David Ogden Stiers Movies
In contrast to the insufferably intellectual characters he has played so often and so well, David Ogden Stiers wasn't much of a student while growing up in Eugene, Oregon. Like many another "underachiever," Stiers excelled at the things he was truly interested in, such as music (he played piano and french horn) and acting. After flunking out of the University of Oregon, Stiers stepped up his amateur-theatrical activities, and at age 20 was hired by the California Shakespeare Festival at Santa Clara, where he spent the next seven years performing the Classics. After briefly working with the famous San Francisco improv group The Committee, Stiers attended Julliard, in hopes of improving his vocal delivery. Evidently his training paid off: in 1974, Stiers co-starred with Zero Mostel in the Broadway production Ulysses in Nighttown, then went on to appear opposite Doug Henning in the long-running musical The Magic Show. Despite his success, Stiers detested New York, and at the first opportunity he "ran screaming" back to the West Coast. He was cast in the short-lived sitcom Doc in 1975, and the following year played an important role in the 90-minute pilot for Charlie's Angels, though he passed when offered a regular assignment in the Angels series proper. Stiers' performance as a stuttering TV executive in a 1976 Mary Tyler Moore Show episode led to his being cast as the overbearing Major Charles Emerson Winchester on the ever-popular M*A*S*H; at first signed to a two-year contract, Stiers remained with the series until its final episode in February of 1983. Before, during and after his tenure on M*A*S*H, Stiers kept busy in made-for-TV films, lending his patented authoritativeness to such real-life characters as Dr. Charles Mayo (in 1977's A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story), critic and social arbiter Cleveland Amory (1984's Anatomy of an Illness) and President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1987's J. Edgar Hoover). He was also seen as pontificating DA Michael Reston in several of the Perry Mason TV-movies of the late 1980s. Disney animation devotees will remember Stiers for his voiceover work as Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast (1988) and Lord Ratcliffe in Pocahontas (1995). Parlaying his lifelong love of classical music into a second career, David Ogden Stiers has served as guest conductor for over 70 major U.S. symphony orchestras. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on his award-winning student short, George Lucas's debut feature cerebrally celebrates the possibility for individual freedom against all odds. In a 1984-esque white-washed future underground dystopia where sexuality is banned, all humans sport shaved heads and the same shapeless outfits as they go about their work in a mandated state of sedation, listening to exhortations to "Buy and Be Happy." Black-clad robot cops chant a mantra to their victims that "everything will be all right" and automated confessional booths emit soothing therapeutic bromides. But unbeknownst to THX 1138 (Robert Duvall), his roommate LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie) has been reducing their meds, resulting in their mutual discovery of love and THX's subsequent imprisonment for drug evasion and sexual misconduct. Determined to find the pregnant LUH, THX breaks out of prison with the help of his cellmate SEN 5241 (Donald Pleasence) and an escaped TV hologram (Don Pedro Colley). With fugitive pursuits strictly budgeted, THX only has to evade the robocops until the funds run out, but surveillance is omnipresent and THX's vehicle keeps overheating. Making the only film produced through the first incarnation of Francis Ford Coppola's independent studio American Zoetrope, Lucas and his small crew, including co-writer and sound editor Walter Murch, shot THX 1138 in northern California with no interference from distributor Warner Bros. When Warners saw the austere result, however, they recut the film before its release. Neither the studio's nor Lucas's cut was a popular success, but THX 1138's coolly minimalist style and story-telling gained fans on the college screening circuit, just as Stanley Kubrick's poetic 2001: A Space Odyssey had attracted a large youth audience in 1968. When Lucas returned to sci-fi after American Graffiti, he traded restraint for nostalgic fun in the film that guaranteed his creative freedom in Hollywood: Star Wars. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, (more)
- 1971
- R
Jack Nicholson first put his well-documented enthusiasm for basketball to good use in this film, which he wrote and directed between his roles in Five Easy Pieces and Carnal Knowledge. William Tepper plays Hector, a student at a college in Ohio who shares a room with his friend Gabriel (Michael Margotta) and is the star player on the school's basketball team. Hector has been approached to quit college and play pro ball, but Gabriel is urging him to devote more time to radical political causes. Of course, both have plenty of other things on their mind; Hector is having a clandestine affair with the wife of one of his professors (Karen Black), while Gabriel, in a bid to beat the draft and avoid going to Vietnam, is trying to convince the draft board that he's insane. Unfortunately, Gabriel is feigning madness so well that he's not so sure he hasn't actually become crazy. Director Henry Jaglom and screenwriter Robert Towne also have supporting roles, as do future sitcom greats Cindy Williams and David Ogden Stiers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Tepper, Karen Black, (more)
