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Welcome to the MASH 4077
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A major event occurred on February 28, 1983 which has
never been duplicated. The finale of the television show MASH (Mobile Army
Surgical Hospital) garnered nearly one hundred and six million viewers; a
record for that time which has held until today. That is a lot of viewers,
considering the population of the United States only had two hundred and
thirty-three million in that year.
That would mean, nearly half of all television sets in
the country were tuned in to watch the final episode for a series that had
lasted eleven years. Yes, the iconic depiction of doctors and nurses working at
the 4077th lasted eight years longer than the Korean War actually
did.
Of course, there were some viewers across the globe
who had also tuned in for this farewell to such a beloved show. But, my
research revealed that it may have been in fact very few non-Americans who,
with baited breath wondered how Hawkeye and BJ would end this long-running
series.
One such viewer was a bloke in Australia who had tuned
in believing the show would teach him the correct formula for some home-made
‘hooch’ he was making in the back yard.
“Fair dinkum,” he told his wife. “Tonight I’ll learn
what the blokes up yonder use for mash in their whiskey, and then I’ll throw a
few shrimp on the barbie and grab a coldie at the same time.”
The show was over, bringing a climatic end to one of
America’s most watched and beloved television series. But, the show is so popular
today that it is shown about fifteen thousand times per minute around the
world.
In fact, MASH is one of the most popular reruns on
television. Once the series ended in 1983, it was picked up by various networks
– FX, Hallmark Channel, TV Land, AMC, Sundance Channel, MeTV, and the little
known and non-existent Beyer’s Byways Network.
One Sunday afternoon, I was channel surfing and caught
an episode or two of the gang from MASH – I laughed at their jokes, and then
thought of some possible research that could be accomplished.
I looked over at Laureen, who was busy doing something
while sitting on the sofa.
“I wonder where
MASH was filmed.” I queried.
“Ask Mr. Google,” she responded. She’s ever-so helpful
sometimes.
And soon, a trip was planned for the following
Saturday to Malibu Creek State Park. According to the Conejo Valley Guide, 20th
Century Fox, filmed MASH from September of 1972 until February of 1983. Eleven
seasons, producing two-hundred and fifty-six episodes at the park.
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| Main characters from the MASH series |
The film studio sold the area to the State of
California in 1974, expanding the acreage of the park.
We haven’t spent much time in Agoura Hills, or for
that matter in the Santa Monica Mountains either, where Malibu Creek State Park
is located.
“I don’t think we’ve been there,” I stated.
“We’ve been to Malibu,” Laureen replied.
I nodded. “Yes, we ate at Geoffrey’s, and you had
steamed Maine lobster along with the artisan cheese plate, if my memory serves
me correctly.”
“You just made that up.”
She was right, I did. I do that sometimes.
The park is huge, stretching over eight thousand acres
between Calabasas, Agoura, and Malibu, featuring hiking trails, bicycle trails,
horse trails, walking trails, and trails within trails for those who cannot
make up their mind on their desired mode of transportation.
In all transparency, when I looked up information on
where the television site actually was, I was lazy and only viewed one
description. It seemed, from what I read, a person could drive into the park
and see the MASH location in the parking lot.
I was wrong.
“You have to hike three miles to see it,” the ranger
told us at the front gate of the park.
“Huh?” I replied.
“Yeah, we get that a lot,” he said. “Nice thing
though, it’s a good trail with only about a two hundred foot elevation gain.
Real doable.”
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| Lots of places to stop and take a rest in the shade |
Laureen and I had dressed for Malibu! See the MASH thingy
and then venture toward the coast to hob-nob with the celebs who live there. We
don’t know any, and probably wouldn’t recognize them anyway, but having a nice
lunch while viewing the blue waters of the Pacific had seemed like a fine idea.
“Now what?” Laureen asked.
“Plan B,” I returned. “Time to go shopping for cooler
hiking clothes. It’s ninety-three degrees outside and I’m wearing
going-to-Malibu-for-lunch clothes.”
We returned for the hike within an hour, dressed
properly but a bit poorer after shopping in some galleria that I couldn’t
pronounce.
Water bottles in hand, large brimmed hats on head, and
hiking shows on feet, we were ready.
