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Post by topbilled on Mar 13, 2023 14:54:55 GMT
009 Henry Please Come Home
The one where Henry gets promoted
In the previous episode, Henry’s life was in danger. This time he’s been promoted to a swell job in Tokyo after helping the 4077th reach a 90% efficiency rating. General Hammond shows up for a special ceremony and announces Henry’s transfer to Tokyo, which surprises everyone.
We quickly get a scene with Henry leaving the camp, while Hawkeye, Trapper and Radar look on in disbelief that their beloved colonel is actually going away. However, Frank who will be taking over in the interim, is pleased and already keen on making changes. Big changes.
Most of the comedy in Laurence Marks' script comes from Frank’s attempts to instill discipline in Hawkeye, Trapper and Jones. As well as his attempts to overwork Radar. It’s a bit odd that Margaret is nowhere around, as I think her presence would have bolstered the scenes where Frank is on a power trip.
The men conspire to overthrow Frank and get Henry back. Of course, this involves Hawkeye and Trapper obtaining a pass to Tokyo. There are some exterior shots of Tokyo, probably from the 20th Century Fox library of stock footage, and we see a bathhouse where Henry is being pampered alongside Hawkeye and Trapper. During their rendezvous, a call comes from Radar and Henry’s old girlfriend Leslie, in which it is said that Radar is now ill. This is a ploy to persuade Henry to go back with the other two and treat Radar, before it’s too late.
There is a funny scene where Radar is faking illness at the 4077th, with Henry swooping in to save him, much to Frank’s chagrin. Henry realizes he missed being at the camp. He will tell Hammond that he’ll remain here and won’t return to Tokyo. The story and its resolution are all pretty formulaic, but we do get some nice bonding moments between Henry and the men who look up to him, which is in sharp contrast to the way none of them look up to Frank.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 14, 2023 15:38:16 GMT
010 I Hate a Mystery
The one where Hawkeye is blamed
This is not the best episode of the first season. In fact, the plot is pretty simplistic and while the performances are okay, it’s hardly must-see TV. A rash of burglaries is occurring in the camp, and it looks like Hawkeye has taken the missing items when an inspection leads Henry to uncover the loot inside the drawer of a desk used by Hawkeye.
The items are confiscated by Henry as evidence. These include a silver picture frame belonging to Frank; Trapper’s nice watch; and some brushes given to Margaret by her father. Oh, and Hawkeye’s gin swizzle stick is even among the booty. It doesn’t make sense that Hawkeye would steal from himself, and that plot hole is overlooked. Also, he has no motive to take the stuff, so Henry seems to be jumping the gun.
Hawkeye doesn’t like being on the outs with everyone. In order to clear his name, he sets up the real thief, whomever that may be. His ruse works, for it is soon revealed that Ho-Jon took the items to sell in order to pay to have relatives smuggled from North Korea into South Korea. Everyone seems to be able to forgive Ho-Jon’s crimes pretty easily. Before Ho-Jon is revealed as the culprit, there is a spoof of detective mysteries, where Hawkeyes acts like Sherlock Holmes.
I think writer Hal Dresner was trying to do something different and fun with this script. Despite the pedestrian plot, there are some amusing moments. Such as when Henry gets sprayed by a shower head and then when his face is covered in soot, which causes a long reactionary laugh from Hawkeye and Trapper. Also, we get to see Radar’s beloved teddy bear when Henry inspects Radar's quarters. And there is a daft moment when Hawkeye reaches out to Father Mulcahy for guidance and learns all the answers to his problems are found inside a certain book, with the priest referencing a dictionary which he has mistaken for a bible.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 15, 2023 15:14:09 GMT
011 Germ Warfare
The one where Frank unknowingly donates blood
So many things wrong with this story, from a 2023 perspective. I am not going to superimpose any sort of rigid modern political correctness on top of this episode, but there does need to be plausibility. It’s clear that the script would have to be drastically revised if it were produced now. By anyone’s standards, it just isn’t morally right that a doctor would get away with using someone for a blood donation, without their knowledge. Even if it is a pint of much-needed AB negative. This is what Hawkeye and Trapper do to Frank Burns, by siphoning blood from him while he sleeps, to save a North Korean patient.
Furthermore, they mistakenly believe Frank has hepatitis when the patient exhibits symptoms of the disease. Thinking Frank gave hepatitis to the patient, they try to keep him from meeting up with Margaret, and more importantly, try to keep him from operating on wounded soldiers in the operating room. Their thought is that Frank will infect others.
The means by which they continue to deceive Frank is supposed to be seen by the viewer as riotous. But from today’s perspective, we could easily say Frank, blowhard that he may be, is being victimized and this is arguably not funny. Hawkeye and Trapper are the ones who come off as the jerks in this story, not Frank. Later we find out their thought process was flawed, since Frank didn’t really have hepatitis and the patient had come into the camp already infected. Frank was kept from operating, which may have affected how many lives were saved that day.
