themashmess

In this episode, Jeff & Ryan discuss the life and career of writer/producer Thad Mumford. Along with his partner, Dan Wilcox, Thad wrote 17 episodes of M*A*S*H, including the award-winning Are You There, Margaret? We also open Radar’s mailbag and answer listeners’ burning questions. Yes! It’s true! We have listeners!

Show Notes:

Thad Mumford – the NY Times obituary 

Here’s a wonderful interview with Thad Mumford on the Archive of American Television

Ken Levine’s tribute to Thad Mumford

In other news…

Loretta Swit takes the flight of a lifetime.

Gary Burghoff cements his status as a theatrical legend. 

An appreciation of Larry Linville on what would have been his 79th birthday. 

Connect with Jeff & Ryan

Visit the podcast’s website: www.mashmatterspodcast.com

Like MASH MATTERS on Facebook. 

Follow M*A*S*H MATTERS on Twitter.

Email questions, comments, show ideas, and more to MashMattersPodcast@gmail.com

Call and leave a voicemail at 513-436-4077

Subscribe to M*A*S*H MATTERS on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. 

TRANSCRIPT: MASH Matters #002 – Remembering Thad Mumford

Attention all personnel, incoming podcast! This is MASH Matters.

RYAN: Well I think we’ve been renewed Jeff. We’re back for episode two.

JEFF: Wow, this is so exciting. It’s incredible we got a second episode.

RYAN: And they said it would never last.

JEFF: Yeah really. I mean those naysayers them guys. Whatever they were.

RYAN: Hey, I don’t know about you, Jeff, but the buzz and the encouraging notes and just the awesome feedback I’ve received has been absolutely wonderful for this podcast. And are you getting the love as well?

JEFF: Yes, I heard from people that I’ve kind of – not forgotten, but sort of, you know, on the surface forgotten. And so it’s amazing to hear from people that you, you know, that you don’t see or talk about every day. And suddenly there they are saying very nice things about you and to you. So that’s been very, very gratifying. I thank you all for showing up and for doing that. I’m sure some people that I don’t want to have show up may, but that’s okay too.

RYAN: The good news is, is that podcasting brings absolutely no money in. So it’s not like people are going to be coming out of the woodwork asking for a loan. At least you have that.

JEFF: So you didn’t get the cheque? I got my cheque. I’m sure. Ooh. Well, nevermind. Well, anyway.

RYAN: You got paid?

JEFF: Moving right along.

RYAN: Well, we’ll discuss this away from the microphone, but we’re gonna start this episode off with some MASH news.

[Audio from the show]:

“My nose for news thinks it smells a story here.

Here it comes. Okay, all right.

We’re patched into Armed Forces radio for a special broadcast! It sounds big, folks!

Really? Oh, well that’s news to me”

RYAN: It happened on September 6th, the sad news that writer and producer Thad Mumford had passed away at the age of 67. Thad Mumford is a name that, of course, MASH fans would probably be very familiar with, because I see it in the opening credits of many episodes that he and his partner Dan Wilcox wrote, but I didn’t know much about him until he passed away. And then I really got into reading up on him and learning his story. And my goodness, what an interesting career he had. For one, and this is kind of nice, I did not realize that he was African-American.

JEFF: He was what? What?

RYAN: [laughs] I didn’t know if you knew this or not, Jeff, but yeah, he was African-American and at a time when most writing rooms in Hollywood were pure blinding white, he kind of broke through and was able to write for not just MASH, but a long list of great shows, and I’ll run down a list of some of those shows here in a moment. But Jeff, I just want to kind of toss it to you and ask what were your memories of Thad Mumford?

JEFF: Well, you know, in my particular situation, I will be very honest and transparent. Obviously Private Igor was not one of the main characters. I wasn’t Hawkeye. So I had less direct contact with most of the writers than folks like Alan Alda did. Though I had some relationships with them, I was not directly involved in some of the creative issues that went on with MASH that some of the other folks were. So I didn’t have a strong connection with any of the writers. Funny, other than Larry Gelbart, Larry was on the set a lot and I was able to establish a friendship with him and he’s a wonderful guy. He was an incredible human being, incredible genius and a wonderful person at the same time. I did have fleeting moments with Thad Mumford and Dan Wilcox. Interestingly enough, I now have a kind of a renewed relationship with Dan for various reasons and strangely enough, after many many years of working on the show and many years after the show ended, I was contacted by Loretta Swit and she suggested that Thad Mumford wanted to speak with me and I thought “wow, that’s interesting”. So she said “here’s his telephone number, he’d like you to call him”. Which I did and we had a very nice, very warm, fun, pleasant conversation. He was a very funny guy. Some writers aren’t particularly funny other than when they write it down, but he was. He had a great performance kind of side to him. He used to be an actor, so he was really a fun guy to talk to, a very colorful kind of fellow to speak with. So that was a very wonderful experience, after all those years, to kind of renew a friendship with him, which made the shock of his passing, which was literally about five days later, even more significant. I was really stunned. I kept, you know, I, somebody sent me an email, told me and I was really out of my mind. I couldn’t believe it. I said, wait a minute, I just talked to him. He was fine. We had a great time. He was laughing and having a good time. So it was quite a shock. And I’ve just, I was actually contacted by Dan saying that Dan is trying to set up kind of a memorial for him in the next couple of weeks which hopefully everybody will, or at least everybody who’s in town will be able to attend. He was a favorite guy. People loved him. Very interesting fella and as you say had a great interesting background and just, you know, a really great guy. It’s hard to lose people and I think I said this in an email to you that it’s, you know, when you’re working on a television show that has the longevity that MASH did, you become a family. The good part of the family and a bad part of the family, but you become a family and very attached to everybody. So losing people like we kind of are now, because time marches on and it happens, is kind of stunning and is kind of painful. So unfortunately, that’s kind of the atmosphere of where the MASH family is right now because of this kind of suffering and feeling that loss.

RYAN: Yeah.

JEFF: Hey, isn’t this a fun podcast? And now the funny stuff.

RYAN: Well, I just want to briefly touch on a few things about Thad Mumford that I found fascinating. One, I knew that he was a big baseball fan, lifelong Yankees fan. He was actually one of the ball boys for the Yankees when he was younger. His writing career, I read this in one of the stories, that it actually began when he was an NBC page and he worked at the studios around the Tonight Show and he pestered, basically pestered to death, the head writer of the Tonight Show to pitch some jokes to Johnny Carson. And eventually the head writer did and Johnny used some of them, which I can’t imagine that feeling. Eventually Thad Mumford became a regular contributor to Johnny Carson, the Tonight Show, which just absolutely blows my mind.

