MASH Question
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Classic TV: The 70s
Iridescent_Phantom — 9 years ago(December 12, 2016 05:00 AM)
All of the characters in the series either began with another actor, were introduced after the premier episode or were replaced by another character at some point with the exception of Alan Alda and Loretta Swit.
Swit was not in all the episodes , but I'm fairly sure that Alda appeared in every single one during the entire run of the show. Can anyone confirm or refute this?
We are the makers of music and we are the dreamers of dreams. -
amyghost — 9 years ago(December 12, 2016 03:15 PM)
All of the characters in the series either began with another actor, were introduced after the premier episode or were replaced by another character at some point with the exception of Alan Alda and Loretta Swit.
Not quite. Radar O'Reilly was played by Gary Burghoffwho was the only carryover cast member from the original filmfrom day one until his departure from the series in 1979.
Larry Linville and Wayne Rogers also played their characters (Maj. Frank Burns and Trapper John MacIntyre) from the series start. Neither character was ever played by another actorboth Rogers and Linville left to be replaced by two different charactersCharles Emerson Winchester III, played by David Ogden Stiers, and BJ Hunnicutt, played by Mike Farrell. Maclean Stevenson departed as Henry Blake to be replaced by Harry Morgan as Col. Sherman Potter.
Jamie Farr, who was not introduced as the cross-dressing Klinger until a couple of episodes in also always played the character and was never replaced with another actor; he essentially took over the place of the departed Radar as company clerk.
To the best of my recollection there are no MASH episodes sans Alda, though there are a few focusing on other characters where he makes only an appearance at the beginning and/or end of the episode.
50 Is The New Cutoff Age. -
Iridescent_Phantom — 9 years ago(December 12, 2016 06:08 PM)
What you write is correct amyghost, but the fault is mine in the way I phrased my statement.
I should have simply asked: was Alan Alda the only actor who appeared in every episode of the tv series from beginning to end?
We are the makers of music and we are the dreamers of dreams. -
amyghost — 9 years ago(December 13, 2016 04:38 AM)
LOL, the series remains one of my favoritesI can get into exhaustive detail over it, as the above bears witness to.
I did some looking around online, and from what I can tell, Alda was indeed in every episodesoemtimes less, mostly more, but I don't think there's any where he's AWOL entirely.
50 Is The New Cutoff Age. -
klee64 — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 06:30 PM)
http://kenlevine.blogspot.com.br/, he was involved in MASH and Cheers mainly, his blog is very informative about TV in general. But I'm sure he'd surely know the answer to your question. He answers fan questions every Friday in his blog.