Visiting the MASH 4077th

 

Welcome to the MASH 4077

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 4077^th 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, 20^th Century Fox, filmed MASH from September of 1972 until February of 1983. Eleven seasons, producing two-hundred and fifty-six episodes at the park.

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.”

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.

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 20^th 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 4077^th 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.

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?

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 4077^th  with wounded soldiers flying low over the Goat Buttes. 

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.

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