Press Pass 10: Season 1 Promo Images

This is a bonus post this week to make up for the July 4th holiday. As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the M*A*S*H pilot episode, I started looking through my collection of press releases and press photos to see if I had anything from season one. Materials from the first season are very hardContinue reading “Press Pass 10: Season 1 Promo Images”

Press Pass 9: “M*A*S*H Cast to Muster Annually for Reunion”

After M*A*S*H ended, fans couldn’t get enough of the show. There was the hugely successful Binding Up the Wounds Smithsonian Exhibit, several books released, and even a LaserDisc of the series finale sold. Meanwhile, the actors, some of whom had worked together for eleven years, vowed to keep the cast together. Following the finale, aContinue reading “Press Pass 9: “M*A*S*H Cast to Muster Annually for Reunion””

Press Pass 7: Mike Farrell on Appearing in Advertisements

UPDATE (April 11, 2022): The original version of the article indicated that Alan Alda and David Ogden Stiers didn’t participate in the IBM campaign, when in fact they later did. In the late 1980s, the M*A*S*H cast reunited in an unlikely place. They didn’t appear on a talk show or even on a reunion special.Continue reading “Press Pass 7: Mike Farrell on Appearing in Advertisements”

Press Pass 6: Last-Minute Meeting Put M*A*S*H on Road to Success

Ask most fans what they love about M*A*S*H, and a fair number will say the balance of comedy and drama. The series successfully incorporated a proper amount of humanity and the horrors of war. There have been many stories over the years about how series creator Larry Gelbart ensured that M*A*S*H didn’t forget that warContinue reading “Press Pass 6: Last-Minute Meeting Put M*A*S*H on Road to Success”

Press Pass 3: Season 10 Press Kit

In the history of television, there are countless series that don’t get renewed for a second season. In 1981, it was a major accomplishment that M*A*S*H was beginning its tenth season. As the season was about to begin in October 1981, Twentieth Century Fox Television and CBS sent out a press kit to hype theContinue reading “Press Pass 3: Season 10 Press Kit”

Press Pass 2: Opening the Smithsonian Exhibit

Shorty after M*A*S*H ended on February 28, 1983, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History announced that it would display key objects from the series in an exhibit titled “M*A*S*H: Binding Up the Wounds.” The exhibit would be a huge a success being extended twice and hosting over one million visitors. The focus of today’sContinue reading “Press Pass 2: Opening the Smithsonian Exhibit”

Press Pass 1: Season 11 Press Kit

Before the days of the internet and social media, production companies such as 20th Century-Fox Television didn’t communicate directly with the consumers of their television shows. They relied on publications such as TV Guide and local newspapers to run stories about new shows and the latest season of a series. For M*A*S*H, there is noContinue reading “Press Pass 1: Season 11 Press Kit”