4077th
Harry Morgan
November 21, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Before he was Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H, Harry Morgan was one of Hollywood’s cornerstone character actors. He shared the silver screen with legends.
Inherit the Wind with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March.
High Noon with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.
The Glenn Miller Story with Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson.
The Shootist with John Wayne.
Frankie and Johnny with Elvis Presley.
Support Your Local Sheriff with James Garner.
Dragnet with Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd. In Dragnet, Morgan reprises his role of Bill Gannon from the television series of the same name in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Gannon has climbed the ranks to become a police captain.
Morgan played Pete Porter in the television series December Bride and its spinoff -- Pete & Gladys. He also played Judge Bell in the trio of 1990’s Incident tv-movies starring Walter Matthau -- The Incident, Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore, Incident in a Small Town.
But Harry Morgan’s role of the authoritative, compassionate, and wise Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H is likely the role most identified with Morgan. Potter is Morgan’s signature character.
Morgan had big shoes to fill. When M*A*S*H producers killed off Colonel Henry Blake in the spring of 1975, the creative decision sparked shock, dismay, and even outrage. Who ever heard of a show killing a major, beloved, and valuable character? Blake’s death offered no chance for a spinoff, return appearance, or revival.
While McLean Stevenson’s popularity soared as the affable, bumbling, and concerned Colonel Blake who was also one of the guys, Harry Morgan won the respect of fans by playing Colonel Potter with dignity, understanding, and a voice of experience.
Potter led Hawkeye, B.J. and the rest of the M*A*S*H 4077th, but he never talked down to them. He was a Regular Army style solider but he ignored the rules and regulations if they interfered with treating wounded soldiers.
Potter was a combat veteran who became a doctor. But he never forgot the courage of soldiers in the field.
In a vicious ocean of injury, violence, and death, Morgan’s Colonel Potter was the calm oasis of experience, wisdom, and compassion.
Harry Morgan actually made a pre-Potter appearance on M*A*S*H. In the third season premiere -- The General Flipped At Dawn -- he plays General Steele, a half-crazed general. Morgan received an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance in this episode that kicked off the 1975-76 season.
For his role as Colonel Potter, Morgan received eight nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He won once. He also received an Emmy nomination for Best Director.
Harry Morgan continued playing Colonel Potter in the sequel After M*A*S*H. The show is set in a stateside Veterans Administration hospital in Missouri. Jamie Farr and William Christopher joined Morgan to continue their roles as Max Klinger and Father Mulcahy respectively.
After After M*A*S*H, Morgan mostly enjoyed guest appearances on television shows -- The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Grace Under Fire, Third Rock from the Sun, and The Simpsons.
On The Simpsons, Morgan once again reprised his role of Bill Gannon.
david@davidkrell.com
Before he was Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H, Harry Morgan was one of Hollywood’s cornerstone character actors. He shared the silver screen with legends.
Inherit the Wind with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March.
High Noon with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.
The Glenn Miller Story with Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson.
The Shootist with John Wayne.
Frankie and Johnny with Elvis Presley.
Support Your Local Sheriff with James Garner.
Dragnet with Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd. In Dragnet, Morgan reprises his role of Bill Gannon from the television series of the same name in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Gannon has climbed the ranks to become a police captain.
Morgan played Pete Porter in the television series December Bride and its spinoff -- Pete & Gladys. He also played Judge Bell in the trio of 1990’s Incident tv-movies starring Walter Matthau -- The Incident, Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore, Incident in a Small Town.
But Harry Morgan’s role of the authoritative, compassionate, and wise Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H is likely the role most identified with Morgan. Potter is Morgan’s signature character.
Morgan had big shoes to fill. When M*A*S*H producers killed off Colonel Henry Blake in the spring of 1975, the creative decision sparked shock, dismay, and even outrage. Who ever heard of a show killing a major, beloved, and valuable character? Blake’s death offered no chance for a spinoff, return appearance, or revival.
While McLean Stevenson’s popularity soared as the affable, bumbling, and concerned Colonel Blake who was also one of the guys, Harry Morgan won the respect of fans by playing Colonel Potter with dignity, understanding, and a voice of experience.
Potter led Hawkeye, B.J. and the rest of the M*A*S*H 4077th, but he never talked down to them. He was a Regular Army style solider but he ignored the rules and regulations if they interfered with treating wounded soldiers.
