Introduction

AfterMASH is an American sitcom produced as the second spin-off and continuation of MASH that aired on CBS from 26 September 1983 to 31 May 1985.

Outline

Season Two opened with Klinger escaping from the River Bend County Jail to attend the birth of his child and remaining a fugitive until a judge sent him to the psychiatric unit at General General, where Klinger feigned insanity to avoid prison and the Potters took in Soon Lee and the (as yet unnamed) baby. Mike D’Angelo was transferred to Montana and was replaced by smarmy new administrator Wally Wainwright (Peter Michael Goetz). Anne Pitoniak was brought in to replace Barbara Townsend as Mildred Potter. David Ackroyd was promoted to a regular cast member after multiple guest appearances in the second half of the first season. An attractive new psychiatrist, Dr. Lenore Dudziak (Wendy Girard), arrived to begin the daunting task of evaluating Klinger, while Potter was horrified that Wainwright assigned Alma Cox as his new secretary.

The recurring M*A*S*H character Colonel Flagg (played by Edward Winter) appeared in the second season, now working for an unspecified intelligence agency whose agents are authorised to carry sidearms in their shoes; he is only too eager to testify against Klinger in “Trials”. Character actors Arliss Howard, Timothy Busfield, William Sadler and David Graf all appeared as patients.

Only three other characters from M*A*S*H were ever mentioned in the sequel series. Hawkeye was referenced in the one-hour opening episode in a voice-over thought by Mulcahy. Frank Burns was mentioned once in the first season (Episode #14: “Chief of Staff“) and once in the second season, both times by Sherman Potter. In a second-season episode (#26: “Madness to His Method“), Dr. Potter writes a letter to Sidney Freedman, who is mentioned as now working at the University of Chicago, but does not appear in the episode. There is also a touching moment at the end of the episode “Chief of Staff” in which Potter is surprised to see that his hospital office has been redecorated with his desk, paintings, saddle, and other items from the 4077th as “Suicide Is Painless” is played; Potter’s portrait of Radar and his group portrait of Hawkeye, BJ, Houlihan, Winchester, Klinger, and Mulcahy (from the 10th-season episode “Picture This”) continued to be seen in his office through the remainder of the sequel series.

In the penultimate episode, “Saturday’s Heroes“, the Klingers’ baby is finally named. This episode (the final broadcast of the series) aired on 31 May 1985.

Trivia

• Several sources incorrectly claim that the final episode (Saturday’s Heroes) ran on 11 December 1984, which was the originally intended air date for the episode.
• However, CBS had put the series “on hiatus” just a few days earlier and abruptly pulled the episode from the scheduled airing of 11 December even though it had been advertised in several newspaper listings and in TV Guide for that date.

AfterMASH Series

• Episode 01: Less Miserables.
• Episode 02: Calling Doctor Habibi.
• Episode 03: Strangers and Other Lovers.
• Episode 04: Trials.
• Episode 05: Madness to His Method.
• Episode 06: The Recovery Room.
• Episode 07: Ward is Hell.
• Episode 08: Saturday’s Heroes.
• Episode 09: Wet Feet (Not Aired in the US).
• Episode 10: All Day All Night, Mary Ann (Not Produced).

You can find a full index and overview of AfterMASH here.

Production & Filming Details

• Creator(s): Larry Gelbart, Gene Reynolds, Ken Levine, and David Isaacs.
• Director(s): Burt Metcalfe, Hy Averback, and Charles S. Dubin.
• Producer(s): Dennis Koenig, Burt Metcalfe, Standford Tischler, David Isaascs, and Ken Levine.
• Writer(s): Ken Levine, David Isaacs, Dennis Koenig, Tom Straw, and Jay Folb.
• Music: Patrick Williams.
• Cinematography: Emil Oster and Dominic Palmieri.
• Editor(s): Stanford Tischler, John Farrell, and Larry L. Mills.
• Production: 20th Century Fox Television.
• Distributor(s): CBS.
• Release Date: 23 September 1984 to 31 May 1985.
• Running time: 22-25 minutes (per episode).
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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