When Mike Farrell got the call confirming he’d been chosen to join MASH* as B.J. Hunnicutt, he was thrilled — and terrified.
Replacing a beloved actor like Wayne Rogers (Trapper John) was no easy task. Fans adored the chemistry between Rogers and Alan Alda, and now the entire show was shifting around a new partnership.
That same afternoon, Mike’s phone rang again.
It was Alan Alda.
“Would you like to grab dinner tonight?” Alan asked.
“Just to talk — about the show, the characters… and each other.”
They met that evening at a small Chinese restaurant in Hollywood. Mike later admitted in his memoir Just Call Me Mike that he was nervous — almost trembling. But as they talked, the tension melted away.
“At some point,” Mike wrote, “I stopped being nervous.
I just thought, this is a nice man. He didn’t have to do this.”
They talked for hours — about writing, honesty, laughter, war, and how MASH* could be more than entertainment. Alan didn’t care about ratings or fame. He cared about truth — about portraying real people who had survived impossible circumstances with humor and heart.
By the time dessert came, two actors had become brothers.
And from that night forward, Hawkeye and B.J. weren’t just a script — they were a friendship that grew from genuine respect.
Years later, Mike said:
“That dinner told me everything I needed to know about Alan.
He wasn’t just the star of MASH* — he was its conscience.”
