After MASH

More than half of the original M.A.S.H. cast was doing other projects when this sequel aired. As previous commenters have mentioned the jokes were stale, and the antics appeared staged. The episode I remember was that Klinger was back in the U.S. and married to his Korean wife. Klinger got in some scuffle and the ending scene showed him in jail with the overprinted statement "Stay tuned will return in 6 months." I thought at the time, "why the h@** should I wait 6 months to see how Klinger gets out jail". If the producers thought they could bulid the public suspense by waiting 6 months, they lost!

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.

I don't think the series 'After M*A*S*H' was made to 'cling onto M*A*S*H's former glory' thats just bull. I think that people wanted a continuing story. They wanted to know what did happen when they returned. We know nothing compares to the original M*A*S*H but sometimes people just want an ending. And not just an ending of the 'war'.

I, for one, am tired of "AfterMASH" being the TV industry joke; the joke being that a spin off of a popular series can't survive without major cast members. AfterMASH was a fine series, with Potter, Klinger, and Mulcahy dealing with issues which occur when the bullets stop flying. (Potter fighting the VA to provide disability for a cancer patient who was stationed at A-bomb tests, is just one example.) Viewers finally met Mildred Potter, and were introduced to Bob Scannell, who served with Potter in WWI. Jay O. Sanders (now a semi-big name in movies) played Gene Peiffer, a likable surgical resident whom Potter took under his wing. Mike D'Angelo (John Chappell) was the bumbling administrator, with his aide, Alma Cox (Brendis Kemp), who always locked horns with Klinger. AfterMASH ended it's 1st season ranked #15 in the ratings.

So why did this series fail? Two reasons in my opinion, for what it's worth. First, some genius at CBS decided to move the sitcom from MASH's old time slot of Mondays at 9:00, to Tuesdays at 8:00, where it went up against NBC's "The A-Team". AfterMASH didn't stand a chance. Second, the character of Gene Peiffer was written out (with no explanation), to be replaced by Dr. Boyer (played by David Ackroyd). Boyer, who didn't even have a first name, was handicapped, having lost his leg in the Korean War, and lashed out at everyone who thought less of him because of it, at least in his mind. Most viewer, I believe, want characters they can identify with or understand, and a brawling, self-pitying loner with a chip on his shoulder doesn't cut it. In reality, such a person couldn't remain employed in any hospital.

AfterMASH will never be a lost classic; rather, it's a what-might-have-been, and television's loaded with them. Still, the show comes up in any TV Guide fall preview that includes a spin-off, with the usual line, "Does anybody remember AfterMASH?"

Finally, if there's any spin-off that merits being the industry joke, it's "The Sanford Arms", NBC's ill-fated attempt in 1977 to continue "Sanford and Son" without Fred and Lamont. It ran for 4 episodes. At least AfterMASH made it to 30 before being axed in December, 1984.

Eventually, AfterMASH will be released on DVD. After all, shows with fewer episodes are. Glad I won't be trampled in the stampede to buy it.

In 1983, the Korean-war comedy/drama series M*A*S*H, which many still consider to be one of the best television shows of all time, ended its phenomenal 11-year run. The following season, After M*A*S*H debuted. The series featured Colonel Potter, Klinger, and Father Mulcahy improbably reunited in a Midwest hospital. (Presumably the series' creators tried and failed to sign other M*A*S*H stars to the lineup.) After M*A*S*H played on the screen exactly as its title suggested -- as a desperate attempt to keep some of the former series' glory alive. Without M*A*S*H's writers, principal stars, dramatic setting -- or ratings -- it died a quick and merciful death