IBM Computer Commercials - Late 1980s (featuring the cast of "M*A*S*H")

[@lainsechoes]

Even at a computer company, Radar still does all the work.

[@kdizzle79]

STILL

[@jamisonaltbach7948]

That's because he was enlisted and not an officer.

[@Nmax]

Yes 😂😂😂

[@frosty_0951]

There's something that's so comforting about these commercials. I can't explain what it is, but it just seems to easy carefree.

[@aneilp7631]

I agree. It's probably our respect for the cast of MASH and what the show stood for. The commercial that ends with Alan Alda watering the plant feels so enlightening and wholesome.

[@Editor6660cmt]

I literally said that to someone that I was watching these with!

[@gtb81.]

i miss commercials like this, something about it is actually good

[@l.a.gothro3999]

It's because they know how to act.

[@nicholasjanke3476]

ok so Hawkeye, Trapper, Potter, Margaret, Mulchahy, Burns, Radar and Klinger eventually all ended up working for a computer company?

[@justmeandthethree]

I guess it was good they all found some work after M*A*S*H, but... damn! None of them ever did anything as good after the show ended. If you're going to mention "After M*A*S*H," don't. You and I both know it sucked.

[@tubesocksbrigade3031]

Winchester also did an IBM ad with Hawkeye as well

[@juanelorriaga2840]

@@justmeandthethree ahhh yes After MASH what a nightmare that was

[@jamisonaltbach7948]

I found it to be a pleasant fiction.

[@jamesbevan9939]

Think of it as an alternate universe.

[@jroysims44]

It's nice to see the Old Good Guys again. Even Frank Burns.

[@stallion66]

The only time we ever see Trapper and Col. Potter together.

[@aneilp7631]

Apart from Season 3's "The General Flipped at Dawn" ;)

[@stallion66]

@@aneilp7631 Wayne and Harry never did a scene together in The General Flipped At Dawn.

[@aneilp7631]

@@stallion66 Ah, good catch. You're right.

[@davidarnoldi7581]

@@stallion66 not true. just watched.

[@stallion66]

@@davidarnoldi7581 Wrong. Trapper and Col. Potter never appeared in actual M*A*S*H episodes. They only appeared together in character on the IBM commercials.

[@justmeandthethree]

256 colors?! That is insane! Wow! So much color!

[@dotmatrixmoe]

Nothing can beat that! But it's so expensive...

[@npol024]

thank God Mike Farrell didn't show up with Wayne Rogers, it may have made my head explode

[@LogoMan7777]

Or Larry Linville with David Ogden Stiers. Although.... I think Charles and Frank might have taken a liking to each other. They both think they're better than everyone else.

[@justmeandthethree]

@@LogoMan7777 I don't think Charles and Frank would have liked each other. Charles actually was better than everyone else. Talented, educated, AND cultured. Frank was an idiot. Just sayin.

[@LogoMan7777]

@@justmeandthethree Right. Charles would have discovered his great contempt for an idiotic boor such as Frank Burns within five minutes of meeting him.

[@libertubey2199]

They are eventually on screen together in one of the M*A*S*H reunions (2002, I believe), and Larry & David appeared together, along with some of the other surviving cast members (McLean had recently passed) at the closing of the last M*A*S*H unit in South Korea in 1997.

[@kwdrm1]

@@LogoMan7777 What did Harry Morgan say as Colonel Potter to his wife as he wrote that letter to her? "He's the head twerp!"

[@u.v.s.5583]

I want to see David Ogden Stiers playing the Trout on that IBM!

[@Summer_Reigns]

David Ogden Stiers did do at least one IBM commercial together with Alan Alda. It’s on this site somewhere.

[@willfosterhaze]

Radar looks like George Costanza there

[@Jrhoney]

Difference is he's actually working.

[@justmeandthethree]

Has anyone ever seen Gary Burghoff and Jason Alexander in the same room at the same time?

