The M*A*S*H 30th Anniversary Reunion Special was a retrospective documentary on the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H that aired on the FOX TV network on May 17, 2002. The progam features interviews with past cast members, producers, and writers who contributed to the series, which originally aired on CBS-TV from September 17, 1972 to February 28, 1983.
About the special[]
Filmed in a very relaxed atmosphere, footage from the show is cleverly edited into interviews with cast members and writers, and a group discussion with the series main cast members and past executive prodcers Larry Gelbart, Gene Reynolds, who co-developed the series for TV, and Burt Metcalfe, who started out with the series as an associate line producer before taking over the reins as series executive producer. All the surviving main cast members and producers all sit around and chat for a large part of the time, and memories and insights on making the series are relayed in a friendly manner. Some portions of the discussion are scripted, but most of the conversation is ad-libbed as the actors and producers go along. Interviews also include those with actual members of an actual Korean War M*A*S*H unit the MASH 8055th, which served as the inspiration for the original 1968 M*A*S*H novel penned by Richard Hooker (real H. Richard Thornberger) who was also a surgeon in that unit. The actual members were:
- Carmela Hix - served as a nurse in the 8063th MASH unit.
- Norman Keller - served as the 8055th MASH command liaision officer
- Erik Larsen - served as a surgeon in the 8029th MASH unit
- Harold Selley - served as a field medic at the Medical Company of the 7th Cavalry Regiment and its nearby Aid Station during the Korean War
Cast & Crew[]
Actual cast members and producers who participated in the discussion were:
- Alan Alda - includes footage of him as Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce
- Wayne Rogers - includes footage of him as "Trapper" John McIntyre
- Mike Farrell - includes show footage of him as B.J. Hunnicutt
- Jamie Farr - includes show footage of him as Maxwell Q. Klinger
- Gary Burghoff - includes footage of him as Walter "Radar" O’Reilly
- Loretta Swit - includes footage of her as Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan
- Harry Morgan - includes series of him in his role as Colonel Sherman T. Potter
- David Ogden Stiers - includes footage of him as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III
- William Christopher - includes series footage of him in his role as Father Francis Mulcahy
- Allan Arbus - includes series footage of him as Major Sidney Freedman
- Gene Reynolds - Series Co-creator and executive producer; participating member of discussion
- Larry Gelbart - Series Co-creator and executive producer; participating member of discussion
- Burt Metcalfe - Series line producer and later executive producer; a;participating member of discussion
