Press Pass 21: “M*A*S*H Notes” [Updated]

UPDATED (6/13/2023): Thanks to Dan Harrison, I am able to answer some of the questions I posed in my original concluding paragraph. See the additional paragraph for more information on how “Dial Turner” really was!

When 20th Century Fox Television distributed press releases, they were mostly anonymously written by someone (or a team) within PR. The majority of the press releases in my collection do not list an author’s name…except for these two. These two releases have been a mystery to me because they are both titled “M*A*S*H Notes,” are seemingly both by the same, named author, and are both missing dates. These works were written as interest pieces so newspapers and magazines could print what the M*A*S*H cast was doing outside of the series, and these releases offer more than just what the next episode of M*A*S*H would be about. They are really interesting, but I have several questions.

This first release of “M*A*S*H Notes” is by Dyal Turner. Instead of being about an episode of show or the upcoming season, it offers information about each of the members of the cast. We learn, for example, that Harry Morgan’s co-star credit in M*A*S*H is the eighth such credit in his acting career. That was quite a feat! The release goes on to give us insights into the career or current interests of the rest of the cast including Mike Farrell, Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, Jamie Farr, Alan Alda, Gary Burghoff, and William Christopher. They also profile producer Gene Reynolds. We learn that at that point in the series, which has to be either seasons four or five since Linville is still a series regular, Klinger has worn 97 dresses! I am not sure whether this figure is accurate (or who counted), but in the first several seasons of the series, he did wear quite a few dresses. We also learn that Christopher read Greek?! This release offered great, non-M*A*S*H and M*A*S*H related information about each of the cast members and Reynolds.

The second release discusses the 1980 Emmy wins for Morgan and Swit. The series up to that point had earned 12 Emmys and 81 nominations. Surprisingly, we learned about an actor’s strike and what several of the cast members did during the strike including Farr taking his family on a trip to Europe, Farrell opening a vegetarian restaurant, Morgan returning home to his ranch and horses, Alda working on a movie he directed, wrote, and starred in along side Carol Burnett (The Four Seasons), and Swit singing on The Monte Carlo Show. Again, this release is about what the actors were doing outside of M*A*S*H and really didn’t say much about the series itself besides the two additional Emmy awards.

Update: Thanks to Dan Harrison, I can answer some of the questions originally posed in this post. “M*A*S*H Notes” was written by longtime Fox publicist Chuck Panama (photo below). He had a long career as a journalist and publicist in Hollywood, and he passed away in 2018 at the age of 93. His press materials related to M*A*S*H ensured that fans were up to date with the series they loved. Dan also confirmed that “Dial Turner” was a pen name that referred to the action of “turning the dial” of an older television set. It was a clever use of the term as a name! Dan also pointed out that Panama is referenced in one episode of M*A*S*H. In “Bombshells” (11×06), Hawkeye calls Fox to speak with Marilyn Monroe, but he speaks with a “Miss Panama” instead. I am very grateful to Dan for providing this information so we can properly recognize Panama for his work as a Fox publicist and with M*A*S*H.

After reading these press releases, I am left with several questions. How long did “M*A*S*H Notes” run? How often was it released? How many are there total? Was “M*A*S*H Notes” always written by the same person? And how do you spell Dial Turner’s first name?! The first release credits the writer as “Dyal Turner” and the second as “Dial Turner.” I’ve done some research, and I cannot find any information for anyone with names spelled either way. Is it even a real name? Could it perhaps refer to someone “turning the dial” of their television? Despite all of my open questions, one thing is for certain, these are some of the more interesting press releases I’ve seen because they offered a glimpse of what the M*A*S*H cast was doing beyond the series. It was more personal, and allowed fans to feel a more connected with the actors who brought their favorite characters to life each week.