M*A*S*H The Final Day of Filming, Malibu State Park, California
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In 1980 I attended a firefighter academy in Orange County. During the emergency medical training portion of the class we were joined by a California state ranger that worked at Malibu State Park in Los Angeles. This park was the filming location of the M*A*S*H television series. He gave all of us an open invitation to come to the park and see the filming of the show.
Several years after this, Lori and I along with our son Jake were driving in that area and I told Lori about the rangers invitation, so we drove to the state park. After parking our car I walked over to talk to the ranger at the entrance and explained that we would like to go see the filming location. I explained that I was a fireman and that I had been invited by another park ranger.
He told me that would not be possible because today was the final day of filming at the set for the final episode and the set was closed to all outside personnel.
Very dejected, I started to walk back to our car, when the ranger called me back. He pointed at a truck that was approaching the gate and told me they were heading to the set. He said if we get in the truck right now and don't say anything to anybody we might make it to the set.
I ran over to our car and got my camera and told Lori to grab Jake and follow me.
We had no idea how we were going to get back to the front gate afterward but that didn't matter at the moment. The ranger told the driver of the truck to drive us back to filming location.
The truck drove for miles to get to the set and we exited the vehicle and walked over to the filming sight right behind David Ogden Stiers (Charles Winchester III).
We watched the filming for several hours seeing all the actors from several yards away.
When we were ready to leave, we walked over to were we had arrived and found a car that was leaving and asked if they could drive us to the park entrance. They readily agreed and we were taken back to our car. After thanking the park ranger at the entrance for letting us in, we drove home to Laguna Beach.
What makes this image iconic is that this was the only time that Hawkeye and B.J. ever saluted Colonel Potter. Only in the final episode.
In this image Potter is up on a ladder, but in the show he is sitting on a horse.
See below for a detail from the image.
Several years after this, Lori and I along with our son Jake were driving in that area and I told Lori about the rangers invitation, so we drove to the state park. After parking our car I walked over to talk to the ranger at the entrance and explained that we would like to go see the filming location. I explained that I was a fireman and that I had been invited by another park ranger.
He told me that would not be possible because today was the final day of filming at the set for the final episode and the set was closed to all outside personnel.
Very dejected, I started to walk back to our car, when the ranger called me back. He pointed at a truck that was approaching the gate and told me they were heading to the set. He said if we get in the truck right now and don't say anything to anybody we might make it to the set.
I ran over to our car and got my camera and told Lori to grab Jake and follow me.
We had no idea how we were going to get back to the front gate afterward but that didn't matter at the moment. The ranger told the driver of the truck to drive us back to filming location.
The truck drove for miles to get to the set and we exited the vehicle and walked over to the filming sight right behind David Ogden Stiers (Charles Winchester III).
We watched the filming for several hours seeing all the actors from several yards away.
When we were ready to leave, we walked over to were we had arrived and found a car that was leaving and asked if they could drive us to the park entrance. They readily agreed and we were taken back to our car. After thanking the park ranger at the entrance for letting us in, we drove home to Laguna Beach.
What makes this image iconic is that this was the only time that Hawkeye and B.J. ever saluted Colonel Potter. Only in the final episode.
In this image Potter is up on a ladder, but in the show he is sitting on a horse.
See below for a detail from the image.