- 1975
A well organized ring of car thieves is flourishing in Manhattan, thanks to crime victims who appear more than willing to be ripped off. It's all part of an insurance scam, wherein cars are deliberately stolen so that the owners can collect huge settlements. Kojak (Telly Savalas) vows to stop the thieves in their tracks after a patrolman is murdered during one of the heists. A pre-M*A*S*H David Ogden Stiers appears as one of the suspects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
This 72-minute pilot film of the Charlie's Angels series stars the three original "Angels": Sabrina (Kate Jackson), Jill (Farrah Fawcett-Majors), and Kelly (Jaclyn Smith). Police rookies stuck in go-nowhere jobs, Sabrina, Jill, and Kelly are hired by the never-seen Charlie (voiced by John Forsythe), who engages their services as private detectives. Their first assignment: finagle the owner of a vineyard (David Ogden Stiers) into confessing to the murder of his partner. David Doyle co-stars as Bosley, the affable liaison between Charlie and his Angels. A ratings powerhouse when it premiered on March 21, 1976, Charlie's Angels resulted in the long-running (and frequently recast) weekly series, which aired from September 22, 1976, through August 19, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Based on the 1976 autobiography My Luke and I by Eleanor Gehrig and Joseph Durso, Love Affair: The Eleanor & Lou Gehrig Story provides a slightly different slant on the events previously dramatized on film as Pride of the Yankees (1942). The story is told in flashback from the point of view of the wife of baseball's "Iron Man". Sitting in a deserted Yankee stadium, Eleanor (Blythe Danner) relates her tale to her biographer Joseph Durso (Robert Burr). She recalls how she met the painfully shy ballplayer Lou Gehrig (Edward Herrmann) on a blind date in 1933. She remembers her battle of wills with Lou's domineering and possessive mother (played with a nearly impenetrable foreign accent by Patricia Neal), and her 1934 elopement with her "Luke." Other memories include the New York Yankees' goodwill trip to Japan, where relationships became strained between teammates Gehrig and Babe Ruth (Ramon Bieri). Also recalled is the fact that Lou played 2130 consecutive games (a record was only recently broken by Cal Ripken Jr.). Eleanor's story ends inevitably with Lou's slow death from amyotropic lateral sclerosis. In summing up, Eleanor insists that despite the tragic final years, she wouldn't have traded her short time as Mrs. Lou Gehrig for anything. Edward Herrmann took pride in the fact that his portrayal of Lou Gehrig won the unqualified praise of the real Eleanor (though Herrmann learned to bat southpaw for the role, he is seen actually playing baseball only once) Originally scheduled for broadcast on October 9, 1977, the made-for-TV Love Affair was bumped by a World Series playoff game; it was rescheduled for January 15, 1978--smack dab opposite the Super Bowl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
A Circle of Children is an A-number-one TV adaptation of Mary MacCracken's autobiographical book. Recently separated from her husband, Mary (Jane Alexander) doesn't want to be just one more wealthy, useless divorcee. She plunges into volunteer work at a school for autistic children, where her presence is resented by brilliant but testy special-ed teacher Rachel Roberts, who considers MacCracken merely a dilettante. Ms. MacCracken proves her worth--to the teacher as well as herself--through her efforts to communicate with an 8-year-old victim of autism (Matthew Laborteaux). This Emmy-winning film was followed up by the equally superb Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part Two (1978). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Alexander
Season six of M*A*S*H was noteworthy for yet another defection from its regular-cast ranks. Long dissatisfied with the artistic limitations of the role of obnoxious Major Frank Burns, actor Larry Linville followed the lead of his former M*A*S*H colleagues Wayne Rogers and Maclean Stevenson by leaving the series to pursue new projects. It was explained in the sixth season opener that Frank Burns had gone AWOL in reaction to marriage of his longtime paramour Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) to the dashing (but seldom-seen) Lt. Col. Donald Penobscott, and had been transferred to a stateside hospital. The series' producers were anxious to replace Frank Burns with a character who would remain an antagonist to the nominal "heroes," irreverent Army surgeons Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and B.J. (Mike Farrell). At the same time, it