‘M*A*S*H’ Star Mike Farrell Recalls Being Stunned by Unique Way Cast and Crew Worked Together

Mike Farrell cannot think of a “better experience” in his career than working on M*A*S*H.

The actor, 87, still remembers being surprised by a producer and writer request to hear the stars’ opinions on the script for the TV series, in which he portrayed Captain B.J. Hunnicutt.

Farrell has a clear memory from his first day on set when director Gene Reynolds went through the screenplay.

Speaking on weekly podcast and video series Still Here Hollywood with Steve Kmetko on April 20, he said: “Day one, we sat down around the table to read the script. Most of the time, you walk in, they say, ‘OK, you’re standing there, and here’s what you’re saying and you’re pointing to him,’ and read the script.”

“Gene started, and Gene said, ‘Okay, page one.’ And we just started reading. And went right through the script,” he shared. “At the end of it, there was applause.”

Farrell was surprised by the appreciation, and he received an even bigger shock when Reynolds — who passed away in 2020, aged 96 — went through the script for a second time to ask what the actors thought about it.

“Gene said, ‘Okay, page one.’ And I thought, ‘Was I asleep? Didn’t we just do that?'” he recalled. ‘Oh, Mike, here’s where we go through the script page by page to see if you, the actors, have any thoughts, any ideas, any suggestions.'”

“People suggested, ‘Well, you know, this scene might work better if,’ and, ‘How about if Bill did this line instead?'” added Farrell.   “It was remarkable. And it never stopped being that. It became for me a creative community. If we thought a scene wouldn’t work for this reason or for that reason. If we were doing something that the character — that happened a couple of times – would have a problem with, we want to hear about it.”

As well as playing Hunnicutt from 1975 until the series ended in 1983, Farrell  — who replaced Wayne Rogers, who had portrayed Trapper John McIntyre — wrote eight episodes and directed a handful, after being “encouraged” to do so by the show’s bosses.

Farrell previously told Closer it was a “dream come true” to work on M*A*S*H.

Speaking in 2019, he said: “I am the luckiest actor in the world to have had the experience of being part of it.”

Farrell appeared opposite Loretta Swit (nurse “Hot Lips” Houlihan), Gary Burghoff (Cpl. “Radar” O’Reilly) and Jamie Farr (Pvt. Max Klinger), among others, in the series.