D'Snowth's M*A*S*H Reviews

[D'Snowth]

Season One

Episode Number 8: "Cowboy"

Writers: Robert Klane
Director: Don Weis
Original Airdate: November 12, 1972

Episode Overview: The 4077th's chopper pilot John "Cowboy" Hodges finds himself wounded... again, and in his other shoulder, so Hawkeye patches him up, and learns that Cowboy really needs to get home for "personal reasons", so he tries to get Henry Blake's okay, but Henry's in such a foul mood these days that he denies Cowboy going home. Henry's mood gets even worse when he suddenly finds himself the personal victim to a booby trapper - first, while he sleeps, a runaway jeep crashes through he tent, then the latrine explodes when he goes to take care of business, and the chair in his office explodes when he drops his keys on it. Hawkeye and Trapper feel Henry better clear out for a while, so they arrange for him to hang around in Seoul for a few days; Cowboy offers to fly him there, and after they leave, Hawkeye discovers parts of bombs, wiring, gunpowder, and other explosives hidden underneath Cowboy's bunk in Post-Op - so they learn it was Cowboy who was trying to rub out Henry all this time... but why? Because Henry wouldn't let him go home. So while Cowboy tries to kill Henry by shoving him out of the chopper, Hawkeye and Trapper radio him, not only to save Henry, but because the letter from home he had been waiting for had finally arrived: as it turns out, his wife back home, Jean, really does love him more than anything, that there hasn't been any other man in her life besides him, so Henry finally agrees to let Cowboy go home.

Trivia, Goofs, and Other Observations:
- Although this is the eighth episode of Season One, it's actually the ninth one to be produced.

- Margaret does not appear in this episode, neither does Frank (in syndication that is).

- GOOF: After Henry's tent is demolished by the runaway jeep; it's magically, completely restored when Hawkeye and Trapper step out into the compound to look for him.

- GOOF: Cowboy flies Henry towards the west of the camp, however, whenever we them fighting inside the chopper, thus causing it to wobble in mid-air, it shows them flying from the west to the east. Then when Henry finally lets Cowboy go home, he makes a U-turn and is flying east again.

What Syndication Left Out:
- The brief scene in Post-Op where Hawkeye checks up on a leg patient, who asks Hawkeye what he thinks of his legs, to which Hawkeye replies "I'm a fanny man, myself".

- One of the biggest scenes cut from syndication (and one the most upsetting cuts for fans) is the entire scene where Frank prevents Trapper from driving off with a nurse for a date in Henry's jeep, and Radar's pestering Henry while this goes on for him to sign some more requisitions. Margaret does not appear in this episode, but syndication causes this to be a Frankless episode too.

- Also, after the first commercial break, they fade straight to Father Mulcahy delivering mail to Post Op, cutting out the scene in Henry's office where Radar is afraid to deliver papers to him personally, and sends them in via a telescopic fishing pole.

Overall Rating:
I really liked this episode, so I give it 10 stars.

 

[D'Snowth]

Season One

Episode 009: "Henry, Please Come Home"

Writers: Laurence Marks
Director: William Wiard
Original Airdate: November 19, 1972

