Summary

• MASH's evolution towards a dramedy required losing unlikable Major Burns and his cartoonish behavior in season 5.
• Larry Linville's decision to exit the show was driven by a desire to explore different roles beyond the weaselly Frank Burns.
• Frank Burns' emotional exit was humanized through his heartache over Margaret and arrest in Seoul, setting the stage for Winchester's arrival.

killing off a major character like Henry Blake.

MASH's mixture of laughter and drama was groundbreaking for the time, though CBS was initially against the move towards a more dramatic tone. In addition to the series evolving, the main characters changed over time too. Loretta Swit's Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan transformed from the humorless, one-note villain of early years to more of a fleshed-out character. Alan Alda's Hawkeye may have remained a high-energy goofball, but his abject horror at the war and the mental toll it took was allowed to play out onscreen.

MASH Had To Lose Major Frank Burns To Complete Its Dramedy Transformation

Larry Linville's "Ferret Face" was incapable of changing with the show

By the time MASH's fifth season rolled around, its tragicomic tone had largely been set. Classic episodes like "Abyssinia, Henry" or "The Interview" had aired, and it wasn't afraid to get dark when the story required it. One key character who didn't evolve in any meaningful way was Larry Linville's Major Burns, the ranking surgeon of the 4077th.

Burns was, by design, a hateful character; a pompous, cowardly and hypocritical man who despite his religious leanings, carried out an extended extramarital affair with Margaret. Despite his claims otherwise, he wasn't that great of a surgeon either.

He was such a cartoonish creation that by MASH season 5, Burns didn't fit in with the more grounded sensibility of the series. Given his sheer wealth of faults, it was hard to think of ways he could even be redeemed, or made to feel like a normal human being. Burns was a great comic foil for Hawkeye, Trapper and co, but he felt out of place in later seasons. For MASH to finish its dramedy transformation, he needed to go.

Frank was also known by his nickname "Ferret Face."

It Was Larry Linville's Decision To Exit MASH Following Season 5

The actor had grown tired of the unlikable Major Burns

When Linville first signed on, he agreed to a five-season contract. By the end of MASH's fifth year he was offered another two seasons, but the actor decided to reject this and move on to other projects. Given Frank's own stubborn resistance to change, it would have been tricky to develop the character in any meaningful way either.

Linville felt he had taken the weaselly Frank Burns as far as he could, and wanted to play different kinds of parts.

Frank Burns didn't get a goodbye storyline on MASH and simply disappeared between seasons 5 and 6 of the show. According to writer Ken Levine on his blog, there was a concentrated effort to tempt Linville back for a special episode to open season 6. This was to give the character a proper farewell, but despite being offered a lot of money, Linville ed. Levine claims this was also because the actor was going through a bitter divorce at the time, and didn't want his ex-wife to get half his fee.

Frank Burns' MASH Exit Was Surprisingly Emotional

The Major was humanized right before his farewell

MASH gave little glimpses into Frank's humanity, but he was often played as the buffoon. His affair with Margaret was a recurring story throughout the early years, though when his wife eventually found out and demanded a divorce, their romance was doomed. Margaret's engagement in the episode of the same name ruled out any chance of a reconciliation between her and Burns, which saw Frank unravel throughout season 5.

Frank's last episode was the series 5 finale "Margaret's Marriage," where Margaret marries Lt. Col. Donald Penobscott (Beeson Carroll). When they fly off for their honeymoon, Burns watches the helicopter leave and sadly bids Margaret farewell.

It's then revealed in season 6's first episode that Burns went missing in Seoul due to heartache over Margaret, and after some wild incidents, was arrested by MPs. Instead of being sent back to the 4077th, it was decided to send Burns back to America. In the same episode, his replacement Charles Emerson Winchester III (David Ogden Stiers) arrived and remained part of the cast until MASH's finale.

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Source: Ken Levine's Blog