MASH Timeline

1950

June 25, 1950 - North Korean forces invade South Korea

July 27, 1953 - the armistice is signed to end the Korean War

1960

1968 - first publication of Richard Hornberger's (aka Richard Hooker) book MASH by William Morrow & Company, Inc.

February 26, 1969 - final draft of the screenplay written by Ring Lardner, Jr. for the movie M*A*S*H

November 1969 - first Pocket Books edition of MASH

1970

Fall 1970 - box office release of the movie M*A*S*H. The film earned $36 million and was seen by about 14 million people in the theaters.

1970 - soundtrack for M*A*S*H is released on record

November 1971 - first draft of the script for "The Pilot" episode of the TV series

September 17, 1972 - first airing of "The Pilot" for the M*A*S*H TV series. The Nielsen ratings ranked it 46 out of 84 shows.

October 8, 1972 - "Chief Surgeon Who?" features the first appearance of Jamie Farr as Klinger, originally meant to be a bit character

1974 - M*A*S*H wins the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series

1976 - M*A*S*H is awarded the George Foster Peabody Award for Broadcast Excellence

March 18, 1975 - "Abyssinia, Henry" features the final appearances of McLean Stevenson as Henry Blake and Wayne Rogers as Trapper John

September 12, 1975 - the one hour episode "Welcome to Korea" welcomes Mike Farrell as BJ Hunnicutt to MASH 4077

September 19, 1975 - "Change of Command" features the official welcome of Harry Morgan as Col. Potter to MASH 4077 (a portion of this episode was featured as a tag in "Welcome to Korea")

Spring 1976 - creator/writer/producer Larry Gelbart leaves M*A*S*H after its fourth season

March 15, 1977 - "Margaret's Marriage" features Margaret's marriage to Donald Penobscott and Larry Linville's last appearance as Frank Burns

Spring 1977 - creator/writer/producer Gene Reynolds leaves M*A*S*H after its fifth season

September 20, 1977 - the one hour episode "Fade Out, Fade In" welcomes David Ogden Stiers as Major Winchester to MASH 4077

Fall 1979 - M*A*S*H begins its long life in syndication

October 8, 1979 - part 1 of "Good-Bye, Radar," Radar's farewell episode

October 15, 1979 - part 2 of "Good-Bye, Radar" features the final appearance of Gary Burghoff as Radar O'Reilly on M*A*S*H

1980

1981 - Making M*A*S*H, the first documentary about the TV series, airs

September 16, 1982 - "final" draft of the script for "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" is written

October 9, 1982 - a brush fire in Malibu Canyon Creek State Park burns down most of the outdoor set; the cast was in the middle of filming "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" so the fire was written into the script

October 15, 1982 - last revisions of the script for "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen"

January 10-14, 1983 - final week of filming of M*A*S*H (final episode filmed was "As Time Goes By")

February 28, 1983 - "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" brings the eleven years of the TV series to its conclusion. It was watched by 125 million people in the United States. Officially declared "M*A*S*H Day" in the city of Los Angeles.

July 30, 1983 - Smithsonian Institution exhibit "M*A*S*H: Binding Up the Wounds" opens in the National Museum of American History (Washington D.C., MD, USA); the exhibit included Klinger's dresses, much of O.R. and the Swamp, etc.

September 26, 1983 - "September of '53/Together Again," the pilot episode of AfterMASH, airs

July 17, 1984 - the pilot for W*A*L*T*E*R airs (the series was never picked up by the network)

September 30, 1984 - Smithsonian Institution exhibit "M*A*S*H: Binding Up the Wounds" closes

May 31, 1985 - AfterMASH ends its short run

1990

November 25, 1991 - Memories of M*A*S*H, the second documentary about the TV series, airs for the first time

1995 - M*A*S*H movie soundtrack is reissued on CD by Legacy/Columbia Records

February 15, 1996 - McLean Stevenson dies of a heart attack at the age of 66

February 16, 1996 - Roger Bowen, who played Henry in the movie, dies

July 8, 1996 - M*A*S*H is inducted into the NAB Television Broadcasting Hall of Fame

June 11, 1997 - deactivation of the last MASH unit in South Korea; Larry Gelbart, Larry Linville, and David Ogden Stiers were onhand for the ceremony

November 4, 1997 - Richard Hornberger, author of the original MASH novel, dies at the age of 73

September 6, 1998 - FX, Fox's cable network, begins showing reruns of M*A*S*H starting with a marathon

2000

March 6, 2000 - Museum of TV and Radio holds a M*A*S*H night as part of the Wm Paley TV Festival in Los Angeles, CA. It featured Larry Gelbart, Gene Reynolds, Burt Metcalfe, Alan Alda, William Christopher, Jamie Farr, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, and Wayne Rogers.

April 10, 2000 - Larry Linville, who played Major Frank Burns, dies at the age of 60

October 31, 2000 - Ring Lardner Jr., author of the original award-winning screenplay for the M*A*S*H movie, dies at the age of 85

March 8, 2001 - Edward Winter, who played Colonel Flagg, dies at the age of 63

January 8, 2002 - Fox releases the complete first season on DVD/VHS; Fox releases a special 2 DVD set for the original movie M*A*S*H

May 17, 2002 - Fox airs M*A*S*H 30th Anniversary Reunion starring all surviving regular cast members, Allan Arbus, Gene Reynolds, and Larry Gelbart

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