Overview: Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake is the not-so-fearless leader of the best M*A*S*H unit in all of southeastern Asia, but to Hawkeye, Trapper, and Spearchucker, he's basically just one of the guys. This, naturally, annoys Frank Burns, especially when Henry refuses to help him press charges against Nurse Ginger Bayliss for "insubordination" simply because she gives him the wrong surgical instrument. Henry's performance, however, DOES impress General Hammond, when the 4077th's survival rate raises to 90% so when the General arrives to the 4077th later that date, he awards Henry with a citation of merit (fourth class), and is honored to have him transfered to Tokyo Medical Headquarters, effective immediately. Everyone is very happy for Henry... at first... but that's until when Frank is promoted to Commanding Officer of the 4077th, since he's Second-In-Command; this really upsets everyone, as Frank is WAY to G.I. for everyone, and he's a completely jerky twerp (that, and he has two M.P.s confiscate the Swamp's still); so Hawkeye, Trapper, Radar, Spearchucker, Ugly John, and a few other guys try to come up with plots and schemes to either get rid of Frank, or to bring Henry back to the 4077th. Hawkeye then comes up with the idea to make Henry feel needed, so Radar forges him and Trapper two passes to Tokyo, where they meet up with Henry, who feels he's in Heaven, with the way when his three days of lecturing a week, then his freetime is consumed with lovely Geishas catering to his every whim (like massages); but Hawkeye and Trapper tries to persuade him he's needed back at the 4077th by telling him that the 90% effinticy rate is down to 32% and moral is down to 0, and everybody now hates everybody, but since that doesn't work, Hawkeye and Trapper go to Plan B: while they enjoy dinner in Henry's room, Hawkeye gets the call: Radar is deathly ill with strange symptoms: abdominal cramps, severe chills, high fever, and when Henry overhears this, he insists on returning to the 4077th with the two to see what's wrong with Radar. When they return, Henry is devastated to find Radar lying in bed, half delirious, and in severe pain in his gut, so against the wishes of new Commanding Officer Frank, Henry decides that he needs to do an Exploratory on Radar to see if he may have a bad ulcer; this makes everyone nervous, especially Radar since he'll be the one who'll be cut open, but while Henry and Frank argue, he offers to call General Hammond for him, so Radar gets up out of bed and starts calling, which makes Henry and Frank stop in their tracks. Henry finally gets wise, and sees everyone was trying to make him feel needed so he would come back to the 4077th, and boy, is he outraged that everyone would pull such a twisted stunt like that, so Henry decides to have himself transfered back the 4077th, not because of everybody wanting him back, but because he realizes what a lousy commander Frank is.

Notes:
- Although this is the nineth episode of Season One, it was actually the second one produced, hence why General Hammond suddenly reappears after they just got through with General Barker, and just introduced General Clayton.

- In the beginning of this episode, Radar appears with a heavy beard and mustache; again, this was before Gary Burghoff decided to make Radar seem more innocent, and childlike, which is why afterwards, Radar was always clean-shaven.

- Tokyo Medical Headquarters is where Major Charles Emerson Winchester is transfered from when he's called in to replaced Frank in Season Six.

- GOOF: Hawkeye's undershirt is a bluish shade of green in this episode; the Army's color for undershirts are supposed to be either an green shade or "mustard" shade of Olive Drab.

- GOOF: When Radar arrives into Henry's (er... Frank's) office in the middle of the night with paper work, shadows are casted upon the sky outside the window, again, indicating the sky is merely a backdrop.

- GOOF: Maybe it's the angle of the camera, but the exterior set of the 4077th (on the FOX Ranch) seems a bit smaller in this episode.

What's Cut:
- The brief scene where Frank forces all personnel fall out for Calisthenics, while Hawkeye, Trapper, and Spearchucker simply pretend to do jumping jacks while sitting on oil barrels has been cut.

- The complete scene where a Geisha gives Henry a back massage by walking on it has been cut.

Rating:
This episode is alright... but I neither love, nor hate it... just not really an episode I'd want to watch all the time. I give it 5 out of 10 stars.

 

[D'Snowth]

Season One

Episode 10: "I Hate a Mystery"

Writers: Hal Dressner
Director: Hy Averback
Original Airdate: November 26, 1972

Plot: Personal items belonging to the 4077th staff members suddenly go missing, including: the picture frame for Frank Burn's mother's photo, Margaret's hairbrushes, Henry Blake's fishing rod for Lieuntenant Scorch (whom he's cheating with), Trapper's watch, the the swivle stick used to stir up Hawkeye and Trapper's martinis; when Henry does a search of the entire camp, everyone is shocked to discover they're stuffed in Hawkeye's footlocker. Hawkeye swears he had nothing to do with it, but not everyone seems to think so, especially Margaret and Frank, who order Henry to Court-Martial him, but when he refuses to do so, Margaret has Radar not-so-secretly follow Hawkeye where ever he goes, and keep a constant eye on him; this aggrivates him to no end, until he finally comes up with a clever idea to catch who really stole everyone's items. With Henry sitting down in Radar's office, next to the P.A. system, Hawkeye secretly switches it on, and shouts to Henry his plan: tomorrow morning the supply chopper will be arriving with the necessary equipment for Hawkeye to lift the fingerprints off the stolen articles, but Henry tells him that the stuff is safely locked in his desk. Later that night, Hawkeye discovers that the stuff had been stolen again: just as planned. So he calls an emergency meeting in the Mess Tent, claiming that he has covered the stolen articles with Hydrochloric-Alpha-Terracin, a chemical that is coloring the thief's fingernails blue, and while everyone checks their own fingernails, they notice Ho-Jon seems suddenly scared stiff and refuses to expose his fingernails, until he peaks and is relieved to see they're not blue... but Hawkeye then admits that he was bluffing. Ho-Jon then admits that he stole the stuff for money so he can bribe the border guards to bring out his family members out of their village up in North Korea; everyone then feels both bad and sorry for Ho-Jon, so they let him keep the item, and the money he stole from Hawkeye's poker winnings.

