Television

By Jeanne McDowell/Los Angeles

If you were one of the millions of fans who mourned the demise of M*A*S*H in 1983, you probably find solace in watching reruns every night and most days on local stations and cable. But they incense ALAN ALDA, who played Hawkeye in the TV series, and creator LARRY GELBART. They contend that Fox, which owns the licensing rights to M*A*S*H, has frittered away their show's value by airing so many reruns. In a lawsuit filed about 15 months ago against 20th Century Fox Film Corp., Alda and Gelbart--both profit participants--charged that Fox has exploited M*A*S*H by selling reruns to its local stations and then to its own cable station FX at bargain-basement prices compared with what it charges non-Fox-owned stations. Fox apparently contends it charged fair-market prices. But one source maintains the loss in M*A*S*H money is "tens of millions of dollars," part of it owed to the duo. Gelbart resolved the matter (translation: financial settlement) last month, but Alda is scheduled to go to trial in August. According to his lawyer, the actor has finally declared, "Enough is enough."

--By Jeanne McDowell/Los Angeles