Thursday, June 4, 2009

I did it!

There you have it folks. I have now watched every single M*A*S*H episode there ever was...and I'm working my way through the extra disks that have the 30th reuinion, random interviews, etc. I think the coolest thing about the extras is hearing David Ogden Stiers (that's Major Winchester) talk. He doesn't actually have a Boston accent in real life, but he does it so well that it sounds weird hearing him talk normally. I was really taken aback. And it's also pretty strange to see everyone so much older. Watching the episodes you forget that it was filmed over 25 years ago and that the actors are now much older. For example (and this is more for my reference than anyone elses, so feel free to skip this next part):

Alan Alda (Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce) was born in Jan 1936, making him 36 when the show started Sept 1972 and 47 when the show ended in Feb 1983. He is now 73.

Wayne Rogers (Capt. John Francis Xavier "Trapper" McIntyre) was born in April 1933--he was 39 when the show began, he was 41 when he left the show in March 1975, and he is now 76.

McLean Stevenson (Lt. Col. Henry Braymore Blake) was born in Nov 1927--he was 44 when the show began, he was 47 when he left the show in March 1975, and he died in Feb 1996 at the age of 68.

Loretta Swit (Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan) was born in Nov 1937--she was 34 when the show started, 45 when the show ended, and is now 71.

Larry Linville (Maj. Frank Marion "Ferret Face" Burns) was born in Sept 1939--he was 32 when the show began, he was 37 when he left the show in March 1977, and he died in April 2000 at the age of 60.

Gary Burghoff (Cpl. Walter Eugene "Radar" O'Reilly) was born in May 1940--he was 32 when the show began, he was 39 when he left the show in Oct 1979, and he is now 69.

Jamie Farr (Cpl./Sgt. Maxwell Q. Klinger) was born in July 1934--he was 38 when the show started, 48 when it ended, and is now 74.

William Christopher (Lt./Capt. Father Francis John Patrick Mulcahy) was born in October 1932--he was 39 when the show started, 50 when it ended, and is now 76.

Harry Morgan (Col. Sherman T. Potter) was born in April 1915--he was 60 when he joined the show in Sept 1975 (although he was actually in an episode the prior year called "The General Flipped at Dawn" where he played a really crazy general), he was 67 when the show ended, and he is now 94!!!

Mike Farrell (Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt) was born in Feb 1939--he was 36 when he joined the show in Sept 1975, he was 44 when the show ended, and he is now 70.

David Ogden Stiers (Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III) was born in Oct 1942--he was 34 when he joined the show in Sept 1977, he was 40 when the show ended, and he is now 67.

I find it highly amusing that in real life David Ogden Stiers is the youngest and not Gary Burghoff, because the character of Radar was supposed to be like 20 yrs old! And to put it in perspective, every one of these actors is older than my mom, only McLean Stevenson and Harry Morgan were older than my dad and my father-in-law, and my mother-in-law is nearly the exact same age as William Christopher. How bizarre!

2 comments:

  1. Wow! That is a LOT of MASH! My cousin would have been thrilled to grab a bucket of popcorn and do a MASH marathon with you.

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  2. Wow, when I take my 10 weeks for maternity leave I'll have to come up with an old series to watch like that. I can't believe you've seen every episode and in order!

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