M*A*S*H is a media franchise. Owned in its film and television incarnations by 20th Century Fox, the series concerns a group of fictional characters who served at the fictional 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War, loosely based on M*A*S*H 8055th. The original incarnations of the series are set during the war and feature Hawkeye Pierce as the main character. Later spin-offs involve characters who appeared in the series, but take place after the end of the war. However, almost all versions of the series fit into the genre of black comedy and involve medicine in a prominent role due to most of the main characters being doctors.
The franchise effectively ended with the conclusion of Trapper John, M.D. on September 4, 1986. As of 2010, there has been no attempt to reprise the series since then. However, a fanbase for the series still exists and 20th Century Fox has had notable success selling the film and seasons of the original TV series on DVD.
The M*A*S*H franchise began with the novel, MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors written by Richard Hooker based on his own experience serving as a surgeon at M*A*S*H unit 8055. The novel was originally published in 1968 and was followed by several sequels.
MASH was a 1970 feature film adaptation of the original novel. The film was directed by Robert Altman and starred Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye Pierce and Elliott Gould as Trapper John McIntyre.
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Main article M*A*S*H (TV series)
M*A*S*H, a spin-off of the book, ran from 1972 to 1983, almost three times as long as the war it chronicled. It starred Alan Alda as Pierce and Wayne Rogers as McIntyre. Rogers left the show after the third season and was replaced by Mike Farrell as B. J. Hunnicutt. This series is the most popular and well-known version of the franchise and was ranked #25 in TV Guide's "TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time."
Trapper John, M.D. featured the character of Trapper John McIntyre, played by Pernell Roberts, twenty-eight years after the events of the M*A*S*H film and television series. It was the first spin-off to feature a character from the series in civilian life after the war. Legally, Trapper John, M.D. is considered a spin-off of the MASH film rather than the television series.
AfterMASH was a successor to the original M*A*S*H television series featuring Harry Morgan, Jamie Farr and William Christopher as the same characters they played in the original television series after the conclusion of the war. Gary Burghoff and Edward Winter also appeared in guest appearances. However, the show was canceled after only two seasons.
W*A*L*T*E*R was the pilot for a television series that was not picked up. It would have featured Gary Burghoff reprising the role of Walter O'Reilly, who is no longer referred to as "Radar." The pilot was shown as a "CBS Special Presentation" on July 17, 1984.
In 1973 a play by Tim Kelly based on the book, television show and movie was released, in both one-act and full versions.[2][3] The play incorporates many of the characters but sanitizes more of the dark comedy aspects. It is occasionally produced by community theater and high school theater companies.
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Based on the 20th Century-Fox film M*A*S*H (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital), a big hit of 1970 which was based in turn on the book of the same name, M*A*S*H was an American television series about a team of doctors and nurses stationed at a fictional U.S. Army hospital (unit number 4077) in Korea, during the Korean War in 1950-53. The series originally aired on CBS from September 17, 1972 to February 28, 1983 but can still be seen in syndication. The series spanned 251 episodes and lasted almost four times as long as the war which served as its setting.
| M*A*S*H | |
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| Developer(s) | 20th Century Fox |
| Publisher(s) | 20th Century Fox |
| Designer(s) | Frank Cohen Doug Neubauer |
| Release date | Atari 2600: 1982 (NA) |
| Genre | Scrolling Shoot 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Age rating(s) | N/A Atari 2600 |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Input | Atari 2600 Joystick |
| Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough | |
M*A*S*H is a game released for the Atari 2600. It is based on the TV series and the movie of the same name.
In this game, you play the role of "Hawkeye Pierce," a surgeon stationed at the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital #4077 during the Korean War (1950-1953). There are two main stages in the game, each of which you must pass to move to the next round. The first mission involves rescuing injured soldiers from the battlefield with your helicopter and returning them to home base without being shot down by enemy tanks. The second mission takes place in the operating room while you are required to carefully remove bullets and shrapnel from wounded soldiers... it is very similar to the classic "OPERATION" tweezers game by Milton Bradley.
Each set of missions are repeated four times. The first player to reach 999 points wins the game. There are four different variations of games, each selectable as either one player (against the computer) or two-player mode.
This game was originally sold with a promotional T-shirt.
A prototype version of this game was developed for the ColecoVision, but was never completed or released.
M*A*S*H was a media franchise that had several novels, a movie, and several television series.
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M*A*S*H started as a novel written by Richard Hooker. It was released in 1968, and was about a group of rebellious doctors at a MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) during the Korean War in the early 1950s. Several sequels were also written after the first book was successful. A movie and television series were based on the story.
M*A*S*H was made into a movie in 1970 that was liked by critics and audiences. It was directed by Robert Altman, and starred a large cast of talented actors that included Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, and Robert Duvall.
The movie won the Golden Palm award that year, which is the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France. The movie was also a big hit with young people for its anti-establishment, wild feel. This was especially true because it was really seen to be about criticizing the Vietnam War that was going on at the time. That theme was only hidden somewhat by the setting of the movie during the earlier and less controversial Korean War.
It is also the #56 movie on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list and #7 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs list.
The success of the books and movie inspired the very popular comedy television series, M*A*S*H. The series ran from 1972 to 1983 on CBS and is one of the most popular American television shows ever. Reruns are still shown on cable and broadcast channels, and most of the show's seasons are sold on DVDs. Though it is not as popular as it was, it is still popular today. The cast included Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Mike Farrell, McLean Stevenson, Harry Morgan, Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, David Ogden Stiers, Jamie Farr, William Christopher, and Gary Burghoff.
Burghoff played the naive, innocent, teenage, but gifted company clerk, "Radar" O'Reilly. His role was small but memorable in the M*A*S*H movie, and he was the only actor from that movie to also play his character on the television series.
The show's final episode which aired on February 28, 1983 was one of the most watched shows in TV history, 125 million people viewed the final episode. There have been several spin-off series in M*A*S*H. There have been two spin-offs of the TV series, the first called AfterMASH, which was about a Veteran's Hospital soon after the war was over. It was about Colonel Potter (Harry Morgan), who got a job there, Maxwell Klinger (Jamie Farr), who became his assistant, and Father Mulcahy (William Christopher), who came there as a patient who abused alcohol after he lost his hearing in the TV series. All three of them were major characters on the original series. The second spin-off was W*A*L*T*E*R*, which was about Walter "Radar" O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff). The series lasted only one episode. The most successful M*A*S*H spin-off was Trapper John, M.D., a spin-off of the movie. It starred Trapper John McIntyre (Pernell Roberts), but never talks about anything from the movie. It lasted 151 episodes across seven seasons.
Tim Kelly made a play about the novel, movie, and TV series in 1973.
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