 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
September 17, 1972 (J-301)
To further the education of his young Korean friend, Ho-Jon, Hawkeye has pulled a few strings with the dean of his alma mater. After looking over Ho-Jon's qualifications, Dean Lodge agrees to enroll him in college, provided Hawkeye can cover the $1,000 tuition plus travel expenses to get Ho-Jon to the States.
Hawkeye and Trapper hit on a plan to raise the cash fast -- a fund-raising drinks party that includes the raffling off of two weekend passes to Tokyo for the lucky (presumably male) winner and a gorgeous nurse. They get Henry to agree to the passes, and Hawkeye goes to great lengths to secure the consent of the "completely edible" (but engaged) Lt. Dish to serve as the gorgeous nurse part of the prize package.
Of course, snags arise in the form of Frank Burns, who kicks up a fuss about tentmates Hawkeye and Trapper and busts their still. Frank's threat to go over Henry's head to General Hammond causes Henry to withdraw the passes and permission for the party. But when Henry flies off to Seoul to meet with Hammond, party plans proceed apace. (Thanks to Radar, Henry unwittingly signed off on the passes before he left.)
To get Frank out of the way, Hawkeye, ably assisted by Ginger, injects him with a sedative, wraps his face in bandages, and leaves instructions to refresh the sedation hourly. Margaret, worried about the missing Frank, searches the camp and places a call to "close personal friend" General Hammond.
The party goes swimmingly up until Father Mulcahy is pronounced the winner of the (fixed) raffle. That's when Hammond and Henry show up, followed by Margaret and a dazed Frank (whom she recognized when she pulled down his pants to give him his sedative shot). Hammond wants to arrest Hawkeye and Trapper, but then choppers loaded with Canadian casualties start to arrive and all hands are needed, including Hammond's.
After the session, Hammond is so impressed with the surgeons' skills that he refuses to arrest them, even when they present themselves pre-handcuffed and ready to go!
The scenes before the opening credits, which are often cut in syndication, are as follows:
Trapper, in the company of Hawkeye and Ho-Jon, tees off into the minefield.
Caption on screen reads: "Korea, 1950: a hundred years ago."
Henry and Leslie Scorch work hard to open a bottle.
Dozing Father Mulcahy swats at a fly, ends up crossing himself.
Above the table, Frank and Margaret are reading. Below it, their bare feet are engaged in close-order drill.
Spearchucker throws a football to Radar, who falls down as he catches it.
Radar hears incoming choppers ("Wait for it"), and the credits start.
The opening theme music is slightly different than that used in later episodes, and maybe a bit longer.
The first of many series references to "meatball surgery" takes place early on.
Hawkeye says "Finest kind" about a martini. The phrase was used frequently by book!Hawkeye and movie!Hawkeye but was soon abandoned by series!Hawkeye.
The Painless Pole, a character from the movie who never appeared in the series, is mentioned as having bought one of the $10 raffle tickets.
In the O.R., Trapper calls Mulcahy "Red" -- a nickname used in the book and the movie, but only twice in the series (here and in Dear Dad). The full nickname was "Dago Red," which is a slang term for a type of sacramental wine used in Roman Catholic rites, and there is reference in the book to Mulcahy getting dead drunk on it (in the company of Trapper and Hawkeye) on his first day at the 4077th. The nickname was probably dropped from the TV series because "dago" is also a derogatory epithet for a person of Italian descent.
The tag scene is a recitation of the main cast members as their pictures are shown (in order, Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Loretta Swit, G. Wood, Larry Linville, Gary Burghoff, Karen Philipp, George Morgan, Patrick Adiarte, Timothy Brown, and Odessa Cleveland).
Frank: There are ladies present.
Hawkeye (to Margaret): Oh, sorry, baby.
Margaret: Major, to you.
Hawkeye: Right. Sorry, Major, baby.
Trapper: Bad news from my wife. She still loves me.
... She still thinks I got sent to Korea as part of some secret plot to cheat on her.
Hawkeye: Well, didn't you?
Trapper: Yeah, but how did she figure it out?
Hawkeye: What do [the people here] really want?
Trapper: Sex! Except for those baseball perverts.
Blake: Why don't I trust you guys?
Trapper: 'Cause we're not trustworthy.
Blake: Yeah, maybe that's it.
Trapper (about Frank's Bible): I peeked at the end, Frank. The devil did it.
Hawkeye: You don't trust me.
Dish: Not since the first time I found you hiding in my sleeping bag.
(When Margaret asks Hawkeye where Frank is)
Hawkeye: Oh, I thought you'd heard.
Margaret: Heard what?
Hawkeye: Frank's gone over to the enemy. They offered him $100 more a week and a royalty on bedpans.
Hammond (pointing to his rank insignia): What do you think this star means?
Hawkeye: You're Tinkerbell?
Margaret (about Hawkeye and Trapper): Those two -- they're ruining this war. For all of us!
Click here for more pics from this episode.
Frank and Margaret's bare tootsies in the opening scenes.
Lt. Dish and Hawkeye in the shower (part of his campaign to get her to be part of the raffle prize).
A good introduction to the series and the characters, but as a M*A*S*H episode it's pretty average. A sign of better things to come in the first three seasons. (What's with Loretta Swit's puffy eyes, though? Poor woman looks like she hasn't slept in a week.)
2.5 out of 4 dogtags
0.5 out of 4 crosses -- George Morgan may be a nice guy and a decent actor (one can't fairly judge from this example), but he's not much of a Mulcahy. He doesn't even get any lines; were they cut? The only reason the character's in this episode at all is to provide bug-eyed, gaping reaction shots and to be Lt. Dish's "safe" escort to Tokyo. I did like the fly-swatting move and the red hair, but not enough to lament Mr. Morgan's being dumped in favor of the far superior William Christopher.
Written by Larry Gelbart
Directed by Gene Reynolds
G. Wood - Brig. Gen. Hamilton Hammond
Patrick Adiarte - Ho-Jon
Karen Philipp - Lt. Maggie Dish
George Morgan - Father John Patrick Mulcahy
Timothy Brown - Capt. Oliver Harmon "Spearchucker" Jones
Odessa Cleveland - Lt. Ginger Bayliss
John Orchard - Ugly John
Linda Meiklejohn - Lt. Leslie Scorch
Laura Miller - Knocko
B. Kirby, Jr. - Boone
E-mail: iolanthe@cais.com
M*A*S*H is owned by/copyright © Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved.
Website copyright © iolanthe 2003.
