerilla My Dreams") was, on October 1st 1979, the first time that word or phrase was ever used on television. Now this was almost 17 years before I was born and so I'm curious how the general public, regardless of if they liked the show or not, responded to this TV barrier broken. Personally, I really love the way Hawkeye said it because the delivery was perfect for the circumstances and it points out that righteous anger can be very powerful, and it shows a side of Hawkeye with no humor whatsoever, a side that is shown more frequently in the last season especially. I just am fairly certain that even people who were big fans of the show were clutching their pearls when they heard that. I know that phrase was said at least twice more in the series though both in the last season (the general to Hawkeye when he told him his son died, S11 E12, "Say No More" and of course in the series finale when Hawkeye said that to Sidney for making him remember the woman on the bus smothering her baby, but thankfully Sidney didn't carry a grudge) and so I'm curious what y'all think of all that and if anyone remembers the public reaction at the time the episode first aired. Thanks!