"After MASH" (1983) TV series 1983-1984

Creators:

Larry Gelbart
Burt Metcalfe

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

26 September 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

The Korean War has ended. Colonel Potter, Sergeant Klinger, and Father Mulcahy find themselves together once again, this time at a veteran's hospital.

Plot Keywords:

Veterans Hospital | Medical | M A S H | Sitcom | Hospital Administrator

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Rosalind Chao	...	Soon-Lee Klinger (25 episodes, 1983-1984)
Harry Morgan	...	Dr. Sherman T. Potter (21 episodes, 1983-1984)
Jamie Farr	...	Maxwell 'Max' Q. Klinger (21 episodes, 1983-1984)
William Christopher	...	Father Francis Mulcahy (21 episodes, 1983-1984)
Barbara Townsend	...	Mildred Potter (18 episodes, 1983-1984)
John Chappell	...	Michael D'Angelo (18 episodes, 1983-1984)
Patrick Cranshaw	...	Bob Scannell (17 episodes, 1983-1984)
David Ackroyd	...	Dr. Boyer (14 episodes, 1984)
Jay O. Sanders	...	Dr. Gene Pfeiffer (12 episodes, 1983-1984)

Also Known As:

After M*A*S*H (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

30 min (30 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Sound Recording)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Voted #1 in TV Guide's Top 10 Worst Television Spin-Offs.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase (#8.24)" (1997)

Bland left-overs

To be fair, I didn't see a lot of this show. Probably because it wasn't as good as the original M*A*S*H, but I seem to recall them moving it around on the weekly schedule. Some shows just aren't worth the trouble of following around every week. But I really did try at first, so it wasn't all bad. Maybe I just kept expecting it to improve, but I can't give this show a 1. In all honesty, I can't give it any more than a 2 either.

It wasn't MASH (I'm not going to type those stupid *'s every time). And it was trying to be MASH without putting forth any effort, like it would just magically happen. Well guess what? No magic. The best I can do here is to compare it to other shows.

Trapper John, M.D. was a much better show by far. However, they should have called it B.J. Hunnicut, M.D. because Pernell Roberts looked exactly like an older BJ, but nothing at all like Trapper John. Keep everything else the same, just change his name and the name of the show. Presto! After MASH wasn't the only sequel to completely bomb and dishonor the original. Archie Bunker's Place was a lame follow-up to All In The Family. It had no heart, no conflict, no depth – all of the things that made All In the Family so memorable. Likewise, MASH was funny because the doctors were reacting to the impossible absurdity of war. Remove the war and you remove the drive for 99% of the humor. Potter can't yell at Klinger for wearing a dress, because Klinger isn't wearing a dress, because he's not trying to get kicked out of the Army, because he's already out of the Army, because the war is over. (breathe) All of the jokes became forced because there was no motivation for anything. The least motivated was the viewer, to stay around and watch the show.

And from what I remember, the whole show seemed to be Potter, Klinger, and Mulcahy just standing there unnaturally, facing the audience like a trio of Vaudeville performers. It was reminiscent of Good Times, where they spent 90% of the show standing behind that couch and talking to the audience, trying to make it look like they were having natural conversation. They weren't. And it felt even less natural on After MASH.

Another random tidbit I recall is that the people who made MASH never got any royalties from the spin-off. The studio used the absurd excuse that After MASH was really a spin-off of the movie MASH (which they owned) and not the TV series. Nice try, but Mulcahy was the only one of the three in the movie, and he was never deaf. I guess studio execs will do anything for a buck. Anything other than make a worthwhile sequel, that is.