JEFF: Yeah.

RYAN: He went on to write – here’s just a few of the shows he wrote for: Good Times, Maude, What’s Happening, Roots: The Next Generations, Alice, The Cosby Show, Alf, A Different World, Coach, Home Improvement, NYPD Blue, The Electric Company, Blue’s Clues, and Sesame Street. So that is just a few of the shows that he wrote for, Thad Mumford. And for MASH perspective, these are the episodes that he and Dan Wilcox wrote: the first episode they wrote together was Are You Now, Margaret, then Nurse Doctor, Captain’s Outrageous, Bottle Fatigue, Goodbye Cruel World, Back Pay, Death Takes a Holiday, and one of my all time favorite episodes: A War for All Seasons.

[Audio from the show]:

MULCAHY: Where’s the corn?

IGOR: You’re looking at it, the mushy stuff.

MULCAHY: You, you creamed it. You, you ninny!

IGOR: I was just trying to be helpful! Next Fourth of July you can eat it on the cob for all I care!

RYAN: Also, Depressing News, Bless You Hawkeye, Identity Crisis, Wheelers and Dealers, Heroes, Bombshells, Settling Debts, the penultimate episode: As Time Goes By, which was actually the last episode that was filmed, and then he was one of the many writers who helped to write the finale, Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen. So what a great career and thoughts and prayers go out to the entire MASH family and to Thad’s family as well.

JEFF: Thank you, absolutely. And you know, he did write, as you said, he wrote, Are You Now, Margaret, that episode, which I believe they won the Writers Guild Award for in 1980. But it’s interesting that that show is very, very timely. And I don’t wanna go on to the whole story about the show, but anybody who has everything on tape or on a DVD should look at, Are You Now Margaret? Because it is a, it relates quite interestingly to what is going on in 2018.

RYAN: Yes. It was then centered around Senator McCarthy and his witch hunt.

JEFF: Yes.

RYAN: And now, as they say, everything old is new again.

JEFF: Yep. Sure is. Yeah.

RYAN: Unfortunately. By the way, there is a great interview with Thad Mumford online with the Archive of American Television. I will include the link in the show notes that you can find at mashmatterspodcast.com. But one of the things in the interview, the interviewer asks him, how do you want to be remembered? And he said,

[Audio clip of Thad Mumford]:

I’d like to be remembered as somebody who, who did good work and work that is lasting and meaningful.

JEFF: Wow.

RYAN: And he did just that.

JEFF: Yeah, he won, didn’t he?

RYAN: Yes, he did. Yes, he did.

JEFF: And I know that Dan and he were very, very close and was very helpful to him when he did have some health issues in the past. So he’s really – he’s taking it pretty hard so I send all my good wishes to Dan Wilcox as well.

RYAN: Absolutely. Alright, well, there’s no easy way to transition from that into, you know, jocularity, jocularity. So –

JEFF: Well, I’m removing my pants. I just think that helps a little bit. It’s a segue way. It’s a segue way physically, emotionally

RYAN: But officer! It’s a Segway!

JEFF: Isn’t that a thing you ride? Is it Segway or sedgeway? What is that thing? Is it sedgeway?

RYAN: It’s a Segway, yeah. You can ride the Segway, but they prefer that you wear pants while you’re riding on the Segway.

JEFF: While you’re riding, yeah. Otherwise you skin things that are not good to skin.

RYAN: That’s right. So we put the call out for people to email us any questions or comments they had, and we have, believe it or not Jeff, people are actually listening to this podcast.

[Audio from the show]:

Hey, mail call!

Yes, yes, yes, I’ll write you a long letter right away.

We got a letter written in Mumbo.

Sirs and everybody, I’ve got a whole bunch of letters here and they’re all on stationery from the Pierre Hotel. Hey!

JEFF: I have them right here

[sound of crumpling paper]

RYAN: Man, email is noisy.

JEFF: I’m gonna say the names, just some of the names, because I think people like to hear their names. So before we get into the questions, we’ll get into them individually. But we heard wonderful things from Steve Bennett, Chris Kennedy, Lisa Fetsko, Jason Snyder, Nicole and Russ, who didn’t want to give their last names, I don’t blame ‘em, and Travis Cook and, oh, that’s all. I mean, so far. But, so thank you all those people. That’s really nice of you to have shown up and done that. I hope you, you know, hear your names and send more.

RYAN: Absolutely. We want to hear from you so you can hop on the website, which is mashmatterspodcast.com. You’ll find the email address on there. You’ll also find a phone number where you can leave us a voicemail. We don’t have any voicemails yet, but I’m still waiting for that first voicemail to come in. You can do that by calling 513-436-4077. So we were going to take a few of these questions. We’re going to save a few of these questions for some other episodes too, but we wanted to go ahead and tackle some of these. The first is from Chris Kennedy, and he says: Guys, I love the idea of this podcast and I love MASH. One question I have has to do with the one-line jokes, whether in the middle of a show or in the last scene, some of the actor’s reactions like laughter.

JEFF: [laughs]

RYAN: Wait, I thought I turned the laugh track off on this. Hold on one moment. So some of the reaction to the other’s actor’s lines or jokes look like it’s the first time they’re hearing it. For example, Hawkeye, did he know that the soot would come out of the pole in the swamp and get all over Henry’s face? If he or they did, then it shows the skill of the performance. So I guess he’s asking, were these ad-libs? Were these lines that were just thrown in to get genuine reactions or were they just really scripted and amazing actors?

JEFF: Chris, don’t ever write us again, please. That’s one of the stupidest questions I’ve ever heard. Next. No, no, okay, I’m sorry, Chris. Let’s – I will reveal the truth. And I’ve had a similar question before, not to diminish the power of your question, Chris, but people who said, oh gosh, did you guys ad-lib? And the answer is absolutely positively no. Nobody on that show ever ad-libbed while they were shooting anything. There were table reads where everybody sat around the table and read the script, which was the first time that they’d seen the script and were able to read it, talking with all the other actors. And in those times, at that moment, somebody might say, well, gee, could I say “duck” instead of “mallard”? And then the writers would huddle and go, I don’t know, can he say duck instead of mallard? I don’t know. I’ll say mallard? duck? What’s funnier? I don’t know. I’m not sure. And then they would make a decision and that would be it. So from that point on, “duck” was in, “mallard” was out, and nobody ever questioned that again. And especially when you’re shooting something, nobody can start playing around and ad-libbing. When you’re on a movie and you have kind of unlimited budgets and you can spend lots and shoot lots of film and spend lots of time with crews eating up billions of dollars a minute, you could probably do that. And there are actors and there are directors who allow that to happen. But on MASH, where it was written by incredibly brilliant, talented writers, they wrote those words for specific reasons. And it was incumbent on the actor and their responsibility to stay true to those words, no matter what. So no, those things were not surprises. He knew that was gonna happen. It is a tribute and a talent, like you say, very nicely, Chris, about it shows the skill of the performance it was. People who react that way are highly trained people and very talented and they can react that way 52 times if they have to. So nope, he knew it was going to happen and it was just their talent and nobody ad-libs. Unlike what we do [laughs]

RYAN: [laughs] Right. We are completely unscripted and I think it shows.