Comments:
- Although this is the tenth episode of Season One, it was sixth one produced.

- It is first revealed in this episode that Radar sleeps with a teddy bear; the teddy bear was discovered just lying around the Sound Stage 9 set, when Gary Burghoff decided that Radar sleeping with a teddy bear would be yet another part in an attempt to make Radar seem more naive and child-like. The bear was once a part of the M*A*S*H exhibit at the Smithsonian, but was later sold at an auction for roughly $11,000.

- William Christopher's hair is unusually bright red in this episode.

- GOOF: This is the first time the Sound Stage 9 set is used for filming the exterior of the 4077th for daytime scenes, so it's clearly seen that a sheet of fake grass with fake bushes on top is laid at the end of the Compound.

- GOOF: The extra tent down the Compound has re-appeared in this episode, and serves as Father Mulcahy's tent.

- GOOF: Margaret and Frank are, once again, depicted as being zealously religious in this episode, though they really aren't.

- GOOF: The personnel called in to the Mess Tent for the emergency meeting are already halfway towards the Mess Tent, even before Hawkeye announces some of their names.

What's Cut:
- In most syndicated prints, after Henry discovers the fishing rod he got for his girlfriend was stolen, they cut straight to Henry's meeting during dinner in the Mess Tent; this cuts out Trapper trying to pick up Nurse Barbara in the Supply Room and discovering his watch is gone, and Hawkeye requesting Ho-Jon make him a martini, only to discover the swivle stick used for stirring has been stolen as well.

- After Margaret enlists Radar to keep Hawkeye under his survelance, syndication cuts straight to Hawkeye walking down the Compound, with Radar following not-too-closely behind him; this cuts Radar walking into the Swamp, sitting next to Hawkeye and staring at him, and Hawkeye working in O.R., with Margaret claiming he stole a scalpel, and the P.A. announcer annoucing that the next song being played over camp is a special dedication to him.

Overall:
This certainly is a rather interesting episode, but again, this isn't one I'd watch all the time; I give it 7.5 out of 10 stars.

 

[D'Snowth]

Season One

Episode 11: "Germ Warfare"

Writers: Larry Gelbart
Director: Terry Becker
Original Airdate: December 10, 1972

Plot: Frank Burns hates the North Koreans like a sickness. Why? Because they're the enemy. But to Hawkeye and Trapper, they're just as human as anyone else; so when the 4077th found a North Korean P.O.W. among their casualties, Hawkeye and Trapper are the only ones who are willing to operate on him. Frank doesn't want him recooperating in Post-Op with the other patients, and Henry Blake agrees, not really to make Frank happy, but because it's against regulations, and he could get in trouble for giving aid and comfort to the enemy; so Hawkeye and Trapper let him recooperate in the Swamp in Hawkeye's bunk. A problem arises: the patient, who revealed his name through Ho-Jon as Pai, needed AB- blood, and he needed it bad. Hawkeye and Trapper check the personnel files, and as it turns out, Frank is the only one in camp with AB- blood... so in the middle of the night, they syfine Frank for a pint of blood, and manage to sneak it in Pai's IV. Then yet another problem turns up: Pai comes down with Hepatitis. But how? Frank doesn't show any symptoms... but this still needed investigation; so filling Frank with cans and cans of beer, they manage to collect a urine sample from him by locking up the latrine for repairs, and making him go in a small tent with a bucket. The bucket is then sent to the lab for analysis, meanwhile, if Frank DOES have Hepatitis, they have to keep him away from other patients he may operate on... and Margaret as well. So as Margaret and Frank scrub up in O.R., Hawkeye and Trapper handcuff them as they hug each other for Frank's own good, that is until the results come back: Frank showed no signs of Hepatitis, HOWEVER, he DOES show signs of Anemia.

Comments:
- Although this is the eleventh episode of Season One, it was fourth one produced.

- Remember yesterday when I said "I Hate a Mystery" was Ho-Jon and Spearchucker's last episode? I forgot... they're in this one too, but that's it.