In more ways than one we see Hawkeye and Trapper overstepping their bounds as medics. Clearly, they are abusing their privileges at the 4077th. Why Henry is not clamping down on them more is baffling. But then we wouldn’t have the guys’ continued antics, if Henry was successful at reigning them in. The plot of a previous episode had Hawkeye promoted to chief surgeon and we were led to believe he would still continue to function in that capacity. But surely, if he was acting the way he acts in this episode, plus making diagnostic mistakes, he would have to be demoted from such a position.
All in all, not one of Larry Gelbert’s better scripted episodes. Incidentally, this episode marks the last appearances of Captain Jones and Lieutenant Dish, who midway through season 1 are dropped from the show’s storylines without any explanation.
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Post by sepiatone on Mar 15, 2023 16:37:55 GMT
Relax Top. It was only a TV show, make believe and played for laughs. I know you're smarter than to judge how comedy was presented 50 years ago by today's "standards". Or how the military would have handled situations in the "real world" when they appear in a fictional setting. And then again, it might have been Gelbert's intention to show Hawkeye and Trapper as going too far in their treatment of Frank and sometimes being the jerks. I did know some who hated the show because of the merciless way those two treated the man.
Sepiatone
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Post by topbilled on Mar 16, 2023 0:15:56 GMT
Relax Top. It was only a TV show, make believe and played for laughs. I know you're smarter than to judge how comedy was presented 50 years ago by today's "standards". Or how the military would have handled situations in the "real world" when they appear in a fictional setting. And then again, it might have been Gelbert's intention to show Hawkeye and Trapper as going too far in their treatment of Frank and sometimes being the jerks. I did know some who hated the show because of the merciless way those two treated the man. Sepiatone Yeah, I think it's interesting to look at Frank from a more sympathetic viewpoint.
I hope you realize that I can't be afraid to be negative about some episodes. The truth is that some of them are clunkers and some are brilliant. I would not be an adequate reviewer if I overlooked the flaws in some of them. If they don't hold up to today's scrutiny, and fail the political correctness test, I am going to have to address that. The main reason is because part of looking at the show from beginning to end is seeing whether it can gather a new generation (young generation) of fans.
I actually think I have been pretty fair...I am not Pauline Kael level of ruthless. LOL
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Post by BunnyWhit on Mar 16, 2023 1:31:30 GMT
In addition to the character changes in season 1 -- losing Jones and Dish -- this is also the season in which Radar is most like the character in the film. Later, he will lose the persona of being nearly as savvy as Hawkeye and Trapper, and he'll become the farm boy with Iowa naivete.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 16, 2023 1:47:09 GMT
In addition to the character changes in season 1 -- losing Jones and Dish -- this is also the season in which Radar is most like the character in the film. Later, he will lose the persona of being nearly as savvy as Hawkeye and Trapper, and he'll become the farm boy with Iowa naivete. Yes, Bunny...I am loving Radar in these early episodes. He and Henry are a great double-act.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 17, 2023 14:43:51 GMT
012 Dear Dad
The one where Hawkeyes writes to his father
It’s Christmastime in Korea, and Hawkeye writes a letter to his father about the antics of the 4077th. Interestingly, this episode aired in mid-December 1972, and there was another episode broadcast closer to Christmas. We are told that Hawkeye’s father lives in Vermont, and this is supposedly where Hawkeye grew up. But his home state is later changed to Maine.
The episode is a hodgepodge of vignettes, some of them comedic and some more dramatic. Some better than the others. The silliest vignette is the one where Hawkeye describes an evening where he and Trapper, probably going too far, rig Margaret’s tent into a booby trap so that it will come toppling down during a night of passion between her and Frank. Later, Hawkeye makes his first play for Margaret and gives her a long kiss, which will be repeated in the last episode of the series.
Other comic highlights include Radar sending pieces of a jeep back home to Iowa and Henry giving a lecture on premarital sex. The nicest sequence involves Trapper giving vaccines to Korean children, then his helping some local farmers birth a calf. The most dramatic scenario depicts Hawkeye flying into battle, dressed as Santa, to help a wounded soldier on the field.
I thought the best vignette, however, was the one that featured Father Mulcahy, Klinger and Frank. Klinger is helping the nurses, when he has a dispute with Frank which turns into a brawl inside the recovery room. Of course, Father Mulcahy tries to intervene, covering for Klinger who scrams when the MP show up.
This leads to a later scene where Klinger, now a bit unhinged and still mad at Frank, intends to kill Frank with a live grenade. The part where the priest is able to reason with Klinger and get the grenade away from him is very well-played, and you can see why actors William Christopher and Jamie Farr would eventually become regular cast members of the show.