JEFF: We are ad and lib. Together we’re having a great time.

RYAN: Now I have to ask though, in your opinion, which is funnier, duck or mallard?

JEFF: I, you know, let me huddle with the writers. Guys, what do you think? We’ll get back to you on that.

RYAN: Okay. Alright. So next, Lisa Fetsko, she actually sent us quite a few questions and she apologized for sending them. And I said, absolutely don’t apologize. Thank you. We really appreciate it. I don’t know that we’re going to answer all of them, but one of the questions she asks is about the actors who did the voice of the PA announcers and there were actually two, there was Sal Viscuso and Todd Susman. She said, did the cast actually know those guys? Were they also on set as extras? Or was all of their work done in a recording studio in a separate location from the cast? Now she does point out that Todd Susman did play a soldier who had the nose job. The question is, did the cast know those guys? Were they around on set? Or did they do their stuff away from the set?

JEFF: Lisa, thank you for that question. It’s very interesting, but it is none of your business so let’s move on. I mean, really, I mean, this is too personal.

RYAN: You know, I can just imagine after hearing these answers that new questions are just going to start flooding in.

JEFF: Alright, I’ll answer the question. Okay. First of all, I have to say Todd Susman and I knew each other. Todd was a terrific actor. I think he still is a terrific actor. He and I would run into each other on commercial auditions because I did a bunch of commercials as well. And we were kind of the same type, sorta looking kind of people.

RYAN: You mean dazzlingly handsome?

JEFF: Yes, both of us were. And so did everybody know them? No, because usually those things were done in a soundstage. The recording for the PA announcements were not done on the stage. So they would just have called Sal in or Todd in and say, here, you’re sitting in kind of a sound booth and here is a script, read that and thank you very much and get a donut and get out of here. So that’s what they did. Now, Todd did play that role. I think Sal also played something in some show, which I don’t know, but I think he was.

RYAN: He did. He was the soldier who actually told Father Mulcahy the location of the stolen penicillin that the black marketers had stolen. So that was – MASH fans will know which episode I’m talking about. Yeah. So he was actually on screen too. Both of them made on-screen appearances. as well as their voices. You heard just about every episode throughout the entire series.

JEFF: Very nice guy. I did not know Sal Viscuso very well at all, but I did know Todd and he’s a good guy. Still is, I hope. Lisa also asked two questions. One actually kind of goes back to that soundbooth kind of thing that we just talked about, but she said about the scene when Radar plays the bugle and Frank orders Igor to fire the salute and then Igor says “but sir, the angle!” Who’s that – I said that so well.. Boy, 12 years in acting school, “but sir, the angle!” $30,000! So, the question is did Gary Burghoff really play the bugle in that scene or was it a sound effect added later? He did – you know, here’s an interesting answer: I’m not sure, I don’t remember. I doubt very much that the bugle sound that you heard was played live. I think that was added afterwards, like the PA announcements, because they’d have to do that. But I think he may have blown the thing to make a noise so we could all kind of look at it and react to it. So he probably made – going *imitates noise* but that wasn’t exactly what you heard.

RYAN: The only thing that would cause me to think that maybe he did play it is that it was kind of well known that Radar was not a talented bugler by any means. So if he was actually playing it, maybe it wasn’t being done very well. So either way he was blowing and there was noise coming out of the bugle probably.

JEFF: Yeah, I don’t remember. This was 300 years ago, but I think he may have made the noise. If they wanted him to actually make the sound with that funny bugle, they probably recorded it separately, not in the context of that scene, because it’s just too hard in terms of technically to record it while he’s standing there and all this other stuff is happening. So very possibly they shot the scene, he made the funny noise, but then they went back and said, okay, Gary, blow into the mic now, and he made it, and then they recorded that, maybe that’s the sound they used. I don’t really know.

RYAN: Gotcha

JEFF: But I doubt very much that the master scene that you saw with him blowing the thing is the noise that he was actually making. And then the other question she says, was the “ping” of whatever that was supposedly hit the bugle something physically thrown at it, or was that a sound effect? No Lisa, nobody threw things or punished any of the actors very severely. So no, that “ping” was a sound effect. That wasn’t actually a bullet or anything else.

RYAN: So you were not instructed in reality to shoot Gary Burghoff.

JEFF: I was not, no.

RYAN: Let the record show.

JEFF: Let the record show, ladies and gentlemen. One more thing. She asked one more and I’ll answer this because this is something I’ve been asked before. There’s a scene where somebody says, what’s your name, soldier? And I say, Maxwell, sir.

[Audio from the show]:

FRANK BURNS: This spillage is wasteful, soldier.

IGOR: Yes, sir.

FRANK BURNS: You’re losing half your applesauce. Apples don’t grow on trees, you know.

IGOR: No, sir.

FRANK BURNS: What’s your name, fella?

IGOR: Maxwell, sir.

FRANK BURNS: Well, you’re going on KP, Maxwell.

IGOR: I am on KP, sir.

FRANK BURNS: Well, the minute you come off, you’re going on.

JEFF: And of course, that’s my name, actually. And they kind of said, oh, gosh, did you forget and just say your name instead of saying Straminsky or some other thing? And I said, the reality is, no, I didn’t forget. They wrote it that way. So in the early days, somebody wrote in Maxwell, and then later on they started giving me the name Straminsky, so that Straminsky came later. But the first time that they wanted me to say my last name, it was Maxwell. So nobody screwed up. It was written that way.

RYAN: I’ve always wondered that as well, but you know, there’s a theory out there, and I can’t remember where I heard it, but there is a theory out there that maybe Maxwell was Igor’s real first name. That’s a fan theory that’s circling out there on the interwebs I wanted you to be aware of.

JEFF: Is this the dark interwebs or what kind of thing is that? I don’t know what that means. Igor? Maxwell Igor, what? Maxwell, I’m confused.