[@juanelorriaga2840]

That would be creepy

[@ser010267]

Trapper ended up serving under Potter in these commercials

[@cadecaldwell]

I love this way more than I should.

[@EscapeTheSky97]

*Starts watching* awe no Hawkeye but still so sweet! *gets halfway through video* YEEEEESSS THERES OUR BOYYYYY

[@EeveeFromAlmia]

Yaknow when tv shows just, for whatever reason, have an episode where everybody time travels/flashback using the same cast so everybody gets to be in costumes from another era? Yeah this has the exact same energy as those.

[@ecayari]

This is the first time i saw these commercials. Most of get together to do some commercials for a computer company and didn't even try to have cameo's in the Spin-offs of their show. I saw After Mash and really wished Halkeye , BJ, Trapper would have had a small cameo to boost the show.

[@ivabender3564]

My Bad! David Ogden Stiers Did do A seperate IBM Commercial with Co Star Alan Alda aka Hawkeye Pierce!

[@Nmax]

I really love that entire cast I'm so happy they all work together after the war

[@BecTries]

Oh I love this!

[@jayparry1139]

Nurse Kelly who played by Kellye Nakahara (a major background player) also appears in one these IBM ads...She also with other MASH cast members appeared in an IBM typewritter ad...David Ogden Steirs does appear in IBM MASH cast ads not shown here...kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKqTeGmmpbuSn9k

[@adamhauskins6407]

damn potters immortal

[@juanelorriaga2840]

Maybe he is a vampire I’m gonna look into this

[@bcy5414]

The M*A*S*H Matters podcast brought me here.

[@mister.caroll]

In reality Radar most likely be the only one young enough to make it to the 1980's and work with computers. Rest either be retired or dead.

[@jehobden]

I do remember David Ogden Stiers appearing at the end of a different IBM commercial, along with Alan Alda. He didn't use his Winchester voice in the commercial.

[@russelloviatt8739]

Really enjoy these.

[@edwardpate6128]

I started in IT back when the saying was Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM!

[@pjg19751]

Just like MASH....it went from an ensemble cast to the Alan Alda Show. LOL

[@Summer_Reigns]

Shame too because they really were a talented bunch. I never did understand the appeal of Alan Alda.

[@dansmith6748]

I wonder if McLean Stevenson was ever approached

[@DeconvertedMan]

256 colors... AT ONCE! OMG! :D

[@timothykozlowski2945]

Makes me want to find an old IBM Computer

[@anthonycantu8879]

I love it.

[@resolute123]

I'm trying to understand the context of these commercials. Was MASH such a mega hit the IBM wanted to cash on the actors/actress popularity?

[@flootzavut30daychallenge]

resolute123 pretty much. Goodbye, Farewell and Amen is still the most watched TV episode in US (maybe world?) history. MASH was *huge*.

[@southcarolinagrizfan1594]

MASH was the real deal back in the day.

[@garybates5505]

Derrr!!!

[@Davedio]

MASH still has the most-watched episode in history, even now in 2021. Back in the 80's all the actors on the show were as beloved as family members. IBM sought to cash in on that popularity. They paid a fortune to get them all together for the series of commercials that were produced.

[@justmeandthethree]

M☆A☆S☆H was VERY popular and entertaining until it got too preachy. Alan Alda started believing his own press, and his head ballooned. When he started directing... UGH!

[@paulcavigliano6388]

3:00 That's funny. My phone has more power than that tub.

[@HM2SGT]

4:33 *Anybody else thinking of McLean Stevenson?* 🫤

[@Nunavuter1]

0:56 IBM was attempting to migrate PC architecture to the mini computers and mainframe computers that had dominated the industry. It was actually a smart move. But I think IBM waited a few years too long. "our new fridge-sized computer is 100 times more powerful than the old fridge-sized computers." Meanwhile, the PC revolution continued, using LANs and that growing internet thing.

