AfterMASH
AfterMASH is an American sitcom produced as the second spin-off and continuation of M*A*S*H that aired on CBS from September 26, 1983, to May 31, 1985. The series takes place immediately following the end of the Korean War and chronicles the adventures of three characters from the original series: Colonel Sherman T. Potter, Maxwell Klinger and Father John Mulcahy. M*A*S*H supporting cast-member Kellye Nakahara joined them, albeit off-camera, as the voice of the hospital's public address system. Rosalind Chao rounded out the starring cast as Soon-Lee Klinger, a Korean refugee whom Klinger met, fell in love with, and married in the M*A*S*H series finale "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen".
Synopsis
Season one
In the one-hour pilot episode "September of '53"/"Together Again", Colonel Potter returned home from Korea to his wife Mildred in Hannibal, Missouri. He soon found physically forced retirement stifling, and Mildred suggested he return to work. Potter was soon hired by the bombastic and bureaucratic hospital administrator Mike D'Angelo as the chief of staff at General Pershing Veteran's Hospital, located in the fictional River Bend, Missouri.Max Klinger had found himself in trouble with the law in Toledo. Colonel Potter wrote to him and offered him a job as his administrative assistant. Klinger's nemesis at General General was D'Angelo's executive secretary Alma Cox, a mean-spirited woman who was forever trying to "get the goods" on him, from rifling through his desk to giving him just one day to prepare for a civil service exam, the latter of which, despite her underhanded efforts, he still manages to pass.
Father Mulcahy, whose hearing was damaged in the final episode of M*A*S*H, was suffering from depression and drinking heavily. Potter arranged for Mulcahy to receive an operation at another VA Hospital in St. Louis. After his hearing was surgically corrected, he stopped drinking and joined Potter and Klinger at "General General" as its Catholic chaplain.
Also on hand was the idealistic, talented, and often hungry young resident surgeon Gene Pfeiffer, attractive secretary Bonnie Hornbeck, who had an eye for Klinger, and old-timer Bob Scannell who served under then-Sergeant Potter in World War I and was now a hospital resident of 35 years. Unlike the other patients and staff who addressed Potter by his retired rank of colonel, Scannell called him "Sarge" at Potter's request.
Halfway through the first season, Dr. Ron Boyer was introduced as a hardened veteran who lost a leg in Korea and had a hard time adjusting to civilian life. Despite only having signed on for two episodes, his character began appearing more often toward the end of the season, so often that Dr. Pfeiffer was suddenly pulled from the cast after Dr. Boyer's debut episode.
The only other main character from the original series to appear on AfterMASH was Radar, who appeared in a first season two-part episode. As Potter, Klinger, and Mulcahy prepare to head to Iowa for Radar's wedding, Radar shows up in a panic at Potter's house in Missouri, believing his intended fiancée has cheated on him in "It Had to Be You". The Radar character later appeared in a pilot called W*A*L*T*E*R, in which Radar moved from Iowa to St. Louis, after his wife left him on his wedding night, and he became a police officer.
The season included home scenes with the Potters, most notably when they were deluged with guests in "Thanksgiving of '53", and Potter tried to keep the phone occupied so Klinger could not call his relatives, who were on the way over to surprise him; this episode also marked the only onscreen appearance of Potter's oft-mentioned daughter, Evvy Ennis, and Potter's grandson, Corey. One of the season's standout episodes was the Emmy-nominated "Fall Out", where Potter and Klinger considered leaving General General, but reconsidered when they linked the leukemia seen in a patient with exposure to atomic testing; writer-director Larry Gelbart received a Peabody Award for this episode. The season closed in March with Klinger being arrested for assaulting a real estate agent as pregnant Soon Lee went into labor. In May, CBS announced the show was renewed for a second season.
