M*U*S*H

M*A*S*H
1972-1983 CBS

M*A*S*H week continues with the second of four TV posts, and the first of two Cracked posts. They did eight parodies in all.

M*U*S*H
Cracked #115, March 1974
a: John Severin

Sitcom based on movie about the goings on at a surgical base buring the Korean war, lasted eleven years and went through several cast changes, the reason for so many parodies.

Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) and Trapper John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers) were the main doctors. Many episodes were narrated through Hawkeye's letters home.

There really weren't that many characters compared to a television show now, but probably seemed so by network standards fifty years ago. Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville) and Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan (Loretta Swit) were supervising officers who were having a secret affair.

“Radar” O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff) worked as a file clerk directly under Col. Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) and was the real one running the operation. He often had Blake sign forms he didn't know what he was signing for.

In the first panel Burns is wearing a pin that says “Jane Fonda Fan Club”. The joke is her outspoken objection to Vietnam.

As we know, the show wasn't canceled. It was just beginning.

M*U*S*H
Cracked #142, July 1977
a: John Severin

Around this time, they had King Kong on the cover of every issue to cash in on the movie that was one of the first major blockbusters that led to Star Wars.

By this time, Trapper John had been replaced with B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell)

Col. Blake had been killed in action and was replaced with Colonel Sherman Potter (Harry Morgan).

Maxwell Klinger (Jamie Farr), previously a supporting character, joined the cast. He was always pretending to be crazy in hopes he'd be kicked out of the military, which included him wearing dresses.

At this time, Cracked's parodies read more like spec scripts and they would keep doing new versions of shows either as the cast changed, to cash in on the show, or both.

M.U.S.H. Cracked #159, May 1979
a: John Severin

Next to Klinger is Phil Silvers as Sergeant Bilko.

Major Burns was replaced by Maj. Winchester (David Ogden Stiers), an effete Harvard intellectual.

Trapper appears in the second panel here, as does Bilko.

Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle appears in the last panel.

M*U*S*H
Cracked #168, May 1980
a: John Severin

Charles Winchester appears to be absent from this cover. Maybe they didn't know about him when this was being drawn.

Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) was another supporting character early on (he also appeared in the movie) that was added to the full cast. Radar had left the show by then but his appearance is part of this story's plotline.

The program eventually abandonned the “Hot Lips” nickname.

The other half of the Cracked parodies will be shown tomorrow and the Crazy and Sick parodies the day after that.