One of the most coveted reunion shows of them all is a new entry in an already nostalgia-laden May sweeps lineup but not on the network you’d expect.
A two-hour “MASH: 30th Reunion Special” headed by Alan Alda will air May 17 on Fox rather than CBS, which carried the Emmy-winning comedy series throughout its 11-season run from 1972-83. Why? CBS says it’s because 20th Century Fox Television, which produced “MASH,” decided to play hardball.
“We had planned to do a ‘MASH’ reunion special with the cast, but 20th refused to license us any clips,” CBS senior vice president of communications Chris Ender said Friday. “‘MASH’ is an important part of CBS’ history. It’s a shame to see it on another network. It’s like denying us part of our heritage.”
Fox vice president of corporate communications Scott Grogin said Friday that “MASH” “has been a Fox property since the days of the Academy Award-winning feature film. And we are proud to have a special celebrating it here on the Fox network.”
“MASH” repeats currently air on weeknights on the FX cable network, which also is owned by Fox. Nabbing the reunion special is an example of the “vertical integration” that increasingly is pitting conglomerates against one another with no regard to a television program’s previous ties.
Reunion movies such as NBC’s “Return to Mayberry” and ABC’s “Mary and Rhoda” routinely wind up on networks other than those that first telecast the series. But clip-driven cast reunions almost always are presented by the original home network. That’s the case with the 10 other such reunion shows scheduled in the coming month.
Fox said that Alda, who previously had declined all reunion invitations, will be joined by major castmates Mike Farrell, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swit, Gary Burghoff, Harry Morgan, Jamie Farr, David Ogden Stiers and Allan Arbus.