M*A*S*H in the T*V*C*U

Unlike my last blog, where mostly everything came from second hand information, M*A*S*H is one of those series that I've watched since I was little, over and over, and obsessed over.  So this one should be more fun, I hope.  In keeping of the spirit of the show, I will cover three pages of material in 11 pages.

Let me first address something which I'll readdress later on below.  The television series is in the TVCU.  This is a TV Crossover Universe, and clearly the crossover connections pulling M*A*S*H in are pulling in the show, not the books.

Additionally, that means the movie is out too, or rather out there in the Cineverse.

So let's talk about that hilarious Korean War.



June 25, 1950--The war begins when the North Koreans cross the 38th Parallel.

1950--MAD MEN--"Nixon vs. Kennedy"--The real Don Draper and Dick Whitman (the Don Draper we're more familiar with) are digging trenches for a M*A*S*H unit when they come under fire.  OK, M*A*S*H units were real, and in fact the 4077 was real.  And there were many units.  The mountains in the background of this episode are the same as from M*A*S*H, though, which implies a link, as if they were digging trenches for THAT unit.  Incidentally, I've been there, though 40 years after the war, but still, another link between me and the TVCU.

1950--M*A*S*H--"Pilot"--The episode takes place in 1950.

1950 to 1953--M*A*S*H--This series follows the exploits of doctors and other military personnel at the 4077 Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Uijeongbu, South Korea during the Korean War.  (Note I've actually been to Uijeongbu, granted 40 years after the war ended.)  The show was on for 11 years, covering a three year period.  My claim is that several episodes happened concurrently, thus explaining how this could be possible.  If you think about that, that's very realistic.  If you think about it, do you have just one problem or situation happen to you in one week, or are you dealing with multiple issues at once?  Yet, on TV, characters only seem to have one thing to concentrate on per week, which makes us think, "Well, isn't that nice.  Wish I only had one thing to worry about each week."


1950 to 1953--THE FIGHTING NIGHTINGALES--This was another failed pilot, this time taking place during the Korean War at another unit focusing on the nursing staff.


September 10, 1950--M*A*S*H--"Lil"--Clearly at this point we can assume that episodes aren't in order, as well as taking place concurrently, and that some dates must be wrong as well.  Klinger cites the date.

September 19, 1950--M*A*S*H--"Welcome to Korea"--This is the last time that Col. Potter performs surgery before coming to Korea.


April 1, 1951--M*A*S*H--"April Fools"--Potter and B.J. are there even though they don't arrive until next year. Potter tries to keep everyone from playing practical jokes since the camp is being visited by a very serious, no sense of humor, colonel.  Note that I've, with no real evidence, started to blame all these types of continuity errors on Hiro Nakumura, the time traveler from HEROES, who is constantly going back and trying to alter time, even though he knows the consequences of doing such.

April 22, 1951--M*A*S*H--"Fade Out, Fade In''--Klinger is drafted and immediately begins wearing dresses to get a Section 8 (Mental Illness) discharge.



June 1951--M*A*S*H--"Requiem for a Lightweight"--In regards to a boxing match, Henry states he can't use the same fighter he used last year.  This is third episode of the series, but it implies that they have been there for at least a year.

June 1951--M*A*S*H--"The Interview"--Takes place during the second year of the war.

August 9 to 10, 1951--M*A*S*H--"A Night at Rosie's"--The only real clue is that a drunk officer wakes up thinking it's July 4 in Hawaii.  But http://www.finest-kind.net/interact/timeline.php places it here, and that's what I'm using to help me place the dates of the series.

September 11 to 13, 1951--M*A*S*H--"Point of View"--A patient is there for three days.  On the second day of his stay, he writes a letter home that is dated September 12, 1951.

September 12, 1951--M*A*S*H--"Welcome to Korea"--The unit moves up near the front.  A year later, Hawkeye will have mentioned he lived with Trapper for over a year.

September 19, 1951--M*A*S*H--"Change of Command"--Hawkeye steals a steam shovel from the Tokyo Provost Marshal.  Next year, this will be read as part of his record and stated to have happened a year ago.

October 17 to 22, 1951--M*A*S*H--"Radar's Report"--Radar writes about the exploits of the camp, citing the dates.


December 25 to 26, 1951--M*A*S*H--"Death Takes a Holiday"--Potter and B.J. are already there, even though they aren't supposed to be arriving until next fall.  B.J. works to keep a patient alive so he doesn't die on Christmas.  He fails, but they end of lying on the report, so that Christmas isn't ruined forever for his family back home.  (Though, I'm sure Christmas would still pretty much suck regardless, even if he dies on the 26th.)


December 31, 1951 to January 1, 1952--M*A*S*H--"A War for All Seasons"--Col. Potter is already commander, though he won't arrive in Korea for another 9 months.


June 13, 1952--M*A*S*H--"The Most Unforgettable Characters"--This is Frank's birthday, but we get the date from the delivery of a correspondence course to Radar.



