17 Lesser-Known Facts About M*A*S*H

In 1968, surgeon H. Richard Hornberger, writing under the pseudonym Richard Hooker, teamed up with author W.C. Heinz to pen MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, inspired by Hornberger's time with the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. By 1970, Robert Altman adapted the novel into a film centered on the fictional 4077th unit (halving the original number, 8055). Shortly after, the story was revived as an 11-season TV series. On this day 35 years ago, the show concluded with the highest-rated series finale ever. Here are some intriguing details about the series that won't land you in trouble.

1. ALAN ALDA AND JAMIE FARR HAD MILITARY BACKGROUNDS.

Alda, who played Hawkeye Pierce, spent six months in the Army Reserve in Korea. Farr enlisted and was based in Japan when Red Skelton asked him to join his USO Tour in Korea. Wayne Rogers (Trapper John McIntyre) briefly served in the U.S. Navy as a navigator, while Mike Farrell (B.J. Hunnicut) was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps.

2. MCLEAN STEVENSON TRIED OUT FOR HAWKEYE, AND COMEDIAN ROBERT KLEIN DECLINED THE PART OF TRAPPER JOHN.

Stevenson was persuaded to accept the character of Lt. Colonel Henry Blake instead. Regarding Klein, he refuted claims that he later regretted his choice.

3. LARRY GELBART PENNED THE PILOT IN JUST TWO DAYS FOR $25,000.

The seasoned screenwriter, who had moved to London after becoming disillusioned with Hollywood, found the chance to adapt Robert Altman’s film for TV too enticing to ignore.

4. KLINGER WAS INITIALLY MEANT TO APPEAR IN ONLY A SINGLE EPISODE.

Originally, Klinger was intended to be gay. However, Jamie Farr’s portrayal evolved into a heterosexual character who wore women’s clothing as a strategy to secure a discharge from Korea. The inspiration for Klinger reportedly came from comedian Lenny Bruce’s anecdote about being dismissed from the Navy after admitting to having “homosexual tendencies.”

5. THE LAUGH TRACK WAS A NETWORK DEMAND.

Gelbart and executive producer Gene Reynolds opposed the use of canned laughter, but CBS insisted it was necessary for a 30-minute “comedy.” They did, however, negotiate the removal of the laugh track during operating room scenes. Over time, the laugh track became less prominent. In the U.K., the BBC completely eliminated the laugh track.

6. CBS OBJECTED TO AN EPISODE THEY DEEMED “UNPATRIOTIC.”

An episode depicting soldiers enduring freezing temperatures to fall ill and be sent home was vetoed by CBS. This tactic was reportedly a real strategy employed during the Korean War.

7. THE WRITERS DEVISED A CLEVER SOLUTION TO HANDLE SCRIPT CRITICISMS.

Fed up with cast members’ constant script feedback, M*A*S*H writer Ken Levine and his colleagues tweaked the script twice, forcing actors to wear heavy parkas in 90- to 100-degree heat on their Malibu set. The tactic worked, and the “nitpicking” complaints ceased.

8. WAYNE ROGERS COULD LEAVE THE SHOW BECAUSE HE NEVER SIGNED A CONTRACT.

Rogers faced a breach of contract lawsuit threat, but he had never signed one, rejecting the standard TV actor agreement when he joined as Trapper John. He particularly disliked the outdated “morals clause.” While he missed the cast, especially his bond with Alda, Rogers expressed no remorse about departing after season three.

9. Alda was the sole actor privy to Henry Blake’s fate just before filming the concluding scene in “Abyssinia, Henry.”

Seizing the chance presented by McLean Stevenson’s desire to depart after the third season, Gelbart and Reynolds aimed to “highlight the futility” of war by scripting Henry Blake’s demise. They distributed the script minus the final page, filmed all scenes, and then, just before the season wrap party, handed out the last page. In it, Radar bursts into the O.R. to deliver the tragic news of Henry’s death.

Larry Linville (Frank Burns) instantly praised the move as “f***ing brilliant.” Gary Burghoff (Radar) jokingly berated Stevenson, predicting an Emmy win for his performance. (It never came.) The scene was captured in just two takes. Gelbart and Reynolds reported receiving over a thousand letters from viewers distressed by the ending. Reynolds also mentioned CBS’s dissatisfaction, noting that in at least one rerun, the final scene was omitted.

10. The writers exhausted their supply of names.

In season six, an episode introduces four Marine patients whose names are inspired by the 1977 California Angels infield. By season seven, the patients’ names shifted to honor the 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers. Ken Levine didn’t limit himself to baseball references; in “Goodbye Radar,” Radar’s new girlfriend was named after one of Levine’s past acquaintances, Patty Haven.

11. THE SHOW RAN FAR BEYOND THE DURATION OF THE REAL KOREAN WAR.

The show spanned 11 years, narrating the experiences of Army doctors and nurses during a war that lasted only three years, one month, and two days.

12. ALDA CO-AUTHORED 13 EPISODES AND DIRECTED 31 EPISODES OF THE SERIES.

Among those 31 episodes was the series finale. Alda made history as the first individual to win Emmys for acting, directing, and writing on the same series.

13. A HOST OF FUTURE CELEBRITIES MADE GUEST APPEARANCES ON THE SHOW.

Ron Howard appeared as a young Marine, Leslie Nielsen as a Colonel, and Patrick Swayze as a leukemia-stricken soldier. Other notable guests included John Ritter, Laurence Fishburne, Pat Morita, Rita Wilson, George Wendt, Shelley Long, Ed Begley Jr., Blythe Danner, Teri Garr, and even Andrew Dice Clay, all of whom visited the 4077th.

14. THE SERIES FINALE REMAINS THE MOST-WATCHED TELEVISION EPISODE IN U.S. HISTORY.

On February 28, 1983, 77% of viewers in the United States tuned in to watch the two-and-a-half-hour finale, “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen,” totaling 121.6 million people. While a 30-second ad cost $30,000 when M*A*S*H premiered in 1972, the price skyrocketed to $450,000 for the finale.

15. THE SHOW INSPIRED THREE SPINOFFS.

Trapper John, M.D., which ran from 1979 to 1986, followed Trapper John McIntyre’s modern-day role as chief of surgery in San Francisco (without Wayne Rogers). AfterMASH focused on Col. Potter (Harry Morgan), Father Mulcahy (William Christopher), and Klinger (Jamie Farr) working at a veterans' hospital in Missouri post-M*A*S*H; it was canceled in its second season due to competition from The A-Team. W*A*L*T*E*R explored Walter “Radar” O'Reilly’s (Burghoff) new life as a St. Louis cop after losing his family farm, his wife (not Patty Haven), and battling depression. The unaired pilot was shown only once, limited to the eastern and central time zones, on July 17, 1984.

16. RADAR’S TEDDY BEAR WAS AUCTIONED AND RETURNED TO BURGHOFF.

Burghoff revealed that Radar’s teddy bear, missing for 30 years, resurfaced at a 2005 auction. A medical student purchased it for $11,500 and later sold it back to Burghoff.

17. THE SHOW’S TIME CAPSULE WAS DISCOVERED BY A CONSTRUCTION WORKER SHORTLY AFTER BEING BURIED.

In the second-to-last episode, “As Time Goes By,” the cast buried a time capsule at Fox Ranch. Two months later, the property was sold, and a construction worker stumbled upon the capsule. He reached out to Alan Alda for guidance on what to do with it. Alda advised him to keep it and later mentioned that the worker “didn’t seem particularly thrilled.”