Potter was a combat veteran who became a doctor. But he never forgot the courage of soldiers in the field.
In a vicious ocean of injury, violence, and death, Morgan’s Colonel Potter was the calm oasis of experience, wisdom, and compassion.
Harry Morgan actually made a pre-Potter appearance on M*A*S*H. In the third season premiere -- The General Flipped At Dawn -- he plays General Steele, a half-crazed general. Morgan received an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance in this episode that kicked off the 1975-76 season.
For his role as Colonel Potter, Morgan received eight nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He won once. He also received an Emmy nomination for Best Director.
Harry Morgan continued playing Colonel Potter in the sequel After M*A*S*H. The show is set in a stateside Veterans Administration hospital in Missouri. Jamie Farr and William Christopher joined Morgan to continue their roles as Max Klinger and Father Mulcahy respectively.
After After M*A*S*H, Morgan mostly enjoyed guest appearances on television shows -- The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Grace Under Fire, Third Rock from the Sun, and The Simpsons.
On The Simpsons, Morgan once again reprised his role of Bill Gannon.
Dr. Sidney Freedman
October 02, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
The doctors at the M*A*S*H 4077th bandaged limbs, tended to wounds, and operated on organs torn apart by grenades, bullets, and shrapnel. Beyond the physical wounds were mental injuries. To treat them, the M*A*S*H doctors called in their secret weapon -- Dr. Sidney Freedman.
With understanding, patience, and calm, Sidney went into the most mysterious part of the human body -- the mind.
In the M*A*S*H episode Pressure Points, Colonel Potter calls Sidney down to the 4077th for a special patient -- Colonel Potter himself.
Reluctant to discuss his concerns at first, Potter eventually opens up to Sidney thanks to the psychiatrist’s gentle strength in dealing with matters of the mind.
Potter’s afraid of growing old and losing his surgical skills.
Sidney tells him that his fears will eventually become real. He encourages Potter to accept his current challenge of leading war time doctors without worrying so much about the future.
In Bless You, Hawkeye, Sidney counsels Hawkeye. The star surgeon is suffering from an unknown illness.
Sweating profusely, constantly sneezing, and violently scratching itches, Hawkeye is a walking wreck with no diagnosis in sight.
When Potter calls in Sidney Freedman, he gets to the heart of the matter.
Typically, the problem is rooted in childhood. Hawkeye begins his conversation with Sidney by saying that he is swimming in cold sweat. He then talks about his hometown, Crabapple Cove, Maine as if it were a tidal wave of Americana. He goes on to talk about the big brother he never had -- his older cousin Billy.
Sidney quickly sees that Hawkeye’s problem stems from a childhood incident when Billy saved Hawkeye after the latter fell from the cousins’ fishing boat into the pond. But Hawkeye reversed the event in his mind. Sidney guides him to reveal the reality that Billy pushed Hawkeye into the pond. Hawkeye did not fall into the pond accidentally.
Hawkeye unconsciously provided clues to Sidney with water analyses -- swimming in cold sweat, tidal wave of Americana. The trigger for the current problem was an odor. After the incident, Hawkeye came home smelling like a wet burlap sack. It was the exact analogy he used to describe one of his patients on the operating table.
After Hawkeye’s highly emotional breakthrough and subsequent realization of the incident, the illness disappears.
Sidney wrote a letter to Sigmund Freud in the episode Dear Sigmund. He explained happenings at the 4077th. Letter writing was a popular theme for M*A*S*H. Characters voiced their letters for the audience over scenes. The verbalization served as a narrative for the audience.
For example, Hawkeye wrote letters to his dad. Klinger wrote a letter to his uncle. Potter wrote a letter to his wife.
In the episode War of Nerves, Father Mulcahy talks to Sidney about a friend. This friend his causing concern for the gentle priest. The friend is Sidney.
Sidney reveals his distress that when he has lost a patient, he has lost a mind. In contrast, when the surgeons lose a patient, they lose a body. Father Mulcahy points out that when he loses someone, he loses a soul.
Perhaps Sidney’s greatest case was Hawkeye’s breakdown in the final episode -- Goodbye, Farewell, Amen.
Through persistence, Sidney peels back the layers of the incident that sparked Hawkeye’s breakdown.