The ranger had been correct. The trail to the MASH
site is wide, well graded dirt, with a few spots here and there with tall green
trees offering the adventurer a bit of a respite from the overhead rays of the
sun.
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| Cool sections along hiking path |
It was hot – in fact, one woman was carted out from
the trail by another ranger in his official ranger truck.
“My wife, she can’t deal with the heat,” her husband
said to us, as he started to climb into the truck beside his spouse. “I think
she has sun stroke.”
I nodded then said to my lovely heat-sensitive spouse,
“Take a sip of water, we got another mile and half to go in this heat and then
the return trip.”
“You are one considerate man,” Laureen remarked. She
never fails to recognize my gallantry. Quite a woman I got there!
20th Century Fox Studios bought two thousand acres of
vacant land in 1946, to be used as a ‘shooting ranch’. It wasn’t only MASH
which has been filmed there – dozens of movies and television series have used
the location.
In the early years, before it was owned by 20th
Century Fox, the lands were used for silent black and white films such as; the
1919 film, Daddy Long Legs, starring
Mary Pickford – the 1936 film, Tarzan
Escapes, starring Johnny Weissmuller – the 1938 film, Blockade, starring Henry Fonda – just to name a few.
Then as time moved on, so did the movies shot here in
the Malibu Creek area. Planet of the Apes
in 1968, Dr. Doolittle in 1967, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in
1969, Pleasantville in 1998 – just to
name a few.
This whole area has Hollywood history written all over
it – like a script. And, many of the locations are easily located for those
movie buffs who want to walk where great movies were made and film stars tread.
But, even if films aren’t to a person’s liking – there
is so much to do in and around the park. Camping is even permitted, which would
give a lot of opportunity to investigate everything there is to be seen.
We were on a mission though. And that mission was to
step foot where the crew of the 4077th had walked.
We hiked. We talked. We hiked. And we did so more
hiking, until finally just northwest of the trail came a glimmer of an American
military ambulance from the time period of the Korean War.
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| John Beyer in front of MASH ambulance |
“That is so cool,” I stated.
Laureen stopped, took a sip of water and stated. “I
have to agree, and up yonder is another one.”
Yonder?
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| Remains of a Korean War jeep |
We had made the trek in less than an hour, and that is
with stopping here and there taking in the beautiful scenery along the way.
We wandered here and wandered there, reading various signs
which explained which scene was filmed at this spot or that spot with
photographs for visual guidance.
The view which caught our attention right away was
looking eastward toward the tops of a few hills, which had been used in the
opening scene of each episode. Radar, played by actor Gary Burghoff, is filmed
staring toward two helicopters approaching the 4077th with wounded soldiers flying low over
the Goat Buttes.
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| You can just about see the helicopters arriving |
You could almost hear the whirr of the choppers
preparing to land. |
| Iconic view of 4077 nurses rushing to help the injured soldiers |
We climbed up a short hill to the west of the set, and
visualized where the portable hospital had stood, where the Swamp was located
(this is the quarters for the senior surgical staff), where the latrines were
placed, and other areas that with a slight jar of the imagination painted a
realistic image of the entire MASH complex. |
| Overlooking of the original MASH set |
There was the iconic sign stating mileages for various
places around the world; Burbank, Toledo, Seoul, and other cities.
A couple of ambulances, a jeep, a truck, a picnic area
covered in camouflage netting, and other items allowed us a chance to go back
in time to when this series was filmed.
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| Picnic area for visitors |
“It’s as though the actors are still here,” Laureen
stated.
No, those days are gone, but there was a sense in the
air, in that canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains where MASH was filmed that
something special had been created here.
But, perhaps that is what Laureen had meant and I felt
it too.
As we returned to our vehicle, we bumped into another
ranger who said, “It’s really strange, I see people hiking over to the MASH
site wearing fatigues, hospital attire and other outfits from that time period.
Of all ages and you know, it’s pretty cool.”
Visiting places you haven’t been before is exciting,
but to visit a place you’ve seen dozens of times on television or the big
screen has a certain ambiance to it. You feel as though you are welcomed and
appreciated during that visit.
We did.
For more information: http://www.malibucreekstatepark.org/history.html
