M*A*S*H alums, including Alan Alda, Gary Burghoff, Jamie Farr, Mike Farrell, and Loretta Swit, will feature in the M*A*S*H: The Comedy That Changed Television special, which will air in January 2024 as announced by Fox Network.
The two-hour special will feature interviews with the stars and executive producers Gene Reynolds and Burt Metcalfe. Viewers will also see archive footage showing the late Larry Linville, Wayne Rogers, William Christopher, Harry Morgan, McLean Stevenson, David Ogden Stiers, and writer-producer Larry Gelbart.
40 years later
The reunion comes forty years after the iconic war comedy ended with the final episode, “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” in 1983, and is termed a “definitive” reveal of “never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage, photos and stories” from the show. “Fox is proud to celebrate the landmark achievements of one of the best comedies ever created,” said Dan Harrison, the executive VP of program planning & content strategy for Fox Entertainment.
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The classic, which was based on the book MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by H. Richard Hornberger Jr., won fourteen Emmy awards out of a hundred nominations. Despite its eventual success, M*A*S*H had bleak beginnings due to a previous feature film of the same name, the history of movies becoming successful television series limited to a select few.
‘M*A*S*H’ proves to be timeless
The upcoming special will be a dose of nostalgia for fans of the show and an opportunity for the newer generation to have a feel of the classic. The send-off episode remains the most-viewed finale of any show and scripted series thanks to re-runs and its availability on streaming platforms.
The special’s executive producers John Scheinfeld and Andy Kaplan called M*A*S*H a “cultural phenomenon” that has “made multiple generations of viewers laugh, cry and think, often in the same episode.”
“We are excited to team with Fox to create this unprecedented window into an innovative television classic,” they said.