August or September 1952--M*A*S*H--"Abyssinia, Henry"--On his way home, Henry's plane is shot down.  He is presumed dead.  However, THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW episode that aired the next night showed Henry on a smoking raft waving his arms to get attention shouting "I'm ok, I'm ok."  Additionally, the later M*A*S*H novels by W.E.B. Griffin have stated that Henry's death was exaggerated.

September 9 to 10, 1952--M*A*S*H--"Welcome to Korea"--Trapper receives his orders to return stateside.  He gets drunk for two days.

September 12, 1952--M*A*S*H--"Welcome to Korea"--Trapper leaves and B.J. arrives.


September 19, 1952--M*A*S*H--"Welcome to Korea"--Col. Potter arrives in Korea, relieving Burns of command, who had been in charge after the discharge/death of Henry Blake.


1952--PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT--Cpl. Klinger tries to get diabetes to get out of the army, but Col. Potter and Radar talk him out of it.


October 5, 1952--M*A*S*H--"The Novocaine Mutiny"--Potter, after having been in command for only two weeks, takes leave (or R & R), you know, a vacation, leaving Burns in charge.

October 11, 1952--M*A*S*H--"The Novocaine Mutiny"--Hawkeye assumes command when the power as usual goes to Burns' head.  Later, Hawkeye will be charged for this.


December 26, 1952--M*A*S*H--"Twas the Day After Christmas"--This should be the last Christmas in Korea.  Inspired by a British military tradition, the officers and enlisted change places for the day.

April 22, 1953--M*A*S*H--"Fade Out, Fade In"--Klinger states that by this date he would be wearing dresses to get out of the Army for two years.

July 4, 1953--M*A*S*H--"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen"--The unit takes a bus to the beach along with some locals to celebrate the 4th.  On the way back, they have to park and hide to evade North Koreans.  A baby is making noise, which freaks Hawkeye out, but the mother smothers her child to silence it, causing Hawkeye to have a mental breakdown.

July 11, 1953--M*A*S*H--"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen"--Hawkeye returns to the 4077 after being treated by the Yongsan Mental Health Ward for a week.



July 27, 1953--M*A*S*H--"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen"--A treaty is signed ending the war.



September 26, 1953-- AfterMASH--"Pilot"--Potter writes to Klinger, and the letter is dated September 26, 1953.


1953 to 1955--AFTERM*A*S*H--Following the war, Col. Potter, Cpl. Klinger, and Father Mulcahy went to work for a stateside VA Hospital.  At the end of M*A*S*H, Klinger was staying behind to find his in-laws.  Apparently, he found them quickly.  And the father was going deaf and was going to work with the deaf, but apparently, his hearing also returned quickly, and he said "screw the other deaf people."

October 31, 1953--M*A*S*H--"Trick or Treatment"--Halloween in Korea, but isn't the war over?  Perhaps in the TVCU, the war went a bit longer.  Or else, they all went back and started the war up for a Halloween party?

1955--W*A*L*T*E*R--Walter "Radar" O'Reilly, psychic clerk with super-hearing becomes a police officer following the war.  Though most of his new career is undocumented, I'm sure his super-powers would be useful.  (He may also be a time traveler.  In one episode of M*A*S*H, which takes place during the early 1950s, he is shown sleeping with a copy of Avengers # 4, which was published in 1964.)  Note that until recent years, I had never heard of this failed pilot.  I was very excited about this find.

November 10, 1969--SESAME STREET--(Yup, going here again.)  Big Bird has a teddy bear named Radar.  Considering that Walter "Radar" O'Reilly slept with a teddy bear even as an adult, one wonders if he is the one who gave Bird his bear.



1978--THAT 70S SHOW--"That 70s Musical/The Girl I Love"--Jamie Farr appears twice during this year in Point Place, Wisconsin where he references his work as the actor who plays Cpl. Max Klinger on M*A*S*H.  Obviously, like so many other shows that exist in the TVCU, this one is based not on a film or books, but on true life events, though most likely the books and movie were also based on those same events in the TVCU, but the television writers were the ones who were closest to being accurate.



September 1979 to September 1986--TRAPPER JOHN, M.D.--The former M*A*S*H doctor is now chief of staff of his own hospital and isn't as funny as he used to be.  (So typical of people when they get old.)

December 1985--ST. ELSEWHERE--"Santa Claus is Dead"--Dr. (Captain) B.J. Hunnicut (MASH) is mentioned in one episode.  Santa appears.

January 9, 1986--TRANSFORMERS GENERATION 1-- B.O.T.--- A large amount of the Action of this episode  takes place at Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School. Which is of Course Hawkeye's real Name 

May 1995 - September 1998--Now going by Rob, our hero joins the regular Army and is stationed in Seoul, South Korea for three years.  He is assigned to the 8th Army, as seen in M*A*S*H.  Rob is assigned to a top-secret underground installation.  At this point, I should remind folks that I cannot actually say any more about what the real me did during that time regarding work, and that the following is only involving my fictional TVCU counterpart. 

• Note that the 8th Army symbol also looks like the Umbrella Corporation logo.  The Umbrella Corporation also worked in top secret underground installations.