- Jamie Farr is in this episode, but as the P.A. announcer, and NOT Corporal Klinger.

- Second and last appearance of Nurse Lieutenant Dish.

- GOOF: A tent is used for the latrine, instead of the actual latrine shack. Now if this scene were shot on Sound Stage 9, it would make sense, but this was shot at the FOX Ranch.

- GOOF: There's a large sign marking the North Korea/South Korea border where the latrine shack usually is. When was that sign put there? It was never there before, or since.

What's Cut:
- Hawkeye and Trapper stealing a pint of Frank's blood in the middle of the night has nicked for time, but I actually don't mind... why would I want to see Hawkeye kiss Frank?

- Hawkeye and Trapper making fun of Margaret and Frank's love affair by doing a narrative has been cut.

- Another episode that suffers it's tail being cut off, as the closing sequence where Frank is actually playing checkers with Pai, and Hawkeye and Trapper give him a boquette of daisies out of remorse, but as a joke has also been cut.

Overall:
I found this to be a rather spooky episode... not spooky in a scary sort of way, but spooky in an "kooky" kind of way. I give it 1 out of 10 stars.

 

[D'Snowth]

Season One

Episode 12: "Dear Dad"

Writers: Larry Gelbart
Director: Gene Reynolds
Original Airdate: December 17, 1972

Plot: In a letter to his dad, Hawkeye relates how the gang of the 4077th have been trying to keep the spirit of Christmas alive "even though there's shootin' in them thar hills". While corpsmen set up a large Christmas tree in the middle of the Mess Tent, Radar mails home a jeep, piece by piece, as an old Army bit. Henry has to give a mandatory lecture about marriage, sex, and family reproduction, but is too nervous to do so that he dismisses everyone without even really telling anyone about the subjects. Trapper works on his lucritive "private practice", when a local Korean farmer have him help deliver a bouncing baby veal to the village, for which services the doctor received a gallon of mother's milk. Father Mulcahy strings popcorn all over Post-Op to try to give the hospital a festive, yuletide look, but finds himself in the middle of a violent fight between Frank Burns and Corporal Klinger when Frank harasses Klinger for the bandana he's wearing, and causes him to drop a tray of alcohol bottles and cotton swabs that he needed to get to the lab. The angry Klinger prepares to throw a live grenade at Frank, but Father Mulcahy manages to talk him out of it, and put him at ease. The nurses are busy wrapping packages and mailing presents back home, but Head Nurse Margaret prepares for a date with Frank, but before they do, Hawkeye and Trapper managed to fix her tent by replacing her desk candle with a gag candle, sawing the legs on her cot, filling her pillow with chocolate pudding, and sawing through the support beam of her tent. Finally, on Christmas day, Hawkeye is dressed as jolly old Saint Nick to give out a bag load of toys to the Korean orphans, only to be called out to perform field surgery when a soldier trapped in a foxhole is wounded in the chest and needs treatment immediately if he's to survive.

Comments:
- Although this is the twelfth episode of Season One, it was thirteenth one produced.

- This is not only the first Christmas-related episode of the series, but it was also the first of a trilogy of "Dear Dad" episodes.

- Hawkeye, at one point, refers to Father Mulcahy as "Red".

- Corporal Klinger returns for the first time in this episode, after the character proved popular after his first, and initially only appearance in "Chief Surgeon, Who?". Klinger, however, doesn't appear wearing a dress in this episode, which is unusual, because in the earlier episodes, the concept was for him to have a "dress of the day".

- This is the first time Henry has to deliver a sex education lecture to the 4077th, and is mandatory for enlistedmen to attend, but optional for the officers. Hawkeye and Trapper are always willing to attend the lectures as they've devoted their lives to sex.

- This episode breaks the fourth wall in the end, as when Hawkeye concludes his letter by wishing him a merry Christmas on behalf of the rest of the 4077th, a clip of each character is played with the name of their portrayers flashing at the bottom of the screen.

- GOOF: Hawkeye talks about living in Vermont, however, his hometown has been established as Crabapple Cove in Maine.

What's Cut:
- The scene in O.R. has been nicked for time.

- The entire scene of Henry's sex lecture has been completely cut out... in fact, all three of Henry's sex lectures in the series has been cut out of syndications.

Overall:
This is one of my favorite episodes; it's an excellent Christmas episode, and I look forward to watching it on DVD every year during July and December just to make it even more special (I don't even watch it in syndication when it's on anyway). 10 stars!