RYAN: Yes, but your name is actually Maxwell Straminsky and your nickname was Igor. So when Frank Burns asks Igor “what’s your name”, he replied with his first name: Maxwell. Again, I’m not saying that it’s right. Obviously it’s not, but that is a fan theory that I have heard.

JEFF: No, that’s not true.

RYAN: Okay [laughs]

JEFF: [laughs] I don’t care what the fan theory is. They can come over to my house right now and I will show them why. Well, I can’t show them why, I don’t have my pants on.

RYAN: Right [laughs]

JEFF: But it’s not true. No, it was my name. They wrote it in and I said the words. Otherwise, I would have been fired and dragged out and thrown in the street. So you have to say every word that’s in that script and that’s what I did diligently and responsibly. You have the names and numbers of those fan people? I gotta call them.

RYAN: I don’t.

JEFF: They’re not right in the head or something.

RYAN: But it’s canon now. It’s out there. You have set the record straight.

JEFF: I’ve set the record straight. No more of this dark fandom theory stuff. No, no, no. You can’t do that. You have to – if you have that sort of problem, write in or leave a message and we’ll get back to you.

RYAN: You know there’s things like fanfiction out there. There’s like MASH fanfiction. I have not read any of it, but I can only imagine that Igor has, somebody out there at some point has written some Igor Straminsky fanfiction. Maybe we’ll have to get our hands on some of that.

JEFF: I have – I was communicating for a while with a fellow who is making documentaries in Australia. And he’s also a big MASH fan. And he actually wrote an episode that was sort of totally featured around Igor. And I was thrilled that he did it. Somebody during the 11 years of the show should have done it. But, it’s okay. It’s okay, I’m all right.

RYAN: You’re not bitter.

JEFF: I’m not bitter. But he wrote the thing and it was really kind of good. You know, I was really surprised. He kind of captured the character of Igor and everybody else. I was kind of impressed. So that happens. So anybody wants to do that, that’s fine.

RYAN: Yes

JEFF: And if you know anybody at CBS who isn’t fired or –

RYAN: Well, you know, the thing nowadays is to revive all these old shows. So I think maybe Igor could have his own show, you know, come back and do a revival.

JEFF: No, they’re going to revive it and put it in Alaska and call it MUSH. But anyway, we’ll be right back.

RYAN: [laughs] Hey, and two quick comments. One from Travis Cook, who’s actually a friend of mine, but he emailed in and said, hey Jeff and Ryan. Just subscribed to the podcast. Listened to the pilot episode. I used to watch MASH at my grandparents house when I was a kid. Never really considered myself a fan, but I did enjoy it from time to time. Have to say I would consider myself a fan of the podcast though. Hey hey!

JEFF: Whoa.

RYAN: Says the chemistry between you guys is neat to hear, both very funny, very entertaining people with fascinating perspectives on what MASH was and why it became such a phenomenon. Can’t wait to hear more. A MASH Matters fan. That’s from my friend Travis. And just so you know, Jeff, I did not pay him to say that.

JEFF: Why not? I mean, that’s pretty good.

RYAN: Well, I’m going to pay him now.

JEFF: Oh yeah, you’re gonna pay him now.

RYAN: I’m gonna put him on a hefty payment plan now.

JEFF: That’s very sweet. No, we really appreciate that. That’s very, very nice. It is very difficult to know – you know, when you do a television show, you can see the show 11 weeks later and people will laugh and you can kind of get it because you’re watching it and with other people and you see whether it’s any good or not. You know Ryan and I are sitting, you know, well I have no pants on. Ryan could have some on. I don’t know.

RYAN: I have shorts on.

JEFF: Okay. We don’t know, you know, what’s really going on. So we’re kind of in an isolated situation. So hearing that kind of response is really helpful and really appreciated. I personally appreciate it very, very much and I’m sure you do as well.

RYAN: I do. And another comment from Jason Snyder, another person who I know, and I’m also going to have to start paying. He says MASH was something my dad and I would watch as I was growing up. We tried to tape every episode on VCR tapes and to this day, we still have those VCR tapes. Now I own all the seasons on DVD and still watch them on a regular basis. MASH was in my opinion, a show that you could connect with more than just one character. I know people like Hawkeye, BJ, Winchester, Klinger, and yes, even Igor. I am looking forward to hearing many more podcasts. So thank you, Jason. We’re looking forward to bringing you many more podcasts as well.

JEFF: I think that’s gonna be the title of my next book: Even Igor. I like that. I have to answer one more question here because this has been asked before and I wanna clear the air. I mean, this is episode two. Let’s clear the air. Let’s let everybody know we are telling the truth and clearing the air. The question is was Wayne Rogers a diva as rumor has it? No.

RYAN: Okay.

JEFF: Okay, no, Wayne Rogers was not. There wasn’t a diva on the set of MASH and it’s also been reported kind of that Gary Burghoff might have been difficult or a diva.

RYAN: Yes.

JEFF: Abso-positively not. Nobody was a diva. Everybody at one time or another could say, hey, well, gosh, what about this? And gee, I’m feeling a little like that. And as I said, you don’t go through a family, an 11 years worth of a family, and not have disagreements or problems or conflicts. So it’s natural to have people disagreeing with other people and disagreeing about a direction of something, but by no stretch of the imagination was anybody a diva. These were all very highly intelligent, very sort of, I don’t want to say developed, but sort of developed emotionally, folks. There wasn’t kind of a kid/child goofball in the bunch. As I say, not without problems, not without disagreements. But nothing that wasn’t solvable and unreasonable in terms of what was happening at the time. So no, he wasn’t a diva, nobody was a diva. That kind of disappoints some people because I think it’s kind of fun to say, oh, wow, he was a jerk, oh, he was an idiot. Ain’t true, never happened, didn’t work that way. And as a matter of fact, what was fun about Wayne Rogers, he was a great financial genius. And so he would shoot a scene and then walk over to the telephone and be on the phone saying, buy! Sell! Buy! Sell! Buy! Sell! And I would hang around listening and you know, gee, what is he buying and selling? I want to know. So he was very helpful to a lot of people in terms of their own finances. He actually represented a bunch of actors and helped them develop themselves financially so he wasn’t a diva. Great guy. He left the show for reasons that I think were valid for him as an actor. He felt that the character just wasn’t being developed in the way that he felt it might be and could have been. But that didn’t create any bad blood between anybody. Nobody likes to lose an actor like him, but nobody hated him. He didn’t hate anybody. It was just kind of an adult decision that he had to work through and struggle with, but he did it and he did it fairly and honestly and sincerely and nobody hated him. So no. Good guy.

