For many fans of the M*A*S*H TV series, the opening sequence was M*A*S*H. It contained some of the most memorable scenes of the series and captured the essence of what the show was all about - the choppers carrying wounded to be met by the MASH doctors, nurses and corpsmen running to the landing pad. The sense of urgency is palpable, and the coordination is amazing. In spite of the chaos, every person on the chopper pad seems to know exactly what to do without being told.
While the basic structure of the opening sequence remained largely the same during all of the eleven seasons, there were subtle changes from season to season, mostly to accommodate changes in the main cast. Indeed, experienced M*A*S*H viewers can identify the series season simply by watching the opening sequence.
A special extended opening sequence, which few know about, was also used for the first broadcast of the Pilot episode. But this was not used in syndication and so was forgotten until it came back in the Pilot episode on the DVD set. This special sequence will be detailed later in this article.
The opening sequence of M*A*S*H comprised a montage of up to 16 scenes, overlaid with actor's credits for the main cast, all done to the instrumental accompaniment of Suicide is Painless. From season to season, one or more of these scenes would be changed, actor's credits would be added or removed, or a different arrangement of the theme music would be attempted.
The list below details the 16 scenes and also the variants which were used in later seasons.
This table summarizes the changes in the scenes, credits and music over the seasons. For the changes in scenes, refer to the scene numbering above.
Large gap in credits. McLean Stevenson's credit appears at scene 3, Loretta Swit's doesn't appear until scene 16.
For 3 episodes near the end, "The Army-Navy Game", "Sticky Wicket", and "Major Fred C. Dobbs", a different, jazzier arrangement was tried, but the show reverted to the original for the last 2 episodes.
Credits now have much larger font. Shorter gap. Harry Morgan's credit appears at Scene 3, Loretta Swit's appears at Scene 15. This is to accommodate Jamie Farr's credit.
By far the biggest change of all, with all new chopper flight scenes.
Now B.J. has his mustache in Scene 14D.
Radar left partway so Scene 1 is clipped to remove his image.
The "Also Starring" credit for Burghoff is present from episodes S601 to episode S612 (in production order) and then dropped. Because episodes were not produced in story sequence, and not broadcast in production order either, this credit is seen even after Radar has left in the story.
There's one name fewer so Loretta Swit's credit now appears at Scene 16.
For the season premiere, The Best of Enemies, a different arrangement is used featuring a trumpet, a tenor sax, and a synthesiser.
For the episodes "Sons and Bowlers" and "Picture This", the opening sequence is edited down to five shots and the opening theme is replaced with the upbeat closing theme.
The episode "Foreign Affairs" uses the same opening sequence as "Sons and Bowlers". Said opening sequence would be used in both "U.N., The Night and the Music" and "Strange Bedfellows" but use a edited version of the theme from Seasons 3-4.
The opening sequence of the Pilot episode is longer and substantially different from that of the other episodes. This extended opening sequence is not usually shown during syndicated reruns but is available in the DVD set.
The sequence begins with a teaser depicting various scenes of camp life in the 4077th to the strains of a Japanese song ("My Blue Heaven") played over the PA system. There is a subtitle stating "Korea, 1950 a hundred years ago". The scenes included are:
The titles sequence is longer and contains more scenes than in the other episodes. The musical accompaniment is also longer in order to accommodate this.
