Spinoffs and Specials
M*A*S*H had two official spinoff shows: the short-lived AfterMASH, which features several of the show's characters reunited in a midwestern hospital after the war, and an unpurchased television pilot, W*A*L*T*E*R, in which Walter "Radar" O’Reilly joins a police force back in the US. For legal reasons, the more successful Trapper John, M.D. is considered a spinoff of the original theatrical film, rather than the series. If one watches carefully in the pilot, a photograph of Hawkeye and Trapper John from the television series can be seen.
A documentary special titled Making M*A*S*H, narrated by Mary Tyler Moore and taking viewers behind the production of the Season 8 episodes "Old Soldiers" and "Lend a Hand", was produced for PBS in 1981. The special was later included in the syndicated rerun package, with new narration by producer Michael Hirsch.
Two retrospective specials were produced to commemorate the show's 20th and 30th anniversaries. Memories of M*A*S*H, hosted by Shelley Long and featuring clips from the series and interviews with cast members, was aired by CBS on November 25, 1991. A 30th Anniversary Reunion special, in which the surviving cast members and producers gathered to reminisce, aired on the Fox network on May 17, 2002. The two-hour broadcast was hosted by Mike Farrell, who also got to interact with the actor he replaced, Wayne Rogers; previously filmed interviews with McLean Stevenson and Larry Linville (who had died in 1996 and 2000, respectively) were featured as well. The two specials are included as bonuses on the Collector's Edition DVD of "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen". Also included is "M*A*S*H: Television's Serious Sitcom", a 2002 episode of the A&E cable channel's Biography program that detailed the history of the show.
In the late 1980s, the cast had a partial reunion in a series of commercials for IBM personal computers. All of the front-billed regulars (with the two exceptions of Mike Farrell and McLean Stevenson) appeared in the spots over time.
In 1990, Gary Burghoff appeared in several locally aired BP television advertisements in the United States, explaining that certain local filling stations, such as Sohio, will soon become BP filling stations.
In the mid-2000s (decade), Harry Morgan, Jamie Farr, and Gary Burghoff reunited for a public service announcement promoting information about diabetes (a disease which all three actors have in its Type 1 form). It took place on the company clerk's office set and featured Klinger eating large amounts of chocolate pudding in an attempt to get diabetes in order to be discharged. The commercial is outside of continuity, as it had Klinger wearing his Toledo Mud Hens jersey, which he did primarily after Radar left the series.
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