RYAN: Well, thank you, Nicole and Russ for submitting that question to us. And you know, you say that he wasn’t a diva and nobody was a diva. You know, there’s that old saying about poker, that if you’re sitting at a poker table and you don’t see the sucker, then it’s you. So I’m just saying, could it be possible that since you’re saying that nobody was a diva, could it be possible that you, Jeff Maxwell, were the diva of the MASH set?

JEFF: Thanks very much for listening, everybody. And next week, we’re going to be talking in more detail about how to wear your underwear when you’re doing your podcast.

RYAN: And riding your segway.

JEFF: Should we stream that? Maybe we stream that. What is that? You can do it on your phone and you stream yourself.

RYAN: Oh yes. We can stream. We can streak. You can streak while you’re streaming, I guess.

JEFF: You know, I’d like to bring up the fact also that this is an amazing technological wonder that we’re doing this podcast. And just to me – maybe to somebody else, to an eleven-year-old, it’s not. To me, it is. Because the knowledge is, and the truth is, that you, Ryan, are in Illinois and I, Jeff, am in California. And we are talking to each other just like we’re sitting next to each other. Is that not amazing or what?

RYAN: It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool.

JEFF: It is pretty cool, and I owe it to your great technical expertise and your brilliant putting-together of this amazing technology and being able to bring it to everybody and because I wouldn’t have known what the heck to do or how to do it. So I thank you, Ryan, for doing that. And as I say, for doing the heavy lifting to get this thing up and running. This was all Ryan’s idea in the first place and I just hogged in on it as best I could because that’s basically all I know how to do.

RYAN: [laughs] And you do it well. You really do it well.

JEFF: Really? Thanks. Thank you.

RYAN: Again, I am thrilled that you’re a part of this. So thank you so much.

JEFF: And I’m thrilled that you’re a part of this because I would not have done this with anybody else other than you. People have said, oh, let’s do this, let’s do that, and I have not, but I wouldn’t have done it with anybody else other than you because you not only have a tremendous radio background and history, so you know what you’re doing in front of a microphone, but you’re a really cool guy and you’re also an actor. And I think sometime we ought to talk about that because you’re a very accomplished actor with a long list of wonderful plays that you’ve been in. And that also is something that I responded to because I think we can relate to each other on that level as well. And not only friends, but kind of with a history of that kind of background. So congratulations to you for putting all this together and congratulations for me just for just getting out of bed and showing up.

RYAN: See now I’ve got to put you on a payment plan as well. This is getting very expensive.

JEFF: Yeah, it’s gonna be. Yeah, well.

RYAN: Hey, if you have questions we want to hear from you, go to mashmatterspodcast.com, email us through the website or call and leave a voicemail: 513-436-4077. We’re on Twitter @mashmatters. And if you’re on Apple podcasts, the iTunes thing, please subscribe and leave a 5 star review. We do have more questions and comments that have come in and we will get to those in future episodes, so please keep them coming in. And here’s the other thing people have asked me, how often are we going to be putting out episodes.

JEFF: Hey Ryan!

RYAN: Yes, Jeff?

JEFF: How often are we going to be putting out episodes, do you think? Just off the top of your head? Hands waving in the air, what do you think?

RYAN: Great question! The answer is we are going to hopefully put out episodes the 1st and 15th of every month, so that’s our plan at least.

JEFF: That sounds reasonable.

RYAN: Yeah, I think so.

JEFF: I think we can handle that.

RYAN: That means you have to talk to me every other week, which is about what my wife does. So it works out.

JEFF: [laughs] We’re here all week, ladies and gentlemen, have the veal.

RYAN: All right. So until next time, uh, please –

JEFF: So is that it? We’re not going to talk anymore?

RYAN: That’s it. We’re done.

JEFF: I’ll put my pants back on and go somewhere.

RYAN: Well, yeah, in that order, please. Yeah.

JEFF: As always, Mr. Patrick, a pleasure.

RYAN: And as always, Mr. Maxwell, the very same.

JEFF: Thank you all for listening and hope you continue to do it.

Transcripts by Checkmate Editing Services

In the first episode of the M*A*S*H Matters Podcast … otherwise known as the pilot … Jeff Maxwell and Ryan Patrick discuss why M*A*S*H matters to them. Jeff shares the story of his (miserable) first day on the job at the Fox Ranch, and Ryan blubbers over his personal connection to the TV show. Plus, bees!

Visit the podcast’s website: www.mashmatterspodcast.com

Follow M*A*S*H MATTERS on Twitter.

Jeff & Ryan welcome your questions, comments, show ideas, and more at MashMattersPodcast@gmail.com OR call and leave a voicemail.

Subscribe to M*A*S*H MATTERS on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. (And kindly leave us a five-star review!)

TRANSCRIPT: MASH Matters #001 – Our Pilot Episode

RYAN: We’ll just count this down then. You ready to go?

JEFF: Absolutely.

RYAN: This is your last chance to back out.

JEFF: [laughs]

RYAN: Okay, here we go. In three, two, one.

Attention all personnel. Incoming podcast. This is MASH Matters.

RYAN: Well, here we go. Episode number one. I guess this would be considered the pilot episode of MASH Matters. I am Ryan Patrick and I am joined by Private Igor Straminsky himself, Jeff Maxwell. Hello, Jeff.

JEFF: And I am the Jeff Maxwell that he just mentioned. Yes, I am. And the Private Igor that he just mentioned. Hey, Ryan, this is pretty cool, isn’t it? We’re doing our own little pilot. I’m very excited about this.

RYAN: Does that mean we have to wait and see if it gets picked up?

JEFF: You know, yeah, it’s going to be, it’s going to be a nail biting couple of months. We’re going to need to know whether we can buy the Maserati or not. And, um, you know, hey, but we got, we got some clout. We got a good thing to talk about. MASH is a fascinating subject and I’m certain that we’ll be picked up and we can buy the house in Rome.

RYAN: Absolutely. Together? Just move in together?

JEFF: Well. I don’t know. It depends on how this goes.

RYAN: Well, this is exciting. MASH Matters is a new podcast that we are launching here where we talk about the show MASH and not just MASH, but things that were happening in the world of Hollywood and acting and just a little bit of a hodgepodge of everything. But MASH is kind of the central focus. And you know, this kind of began when I, cause I listen to a lot of podcasts and I know, Jeff, you’re not a huge podcast listener.

JEFF: I’m not a huge podcast. It took me a long time to figure out what a podcast was.