[@Diskoboy1974]

Is there an 80's computer Alan Alda DIDN'T do ads for? 😉

[@dalev.186]

Alda and Co. took a lot of potshots at the establishment on their show, but obviously they weren't too proud to take the establishment's money.

[@claudiadarling9441]

Everybody has bills to pay.

[@stevegust2100]

I liked the commercials

[@mikehowell6874]

The only person that this commercial was missing was Alan alda

[@alwaysamysteryyes2021]

Looks like even Nurse Kelly walks by.

[@ivabender3564]

Wow! Closest thing to a M*A*S*H Seasons 1-3 Cast Reunion! All Present! With the exception of McLean Stevenson aka Col. Blake! Going From The Early 1950s to The Late 1980s Computer Age! Glad to see Wayne Rogers aka Trapper John and Harry Morgan aka Col. Potter Finally Meet! Although! Rogers and Stevenson did do a Season 3 Episode 1 of the Show's Title "The General flipped at Dawn" with Morgan Pre Col. Potter aka General Steele! Wayne Rogers had agreed to show up for reunions and commercials as long as his Trapper John Title Name was agreed to never be used and is the reason for his turning down of CBS's "Trapper John MD" TV Show In which Pernell Roberts From "Bonaza" TV Series Ended up playing The Role Instead! Wish Mike Farrell aka BJ Hunnicutt and David Ogden Stiers aka Major Charles Winchester would have shown up for the 1988 IBM Computer Line!

[@samsticka]

Mike Farrell and McLean Stevenson never did one of these commercials?

[@dariowiter3078]

I don't remember these commercials at all, let alone see them! 😁😁😁😁😁

[@hurricane567]

I don't think that's Kellye Nakahara at 4:19, too tall

[@bestfood2624]

She ran outside at her street! She didn't walk outside at her street! She ran into her store! She didn't walk into her store! She ran into her church! She didn't walk into her church! She made her lot of noise in this church! She didn't have to be quiet in this church!

[@LogoMan7777]

Huh?

[@juanelorriaga2840]

How come Hawkeye wasn’t hitting on all the women in the office?

[@diodesDankessAndDives]

I heard there's a 40 min black and white directors cut of this commercial. Mr Alda starts crying in the boat, then tells a story about his older brother who attempted to drown him as a child. Directed by Alan Alda

[@timothykozlowski2945]

You forgot Alan Arbus as Sidney Freeman

[@mgabrysSF]

Weird to see Alan Alda show up after his tenure doing ads for Atari.

[@2Scribble]

The late 80s and early 90s were fucking weird...

[@HailAnts]

This campaign flopped badly. People just wouldn’t accept the MASH cast shilling anything, even computers for IBM. Good part is that they replaced it with the Charlie Chaplin ads, which were hugely successful. Always bothered me that Wayne Rogers was in these with Potter, they never appeared on the show together...

[@sariarosegold]

given that they kept the right comedy vibe from the show it gives you a taste of what it would have been like if they had, i think.

[@LogoMan7777]

Actually, Wayne Rogers and Harry Morgan were in one episode together. "The General Flipped at Dawn".

[@HailAnts]

Yeah, but technically Morgan was playing a different character, the insane general. Great episode BTW!

[@micmac99]

That's actually incorrect. The Chaplin ads came first, earlier in the 1980s, and IBM felt using the MASH cast would better show the versatility of the products. The first of the ads ran around 1988. Several ads were produced and they seem to have been at least moderately popular.

[@juanelorriaga2840]

Agreed but wasn’t the general sorta racist too when he told the black solider to sing or sone shit?

[@cavscout7113]

Almost enough to make me forget about IBM and ze Germans.........almost.

[@willfosterhaze]

selling out looks painful

[@juanelorriaga2840]

Well since almost all of thrm did nothing after MASH cept for Alan Alda doing a few movie roles and directing Thry needed to pay they bills sone how

[@petroldevo9934]

I remember that commercial. It was kinda stupid and unbelievable....