On a return bus trip from a July 4th holiday at the beach, a local Korean woman smothered her chicken to keep it quiet. As in Bless You, Hawkeye, Hawkeye alters the incident. The bus stops because of a mechanical glitch. The woman smothered her baby because the baby’s crying could reveal the position of the bus to enemy soldiers.
Again, Sidney guides Hawkeye through a torturous, volatile, and eventual cathartic trip.
Dr. Sidney Freedman. Counselor. Listener. Psychiatrist.
One of his best lines was his last line on the series.
Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice.
Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
david@davidkrell.com
The doctors at the M*A*S*H 4077th bandaged limbs, tended to wounds, and operated on organs torn apart by grenades, bullets, and shrapnel. Beyond the physical wounds were mental injuries. To treat them, the M*A*S*H doctors called in their secret weapon -- Dr. Sidney Freedman.
With understanding, patience, and calm, Sidney went into the most mysterious part of the human body -- the mind.
In the M*A*S*H episode Pressure Points, Colonel Potter calls Sidney down to the 4077th for a special patient -- Colonel Potter himself.
Reluctant to discuss his concerns at first, Potter eventually opens up to Sidney thanks to the psychiatrist’s gentle strength in dealing with matters of the mind.
Potter’s afraid of growing old and losing his surgical skills.
Sidney tells him that his fears will eventually become real. He encourages Potter to accept his current challenge of leading war time doctors without worrying so much about the future.
In Bless You, Hawkeye, Sidney counsels Hawkeye. The star surgeon is suffering from an unknown illness.
Sweating profusely, constantly sneezing, and violently scratching itches, Hawkeye is a walking wreck with no diagnosis in sight.
When Potter calls in Sidney Freedman, he gets to the heart of the matter.
Typically, the problem is rooted in childhood. Hawkeye begins his conversation with Sidney by saying that he is swimming in cold sweat. He then talks about his hometown, Crabapple Cove, Maine as if it were a tidal wave of Americana. He goes on to talk about the big brother he never had -- his older cousin Billy.
Sidney quickly sees that Hawkeye’s problem stems from a childhood incident when Billy saved Hawkeye after the latter fell from the cousins’ fishing boat into the pond. But Hawkeye reversed the event in his mind. Sidney guides him to reveal the reality that Billy pushed Hawkeye into the pond. Hawkeye did not fall into the pond accidentally.
Hawkeye unconsciously provided clues to Sidney with water analyses -- swimming in cold sweat, tidal wave of Americana. The trigger for the current problem was an odor. After the incident, Hawkeye came home smelling like a wet burlap sack. It was the exact analogy he used to describe one of his patients on the operating table.
After Hawkeye’s highly emotional breakthrough and subsequent realization of the incident, the illness disappears.
Sidney wrote a letter to Sigmund Freud in the episode Dear Sigmund. He explained happenings at the 4077th. Letter writing was a popular theme for M*A*S*H. Characters voiced their letters for the audience over scenes. The verbalization served as a narrative for the audience.
For example, Hawkeye wrote letters to his dad. Klinger wrote a letter to his uncle. Potter wrote a letter to his wife.
In the episode War of Nerves, Father Mulcahy talks to Sidney about a friend. This friend his causing concern for the gentle priest. The friend is Sidney.
Sidney reveals his distress that when he has lost a patient, he has lost a mind. In contrast, when the surgeons lose a patient, they lose a body. Father Mulcahy points out that when he loses someone, he loses a soul.
Perhaps Sidney’s greatest case was Hawkeye’s breakdown in the final episode -- Goodbye, Farewell, Amen.
Through persistence, Sidney peels back the layers of the incident that sparked Hawkeye’s breakdown.
On a return bus trip from a July 4th holiday at the beach, a local Korean woman smothered her chicken to keep it quiet. As in Bless You, Hawkeye, Hawkeye alters the incident. The bus stops because of a mechanical glitch. The woman smothered her baby because the baby’s crying could reveal the position of the bus to enemy soldiers.
Again, Sidney guides Hawkeye through a torturous, volatile, and eventual cathartic trip.
Dr. Sidney Freedman. Counselor. Listener. Psychiatrist.
One of his best lines was his last line on the series.
Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice.
Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
MASH Guest Stars
September 21, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
The list of guest stars on M*A*S*H is an entertainment hall of fame list.
From 1972 to 1983, this powerhouse show on CBS boasted actors and actresses who later became fixtures on America’s favorite television shows on the Eye Network.
