A Friendly Rivalry Between Alan Alda and Mike Farrell Set the Tone for 'M*A*S*H's Cast
"We Were running out of steam, and repeating ourselves," confessed Alan Alda about the downfall of the beloved show.
Published Sept. 10 2024, 3:00 a.m. ET
Eleven years of a television show either puts the cast in a position to be BFFs for life or created a sort of stress and tension that riddles their relationships forever. In the case of M*A*S*H, the show started in 1972 and didn't conclude until 1983. The cast was pact with big names like Alan Alda, Gary Burghoff, and Loretta Swit.
Unlike many shows, the iconic program didn't come crashing down in some frenzy of drama. Instead, Alan reassured fans that it was just that they "were running out of steam, and repeating [themselves]," according to an interview by the National Museum of American History. He explained that he "wanted to go out on a high note, artistically." So, if the show didn't end with any sort of animosity, how close was the cast?
Did the cast of 'M*A*S*H' get along?
Overall, the cast did get along behind-the-scenes. In fact, Alan and co-star Mike Farrell became incredibly close. Mike joined the show at the end of the third season and the pair became close friends quickly. However, they did start to have a little bit of a friendly rivalry between them, too. Nonetheless, Alan found himself drawn to Mike after Wayne Rogers left.
"Farrell took his place in the tent and as someone I confided in. We had a physical rivalry as well, competing to see who could learn to stand on his hands first. He had studied judo in the Army, and as a pastime, every time I was called to set, he would walk behind me and see if he could trip me and make me fall down," Alan said in his book Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned.
Mike has previously admitted that joining the cast was seamless as he felt welcomed into the group's healthy dynamic. Jamie Farr agreed with the sentiment, calling the group "the perfect dream cast," according to Closer.
“We lost so many of our family — Wayne, McLean [Stevenson], Larry [Linville], David [Ogden Stiers], Bill [Christopher], Harry [Morgan]. Every one was a body blow, but it’s still forever,” Loretta said. “We loved each other, and we still do.”
Alan and Mike did have one big argument on set.
Alan and Mike did have a bit of a hiccup during Season 7. The script was pretty adamant that both of their characters were supposed to go against the Hippocratic Oath and keep a colonel off the battlefield who likely would do more damage than good. However, Mike was positive that his character would never be OK with that. According to Collider, when he demanded the script be changed, Alan found himself opposing his friend. In the end, Mike won the argument.
The cast played many pranks on one another.
Alan told Mike that he received a call from a phone scammer which caused Mike to devise a little plan. Friends would send constant spam via phone and letters to Alan, pretending to be a scammer. Even a singing telegram ended up arriving to only further bother him. “I had a person come in and do a whole song and dance about this scam,” said Mike. “Alan looked at me and said, ‘You son of a b—.’ It had gone on for weeks!”