 

[D'Snowth]

You guys'll have to bear with me, I'm not really in the mood to type up a full-blown review today, so I'm just going to give you all the highlights today, okay?

Season One

Episode 13: "Edwina"

Writers: Hal Dressner
Director: James Sheldon
Original Airdate: December 24, 1972

Plot: A shy, lonely, and VERY accident-prone nurse, Edwina, will shortly be transfered out of the 4077th, but before she goes, she confides in Nurse Cutler that she has never, not once in her life, had a date. Because of this, the rest of the nursing staff give the doctors a hard time until one of them agrees to have a date with her before she goes; after drawing straws, Hawkeye draws the shortest, and ends up having to have the date with her, which turns into a disaster when he invites her into the Swamp for the night.

Comments:
- Although this is the thirteenth episode of Season One, it was twelfth one produced.

- CBS originally purchased only thirteen episode of the series to be produced (by today's standards, that's an entire season right there, but back then, it was usually a half a season), but as the series went into production, and additional ten episodes were purchased, and finally, to make it full season (by the standards back then), a twenty-fourth episode was finally purchased as well.

What's Cut:

Overall:
Most fans of the series aren't too fond of this episode, and I'm not either... it's not really all that interesting to me, and I don't usually even watch it all that often either. I only give it 1 star.

 

[D'Snowth]

Season One

Episode 14: "Love Story"

Writers: Laurence Marks
Director: Earl Bellamy
Original Airdate: January 7, 1973

Plot: Hawkeye and Trapper begin to wonder what's wrong with Radar: he's been so down-in-the-dumps lately... but what could be causing this? Well, Radar shows them - he got a record in mail call, so Hawkeye and Trapper play it and listen as Radar's fiance back in the states has decided since he might not come hom alive, that she's going to marry someone else instead. Hawkeye and Trapper decide to try to make him feel better by getting him a date with one of the nurses, but they all refuse to date someone who's 5'5'', wears dirty eyeglasses, never shaves, and always wears a slovenly jeep cap. Radar is ready to throw in the towel, until he finds himself head-over-heels for the new nurse: the lovely, red-headed Nurse Lieutenant Louise Anderson; so Hawkeye sets out to set the two up. There's only one problem: Lieutenant Anderson has a brain! She enjoys reading poetry by famous authors, and listen to well-known classical recordings, meanwhile Radar is simply a simple farm boy, so Hawkeye and Trapper try to give him culture lessons to make him seem more appealing, and smart so Lieutenant Anderson would enjoy his company. It isn't before long that Head Nurse Margaret is outraged that her new nurse, and an enlistedman are slowly becoming an item, so she, and Frank Burns set out to break them up, so to get back at them, Hawkeye and Trapper secretly make excuses to try to break them up as well, until finally they give in and let Radar and Lieutenant Anderson continue seeing each other.

Comments:
- This episode is the first time Frank uses his catchphrase "Oh, nerts to you!", though because that scene has been cut out of syndication, you'd never know.

- This is a monumental episode, most famous for when Hawkeye is trying to teach Radar how to be interested in famous composers, by telling him whenever she mentions Bach, he should reply with "Aaahhhhhhh, Baaaaaaaaach!"

- GOOF: Radar's fiance back home refers to himself by that same nickname; however, it's later established that he picked up the name after he joined the war, and his E.S.P. made him seem like a human radar the way he senses incoming choppers before anyone else can see or hear them.

- GOOF: During the movie in the Mess Tent, when Frank starts running his fingers down what he thinks is Margaret's thighs, but finds out it's Hawkeye, Wayne Rogers and Gary Burghoff start breaking up.

What's Cut:
- The brief scene where Hawkeye and Trapper relate Radar's unusual behavior to Henry, and him suggest giving him a complete physical to see what's the matter has been cut out.

- Most of Radar's physical has been cut out, including Trapper taking his blood pressure, and Hawkeye having him do a urine sample. After this, Frank giving him the third degree about being a soldier has also been cut.

- The brief scene where Hawkeye, Trapper, and Radar walking down the Compound, and Radar talking about "striking out in the World Series of Love" has been edited out.

- Some of Radar's first "date" with Lieutenant Anderson has been nicked for time.

Overall:
This is an interesting episode, I don't watch as much as I would other episodes, but each time I watch it again, I remember that it's always better than I remember it. I give it 6.5 out of 10 stars.

