M*A*S*H

Alan Alda Still Makes a Ton of Cash From M*A*S*H

Veteran actor Alan Alda may be almost 40 years out from the historic last episode of his hit sitcom MAS*H, but he will always be remembered as brash jokester Hawkeye Pierce.

Even all these years later, Alda still makes a nice chunk of change from the classic and beloved sitcom’s reruns.

Alda hasn’t stopped working

After leaving MAS*H, Alda went on to write and direct for feature films, with notable successes including The Four Seasons in which he co-starred with Carol Burnett. He also appeared in several of director Woody Allen’s projects, including Manhattan 𝕄𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣 Mystery and ℂ𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕄𝕚𝕤𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕣𝕤.

Despite being 𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕘𝕟𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕕 in 2014 with ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕠𝕟’𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖, Alda hasn’t allowed it to slow him down. Most recently, he launched a podcast called “Clear+Vivid” on which he’s had lengthy and in-depth conversations with guests including Dr. Anthony Fauci, Goldie Hawn, and Betty White.

He shared with the Saturday Evening Post in 2019 his thought process on what he chooses to work on nowadays.

“Number one, it has to sound like fun, and it has to seem like it will be a challenge because I don’t want to keep doing what I’ve done before,” he said. “It’s like walking a high wire between two buildings and seeing if you can keep from falling off. It doesn’t always have to be in front of a lot of people. I’ve gotten as much of a kick out of performing in a small theater before a couple of hundred people as 20 million on TV or in a movie.”

His least favorite aspect of M*A*S*H

Alan Alda In M*A*S*H, 1972
Alan Alda In M*A*S*H, 1972 | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

The Marriage Story star has not been shy about expressing his dislike of one part of the 𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕪 situation comedy: the laugh track. Alda looked at the show’s laugh track as an 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕦𝕝𝕥 to viewers, as he told journalist Jeff Greenfield at an event for the Museum of the Moving Image in 2013.

“[Show producers] Larry (Gelbart) and Gene (Reynolds) got the network to agree that they wouldn’t have a laugh track in the 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 room. The 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 room scenes. I don’t know what the rationale was. It didn’t make any sense in the tent, either.

“But, where’s the audience? I didn’t know where the audience was supposed to be. It wasn’t in the studio. Somehow it was the tradition that if we didn’t show the audience at home where to laugh, they would think it wasn’t funny.”

What Alan Alda earns from M*A*S*H reruns

Alan Alda and Loretta Swit of 'M*A*S*H'
Alan Alda and Loretta Swit of ‘M*A*S*H’ | Ann Clifford/DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

According to Collider, Alda earns a not-too-shabby $1 million per year in residuals from the show that ran 11 seasons from 1972 to 1983.

Alda reunited with his former MAS*H co-stars Loretta Swit, Gary Burghoff, Jamie Farr, and Mike Farrell in 2019 on his podcast. As he told the National Association of Broadcasters in Las Vegas that year, the show’s fans don’t seem to tire of seeing the old gang get together from time to time.

“The response to that was wonderful to see,” he said. “It’s so interesting. People like to know that we’re still friends. I guess it’s partly a response to the program originally because the characters were drawn from all over the country, but they had to live together like a family. I think to see that played out in real life is reassuring to people, that a sense of family is possible.”

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