M*A*S*HCast #47 – Mail Call

M*A*S*HCast -  Season 2, Episode 23: Mail Call

Special Guest Star: Chuck Colletta

Air Date: February 23, 1974

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Theme music by Johnny Mandel

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15 responses to “M*A*S*HCast #47 – Mail Call

  1. Great show, Rob and Chuck.

    It’s too bad that Chuck doesn’t have a VHS or Beta copy of the now lost season three episode Dear Sis, where we discover that Hawkeye’s sister played by Lauren Tewes (in special stateside flashbacks) had an affair with a high school basketball student and was disowned by the Pierce family. Her lover was played by Randolph Roberts.

    The reason it was destroyed by the studio is that Tewes played a similar role with Roberts in another TV show that same season — this time as a young woman — disowned by her New England family and raising a child in secret. She runs into the child’s father again at a college basketball tournament — again played by Roberts. Roberts’ character was disowned by his family, respectable hardware store owners in Milwaukee. ABC and CBS couldn’t stand this unofficial crossover cooked up by Larry Gelbart and Garry Marshall and so had the episodes pulled from syndication.

  2. It’s always a treat to be a F&W guest. Thanks for having me on. My pick for Hawkeye ‘s sister would be Barbara Colby. She was a rising actress in the 1970s & is probably best remembered as the prostitute Mary Richards meets in jail. Colby had signed on to be a regular on the Phyllis spin-off & filmed only 3 episodes before she & a friend we’re murdered in a random attack.

    She had great timing & an acerbic wit that I can imagine in Hawkeye’s sister. Now, what would have been her nickname?

  3. I like episodes where everyone is doing their own thing. This one had very good subplots.

    Henry reviewing Klinger’s file was classic.

    When Frank said war is good for stocks, Trapper said he was right. Wayne Rogers first time to give financial analysis on a Fox program.

    I liked the rare look at Trapper’s home life. I wonder if Rogers had stayed they would have explored this more and dropped his infidelity.

  4. Hawkeyes sister…..special guest star Madeline Kahn! What a get for MASH! The only woman who could match Hawk in wit, withering put downs and sex drive? His sister Sarah, played by special guest star Madeline Kahn! Monday at 9, on CBS!

  5. As a student of BGSU, and having had Professor Coletta as a teacher for multiple courses, I can confirm that we do cover MASH. I wrote one of my papers on Alan Alda, having read his autobiographical works and watched the show growing up. Truly foundational to my sense of humor and moral conscience.

    1. Hey Ben!

      Ben was a great student in several of my pop culture courses. He’d be a great guest for you Rob if you ever want to discuss MASH with a younger viewer.

  6. Love this episode. Henry listing Klinger’s myriad excuses is golden. Always makes me laugh.

    As a parent, that’s where I sympathize most with Trapper. Every day away from your kids easily becomes regrets, and I can’t fathom being away as long as military parents do. But they accept that way of life. Trapper has never been part of that mindset, so it was pretty powerful to see him snap. It’s definitely a story I appreciate at this stage of my life more than when I first watched it.

    Ok, this may be too on the nose with this community, but for Hawkeye’s sister, I immediately thought of Yvonne Craig. I see her being just like Hawkeye in terms of romance: love em and leave em. And it driving Hawkeye crazy.

  7. Well M*A*S*H* had a good record of picking up and coming stars and you keep referring to CRISIS so for Hawkeye’s sisters I say the recent Miss Word USA Lynda Carter would’ve worked. And of course Burghoff and Carter were in a band together

  8. Found the podcast a month ago and have bee blasting through them. In the final scene you mentioned how you didn’t understand how Frank would have lost his money. I always took it as just embarrassment on Frank’s part. I figured that the “breakdown” of the line to the states was made up and setup by Hawkeye. As soon as Radar got the telegram he gave it too Hawkeye. I never felt that it was sent off.

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