Aftermash

Larry Gelbart died today at the age of 81. I always had reservations about his work, but my reservations shouldn’t be taken seriously, given that every comedy writer I have ever admired or respected considers Gelbart the greatest of them all.

Posting will be sporadic for the next few days, so here as filler ™ is another example of how you can trace a show’s re-toolings through its changing title sequences. This is AFTERMASH, the M*A*S*H spinoff that Larry Gelbart created for the three M*A*S*H cast members who wanted to stay on after the original show ended (Potter, Klinger, and… Mulcahy?). In the first season, when it was actually doing pretty well in the ratings, this show kept the same main title for all 22 episodes: a montage of drawings of typical ’50s things, accompanied by a nostalgic new theme by Pat Williams (preceded by a little bit of the M*A*S*H theme for extra nostalgia).