It's been announced that Emmy-winning news correspondent Robert Pierpoint has died, aged 86. His daughter Marta Pierpoint told the Associated Press that he died Saturday, of complications arising from hip surgery at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

In a career spanning more than four decades Pierpoint covered six presidents, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination, Watergate and the Iranian hostage crisis. He entered the CBS news room in 1949 as it was shifting from radio to TV under Ed Murrow, and he made his name covering the Korean War.

Pierpoint covered the Korean War from start to finish, and although he reported mostly on radio, his reports focusing on individual soldiers and civilians caught up in the conflict were featured in the landmark CBS 'See it Now' broadcasts including the premiere in November 1951 and 'Christmas in Korea' in December 1953.

His contribution was later honored in the 'M*A*S*H' series finale in 1983 when, in a case of art imitating life, it is Pierpoint's voice heard on the radio announcing the end of the Korean War.

Adam told you in September that TV Land was going to start airing M*A*S*H, and now comes word that the network will have a week long marathon of just M*A*S*H episodes in January. The marathon will start on New Year's Day and run until January 7.

In addition to the marathon, the TV Land web site will have a trivia game for fans of the show and will also include bios of the cast and other information about the show.

Starting on January 8, the show will go into it's regular time slot. It can be seen Tuesday through Sunday at 10pm, and there will also be another episode at 10:30pm on Monday and Wednesday.

There was a time when I was obsessed with this show and watched it every single day. But then I just stopped watching it, so I'm ready to watch it again and it's great that it will be seen on a regular basis again. There's a new DVD box set of the complete series that looks pretty cool.

[via TV Tattle]

Here's the danger of buying TV show DVD sets season by season: for many series, the studio will probably release a collector's edition set, which will include not only all the DVDs, but also extras that weren't on the individual sets.

That's what's happening with M*A*S*H. The same day that FOX announces that they will release the last season of the show in November, they also announce that they are releasing The M*A*S*H Collector's Set, which wll include extras "not  seen anywhere else!" So, if you want those extras, you now have to buy both. Or, if you're tricky, sell your individual sets for some cash and put it towards the new set.

Of course, even that might not be smart, because there might be extras on those individual sets that won't be on the collector's set! Oh, these studios.

You know, this would answer so many questions as to why Fred Rogers, host of the legendary Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, was the quiet, personable man we saw on television every day; deep down inside he was a skilled Marine sniper and he needed the calm persona to hide his honed killing skills.

However, this is all urban legend. The rumors began in the early 1990's when Rogers' military exploits became a hot topic on the Internet. At first he was a Marine sniper with nearly 40 kills during the Korean conflict of the 1950's. As the decade wore on he became a Vietnam vet with tattoos all over his arms (hence the sweaters and long sleeve shirts). By the time of his death in 2003 Fred Rogers was no longer a Marine sniper, but a Navy Seal with over 25 kills in Vietnam.

In reality Mr. Rogers never served any time in the military. In fact, after graduating from college in 1951 Rogers embarked on a nearly uninterrupted broadcasting career that lasted over 50 years and became an ordained minister in 1962.

As for his dealings with the mafia and his involvement with the Kennedy assassination . . . Well, that's a story for another day.