• At one point, when an officer was caught taking photos in a restricted area, Specialist Wronski had to stand guard, until the Men in Black showed up to take him away.  The officer was never seen again.  

• Specialist Wronski also accidentally stumbled upon a room that looked like this.

• Finally, Specialist Wronski spent some time in Panmunjom, a frequent setting on M*A*S*H.  

2008--HOUSE, M.D.--"The Itch"--"We still need Trapper John."


August 2010 to Present--MELISSA & JOEY--Joey Longo is said to have been born in a U.S. Army Hospital in Uijeongbu.  This is an implicated connection to M*A*S*H.  However, Joey was born in 1976.  Thus long after the Korean War was over.  Usually, pregnant American women aren't allowed so far north when pregnant, and deliveries are usually at the hospital on Yongsan in Seoul.  However, it's not improbable that he could have been born up in Uijeioungbu if it was an emergency, for example if the baby was coming extremely early.

2012 - Present--PERCEPTION--As pointed out in Toby O'Brien's Inner Toob blog, the main character of this show is scientist Dr. Daniel Pierce.  Dr. Daniel Pierce was also the name of Hawkeye's father, so it would make sense that he would name his son after the father who he seemed to care about more than anyone else.  Also, Toby has pre-zonked the scenario should this new series later introduce a father who is not Hawkeye. To read his full theory, click here.



2012--HOT IN CLEVELAND--"Blow Outs"--"Klinger" is mentioned in reference to famous people from Cleveland.  However, Klinger is actually from Toledo, as he often pointed out, so they are mistaken.  (And I looked up if the actor who played Max Klinger, Jamie Farr, might have been from Cleveland, making this a zonk, but nope, Farr was also from Toledo in real life.  So I'm going to keep this under the premise they were talking about Max Klinger, who perhaps gained some sort of fame following AfterMASH, and that the characters on HOT IN CLEVELAND were mistaken.)

2015--MORTAL KOMBAT X--From Matt Hickman:  Watching a play through of Mortal Kombat X and the Commander of a refugee camp for out world Escapees is Named Colonel Flagg Who I like to think is just a much older Colonel Flagg from M.A.S.H.http://mash.wikia.com/wiki/Colonel_Sam_Flagg I also Found out that Medal of Honor (2010)http://medalofhonor.wikia.com/wiki/Medal_of_Honor_(2010) has a Character named General Flagg http://medalofhonor.wikia.com/wiki/FlaggWho is likely an older Version of the Second General Flagghttp://www.yojoe.com/action/93/generalflagg2.shtml son of G.I. Joe's original Commanding Officer http://gijoe.wikia.com/wiki/General_Flagg


ALTERNATE REALITIES:

TVCU-1-Cartoon Universe (also has its own inner multiverse, as seen in various cartoons. These are mostly one time seen worlds). In the Tooniverse, there is a series called UNCLE CROC'S BLOCK with a segment featuring M-U-S-H (Mangy Unwanted Shabby Heroes).  They are dog doctors at the Arctic Circle who are counterparts to the doctors and staff of the 4077th in the TVCU.

TVCU-15-Cineverse (has its own hypertime of divergent timelines)--This is the reality in which the 1970 film M*A*S*H takes place.

TVCU-20-a shared reality that centers more on serious fiction, such as pulp and Victorian literature. Primarily guarded by a single family whose ancestors were mutated by a meteorite. There is a series of M*A*S*H books, in which the film was based on. 

TVCU-29-Skitlandia and non-canon commercials--Maj. Houlihan appears on THE 4TH ANNUAL TV LAND AWARDS.  She also appears on RICKLES with Major Burns.

TVCU-34-a world where Ivan's adventures are not apocryphal. In this world, Powerkid had the greatest adventures never told, and sadly James Bojaciuk is dead. -The Wronskiverse is a universe filled with super-heroes of my own creation but also incorporating my favorite characters from TV, movies, and comics.  In the Wronskiverse, The 4077, though a real mobile military hospital, is also the a secret cover for a military task force called National Heroes, which falls under the umbrella of Task Force X.  Col. Flag, code named Gravestone, is the leader of this group.  This explains his frequent appearances in the camp.  Both his CID and CIA roles were covers for his real role.  Sam Flagg was indeed mentally unbalanced.  That wasn't fake.  He was also apparently immortal, though it's unclear if he was always immortal or gained immortality through his association with another government agency, Project:  Franklin.  Flagg appears to be the same age when the National Heroes is founded in 1941 as he is as leader of the team today.

TVCU-38-a world with a secret history of heroes, monsters, and other things beyond what we see outside our window. Cheryl Huttner has created a timeline that incorporates the books, movie, and television series into one reality.

Primax 984.17 Alpha--Home to the Transformers Gen 1 cartoon  

So that's my M*A*S*H blog.  I feel much more satisfied with this one than my last, though I know it's far from perfect.  For instance, I didn't completely reconcile the dates of the series.  But I'm ok with that.  This is a blog about crossovers and inclusion more on the inner workings of continuity in a series.  So long as I can justify how the series fits in, that's enough for me.

My next blog post I think will also be of a higher quality.  I will be covering the Law & Order Franchise.