Season two
Season Two opened with Klinger escaping from the River Bend County Jail to attend the birth of his child and remaining a fugitive until a judge sent him to the psychiatric unit at General General, where Klinger feigned insanity to avoid prison and the Potters took in Soon Lee and the baby. Mike D'Angelo was transferred to Montana and was replaced by smarmy new administrator Wally Wainwright. Anne Pitoniak was brought in to replace Barbara Townsend as Mildred Potter. David Ackroyd was promoted to a regular cast member after multiple guest appearances in the second half of the first season. An attractive new psychiatrist, Dr. Lenore Dudziak, arrived to begin the daunting task of evaluating Klinger, while Potter was horrified that Wainwright assigned Alma Cox as his new secretary.The recurring M*A*S*H character Colonel Flagg appeared in the second season, now working for an unspecified intelligence agency whose agents are authorized to carry sidearms in their shoes; he is only too eager to testify against Klinger in "Trials". Character actors Arliss Howard, Timothy Busfield, William Sadler and David Graf all appeared as patients.
Only three other characters from M*A*S*H were ever mentioned in the sequel series. Hawkeye was referenced in the one-hour opening episode in a voice-over thought by Mulcahy. Frank Burns was mentioned once in the first season and once in the second season, both times by Sherman Potter. In a second-season episode, Dr. Potter writes a letter to Sidney Freedman, who is mentioned as now working at the University of Chicago, but does not appear in the episode. There is also a touching moment at the end of the episode "Chief of Staff" in which Potter is surprised to see that his hospital office has been redecorated with his desk, paintings, saddle, and other items from the 4077th as "Suicide Is Painless" is played; Potter's portrait of Radar and his group portrait of Hawkeye, BJ, Houlihan, Winchester, Klinger, and Mulcahy continued to be seen in his office through the remainder of the sequel series.
In the penultimate episode, "Saturday's Heroes", the Klingers' baby is finally named. This episode aired on May 31, 1985.
Characters
- Note: Similar to the list on the M*A*S*H page, this table counts double episodes as 2 episodes, and therefore there are 22 episodes in the first season, and 9 episodes in the second season, the total being 31.
| Actor | Role | Years | Seasons | Episodes |
| Harry Morgan | Col. Sherman Potter | 1983–1985 | 1–2 | 31 |
| Jamie Farr | Maxwell Klinger | 1983–1985 | 1–2 | 31 |
| William Christopher | Father John Mulcahy | 1983-1985 | 1–2 | 31 |
| Kellye Nakahara | PA Announcer | 1983-1985 | 1–2 | 27 |
| Rosalind Chao | Soon-Lee Klinger | 1983–1985 | 1–2 | 25 |
| Brandis Kemp | Alma Cox | 1983–1985 | 1–2 | 21 |
| Barbara Townsend and Anne Pitoniak | Mildred Potter | 1983–1984, 1984–1985 | 1, 2 | 20 |
| Patrick Cranshaw | Bob Scannell | 1983–1985 | 1–2 | 20 |
| John Chappell | Mike D'Angelo | 1983–1984 | 1 | 19 |
| David Ackroyd | Dr. Mark Boyer | 1984–1985 | 1 –2 | 14 |
| Lois Foraker | Nurse Coleman | 1984–1985 | 1–2 | 13 |
| Jay O. Sanders | Dr. Gene Pfeiffer | 1983–1984 | 1 | 12 |
| Peter Michael Goetz | Wally Wainwright | 1984–1985 | 2 | 7 |
| Noble Willingham/Wally Dalton | Harry | 1984–1985 | 1–2 | 6 |
| Wendy Girard | Dr. Lenore Dudziak | 1984–1985 | 2 | 5 |
| Wendy Schaal | Bonnie Hornbeck | 1983 | 1 | 4 |
| Carolsue Walker | Sarah | 1983–1984 | 1 | 4 |
| Tom Isbell | Dr. Andy Caldwell | 1984–1985 | 2 | 3 |
| Gary Burghoff | Walter "Radar" O'Reilly | 1984 | 1 | 2 |
| Edward Winter | Samuel Flagg | 1984 | 2 | 1 |