was acknowledged that the series' writers had painted themselves into a creative corner by depicting Burns as stupid and incompetent. His replacement would have to be an eminently qualified and undeniably brilliant surgeon, while at the same time boasting a prickly personality that would drive Hawk and BJ up a wall--and vice versa. Thus was born the character of Major Charles Emerson Winchester II (played by David Ogden Stiers), an aristocratic Boston Brahmin of vast knowledge and expertise, whose surgical skill approached genius, and whose arrogance and disdain for his colleagues would provide an amusing contrast to the casual, carefree slovenliness of the 4077th. Also avoiding the series' previous scripting boondoggle of making Frank Burns thoroughly unlovable, it was established early on that Charles Winchester had his compassionate, humane and even warm moments, despite his haughty, overbearing demeanor. Still in its winning Tuesday-night timeslot, M*A*S*H continued to rank highly in the ratings, though it would slip from fourth to eighth place during its sixth season. Also, this would be the first year since 1973 that M*A*S*H would not win at least one Emmy award, though it was honored with eight nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, (more)
Adapted by Larry Gelbart from the novel by Avery Corman, the film stars John Denver as Jerry Landers, the assistant manager of a grocery store who is chosen by God (George Burns) to spread the Word to the rest of the world. Not surprisingly, Jerry is soon labelled a basket case: even his loving wife Bobbie (Teri Garr) doubts her husband's sanity. But there's enough evidence on Jerry's side for a panel of prominent clerics to demand that the hapless fellow prove in court that he's the agent of God. Donald Pleasence was supposed to have an extended supporting role in the film, but the first cut ran too long, and Pleasence's dialogue was eliminated -- but not Pleasence himself, who retains his prominent billing and is seen doing precisely nothing in several scenes. Netting $30 million on its first run, Oh God was followed by two lesser sequels, both featuring Burns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Burns, John Denver, (more)
Anthony Hopkins is a ventriloquist psychologically tormented by his dummy in the Richard Attenborough thriller Magic (a film with a story that may seem familiar to those who have seen the Michael Redgrave segment of Dead of Night, or the Cliff Robertson episode "The Dummy" from The Twilight Zone television series). William Goldman based his screenplay on his best-selling novel. Hopkins plays Corky, a seedy magician who is hooted off the stage in the low-rent clubs that will stoop to hire him. But when he comes across a dummy named Fats, his career is energized. Corky sees in Fats everything he lacks himself -- confidence, creativity, and verbal agility. With the help of his agent Ben Greene (Burgess Meredith), Corky rises to the top of the nightclub circuit. But with Corky's success comes an increased paranoia, and he turns down a TV contract, believing that it would mean taking a medical examination and that rumors of his mental instability might leak out. Corky takes off to a Catskills resort, run by Peggy Ann Snow (Ann-Margret), an old girlfriend now unhappily married to a volatile hick (Ed Lauter). While a frustrated Ben high tails it to the Catskills to find Corky, Corky discovers that he still has feelings for Peggy, but lands in the middle of a love triangle between the woman and her husband, where his schizophrenic personality manifests itself and additional murders occur. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret, (more)
- 1978
This made-for-TV movie begins in 1975, when Technical Sergeant Leonard Matlovich (Brad Dourif), a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, faces a court-martial and possible discharge. Matlovich's "offense:" He is an admitted homosexual. Knowing full well that the military has a long-standing ban on gays, Matlovich deliberately makes public his sexual preferences in order to test the ban in court. John McGreevey's teleplay is based on actual court transcripts, with no deviations from the facts at hand. Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force was originally telecast August 21, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Spoofing the entire 1940s detective genre, and his own performances as a bumbling private detective, Peter Falk plays Lou Pekinpaugh, a San Francisco private detective accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress, the partner's wife, Georgia Merkle (Marsha Mason). Police Lieutenant DiMaggio (Vic Tayback) has his eye on Lou and blunders around in a way which complicates Lou's efforts to clear his name. Lou gets a new client when Mrs. Montenegro (Madeline Kahn) and her cronies (John Housman, Paul Williams and Dom DeLuise) hire him to search out a dozen diamond eggs. Marlene DuChard (Louise Fletcher) also comes to him for help of a complicated nature. In this madcap comedy written by Neil Simon, obstacles and complications appear every few minutes, and a great many famous actors show up in hilarious cameos. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, (more)