Hawkeye’s last voice over at the end coincides with his finishing the letter to his father. We see the main cast credited again using clips of them all from earlier in the episode.
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Post by sepiatone on Mar 17, 2023 16:21:58 GMT
What I found interesting in the above was the mention of Hawkeye's supposed childhood residence. And the change. I do recall, and probably in an episode fro a later season(maybe) that concerned Hawkeye's obsession with obtaining some hot dogs from some "celebrated" diner famously known for their hot dogs in Chicago. Unless of course, my Swiss cheese memory is at it again. Sepiatone
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Post by BingFan on Mar 17, 2023 19:32:28 GMT
What I found interesting in the above was the mention of Hawkeye's supposed childhood residence. And the change. I do recall, and probably in an episode fro a later season(maybe) that concerned Hawkeye's obsession with obtaining some hot dogs from some "celebrated" diner famously known for their hot dogs in Chicago. Unless of course, my Swiss cheese memory is at it again. Sepiatone It’s been a while since I saw the actual episodes, so I may be wrong, but I think the food Hawkeye ordered from Chicago was barbecued ribs.
The hot dogs were mentioned in several different episodes and had a connection to Klinger. They were from Tony Packo’s Cafe, a real Hungarian-American restaurant in Toledo, where Jamie Farr grew up. (I have family in the area and have been to Packo’s many times; my late dad worked for the company that made their hot dogs for a few years before he retired from a long career in the food industry.)
Oddly, Packo’s has autographed plastic hot dog buns on the walls all over the restaurant, and Jamie Farr and other MASH veterans are featured, along with other show biz figures like Bing Crosby. I don’t know if they still have MASH-themed events at Packo’s, but they used to. Their hot dogs are the best I’ve ever had, and their Hungarian cabbage rolls are very tasty.
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Mar 17, 2023 20:09:33 GMT
Their hot dogs are the best I’ve ever had, and their Hungarian cabbage rolls are very tasty.Well that answers the question I dared not ask after you mentioned your summer job meat packing. I had to pop out to the internet to see this bun situation first hand. Very odd choice but maybe better than wieners all over the place.
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Post by Lucky Dan on Mar 17, 2023 21:19:29 GMT
It’s been a while since I saw the actual episodes, so I may be wrong, but I think the food Hawkeye ordered from Chicago was barbecued ribs.
Adam's Ribs. Dearborn Station.
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Post by BingFan on Mar 17, 2023 22:07:37 GMT
Well that answers the question I dared not ask after you mentioned your summer job meat packing. I had to pop out to the internet to see this bun situation first hand. Very odd choice but maybe better than wieners all over the place. Yes, my meat-packing jobs were not due to my desire to get experience in that industry, but resulted from my dad, the plant manager, hiring me and several other college students (also the kids of employees) who needed to make money for school during vacations, which happened to be times when the packing plants needed additional workers. It was hard, messy work (we often had to do the least desirable jobs since we had no seniority), but it was also a good way to make money quickly, since we were paid at the low end of the union scale, much more than what my friends with more conventional (and pleasant) jobs made. I now have to admit that my dad was right in insisting that I work at the plants during the summers, although I hated it at the time.
I guess I’ve gotten way off topic — apologies! I’ll try to get it back to the general topic, classic TV: for what it’s worth, back in the 60s, my dad saw an episode of Green Acres being filmed at the same Hollywood studio where he was overseeing the filming of a TV commercial (featuring steaks) for the grocery store chain he worked for at the time. (I don’t have any other M*A*S*H connections other than the attenuated one I’ve already mentioned.)
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Post by Mayo on Mar 18, 2023 1:35:00 GMT
I preferred Trapper over Hunicutt. Henry over Potter (Horse pucky!) I did like the addition of Winchester who unlike Frank was smart and a good surgeon. I liked Frank but it would have been difficult to maintain his character without some kind of evolution. Hot Lips was a good nurse and her character evolved after Frank left. At least the tv Frank Burns had a less tragic departure than the movie version.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 18, 2023 2:19:41 GMT
I preferred Trapper over Hunicutt. Henry over Potter (Horse pucky!) I did like the addition of Winchester who unlike Frank was smart and a good surgeon. I liked Frank but it would have been difficult to maintain his character without some kind of evolution. Hot Lips was a good nurse and her character evolved after Frank left. At least the tv Frank Burns had a less tragic departure than the movie version. I think I agree, Winchester was a good addition. The writers were smart not to bring a "new" Frank in, but rather someone who was slightly different, perhaps a bit more eccentric, who would still clash with Hawkeye and B.J.
And of course, David Ogden Stiers was a fantastic actor.
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