AfterMASH

infobox television
show_name = AfterMASH


caption = The "AfterMASH" title screen
format = Sitcom
camera =
runtime = 24-25 minutes (per episode)
creator = "Continuation of the "M*A*S*H" TV series.
starring = Harry Morgan Jamie Farr William Christopher
country = USA
company = 20th Century Fox Television
network = CBS
first_aired = September 26, 1983
last_aired = May 31, 1985
num_episodes = 30
imdb_id = 0084969
tv_com_id = 120
preceded_by = "M*A*S*H"
followed_by = "W*A*L*T*E*R"|

"AfterMASH" was an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from September 26 1983 to May 31 1985. A spin-off of the long-running hit series "M*A*S*H" (the name is a pun on ""), the show took place immediately following the end of the Korean War and chronicled the adventures of three characters from the original series: Colonel Potter (played by Harry Morgan), Klinger (played by Jamie Farr) and Father Mulcahy (played by William Christopher). Morgan, Farr, and Christopher had voted in the minority when the cast of "M*A*S*H" elected not to continue the original series.

"AfterMASH" premiered in the fall of 1983 in the same Monday night 9:00 P.M. EST. time slot as its predecessor "M*A*S*H". It finished a very respectable number 15 out of all network shows for the 1983-1984 season according to Nielsen Media Research television ratings. For its second season CBS moved the show opposite NBC's top ten hit the "The A-Team". This is when the ratings dropped considerably. The marketing campaign for "AfterMASH" featured pictures of Max Klinger (portrayed by Jamie Farr) in a nurse's uniform, shaving off Mr. T's signature mohawk. The implication was that "AfterMASH" would overtake "The A-Team" in the ratings, although it never happened.

ynopsis

In the one-hour pilot episode "September of '53/Together Again", Colonel Potter returned home from Korea to his wife Mildred (Barbara Townsend) in Hannibal, Missouri. He soon found retirement stifling, and after a friend dropped dead while they were playing cards, Mildred suggested he return to work. Potter was soon hired by the cartoonish hospital administrator Mike D'Angelo (John Chappell) as the chief of staff at General Pershing Veteran's Hospital ("General General"). Max Klinger had found himself in trouble with the law in Toledo. Disowned by his family for marrying a Korean, and unable to find an apartment that would rent to a mixed-race couple, he contacted Colonel Potter and soon thereafter was hired as his administrative assistant. Klinger's nemesis at General General was D'Angelo's executive secretary Alma Cox (Brandis Kemp), a mean-spirited woman who was forever trying to "get the goods" on him, from giving him a day to prepare for a civil service exam to rifling through his desk. Father Mulcahy, whose hearing was damaged in the final episode of "M*A*S*H", was suffering from depression and drinking heavily. Potter arranged for Mulcahy to receive an operation at another VA Hospital in St. Louis. After his hearing was surgically corrected, he stopped drinking and joined Potter and Klinger at the veteran's hospital as the chaplain. Also on hand was the idealistic and talented young surgeon Gene Pfeffier (Jay O. Sanders), attractive secretary Bonnie Hornbeck (Wendy Schall), who had an eye for Klinger, and old-timer Bob Scannell (Patrick Cranshaw) who served with Potter in World War I and was now a hospital resident of 35 years (thanks to his exposure to mustard gas). There was also a home scene with the Potters, most notably when they were deluged with guests in "Thanksgiving of '53", and Potter tried to keep the phone occupied so Klinger couldn't call his parents, who were on the way over to surprise him. Possibly the best episode of the season was the Emmy-nominated "Fall Out", where Potter and Pfeffier considered leaving General General, but reconsidered when they linked the leukemia seen in a patient with exposure to atomic testing. The season closed in March with Klinger being arrested for decking a shady real estate agent as pregnant Soon Lee went into labor. In May, CBS announced the show was renewed for a second season.

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. Dr. Pfeffier was phased out late in the first season and replaced by Dr. Ron Boyer (David Ackroyd), had who lost a leg in Korea and whose bitterness was only matched by his excellent surgical skills. 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 only other main character from the original series to appear on "AfterMASH" was Radar (played by Gary Burghoff), who appeared in a first season two-part episode. As Potter, Klinger, and Mulcahy prepare to head to Iowa for Radar's wedding, Radar shows up in a panic at Potter's house in Missouri, believing his intended fiancée has cheated on him in "It Had To Be You". The Radar character later appeared in a pilot called "W*A*L*T*E*R", in which Radar moved from Iowa to St. Louis and became a police officer. (The series was never picked up, and the pilot was aired as a TV special on CBS exclusively in the Eastern and Central timezones; the show was pre-empted in Pacific and Mountain timezones by The Democratic Convention). The recurring character Colonel Flagg (played by Edward Winter) appeared in the second season, now working for the CIA and only too eager to testify against Klinger in "Trials". Character actors Arliss Howard, Timothy Busfield, William Sadler, and David Graf all appeared as patients.

The post-war lives of the other members of the 4077th were fleetingly referenced throughout the show's run. Hawkeye contemplated quitting medicine but decided to go into pediatrics, while Winchester married his high school sweetheart and became chief surgeon at Boston General Hospital (an aspiration mentioned in the original series). Frank Burns, who was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in the original series, became head of surgery in the states after he was discharged from the army. The "current" whereabouts of Trapper John McIntyre, Margaret Houlihan, or B. J. Hunnicutt were never mentioned.

Format

"AfterMASH" exploited its connection to "M*A*S*H" whenever possible. Sometimes this took the form of plot devices, such as the episode in which Klinger arranged Col. Potter's civilian office to look exactly as it had in Korea. More generally, however, "AfterMASH" attempted to parallel the dramatic structure of its parent series. Because it took place in a veterans hospital, most of the episodes featured a storyline that highlighted the horrors and suffering of war, just as most episodes of "M*A*S*H" the final seasons. A key distinction between "AfterMASH" and its predecessor was that "AfterMASH" could deal with such matters only secondhand, thereby reducing their emotional impact. The series never succeeded in recapturing the feeling of its parent series and was cancelled after thirty broadcast episodes. "Wet Feet", the thirty-first episode (which was not season, or series, finale material) was never aired.

External links

* [http://www.finest-kind.net/miscellaneous/aftermash.php Finest-Kind.net] - "M*A*S*H" website w/info on "AfterMASH"
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005JOBW/ Amazon.com] - Listing for "AfterMASH", availability pending.
*imdb title|id=0084969|title=AfterMASH
*tv.com show|id=120|title=AfterMASH