Now in its seventh season on the air, the irreverent military comedy series M*A*S*H continued to roll along like a well-oiled machine. The most significant change during season six, the introduction of the insufferable but brilliant surgeon Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester (David Ogden Stiers), had registered quite well with viewers and fellow cast members alike. Less successful had been the scripting decision of marrying off the 4077th's head nurse Margaret Houlihan (Loretta Swit) (who out of respect for changing attitudes toward gender stereotyping no longer bore the demeaning nickname "Hot Lips") to the handsome Lt. Col. Donald Penobscott, especially since viewers seldom saw Margaret's elusive husband. Thus, Penobscott was written out of the show via a quickie divorce at the end of the 1978-79 season. The season itself was distinguished by a number of memorable episodes, as well as a welcome revival of a "gimmick" that had registered well during season four: A "documentary"-style installment, filmed in black-and-white in the manner of a 1950s documentary, wherein TV correspondent Clete Roberts interviewed the men and women of the 4077th. This episode, "Our Finest Hour", was expanded to a full hour, the better to accommodate "flashback" excerpts featuring such long-departed M*A*S*H regulars as Wayne Rogers, Maclean Stevenson and Larry Linville. In another, even more ambitious "gimmick" episode, "Point of View," the action was seen entirely through the eyes of a seriously wounded GI. It was also during this season that reruns of M*A*S*H were telecast on CBS' daytime lineup. The following year, the series would enter local syndication, where it continued to run until well into the 21st century. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, (more)
- 1979
- R
Six recently divorced males gather 'round a restaurant table and talk about their past lives and their recently failed marriages while trying to piece their lives back together. This drama is somewhat interesting for presenting the topic of life after a divorce from a man's point of view. (And yes, Neil Sedaka sings the smash title song over the final credits - so don't change that dial!) Originally made for television, and broadcast on ABC in two parts - one on Wed., Sep. 5, 1979, and one on Friday, Sep. 7, 1979 -- this film was reissued on video about ten years later to capitalize on Billy Crystal's growing fame. When it arrived on home video, the picture received its first MPAA rating (R) and was edited down from its original running time of 150 minutes to 96 minutes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Season eight of M*A*S*H was marked by the last of the series' major regular-cast defections. As the quietly resourceful and eerily clairvoyant company clerk, Cpl. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly, Gary Burghoff had been the only actor from the 1970 movie version of M*A*S*H* to carry over his role into the TV-series version in 1972. Now a full-fledged star with an Emmy award under his belt, Burghoff felt the time had come to move on. Radar O'Reilly made a ceremonious and emotionally charged exit from the series in the two-part episode "Good-Bye Radar." Breaking from the tradition established by such previous series defectees as Wayne Rogers, Maclean Stevenson and Larry Linville, Radar said his goodbyes only four weeks into the 1978-79 season, rather than waiting until the final episode of season eight. It was decided not to bring in a new actor to replace Radar. Instead, Cpl. Max Klinger (Jamie Farr), who previously spent the bulk of his time dressed in women's clothing in hopes of getting out of the Army on a Section 8, was promoted to company clerk. After a nervous "shakedown" period, Klinger adapted quite well to his new responsibilities, so much so that he cut back on his efforts to escape military service--and, simultaneously, was seen more often in the "proper" male garb. Having previously digressed from its established format, M*A*S*H expanded its efforts at experimentation during season eight with a brace of "gimmick" episodes. In "Life Time," the surgeons raced against the clock to save the life of a seriously wounded GI--and, to heighten the tension, that selfsame clock was seen ticking away throughout the episode, superimposed at the lower corner of the TV screen. And in "Dreams," the men and women of the 4077th were plagued by bizarre, surrealist nightmares reminiscent of the cinematic delusions of Ingmar Bergman and Luis Bunuel. The series' previous season move from a Tuesday-night timeslot to a Monday-evening berth had had a most salutary effect on M*A*S*H's ratings. Ranked as the seventh most popular series during its seventh season, the program climbed to fourth place for season eight. Additionally, M*A*S*H earned its eighth and ninth Emmy awards during this season, with the gold statuettes going to series regulars Harry Morgan and Loretta Swit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, (more)
- 1980