 

[D'Snowth]

Season One

Episode 15: "Tuttle"

Writers: Bruce Shelly, David Ketchum
Director: William Wiard.
Original Airdate: January 14, 1973

Plot: Giving away vital medical supplies is against regulations, but when you boil it down to 'want' vs. 'need', Hawkeye and Trapper don't care... but they also don't want to get into anymore trouble then they're usually in, so when Sister Teresa asks who to thank for the generous offering of medical supplies, Hawkeye replies "Captain Tuttle". As it turns out, this Tuttle character is Hawkeye's childhood imaginary friend, but soon the Tuttle business gets out of hand when he's suddenly elected Officer of the Day, Frank Burns is upset since he's always Officer of the Day, so when he and Margaret request to see the personnel file on Captain Tuttle, Hawkeye and Trapper make up one for them to see, and when Frank requests to be bunked with Tuttle, things really get out of hand. With that, Hawkeye and Trapper have to give Frank and Margaret the run-around to keep them from trying to make contact with Tuttle. After a while, Hawkeye makes a plan to rub-out Tuttle... Hawkeye makes the call to have Tuttle receive a mass of backpay, which he decides should go directly to Sister Teresa's orphanage, so when General Clayton rides down to the 4077th to decorate Tuttle for his generosity, Hawkeye walks up with only dogtags in hand, and claiming that while everyone was having breakfast in the Mess Tent, Tuttle got a call to perform a necessary field surgery - he boarded the chopper, and when he found the patient he needed to operate on, he jumped with everything an Army doctor needs... except his parachute.

Comments:
- While Hawkeye admits Tuttle was his childhood imaginary friend, Radar admits he had an imaginary friend too: her name was Shirley. When asked what she looked like, he replies "Like me, only with tiny, little breasts". CBS initially didn't want anyone on the show, especially Radar, to say the word "breasts", so how this got past the censors, I don't know.

- The fictional Captain Jonathan S. Tuttle file written by Hawkeye...
Name: Tuttle, Jonathan S.
Date of Birth: 1924
Mother: Frieda Tuttle
Father: Harry Tuttle
Birthplace: Battle Creek, Michigan
Religion: Druid, reformed.
Education: Berlinisches Polytechnikum
Height: 6'4''
Weight: 195 lbs
Hair: Auburn
Eyes: Hazel

- It's revealed in this episode that Trapper is supposedly an atheist.

- The character of Sparky is introduced in this episode - he's the switchboard operator at Seoul Headquarters. This is the ONLY episode in which Sparky is seen on-camera, as for the rest of the series, he's simply who Radar or someone has to go through to make a phone call to someone else; much like on The Andy Griffith Show when anyone has Sarah make a phone call for them, however, if it's an important phone call that's interrupting Sparky doing something else like sleeping, he requires some kind of deal to make it worth his while.

- GOOF: Margaret admits she's attracted to Tuttle... but how can she when she's never even seen him? Also, she constantly makes remarks about only being able to love men who outrank her.

What's Cut:
- Trapper lying around with a fly-swatter in his hand as Hawkeye walks into the Swamp for a martini has been cut out.

- The scene where Radar enters Henry's tent with requisitions to give out medical supplies to Sister Teresa's orphange signed by Captain Jonathan S. Tuttle, and him wondering about who this Tuttle character is, and then make him Officer of thr Day has been cut.

- After Margaret and Frank decide to look into Captain Tuttle, the brief scene where they start getting amorous has been cut.

- Much of Hawkeye and Trapper giving Frank and Margaret the run-around to avoid seeing Tuttle has been nicked for time.

Overall:
This is probably the highest rated Season One episode, as it has general "Fan-Favorite" status. I really like it as well, and I give it 8 stars.

 

[D'Snowth]

This is a rather complex episode, so I think I'll just highlight the plot today...

Season One

Episode 16: "The Ringbanger"

Writers: Jerry Mayer
Director: Jackie Cooper
Original Airdate: January 21, 1973

Plot: Hawkeye and Trapper try to keep a military-oriented Colonel (Leslie Nielsen) from re-joining his unit.

Comments:
- This is the first of several episodes to feature a guest star who would later go on to become big-name celebrities.

- Back home, Henry Blake drives a red pick-up truck, and his license plate number is LU6751.

- GOOF: Depending on your TV screen, as Colonel Brighton tries to return to his tent, a wide angle shot reveals the track keeping the backdrop in place.

