MASH is one of those shows that just seems to get better with age. We may have watched it when it was first on TV but decades later, we still enjoy it.
If you were watching TV in the 80s, there is no doubt that you spent some time watching this show. Even if you were born later, reruns are still ongoing.
No matter how many times you watch the show, there are likely things that you missed. This includes some big bloopers and mistakes, but we are going to go over some of them below.
During the fifth season, William Christopher, the actor who played Father Mulcahy had a serious bout of hepatitis. At one point, they even considered writing him off the series.
Alan Aldo, however, knew that Christopher needed steady work because his son had autism. That is why they wrote the Hepatitis episode that put it into his storyline.
Frank Burns was also examined during the hepatitis episode and mentioned: “I do have a pea-sized tumor under my sternum.” Years later, he would die from a tumor under his sternum.
Many people don’t know that the dog tags that Jamie Farr wore on MASH were his read military dog tags. Before he became an actor, he was a soldier.
In the episode For the Good of the Outfit from season 2, there was an issue that was hard to catch. Henry Blake’s office had a Bell Huey UH-1 helicopter hanging from the wall but the first flight of the UH-1 didn’t occur until after the Korean War in 1956.
One of the more disturbing moments was when Colonel Blake died on his way home from the war. According to the storyline, he died in a helicopter crash on his way home.
The producers said that it was a statement about the brutality of war. It was also said that they didn’t like McLean Stevenson and killed him off to keep him from coming back on the show in the future.
Did you know that Gary Burghoff (Radar) hid his left hand from the camera? He had webbed fingers, a symptom of Poland syndrome, which Burghoff was born with.
Colonel Potter and Major Winchester were the only two soldiers in the series who had army-appropriate haircuts for the 1950s. The others were not to regulation.
Loretta Swit and Alan Alda had an interesting relationship throughout the series. It is one that really demonstrated how a show can turn from a comedy to a mix of comedy and drama.
Something else that Loretta Swit was known for was her nickname, ‘Hot Lips’. She actually didn’t like the name and said: “I get that nicknames come from affection, but to me, it felt like an insult. She wasn’t just a body part; she was a major in the U.S. Army, and she deserved respect.”
One more fun fact to share with you. In the finale, Hawkeye gives a farewell kiss to Margaret which is awkward because it is so long. As it turns out, it was the longest kiss in television history.