Originally telecast live from Dallas' Southern Methodist University on April 7, 1980, The Oldest Living Graduate was adapted from Preston Jones's 1974 play. Henry Fonda stars as Col. J. C. Kincaid, crusty patriarch of a Texas family. Kincaid's weak-willed son Floyd (George Grizzard) wants to get into the old man's good graces so that he, Floyd, can develop the Colonel's vast land ownings. Floyd arranges a city-wide celebration lauding Kincaid as the oldest living graduate of nearby military academy. The festivities serve only to make the already sour Kincaid even more truculent and miserable. Cloris Leachman, John Lithgow, Harry Dean Stanton, Penelope Milford, David Ogden Stiers, Timothy Hutton, and Allyn Ann MacLerie also star in The Oldest Living Graduate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda
- 1980
More formally known as Father Damien: The Leper Priest, this made-for-TV biopic stars a heavily-wigged Ken Howard in the title role. Father Damien was a Belgian priest who, in 1873, was assigned a far-from-desirable congregation: the leper colony of Molokai in the Hawaiian islands. At first appalled by the colony and its denizens, Damien devoted his life to administering to their needs and improving their living conditions. He died in 1889 at the age of 49, having long earlier contacted leprosy himself. When originally telecast October 27, 1980, Damien: The Leper Priest was dedicated to the memory of David Janssen, who before his death was slated to portray Father Damien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After a late start thanks to a Hollywood writer's strike, M*A*S*H launched its ninth season on November 17, 1980. With the past defections of Wayne Rogers, Maclean Stevenson, Larry Linville and Gary Burghoff, Alan Alda (as Hawkeye), Loretta Swit (as Margaret Houlihan), Jamie Farr (as Klinger) and William Christopher (as Father Mulcahy) were the sole survivors from the series' first season cast lineup--and of those four, only two (Alda and Swit) had been "regulars" from the beginning. The series' occasional digressions from its established format was represented by one memorable "gimmick" episodes during season nine. In " War for All Seasons," the men and women of the 4077th celebrated the New Year by looking back on the events of 1951. Going a step farther than the familiar "letter home" episodes of previous seasons, in which the events of a single week were highlight in flashback fashion, "A War for All Seasons" boldly telescoped an entire year into a mere 22 minutes' screen time--and succeeded brilliantly. Still dominating the ratings on CBS' Monday-evening lineup, M*A*S*H sustained its ranking from the previous season as America's fourth most-watched network program. And though no additional Emmy awards came the its way during season nine, the series garnered eight Emmy nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, (more)
- 1981
- PG
Harry's War is a "feel good" movie--and you'd better feel good or else. Edward Herrmann plays an postman whose aunt (Geraldine Page) is victimized by the Internal Revenue Service. Uncle Sam has made an error on her return, insisting that the poor old pensioner must pay 190 grand in back taxes. Try as he might, Harry can't get anyone at the IRS to correct the booboo (the bureau is populated exclusively by movie stereotypes--one is amazed that Charles Lane and Franklin Pangborn don't show up). So he plots a delicious revenge on the government, on behalf of his aunt and all the other average joes of America. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Herrmann, Geraldine Page, (more)
Its ninth season shortened to a mere 20 episodes thanks to a Hollywood writers' strike, M*A*S*H returned to a full 24-episode manifest for its tenth season, which began in October of 1981. With the defection of series regular Gary Burghoff two seasons earlier, the starring-cast lineup was now firmly "set" at seven actors--Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, Loretta Swit, David Ogden Stiers, Jamie Farr and William Christopher--and would remain so until its 11th and final season one year later. Although there were signs of fatigue and repetition during season 10, for the most part M*A*S*H managed to remain fresh and surprising with the occasional "gimmick" episode. The most noteworthy of these was the program's only foray into the paranormal, "ollies of the Living--Concerns of the Dead", in which the ghost of a dead GI looked on as the surgeons of the 4077th saved the life of his wounded buddy--and also occasionally carried on other-worldy conversations with a feverish Cpl. Klinger (Jamie Farr). M*A*S*H's ratings continued to be impressive during the 1981-82 season, though its drop from fourth to ninth place indicated that viewers might have been taking the decade-old series for granted. The same could not be said of the people responsible for the Emmy awards, who bestowed upon M*A*S*H its tenth and eleventh Emmys, with costars Alan Alda and Loretta Swit as the lucky recipients. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, (more)
- 1981
