By Davan 
Sherman T. Potter
My first days were a mite uneasy. Nobody was jumpin’ for joy over me. I was no Henry Blake; never tried to be…
Colonel Sherman T. Potter was one of the main characters from the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H; he replaced Henry Blake, who was discharged but never made it home as his plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. Portrayed by Harry Morgan, Potter became the third of four main characters who did not appear in the original 1968 novel or the 1970 film.
The producers decided they wanted someone different from the lax and milquetoast Henry Blake to take command of the 4077th. They decided that the next CO should be “regular army”, a career man close to retirement. After his strong performance as General Steele in The General Flipped at Dawn, Harry Morgan was chosen to fill the role.
Potter’s debut was in the final moments of Welcome to Korea where, in a preview, he is seen arriving at the 4077th MASH just as the P.A. system announces him as the new commanding officer reporting for duty. The P.A. announcer gives his arrival date as September 19, 1952, adding that Potter is “Regular Army… God help us all.”
Potter would be fully introduced in Change of Command. As he later told Klinger, his first few days in camp were “a mite uneasy”, and “no one was jumping for joy” over his arrival (Period of Adjustment). The 4077th was still mourning Henry’s death, and Hawkeye and B.J. feared having a “Regular Army” man in command, which they felt would be even worse than Burns, with whom they at least stood a chance of outwitting. Moreover, Hawkeye and B.J. were both concerned that Potter might do more harm than good, as Radar had found out that Potter had served in administration for two years prior to the 4077th. Upon his initial arrival, he seemed stern and humorless, consistent with a Regular Army background; after he looked at the discreditable incidents in Hawkeye and B.J.’s records, he made it clear that he had no time for hijinks and firmly requested that they stay out of trouble for the next 18 months.
But their fears were allayed when a sudden influx of wounded proved Potter’s competence and earned respect from Hawkeye and B.J. as he helped the latter with a tough case. The three bonded during a night of post-surgery drinking in the Swamp, and Potter revealed his own experience with wartime drinking.
Potter eventually became close to most of the personnel in the unit, and eventually referred to them as “my family” when talking to others. Almost always giving off the aura of everyone’s favorite father, he became especially close to Hawkeye, B.J., Radar, Father Mulcahy (whom he nicknamed “Padre”), Klinger, and Major Houlihan. In Dear Mildred, as Radar still felt uneasy around Potter, word came down that there was a wounded stray horse nearby; Remembering all the horse pictures that Potter had hanging in his office, Radar decided to gift the horse to an overwhelmed Potter, who was delighted to have a horse again, and rode her regularly. In return, Potter supplanted Henry Blake as a father figure to Radar, and as part of his fatherly role towards Radar, he would defend him against abuse by Frank Burns.
