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

[Killick]

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

 

[Sam Mills 51]

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 ...

 

[Songbird]

Really sad.

 

[Freelance Hack]

Did Stephenson leave for "Hello Larry"?

 

[Killick]

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.

 

[Goldeaston]

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.

 

[Double J]

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

 

[spnited]

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

I mean, WTF was Stevenson thinking?

 

[Huggy]

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

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 *****, 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.

 

[EStreetJoe]

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.

 

[TwoGloves]

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

I mean, WTF was Stevenson thinking?

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

 

[Double J]

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.

 

[shotglass]

I remember watching the show with my mom. And we both would have cried if we could when Radar made the announcement. But we just sat there with our mouths hanging open. For like five minutes.

 

[Killick]

I'm not old enough to remember when it aired in primetime, but for those who were: Was there any hint that Henry was even leaving before that show aired? Was it show watercooler-type fodder the next day?

 

[shotglass]

If there was a hint Henry was leaving, it certainly didn't hit me at age 16.

And everyone was talking about it the next day. A sure conversation starter. All you had to say was "Henry Blake."

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

I'm not old enough to remember when it aired in primetime, but for those who were: Was there any hint that Henry was even leaving before that show aired? Was it show watercooler-type fodder the next day?

Yes, it was known that Stevenson was leaving. The point of that episode was to write Henry Blake out of the show. The surprise was that they killed him rather than sending him back home to live happily with his family.