RYAN: So you are not alone. And so I listen to a lot of podcasts and there are other MASH podcasts out there, but what those podcasts do are basically go episode by episode and just kind of break down the episode and comment and critique the episode. That’s already covered.

What I was interested in is just telling the MASH story and kind of almost an oral history of MASH and behind-the-scenes stories. And so that’s when I reached out to Jeff and asked if he would be interested in being a part of this in some way. And for reasons passing all understanding, you said yes.

JEFF: It was a slip of the tongue really, but I have committed myself. And so… I have a lot of integrity about that, so even if I accidentally said yes, I will show up for it.

RYAN: Well, I am so thankful that you did say yes. This is really exciting for a diehard MASH fan like myself.

JEFF: Which brings up an interesting comment and an interesting idea, and we’ve talked about this. Of course, the name of the podcast is MASH Matters. And for me, I have certain reasons why MASH matters to me, and you have certain reasons why MASH matters to you, and the four people listening to this probably have reasons that MASH matters to them. So as we’ve talked about, we would love to hear everybody’s comments, thoughts about why MASH matters to them. But as we discussed, it would probably be fun to talk to each other about why MASH matters to us.

RYAN: Yeah.

JEFF: I know you are a long-time diehard fan of the show. I was not necessarily a long-time diehard fan of the show. It was a living. It was a job. So as much as I enjoyed the job, I don’t have that, you know, part of my head that is the diehard fan. So for me, I’d be interested in hearing why the heck MASH matters to you from that point of view and what it really did to you, you know, emotionally or whatever. Why was it so, uh, so much a part of you and where does that come from?

RYAN: Well, you know, this is a familiar story for you, which is I began watching MASH with my mom back when it was originally airing on the air and also in reruns, my mom watched it a lot and so she always had it on. Now I will tell you, five-year-old me was watching the show with utter disgust because I thought it was boring, I didn’t understand it, why are these people talking all the time, they’re not falling down, that’s not funny. But as I watched it more and more, I began to really, truly appreciate it. So much so that I really got into it during the final season and bawled my eyes out after the final episode wrapped up. And so there’s that connection of, it was something my mom and I watched together. And I know that that’s something, Jeff, that you’ve heard a lot from fans, isn’t it?

JEFF: Mm hmm, It is. I’ve heard a lot of people talk that, and tell me that one of the emotional parts of it is that they got to share something with a parent, whether it be a mother or a father. So the bond was kind of, wow, I’m having this experience with a parent who I love and experiencing it with them. So it was kind of a love between the parent and it just happened to be that the show MASH was there. I’m always curious as to whether or not if it had been, you know, Bozo the Clown, would that interest you? Would you have been a huge fan of Bozo instead of Hawkeye? I don’t know, but probably the bond that you feel with the parent along with something that is pretty good to watch that probably kind of sets the hook, I would imagine. Although I don’t know because you were very young when you were watching it.

RYAN: I was very young when it was on the air. I was born in 1975. So I was, you know, the show was already on the air when I was born. And so I was eight years old when it went off the air. But I remember it vividly. So when it went off the air, I was sad, but I continued to watch it in reruns. And I really got back into it in high school and something just clicked, connected. Now I’ve always enjoyed, had a true appreciation for comedy, people who do comedy very well, and this is a cast that did comedy very well. And I include you, Jeff, in that equation. There was something magical about this cast and the way it clicked and how you were able to balance comedy and drama at the same time. And as somebody who is both an aficionado of comedy, but also I’ve always had a fascination with acting and theater and the fundamentals of acting, I was drawn to it because of that. It wasn’t necessarily the military setting because I don’t really come from a military family. So that wasn’t necessarily the draw. I think it was just the way that everybody clicked and we all know a Hawkeye, we all know a Frank Burns, we all know a Henry Blake and the familiarity of that really connected and really resonated with me. Then after I started getting into it in high school again through reruns, I really got into the theme of the show, which in my opinion, I mean, everybody has their own opinion of what MASH is and what it means to them. But I think it’s trying to find the good in people in a situation where there’s not a lot of good.

JEFF: Well, that’s very interesting, but why did you like MASH? I’m just curious.

RYAN: [laughs] I loved the way you creamed weenies.

JEFF: Oh, now, now we’re talking! All this Hawkeye foolishness. I mean, the show was about a guy who served food, right? That’s what the show is really, its essence of the show was about a guy who served food. We all think, oh, those guys – ohh phooey!

RYAN: It was finding the good in food when there was not much about the food that was good. How about that? Does that work?

JEFF: I like that. I like that a lot. I wish I had said that. Yeah, that was really good. No, well, that’s really interesting because I do hear a lot of people comment, again, as I say that relationship between a parent and then the step that goes beyond that is really fascinating to me because why then is it MASH and not something else? Now, of course, you had things that interested you about it and other people I assume would be kind of drawn to the fact that it was a military show and it had overtones and underpinnings and all the other things about the Vietnam War, death and about looking at all those very difficult subjects. I know that Gene Reynolds and Larry Gelbart went to Korea and they interviewed a bunch of soldiers and a bunch of doctors to hear the real true story so that they could bring all that information back to Los Angeles and sort of integrate it into the scripts as best they could. So all those very serious subjects resonated on some level with everybody and we could, through the comedy, it allowed us all to watch those serious subjects, but still be able to laugh a little bit.

RYAN: Exactly.

JEFF: Otherwise those serious subjects are very serious, which and that’s on the news every night. So it wasn’t a news program, it was a comedy show, but it still had a lot of the depth about really terrible things that were going on, like you said.

RYAN: And I think it teaches you the importance of humor too, in those kind of situations. I think it’s important for people to be able to laugh and laugh at themselves when they’re in the middle of difficult situations, to still be able to find the humor in something like the Korean conflict and meatball surgery when you’re, when you’re still able to do that and it not come off as tacky, it not come off as insulting. What a wonderful balance. These characters weren’t doing it to say, “Hey, we’re funny. Look at us”. They were using humor to cope with what they were going through. And to me, that was really fascinating because I like to use humor in everyday situations, I like, you know, to be able to find. the humor in situations even when there’s not a lot of humor to be found. Um, and I think a lot of that comes from my fascination with MASH.

JEFF: So you feel that MASH actually helped give you the idea of dealing with things in a humorous way, even though there wasn’t too much to be laughing at.

RYAN: Yeah, I think so. I really do.

JEFF: It really, it really taught you that lesson. Well, that’s interesting. Yeah, cause they were, I mean, a wacky bunch of people doing wacky things in a terrible, in a terrible moment. So, interesting stuff.

