Early scripts from M*A*S*H are pretty hard to find, especially season one. In season two, the series began to hit its stride, and with Larry Gelbart firmly at the helm, the show seemed to start over from season two, episode one. They started to write episodes that didn’t just focus on Hawkeye and the doctorsContinue reading “Script Spotlight 11: “Henry in Love””
Category Archives: Script Spotlight
Script Spotlight 10: “No Sweat”
The heat here in the midwestern United States has been insane the last few weeks, but we know from M*A*S*H that it doesn’t compare to the heat experienced in Korea during the war. This week, let’s review a script from an episode where the M*A*S*H crew are doing all they can to keep busy duringContinue reading “Script Spotlight 10: “No Sweat””
Script Spotlight 9: “Cowboy”
The first season of M*A*S*H was hit or miss when it came to quality of storyline. The series creators were defining characters and finding their way, which was no easy task since the feature film had taken much of the source material from the novel. There are some bright spots from first season, however. “SometimesContinue reading “Script Spotlight 9: “Cowboy””
Script Spotlight 8: “Dear Dad…Three”
Throughout its run, M*A*S*H tackled a number of social topics in addition to war and death. The series had storylines that challenged homophobia, sexism, and racism. In its second season, M*A*S*H was paired up All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and The Carol Burnett Show, shows that areContinue reading “Script Spotlight 8: “Dear Dad…Three””
Script Spotlight 7: “Ceasefire”
It’s no secret that the first season of M*A*S*H was not a success in terms of ratings. The series just didn’t seem to catch on during its initial run. That was largely due to a poor time slot on CBS, but something changed during reruns. The series was noticed, and for season two, M*A*S*H wasContinue reading “Script Spotlight 7: “Ceasefire””
Script Spotlight 6: “Point of View”
Throughout its eleven year run, M*A*S*H released a few episodes that one might call experimental. Some were well received such as “Movie Tonight” (05×21) and “The Interview” (04×24). Then, others more controversial, such as “Dreams” (08×22). One of the polarizing episodes of the series is “Point of View” (07×10). In this episode, we see theContinue reading “Script Spotlight 6: “Point of View””
Script Spotlight 5: “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen”
February 28 is the 39th anniversary of “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” bringing M*A*S*H to a close. The finale broke viewership records and is often listed among the best series finales in the history of television. To celebrate, we are exploring the production documents and script for the finale. Since the two and half hour finale is a large scriptContinue reading “Script Spotlight 5: “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen””
Script Spotlight 4: “As Time Goes By”
This month, several posts will relate to final days of filming the series in January 1983. We begin this week by looking at the script for the episode that was filmed last, “As Time Goes By.” As we kick off 2022 and the 50th anniversary of M*A*S*H, I thought it would be best to spendContinue reading “Script Spotlight 4: “As Time Goes By””
Script Spotlight 3: “Death Takes a Holiday”
For December, a holiday themed episode seemed appropriate, so I selected “Death Takes a Holiday” (09×05) to review. When I went to the pull the script, I realized that I have two copies! One is from my first set of scripts from 2007, the scripts that were used by costume director Albert Frankel. That episodeContinue reading “Script Spotlight 3: “Death Takes a Holiday””
Script Spotlight 2: “Hey, Look Me Over”
This month’s Script Spotlight is for the episode “Hey, Look Me Over” from season 11 (11×01). This episode is the first episode of season 11, but it is interesting to note the date of the cover of the script: March 22, 1982. This episode was originally intended for season 10, which we can tell basedContinue reading “Script Spotlight 2: “Hey, Look Me Over””
The M*A*S*H Historian 