Joan Van Ark and Knots Landing.
Gregory Harrison and Trapper John, M.D.
Vic Tayback and Alice.
Sorrell Booke and The Dukes of Hazzard.
Linda Kelsey and Lou Grant.
Susan Saint James and Kate and Allie.
Some actors and actresses became fixtures on America’s favorite television shows on other networks.
Ed Flanders and St. Elsewhere.
Ed Begley, Jr. and St. Elsewhere.
Shelley Long and Cheers.
George Wendt and Cheers.
John Ritter and Three’s Company.
Robert Ito and Quincy.
Jack Soo and Barney Miller.
Larry Wilcox and CHiPs.
And some actors and actresses became movie stars.
Laurence Fishburne.
Patrick Swayze.
Teri Garr.
Some guest stars on M*A*S*H played roles that helped peel back the layers of the regular staff of the 4077th.
In the episode The More I See You, Blythe Danner plays Carlye, a nurse and long-lost flame of Hawkeye.
We learned that Hawkeye and Carlye actually lived together.
But timing is everything.
The relationship couldn’t go further because Hawkeye was in residency and work was his priority.
Now assigned to the 4077th, Carlye is married. Hawkeye tries to reignite the flame.
And he succeeds.
Until he gives a rambling monologue about commitment while walking around his tent, a.k.a. the Swamp. Carlye shows him that he cannot have a relationship because he’s literally talked himself into a corner while talking about long-term commitment.
Dennis Dugan appears in two M*A*S*H episodes -- Love and Marriage and Strange Bedfellows.
In Strange Bedfellows, he plays Potter’s son-in-law.
And Potter learns about the son-in-law’s betrayal to his wife, Potter’s daughter. Though angry, Potter reveals that he himself got a little friendlier than he should have with a nurse early in his career.
Ron Howard guest stars in the first episode that showed M*A*S*H could go beyond the antics of draftee doctors to places of deep emotion, pathos, and sobriety.
In the landmark episode Sometimes You Hear the Bullet, Hawkeye’s friend, Tommy Gillis, is researching a book about war.
James Callahan plays Gillis.
He theorizes that a soldier never hears the bullet that kills him. Gillis’ theory directly contrasts the depiction of combat in the movies. He wants to call his book You Never Hear the Bullet.
During his research on the front lines, Gillis gets shot and winds up on Hawkeye’s operating table. Gillis tells Hawkeye that he heard the bullet and dies before Hawkeye can operate.
Meanwhile, an underage soldier named Wendell Peterson is in post-op.
Played by Howard, the 15-year-old Wendell stole his brother Walter’s identity to become a soldier only to impress a girl.
Hawkeye initially tells him that the secret will not be revealed.
But after seeing his friend die, Hawkeye gets a speech from Colonel Henry Blake.
There are certain rules about a war. Rule Number One is ‘Young men die.’ Rule number two is ‘Doctors can’t change Rule Number One.’
Hawkeye’s response is to keep one young man from dying in one war.
He reports Peterson to Major Houlihan, thus saving Peterson from future harm, at least on the battle field.
david@davidkrell.com
The list of guest stars on M*A*S*H is an entertainment hall of fame list.
From 1972 to 1983, this powerhouse show on CBS boasted actors and actresses who later became fixtures on America’s favorite television shows on the Eye Network.
Joan Van Ark and Knots Landing.
Gregory Harrison and Trapper John, M.D.
Vic Tayback and Alice.
Sorrell Booke and The Dukes of Hazzard.
Linda Kelsey and Lou Grant.
Susan Saint James and Kate and Allie.
Some actors and actresses became fixtures on America’s favorite television shows on other networks.
Ed Flanders and St. Elsewhere.
Ed Begley, Jr. and St. Elsewhere.
Shelley Long and Cheers.
George Wendt and Cheers.
John Ritter and Three’s Company.
Robert Ito and Quincy.
Jack Soo and Barney Miller.
Larry Wilcox and CHiPs.
And some actors and actresses became movie stars.
Laurence Fishburne.
Patrick Swayze.
Teri Garr.
Some guest stars on M*A*S*H played roles that helped peel back the layers of the regular staff of the 4077th.
In the episode The More I See You, Blythe Danner plays Carlye, a nurse and long-lost flame of Hawkeye.