RYAN: Well, I’m interested in hearing your take on it because as you said, this was your living. You didn’t necessarily see MASH as everybody else saw it in 23 minute episodes. You saw it from take to take and you saw it standing around the ranch or the soundstage a lot because you were also I know Alan Alda’s stand-in. So you watched MASH as it was created. You didn’t necessarily always watch it when it was on the air. So I’m curious to hear your take of what you think truly makes MASH resonate.

JEFF: Well, that’s the show everybody. Thanks for coming and tune in next week for the second episode of MASH Matters. Good night. Well, yes. Okay, why did it matter to me? Well, first of all, it was a cheque. It was a decent cheque. And the cheques did get more and more decent. But I came out of nightclubs as a nightclub comic with a partner. We had a comedy team called Garrett and Maxwell. And we were together for quite a number of years and did quite well. We were quite popular. We were discovered by a bunch of really famous people. And we were, it was told to us that we were going to be the next great comedy team of the century. That didn’t work out. My partner and I ended up going our separate ways. I was pretty depressed. And a friend of mine happened to be a casting director at 20th Century Fox. And I would go over there to sob and be depressed about my life and about my partner quit and I quit and we were separated and I don’t know what I’m going to do. And he said, well, I got this show called MASH and it’s going to be canceled. I think I could get you on it. And this is the truth. And I said, well, okay, it’s going to be canceled. Yeah, it’s not doing very well in the ratings. And I think that’s going to be the end of the show and so they’re probably going to take anybody. Not that you’re anybody, Jeff, but, you know, they’ll take anybody. So I said, well, OK. And that was my first day, I was sent out as an extra to the ranch. And I had to drive out from Encino, California to actually, it was North Hollywood, California, I drove out to the set of MASH out at the Malibu Creek Ranch.

RYAN: How long a drive was that?

JEFF: You know, it seemed like about three or four hours. It was long. It was at least an hour. Um, so I had to get up really early cause they had to be there at like 6:30, so I had to leave pretty early. And, uh, I got there and I was loaded onto a bus with a bunch of other people and we were all staggering around cause we were all tired and exhausted. And they drove us to a compound area which is right within the set. And I got out and looked around and it was this really dirty, funky place. And it was really early in the morning and really, really cold. And they herded us into a kind of an airplane hangar type place and said, alright, put your clothes on. Here’s your clothes. What’s your waist size? What’s your boot size? And there was a lot of commotion and a lot of people taking their clothes off and putting on these really dirty army greens and big funky boots which were really hard to walk around in. And so I put them on and then they shoved us out into the, you know, the MASH compound area. And, uh, they sprayed a thing for bees. They were always spraying this really horrible smelly stuff around because there was a lot of bees. So this smoke would keep the bees away or kill the bees or something. I don’t know, it probably killed everything. But there was a lot of smoke and that kept the bee population down. And so it smelled really awful and it looked kind of funky. And I hated it! I just hated every second of it. We used to be in nightclubs, we were drinking, we were having a good time. Here I am at 6 o’clock in the morning with all these people and they’re spraying smoke in my face. I hate this. And they started shooting, various things went on and people were yelling at each other. It was very chaotic, really. It wasn’t a smooth, wonderful experience. It was quite chaotic and people were confused a little bit and staggering around. And I really, really didn’t like it. But I was in a couple of scenes. But finally they cut. And by the way, by the time it gets to about 12 o’clock noon, it was hot, really hot. So you go from really cold to really, really, really, really hot and miserable. And then all the bees came back alive and would try and eat you and eat your food. So it was quite an unpleasant day. Anyway, I decided and I told my friend I didn’t wanna do that anymore. So I said, I don’t wanna come back. And he said, well, you have to cause you have to match a shot and they called me and you gotta do this, you gotta go back and do this and whatever. So I did and a few things happened. I decided that I wouldn’t be a pout and be depressed. I would start fooling around and playing with everybody that was around me and talking and being a little bit more sociable than I was. And I started kind of being funny and everybody was laughing and it was fun for me because I got a chance to have some humor in a really miserable place. So back to your point, I was living that reality which MASH in itself was actually recreating in a much bigger way. But we were all in a miserable place, but we all had to kind of live with ourselves and be funny in order to get through the day. And that’s what I did. After that, I ended up making a face in a funny scene and everybody said, what’s your name? Who are you? You’re kind of funny and you might work on this. And they kept, suddenly they were much nicer to me and the cheques got bigger. And I decided it was more appealing. And then eventually I became, you know, they started naming me Igor and put me into the show.

RYAN: So you didn’t really know the show when you went out there that first day?

JEFF: I did not, no, I did not know the show.

RYAN: And it wasn’t a good first impression?

JEFF: It was not a good first impression. And I wasn’t, I did not know Alan Alda. I knew none of the characters, none of them. I was really not very tuned to television. My whole approach to life was how do I make the guy in the front row in the nightclub laugh? And that’s all I thought about. So I wasn’t a trained actor. I wasn’t looking to be a trained actor. I wanted to be Jerry Lewis. I wanted my partner and I to be Dean Martin and Jerry. We wanted to be the next Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. And for those who are 14 years old, Google him. He was a funny guy. So I wasn’t, uh, familiar with the show. And then I went and I watched it and I didn’t like it. I was not a fan. That’s why I’m fascinated about people who really identified heavily with the show. I did not. And through all my years, my nine years connected with the show, I love everybody to this day. It was an amazing experience. It gave me a lot of stuff to think about and to experience. And I met presidents and I met wonderful people and I got to act with great actors and I get to, you know, talk with incredibly talented and gifted writers. But through all of that, I loved the people. I loved the experience. I loved the job. I loved the show in terms of being an actor and a participant, but I wasn’t ever a big fan. Is that weird or not? I’m not sure.

RYAN: No, well, I think that there are probably some people who are listening who probably do think that’s weird, but-

JEFF: You think they’re still listening, actually, after that whole thing?

RYAN: No, I think we lost them about five, seven, eight minutes ago. So, it’s just you and me now. So we can talk about anything we wanna talk about.

JEFF: Anything you want, yeah.

RYAN: I kind of get it because I have, again, I have a theater background and I also have a radio background. And when I worked in radio, I loved the concept of radio, but I wasn’t necessarily a big fan of working in radio, which I think kind of makes sense in the same way because it’s almost like you see behind the curtain and you see how the sausage is made and it becomes more of an obligation. It becomes a task. It becomes your job. You have to do it. You have to do it well. You enjoy it while you’re doing it. But at the same time, I don’t listen to a lot of radio now.

JEFF: Mm hmm, mm hmm, right.