- GOOF: The showers are installed in the shower tent backwards.

What's Cut:
- The entire scene where Frank Burns complains to Henry in his tent about Hawkeye and Trapper keeping Colonel Brighton in the 4077th when there's nothing severly wrong with him has been cut; this makes for a very unusual episode, because for the rest of it, Henry appears to have a bandaid wrapped around his ear... it was because in this scene, Frank startles Henry while he trims his sideburns, and ends up cutting his ear very badly with the scissors.

- Margaret conferring over Colonel Brighton in the Swamp has been nicked for time.

- Hawkeye, Trapper, and Radar getting Henry drunk to convince Colonel Brighton he's a boozer has been nicked for time.

Overall:
This is a rather interesting episode, but it's another one of those episodes where each time I watch it, I forget just how good it really is. Although it isn't one of my favorite episodes, the highlight for me is seeing Margaret parade around in short shorts for the first time, so that brings my rating up a bit, so I give it 7.5 stars.

 

[D'Snowth]

Season One

Episode 17: "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet"

Writers: Carl Kleinschmitt
Director: William Wiard
Original Airdate: January 28, 1973

Plot: This poignant episode begins with Margaret and Frank having a date in her date in the middle of the night, only for Frank to throw his back out while dancing; moments later he's in Post-Op in traction, applying for the Purple Heart, claiming he slipped in the mud, when all of the sudden a patient is brought in, demanding to see Dr. Pierce, as he's the only one who can help him, so when Hawkeye goes over to check him out, the patient turns out to not be a patient at all, but rather, his old buddy Tommy Gillis, who is just as silly as Hawkeye, though a bit light in the loafers. So what brings Tommy to Korea? Well, he's writing a book about the war - "You Never Hear the Bullet" is the title of the book, he talks about how his title was inspired by how in the movies, there's always one blonde kid who gets shot, but before he does, he hears the bullet coming, though Tommy claims it doesn't happen in real-life, as his unit had that one blonde kid who got shot, and he claims he didn't hear it coming. While Tommy goes out to continue writing about the war, Hawkeye and Trapper find themselves operating on fifteen-year-old Wendall Petersen, who confesses that his real name is Walter (Wendall is his brother), and that he joined the Marines and got himself sent to Korea to fight in the war to impress his girlfriend back home, who has fallen out of love with him, and with a rival of his who came home from the war a hero. Hawkeye makes a deal with Walter: rest up in Post-Op until he's healed, and he won't rat him out. Later in O.R. when more wounded arrive, Hawkeye is devastated: Tommy had been shot, and heard the bullet coming like in the movies. Sadly, Tommy had no chance of survival, and a while later, Hawkeye is standing by Radar's office door, crying, as Henry walks over to comfort him. "I've watched guys die almost everyday, why didn't I ever cry for them?" Hawkeye asks, to which Henry replies "Because you're a doctor." Henry relates what he learned in command school: rule number one is young men die, and rule number two is doctors can't change rule number one; but Hawkeye manages to change that rule, by going back on his word and ratting out Walter, but it's not all that bad, in the end, Hawkeye made up for it by stealing Frank's Purple Heart and presenting it to Walter before he's shipped home, so he'll be able to impress his girl again.

Comments:
- Although this is the seventeenth episode of Season One, it was actually the eighteenth produced.

- This is another episode to feature a special guest star who would later become a big-name celebrity, namely Ron Howard as

- The producers, directors, writers, and cast members were very proud of this episode, as they felt they finally achieved the delicate balance of comedy and drama in one episode, not to mention the fact that CBS was very nervous when they aired this episode for the first time, so that really made the people on the show proud.

- GOOF: Frank's full name is given in this episode as Franklin D. Burns; Frank's full name is actually Frank Marion Burns.

What's Cut:
- The scene in Margaret's tent has been nicked for time; shortly following the scene where Frank is seen on the ground in the mud, and Margaret claiming he slipped on his way to the shower has also been cut.

- Much of the O.R. scene in this episode has been cut out, as well as the following scene where Margaret walks in on Hawkeye and a nurse in the Swamp to report more pain Frank's having Post-Op.

- This is yet another episode that got its tail cut off as the closing sequence where Hawkeye presents Walter with Frank's Purple Heart had been cut.

Overall:
Well, they managed to pull it off! The first time the show was able to have the delicate balance of comedy and drama, and they succeeded! This was really a poignant episode to say the least, I give it 10 stars!