A young corporal who swapped his dog tags with a friend is consumed by guilt when that friend dies in battle. As the doctors of the 4077th wrestle with this problem, they must also deal with the crestfallen recipient of a "Dear John" letter. And friendly enemies B.J. (Mike Farrell) and Charles (David Ogden Stiers) joins forces to challenge a wheeler-dealer GI securities salesman who threatens to bankrupt the camp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
An all-star (or rather, "all-TV star") cast distinguishes this three-hour filmed re-creation of the great stock market crash on October 29, 1929. Though inspired by a fact-based book on "Black Tuesday," the film is chock full of fabricated soap-opera complications involving dozens of fictional characters, among them a debt-plagued Stock Exchange officer, a group of high-profile embezzlers, a social-climbing couple determined to land a wealthy husband for their hapless daughter, and the inevitable far-sighted individuals who know that the Crash is coming and are determined to may hay while the sun is still in the sky. Overall, the film simplifies a very controversial and complicated moment of history into a cut-and-dried account peopled by blatantly obvious heroes and villains. Originally slated to air on February 1, 1981, The Day the Bubble Burst was inexplicably shelved by NBC for over a year, finally making its debut on February 7, 1982. The fact that it was scheduled opposite the network television premiere of Superman: The Movie was indication enough that NBC had very little confidence in their expensive "factual fiction" piece. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
As the 11th season of M*A*S*H* got under way in the fall of 1982, everyone involved with the series knew it would be their last (the program had already lasted eight years longer than the actual Korean War!) Looking back, the cast and crew could take pride in the series' many accomplishments, not least of which was its making palatable and entertaining a number of hot-button issues that had previously been verboten on American network television. The series had also come a long way from its zany, iconoclastic, hit-or-miss "anything for a laugh" origins, maturing into a thoroughly credible blend of comedy, drama and tragedy (its credibility enhanced by the decision to complete eliminate a canned laughtrack), with fully rounded, three-dimensional characterizations. The fact that the series had managed to win eleven Emmy awards further served to enhance the participants' sense of achievement. Viewers were honestly saddened that their favorite series, which had long since transcended the boundaries of standard sitcomery to become a national institution, would cease production at the end of season 11. Perhaps because the faithful fans were determined to savor every final moment of the series' existence, M*A*S*H was propelled from the ninth most popular TV program of 1981-82 to number three in 1982-83, with the now-legendary 2 1/2 hour finale, "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen," being seen by the largest audience ever to watch a single TV episode. Although this landmark episode would bring M*A*S*H to a poignant close, it was not quite the end of the story. Debuting September 26, 1983, the CBS sitcom AfterMASH detailed the further adventure of several M*A*S*H regulars, all hired by a Missouri VA hospital upon the Korean cease-fire. Carryovers from the original M*A*S*H included Harry Morgan as Sherman Potter, Jamie Farr as Max Klinger, William Christopher as Father Mulcahy, and a character that had been introduced in the penultimate M*A*S*H episode "As Time Goes By," Klinger's Korean-born wife Soon-Lee, played by Rosalind Chao. Suffering the ignominous fate of most such spinoffs, AfterMASH failed to live up to the standards of its distinguished predecessor, and was cancelled after only a season and a half on the air. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, (more)
- 1982
The titular "kid" is a nanny goat, purchased by Klinger (Jamie Farr) in hopes of cornering the milk business in the 4077th. Instead, the goat eats the camp's payroll, leaving temporary paymaster Hawkeye (Alan Alda) in debt to the tune of $22,340. Elsewhere, Charles (David Ogden Stiers has problems of his own after getting his mitts on a rare vase. This was the final episode of M*A*S*H's 10th season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Edward Asner stars as Saturday Review editor Norman Cousins in this made-for-TV biopic, which first aired May 15, 1984. Stricken with a degenerative spinal illness in 1964, Cousins refuses to accept the prognosis that he must spend the rest of his life as a virtual vegetable. He battles his illness by using the most potent weapons at his disposal--a healthy sense of humor, the love and support of his wife, and confidence that he will endure. This sort of spiritual battle is not that easy to film, and some of the scenes--Cousins laughing at the opening titles of a Marx Brothers film, for example--sorely test the acting skills of Ed Asner. But both Cousins and Asner emerge triumphant from Anatomy of an Illness, which was based on Norman Cousins' own book on the subject. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