RYAN: I’ve been there. I’ve done it. I understand, you know, and, but at the same time, people were fascinated with radio and so I kind of understand where you’re coming from in that it was your job.

JEFF: Yeah.

RYAN: It was a job you did well and you had some fantastic experiences with it and met some wonderful people. But it didn’t resonate with you the same way that it resonates with people watching it. I understand that. So when was it then, in the process of you being on this show, when did you suddenly realize, hey, this is actually kind of a big deal?

JEFF: Well, I started to really enjoy it one day. And I did, as you said, I was Alan Alda’s stand-in for a while. And I was Alan Alda’s stand-in because I was kind of the same size and skin coloring and hair and so it worked for me to stand in front of the camera because the stand-in is there for them to set the camera moves and to set the lights up. So the stand-in just stands there while they do all that so that the star can go off and sit around a table and eat donuts or rehearse or whatever they’re going to do. So that’s what a stand-in basically does. I got really bored doing that. I hated it with a passion. So every time I was standing in front of the camera, I was acting like a goofball and entertaining the Director of Photography who just basically had to sit there and go, yeah, put the light over there and turn it this way. I didn’t, I just thought this needed more funny stuff. So that’s what I would do. And I did seemingly entertain the Director of Photography and those around me while I was standing there. But because I was Alan Alda’s stand-in and I got that job, I was asked to do that because his original stand-in started falling asleep while he was standing there. And so we don’t know whether it was a neurological problem or he drank heavy or what he was doing, but he would stand there and kind of pass out and either fall over or just go to sleep. So the Director of Photography said, hey, I can’t do this anymore, you know, you can do crazy stuff, but you can’t fall asleep. So they dragged me over and said, oh, this guy, let’s use this guy. So then I became Alan Alda’’s stand-in that meant that I had to be there basically every single day, which I was also not that happy with. I had other stuff to do and I was enjoying kind of going intermittently in and out of the show, but when I got Alan Alda’s stand-in position, I had to be there every single day because he was there every single day. And in doing so, I began to really watch him. And I’d never paid that much attention to him. I didn’t really know who he was. And the more I watched him do what he did and rehearse and talk about what he was doing and interact with the actors and interact with the actors during the scene and during the shooting, I really started to go wow! And you said, when did you realize it was a big deal? What I realized was how good he was and it fascinated me. I went, how does he do that? And I got really, really eager to know how he did that and I wanted to do it. So at one point I asked him, and I had been in plays and I, you know, in high school and stuff. So I was not totally unfamiliar with being an actor and plays, but high school is a little different. So I asked him, I said, hey, Alan, can you recommend an acting teacher? I, I want to do what you do. And he did, he recommended a woman named Viola Spolin.

RYAN: Yes.

JEFF: And he said, I would only go to Viola Spolin. And I said, Oh, well, great. Okay. And he said, well, I think she’s in New York, but if you ever get an opportunity to go to her, I would, I would do that. So I forgot about it because I wasn’t gonna go to New York. Suddenly I read in Variety: “Viola Spolin coming to Los Angeles”. And I said, hey, great. And I went to meet Viola Spolin and she was a fascinating woman and then I spent three and a half years with her and the rest of the people doing theater games and having a wonderful time.

RYAN: Wow.

JEFF: So I go back to this, I’m babbling again, but the reality is about when did I realize it was a big deal was when I kind of got a sense about what Alan Alda was doing. It also allowed me a more intelligent perspective of what everybody was doing. It suddenly opened my eyes to what the show is about, the writing, Larry Gelbart’s genius, all the other actors and how they were interacting and what they brought to the show in terms of their characters and what they were all doing really. So at that point, I didn’t know the show was necessarily a big deal, but I realized what a neat big deal moment this was in this small little tiny community. And I kind of got a sense that that’s not gonna come around every day. So I better kind of take care of it and treat it nicely, which is what I tried to do.

RYAN: That’s great. Well, hey, we have lots of stories to share and we want to hear your questions. If you have a suggestion, an idea, a question, anything that you would like to share with us, there are several ways that you can get in touch with us. You can go to our webpage, which is mashmatterspodcast.com. You can email us, mashmatterspodcast@gmail.com, or you can call and leave a voicemail at 513-436-4077.

JEFF: What was that number again?

RYAN: That number again, 513-436-4077. Call, leave a voicemail. We may play your voicemail on the air. And if you have some great questions, we want to hear them. We want you to be the third co-host of this podcast because we want listener interaction. Fans, we want to hear from you. What are your stories about MASH? How did you get connected with the show? What does MASH mean to you? Email us, leave us a voicemail. We would love to hear from you. And also we would ask you if you could, subscribe to us on Apple podcasts and leave a five-star review that will really help us out as well.

JEFF: And eventually I will explain how I became Igor.

RYAN: Yes, that’s a good story. I can’t wait to hear it. So we are going to wrap this episode up, our first episode and we’ll just sit back and wait for the phone to ring to see if we’ve been picked up. But I have a feeling that we will. I think we’ve got something here, Jeff, and I think that this is something that MASH fans are really going to enjoy. So thank you again for being a part of this.

JEFF: Thank you indeed. This is a wonderful experience. It’s really fun. I’m glad we got through this without being too embarrassed by anything we said, and I hope to do that in the future. You were great. I was very interested hearing your story about how you were kind of really bonded with MASH and why you did it. And again, I would love to hear a lot of people talk about that because it still really is a fascinating story to me, why and how that all happened. And just before we shut this off, at one point I did talk to Alan Alda about it, and he actually brought up that he thought it was a parental bonding experience because kids were able to watch the show with their parents. So we’re all in good company. That was a fine, wise thing for him to say. And we said it too. So, doggone, good for us.

RYAN: So we’re just as smart as Alan Alda is what you’re saying.

JEFF: Oh, just as, probably, just as. Yeah, but no, thank you, Ryan. This has been fun. I hope the next one will be as much fun. And I’m sure the other, the four people who are listening will continue to listen. Was it two or four?

RYAN: Well, it started as four and it went to two and now it’s probably down to one and a half.

JEFF: I’m going to get a martini now.

RYAN: Alright, my friend, we will touch base here soon and we’ll be back for episode 2. Don’t forget, contact us, subscribe, leave a review and we want to hear from you. Please leave a voicemail 513-436-4077

JEFF: Or just come by the house

RYAN: And we’ll see you next time.

Transcripts by Checkmate Editing Services

Send an email to mashmatterspodcast@gmail.com.

Or leave a voicemail at 513-436-4077

Send an email to mashmatterspodcast@gmail.com.

Or leave a voicemail at 513-436-4077