We learned that Hawkeye and Carlye actually lived together.
But timing is everything.
The relationship couldn’t go further because Hawkeye was in residency and work was his priority.
Now assigned to the 4077th, Carlye is married. Hawkeye tries to reignite the flame.
And he succeeds.
Until he gives a rambling monologue about commitment while walking around his tent, a.k.a. the Swamp. Carlye shows him that he cannot have a relationship because he’s literally talked himself into a corner while talking about long-term commitment.
Dennis Dugan appears in two M*A*S*H episodes -- Love and Marriage and Strange Bedfellows.
In Strange Bedfellows, he plays Potter’s son-in-law.
And Potter learns about the son-in-law’s betrayal to his wife, Potter’s daughter. Though angry, Potter reveals that he himself got a little friendlier than he should have with a nurse early in his career.
Ron Howard guest stars in the first episode that showed M*A*S*H could go beyond the antics of draftee doctors to places of deep emotion, pathos, and sobriety.
In the landmark episode Sometimes You Hear the Bullet, Hawkeye’s friend, Tommy Gillis, is researching a book about war.
James Callahan plays Gillis.
He theorizes that a soldier never hears the bullet that kills him. Gillis’ theory directly contrasts the depiction of combat in the movies. He wants to call his book You Never Hear the Bullet.
During his research on the front lines, Gillis gets shot and winds up on Hawkeye’s operating table. Gillis tells Hawkeye that he heard the bullet and dies before Hawkeye can operate.
Meanwhile, an underage soldier named Wendell Peterson is in post-op.
Played by Howard, the 15-year-old Wendell stole his brother Walter’s identity to become a soldier only to impress a girl.
Hawkeye initially tells him that the secret will not be revealed.
But after seeing his friend die, Hawkeye gets a speech from Colonel Henry Blake.
There are certain rules about a war. Rule Number One is ‘Young men die.’ Rule number two is ‘Doctors can’t change Rule Number One.’
Hawkeye’s response is to keep one young man from dying in one war.
He reports Peterson to Major Houlihan, thus saving Peterson from future harm, at least on the battle field.
The General Flipped At Dawn
July 14, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
M*A*S*H had a terrific roster of guest stars during its eleven-year run on CBS.
Ron Howard.
Laurence Fishburne.
And Harry Morgan, to name just three.
Harry Morgan?
Didn't he play Colonel Potter?
Yes, but he also appeared as a guest star in the third-season episode The General Flipped At Dawn in 1974.
In this episode, Morgan plays General Hamilton Steele, a no-nonsense, Regular Army, military disciplinarian who inspects the 4077th.
Steele quotes great generals to inspire Colonel Blake.
Of course, the quotes are fictional and sometimes ridiculous.
Indeed, General Steele is in his own world.
While reviewing the troops, he tells Father Mulcahy that he'd like to see a shine on the cross that the 4077th's chaplain wears.
And when Klinger comes to the lineup dressed like a woman to convince the general that he's a candidate for a Section 8 discharge, General Steele dismissed him by saying, Not now Marjorie, I'm inspecting the troops.
It leaves Klinger with a terribly confused look on his face. Where Klinger usually gets wisecracks upon being dismissed, the general actually thinks Klinger is someone named Marjorie, perhaps his wife.
The conflict in the episode stems from Steele's order to move the M*A*S*H 4077th unit to a location closer to the front.
You do your best business on Main Street, says Steele.
He also says, MASH means Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and mobile you shall be.
Unfortunately, General Steele needs a helicopter to view the move at the same time that Dr. Hawkeye Pierce needs a helicopter to transport a patient to Tokyo for further medical treatment.
A shouting match leads to Hawkeye telling the general that he's nuts.
And a court martial of Hawkeye ensues with disastrous results for the general after he makes inappropriate comments to the black helicopter pilot during the hearing.
But that doesn't stop General Steele. He gets a promotion.
Teddy Wilson played the helicopter pilot. He reunited with Harry Morgan in 1987 for the short-lived television series You Can't Take It With You.
The General Flipped At Dawn is an interesting episode.
It shows the great range of Harry Morgan.
Where he plays Potter as wise, compassionate, and avuncular, he plays Steele as single-minded -- his way or the highway.
But instead of making him a caricature, Morgan makes him a realistic character unafraid to use his authority, befuddled and clueless though he may be.
