This September marks the 50th anniversary of M*A*S*H season five, and last week, I wrote about the season five script, “Lt. Radar O’Reilly” (05×04). I want to continue the season five spotlight this week by discussing a press release from CBS dated September 3, 1976 announcing the season five premiere. The fifth season of M*A*S*H debuted on Tuesday, September 21, 1976 with a special hour long episode called “Bug Out.” This press release did not go into detail about that episode other than to say it was the season five premiere, but there are some interesting details worth nothing from this press release. The document lists several names that may not be familiar to the casual M*A*S*H fan, so this week, let’s take a closer look at this M*A*S*H season five premiere press release and meet some of the people behind our favorite television show.
I have previously written about the script for “Bug Out,” and some of the details from that review are relevant here as well. The press release introduced us to the writers of the episode, Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. They were a writing team who were credited with writing 24 episodes of M*A*S*H from seasons three to six. The document also lists the primary cast members, which we know well. Season five was the first season in which William Christopher was a full time M*A*S*H cast member, so it is great to see his name listed among the other regulars. For the episode “Bug Out,” there were several guest stars. Fan favorite Richard Lee Sung appeared, one of his eleven credited M*A*S*H appearances. Frances Fong is credited as “Rosie,” and this was her first of two appearances in that role. Eileen Saki, the next actress to play “Rosie” after Fong also appeared in “Bug Out” as “Girl No. 1.” Finally, our favorite Mess Tent resident Jeff Maxwell made an appearance in this episode, but was he playing Igor? According to this press release and the script, Maxwell played “Salkowitz,” and he was seen digging a new latrine in the episode.
Those credits represent the people we saw on screen or the names on the title page of the script. There are some other names on this press release that are worth highlighting. Gene Reynolds was M*A*S*H‘s executive producer and co-creator through season five. He directed “Bug Out,” and he served several major roles on M*A*S*H including producer, director, and writer. An actor himself, Reynolds worked closely with Larry Gelbart to ensure that M*A*S*H maintained its authenticity. Reynolds left M*A*S*H at the conclusion of the fifth season, and he was replaced by another name on this document, Burt Metcalfe. He served as M*A*S*H‘s executive producer until the series ended. Two other producers at this time were Don Reo and Allan Katz. They only served as producers for the fifth season, and they were likely brought in to help Reynolds since Gelbart left M*A*S*H at the end of season four.
Another familiar name on this release is Johnny Mandel, who arranged the M*A*S*H theme song, “Suicide is Painless.” While Mandel did not work directly with the series, music supervisor Lionel Newman was responsible for the musical arrangements of the theme song as well as the other pieces of music we hear in each episode. There are several others I want to highlight including the set decorator, Bert Allen, who saved one of the M*A*S*H sign posts that sold at auction in 2023. Stanford Tischler was an award winning film editor who was with M*A*S*H all eleven seasons. Finally, I want to highlight William Jurgensen. The press release lists him as the director of photography, but he was so much more than that. His nickname, “B.J.,” is how the character played by Mike Farrell got his name. Jurgensen is often credited as cinematographer because he was responsible for the camera work on M*A*S*H. He directed ten episodes of M*A*S*H as well, and his episodes often have complex camera shots because he knew how to make the cameras do what he wanted.
The talent on M*A*S*H ran far deeper than the faces and names we saw on screen for 251 episodes. It took an army (pun intended) of talented people to make M*A*S*H week in, and week out. Most of the people who worked on M*A*S*H didn’t get their names in the credits each week, but this press release was a great moment to take a break and appreciate the men and women who made M*A*S*H possible. There were so many talented people who brought the show to life, and it is easy for us to forget that there were hundreds of people behind the 26 minutes of television we’d watch. When I review a script, press release, or any object from the collection, I enjoy telling the stories of the people who made M*A*S*H possible. M*A*S*H is often credited for an ensemble cast, but I think we would all agree that the ensemble that made the show successful went beyond the cast and included the talent crew members who were just as dedicated to making M*A*S*H great!
The M*A*S*H Historian 