WASHINGTON -- After reigning gloriously over the television world for years, M.A.S.H. has become a smash hit in the stately halls of the Smithsonian Institution.
More than 17,000 fans -- the largest turnout ever for a single museum display -- thronged the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History last week to see Klinger's dress, the operating room's fake blood, and of course Hawkeye's (unworkable) still.
'The response has been extraordinary and very gratifying,' said Smithsonian spokeswoman Mary Dyer.'
'We usually have a number of people waiting for the doors to open at 10 a.m.,' she said. 'But when the doors open, the crowd goes for that exhibit.'
M.A.S.H. stars Alan Alda (Hawkeye) and Mike Farrell (B.J.) signed over the set used in the award-winning television show to the museum July 29 for the exhibit titled 'M.A.S.H.: Binding the Wounds.'
Visitors have patiently stood in line up to an 1 hours to see the display, although the length of the wait varies with the time of day. An average 100 per half hour wind through the exhibit, Ms. Dyer said.
The lines may be moving slowly because visitors view the props and set carefully and with great thoroughness, Smithsonian officials said.
'It is unusual to have people read the whole exhibit,' said Ms. Dyer. 'But they don't skip parts. They seem to be very absorbed.'
The set was modeled after a 1950 M.A.S.H. that was organized six days after North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel to begin the Korean War.
With equal enthusiasm, the fans have carried away a steady stream of M.A.S.H. memorabilia from the gift shop, including 150 programs a day, numerous T-shirts and hundreds of Army surplus dog tags.
M.A.S.H. depicted the grueling life in the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in the Korean War. Running during the height of anti-war sentiment in the 1970s, it focused on the Korean War, but to many it also questioned the premise of the American involvement in Vietnam.
After winning 14 Emmy awards and numerous other honors, the show went off the air last February. More than 225 million people watched the last episode in which the Korean War ended and the M.A.S.H. personnel went home.
Before leaving the set for the last time last Saturday, Alda and Farrell strolled around the exhibit nostalgically.
'It looks just the same,' Alda said. 'The set reminds us of how hard we tried. We didn't ignore pain and yet we also had a sense of humor.'
'Making a TV show is a constant emergency - it's a crisis,' he added.
