As I began my rewatch of M*A*S*H season seven in July, I knew I had to select a script to write about this month. For me, there was only one choice. Not because it is my favorite episode of the season, but because I have always wondered why the second episode of the season was when they seemingly first introduced B.J.’s mustache. No one was surprised by the mustache in “Commander Pierce” (07×01), but in “Peace on Us” (07×02), that is when B.J. shaves his beard but leaves the mustache. That led me to wonder whether the episode “Peace on Us” was written before “Commander Pierce,” and it was! It is true that episodes are not always filmed in order, but they typically air in a certain order if the storylines dictate it. So my theory is that “Peace on Us” was intended to be the season seven premiere episode. However, something prevented it from being ready on time, so they had to adjust the order of the episodes. Let’s take a look at the script to see if that proves to be true!
The Script
This is a Second Revised Final draft of the script dated July 17, 1978. “Peace on Us” aired on CBS on September 25, 1978 as the second episode of season seven. It was written by Ken Levine & David Isaacs. They are credited with writing 17 episodes of M*A*S*H, and they were the story editors for all of season six. Levine and Isaacs would go on to write for AfterMASH, Cheers, Wings, Becker, and other television series. The episode was directed by George Tyne, and he is credited with directing 7 episodes of M*A*S*H in seasons four through seven. In addition to directing, Tyne was an actor from the mid-1940s until the 1980s.
While this script does not have any of the production documents including the Call Sheets or Shooting schedule, it does contain several sets of revised pages. Typically, the primary script pages are an off-white or pale green color, but in this script, they are pink. The revised pages are different colors to differentiate them from the pink pages. There are three sets of revised pages: one set dated July 19, 1978 (green), July 26, 1978 (yellow), and August 18, 1978 (orange). That last set of revised pages being nearly a month after the script date might provide a clue as to why this episode was not the first episode of the season. The episode may not have been ready for the season seven premiere date of September 18, 1978, so the episode order was adjusted. This script is also one of the few that I have reviewed that has no major differences between it and the final episode. There are no scenes cut for time, no major scene revisions, etc. That is very unusual, even for a Second Revised Final draft to not have some extra scenes that were likely cut for time.
After reviewing the script and rewatching the episode, I do believe that “Peace on Us” was intended to be the first episode of season seven. It was the first script written (the script for “Commander Pierce” is dated July 26, 1978), and it set up several storylines that would play out over the coming season. However, I believe that the revisions and scene changes made in mid-August caused a delay in having the episode ready for premiere week on CBS. I remember watching this episode in the mid-2000s, and being confused by why B.J. was talking about his new mustache in this episode when he clearly had a mustache at the start of the season in “Commander Pierce.” While this script does not contain the production documents to provide more clues, I believe that the revised pages from August 18, 1978 offer the decisive answer. If filming had completed in late July only to have a revised scens filmed a few weeks later, the episode would have to be re-edited. In the late 1970s, that meant reworking the film, and that took time. We all know that the M*A*S*H timeline can be difficult to follow at times, but I think the issues between the timing of “Commander Pierce” and “Peace on Us” can be chalked up to production challenges.
The Final Episode
The episode opens with Col. Potter calling everyone to formation in the compound. He announces that the peace talks in Panmunjom have stalled, but that everyone will be rotated home as soon as they have the required number of service points. That puts everyone into a sour mood, and the case of the grumps carries in to the O.R. Potter tries to put a stop to the infectious bad mood, but he delivers more bad news in that the number of service points required to be rotated home increased. This makes Hawkeye so angry that he drives to Panmunjom to address the peace talks himself. He manages to get admitted to the talks, says his peace, and goes back to the 4077th. Meanwhile, Margaret tells Hawkeye that she is going to Tokyo to meet with Donald to work out their differences. However, she finds out that he requested a transfer to San Francisco to avoid working things out with her. She ultimately makes the decision to divorce Donald Penobscott after talking to Hawkeye and Col. Potter. After Hawkeye returns from the peace talks, the camp’s mood is lifted, and they have a “red party” where they’ve dyed everything red from their clothes to their hair!
“Peace on Us” is an example of a later season episode that is fairly light on humor. Neither of the primary storylines, the failing peace talks or Margaret’s divorce, are funny topics. However, Margaret’s divorce does pick up where season six left off with a clear indication that her marriage was not in a good place. As for the failure of the peace talks, that was a common thread in the Korean War. This isn’t one of my favorite episodes, but it isn’t one of my least favorite episodes either. My only real issue with this episode is that the writers once again chose to have Hawkeye be the one to get the most angry about the peace talks falling through. Yes, he has been there the longest, but there are others in the camp who also have lives to go home to. I can’t help but think that had this episode been written for seasons one through three, Hawkeye AND Trapper would have gone to the peace talks together.
As I mentioned, the date on this script indicates that it was written before the season seven opening episode “Commander Pierce.” I actually think that this episode might have been a better season opener. B.J.’s new mustache is openly discussed, and Margaret’s divorce sets up a storyline that continues until it is finalized. I am not sure if this episode is any better than “Commander Pierce,” but it is interesting that season seven was the first season of M*A*S*H since season three to not begin with an hour-long episode. Strangely, there is an hour long episode that aired a few weeks later that might have made a good season opener as well (“Our Finest Hour” (07×04)). In season seven, we begin to see some themes repeat, and the writers aren’t focused as much on season long story arcs like we saw in seasons four, five, and six. Strangely, the script for this episode didn’t have any major changes between this revised draft and the final episode. As I continue my rewatch of season seven this month, I am curious how season seven will fare since I have to admit that it didn’t get off to the best start.
The M*A*S*H Historian 
I’m surprised that a season opener would be filmed in late July. I distinctly remember seeing a picture dated July 10, 1979 (a Tuesday) as the first day of filming for Season 8. Someone (I think on Facebook) suggested that “Commander Pierce” became the season opener because Klinger, a fan favorite, was more heavily featured in that episode than “Peace on US”, where he barely appeared.
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Early to mid July was a pretty standard starting time for M*A*S*H. “Peace on Us” is dated July 17, 1978 while “Commander Pierce” is dated July 24, 1978. My copy of the script is a “Revised Final” draft, so it likely that the initial drafts had an earlier date. I saw the comment about Klinger as well, but I can’t find any evidence of that (nor would there likely be any). Based on the scene from “Peace on Us” being re-filmed mid-August, the theory that the episode would have to be re-edited seems plausible. They didn’t have the episode ready in time for the September 18 season premiere date.
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It seems that Season 3 (and likely Season 4) had an earlier production schedule, likely if CBS gave the show a full season pickup at the start. I’ve read somewhere (maybe on your page) that the infamous “Abyssinia, Henry”, the last episode filmed & aired in Season 3, was filmed in November 1974, and Season 4 may have also had an earlier filming schedule, as Loretta Swit left the season early around November 1975 to appear in a stage production of “Same Time, Next Year” but only missed about 4 or 5 episodes. I love when you or others have MASH call sheets, which show which scenes were filmed on which dates. Somewhere I saw the call sheet for Dec. 8, 1982 (late in the production run) which had parts of 3 episodes (with different directors, including Jamie Farr) filmed that same day.
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That’s a good catch with try call sheets! Of they were filming out at the Ranch, they might film scenes for multiple episodes at once to save resources. I love the Call Sheets and Shooting Schedule as well, and I wish I had both in every script!
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