ALERT: Henry Blake death M*A*S*H on now

Nationally, on CW... just caught it in the middle. Preparing to weep like a little biotch.

 

IIRC, the writers had kept this part quiet with the cast until Gary Burghoff - Radar - walked into OR and broke the news.

Sad, sad time for the show. McLean Stevenson was funny in the role. The way the writers and Harry Morgan worked to integrate Sherman Potter into the mix so quickly was remarkable. (Of course, same with Mike Farrell and David Ogden Stiers)

RIP Henry and RIP McLean Stevenson. Still the best half-hour show I know ...

 

Really sad.

 

Did Stephenson leave for "Hello Larry"?

 

Radar: I have a message... Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake's plane
(starts breaking up) was shot down over the sea of Japan... it spun in...
(starts crying) there were no survivors.

Gets me every goddamned time.

 

That was actually the second take. The first was:

I have a message... McLean Stephenson's career (starts cracking up) was shot down over the sea of Japan... it spun in...
(laughs so hard he starts crying) there were no survivors.

 

Now that's some funny shit. BTW, he left for "The Mclean Stevenson Show," which I don't think lasted as long as "Hello Larry" later did.

 

I can't get too choked up about a guy klilling his own career.

I mean, WTF was Stevenson thinking?

 

I saw an interview once with - I think - Larry Gelbart and he said after they had shot that scene Larry Linville came up to him and said, "You son of a bitch, you just won yourself an Emmy."

One of the most jarring parts of that scene is a medical instrument dropping to the floor. Apparently this was accidental but they kept it in.

 

Wayne Rogers (Trapper John) left the show after the season as well and they didn't have a chance to give him a great sendoff.

However, in one of those reunion shows, they were talking about how a couple of years later CBS wanted to review the scripts before they aired. At the time, the show 'Trapper John MD' was airing on CBS. So to protest CBS reviewing the scripts they sent in a phony episode of how Hawkeye gets distraught over receiving a letter from home saying that Trapper John died in an accident. After that CBS agreed not to look at the scripts anymore.

 

Saw an interview with Loretta Swit once where she said he was tired of being the No. 3 guy.

 

The brilliance of such shows lies in the chemistry of the ensemble cast. WKRP being another perfect example. Although I guess it's easy to get a huge ego, like Stevenson apparently did and think you are or should be bigger than the show.