Interesting Facts About the TV series MASH

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My mother and I were avid fans of the TV series MASH back in the 70's. I remember my mom got a Kmart t-shirt with the MASH logo on it. I got such a kick out of that. (This older woman wearing a shirt with a TV show logo on it.) I did some research recently and came up with some interesting facts about the show. I will share them here: The TV series ran longer than the actual war it depicted. The war lasted from June 1950 until July 1953. The TV series ran for 11 seasons from September 1972 until February 1983. Alan Alda was the only actor that was in all of the episodes. He also directed 31 episodes and directed 13 of them. He was the first person to ever win Emmy Awards for acting, directing and writing for the same show. Richard Hooker, the pen name of the former U.S. Army surgeon, H. Richard Hornberger, wrote the 1968 novel: MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. His novel took 12 years to write and five years to find a publisher. Eventually he sold the television rights for only $500 per episode. The cast were so close they actually voted together as a team to end the show. They all felt they had exhausted all possible stories for their characters. The finale episode was the most watched episode of any TV series in U.S. history. The title was "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" and showed on February 28,1983. It had 105.97 million viewers. A sweeping brush fire destroyed most of the outdoor sets on October 9, 1982, as they were filming the final episode. The fire was written into the script as being caused by enemy bombs and causing the 4077th to move out. The site today is known as Malibu Creek State Park. Some of the original set is still intact and is open to visitors. Colonel Potter, played by veteran actor Harry Morgan was my favorite character on the show. But, there were others like Radar, Corporal Klinger, Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, and, of course, Hot Lips. Do you have a favorite? A favorite episode. For me it was the one soon after Potter had gotten that horse. It had done it's duty in a bad spot and Potter slipped in it. Instead of getting mad as Radar thought he would he simply said, "It's like a tip toe through the tulips." So many good memories of that show.