For M*A*S*H fans, The General Flipped At Dawn has historical importance because of Morgan's pre-Potter appearance. And it has entertainment value that puts the episode among the most noteworthy M*A*S*H episodes.
david@davidkrell.com
M*A*S*H had a terrific roster of guest stars during its eleven-year run on CBS.
Ron Howard.
Laurence Fishburne.
And Harry Morgan, to name just three.
Harry Morgan?
Didn't he play Colonel Potter?
Yes, but he also appeared as a guest star in the third-season episode The General Flipped At Dawn in 1974.
In this episode, Morgan plays General Hamilton Steele, a no-nonsense, Regular Army, military disciplinarian who inspects the 4077th.
Steele quotes great generals to inspire Colonel Blake.
Of course, the quotes are fictional and sometimes ridiculous.
Indeed, General Steele is in his own world.
While reviewing the troops, he tells Father Mulcahy that he'd like to see a shine on the cross that the 4077th's chaplain wears.
And when Klinger comes to the lineup dressed like a woman to convince the general that he's a candidate for a Section 8 discharge, General Steele dismissed him by saying, Not now Marjorie, I'm inspecting the troops.
It leaves Klinger with a terribly confused look on his face. Where Klinger usually gets wisecracks upon being dismissed, the general actually thinks Klinger is someone named Marjorie, perhaps his wife.
The conflict in the episode stems from Steele's order to move the M*A*S*H 4077th unit to a location closer to the front.
You do your best business on Main Street, says Steele.
He also says, MASH means Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and mobile you shall be.
Unfortunately, General Steele needs a helicopter to view the move at the same time that Dr. Hawkeye Pierce needs a helicopter to transport a patient to Tokyo for further medical treatment.
A shouting match leads to Hawkeye telling the general that he's nuts.
And a court martial of Hawkeye ensues with disastrous results for the general after he makes inappropriate comments to the black helicopter pilot during the hearing.
But that doesn't stop General Steele. He gets a promotion.
Teddy Wilson played the helicopter pilot. He reunited with Harry Morgan in 1987 for the short-lived television series You Can't Take It With You.
The General Flipped At Dawn is an interesting episode.
It shows the great range of Harry Morgan.
Where he plays Potter as wise, compassionate, and avuncular, he plays Steele as single-minded -- his way or the highway.
But instead of making him a caricature, Morgan makes him a realistic character unafraid to use his authority, befuddled and clueless though he may be.
For M*A*S*H fans, The General Flipped At Dawn has historical importance because of Morgan's pre-Potter appearance. And it has entertainment value that puts the episode among the most noteworthy M*A*S*H episodes.
Captain Tuttle
April 21, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
M*A*S*H had several memorable characters.
Klinger and his women’s clothes.
Hawkeye and his sarcastic wit.
Charles and his superiority complex.
But one of the most memorable characters in the environs of the 4077th is one who never really existed.
In the episode Tuttle, Trapper John and Hawkeye create a file for Jonathan Tuttle, a fictitious doctor whose name Hawkeye uses to authorize donation of supplies to Sister Teresa for her orphanage.
Word soon spreads around camp about this new Jonathan Tuttle.
Thanks to Radar, Colonel Blake is convinced that he has meals with Tuttle.
Frank Burns starts playing camp politics and says that Tuttle is a friend.
And Hot Lips and Frank demand to see the personnel file.
Hawkeye and Trapper John go to work and flesh out the details of one U.S. Army Captain, Dr. Jonathan Tuttle.
Born in 1924.
Hometown, Battle Creek Michigan.
Parents, Harry and Freeda.
And for medical school, Trapper John suggests Harvard, however, Hawkeye wisely suggests that they can’t use a school that can be checked.
Trapper’s response: Berlin Polytechnic.
Always the benevolent one, Hawkeye says, Now a little something for Hot Lips. Height, Six-Four. Weight, 195 pounds. Hair, auburn. Eyes, hazel.
Army red tape then provides Captain Tuttle with months of back pay. While under an operating mask, Hawkeye says that he’s Jonathan Tuttle and signs the appropriate documents brought to the M*A*S*H 4077th by the officer assigned to this particular duty.
Because he’s independently wealthy, that is to say, because Captain Tuttle is independently wealthy, Hawkeye then instructs the officer who brought the paperwork to give all future pay to Sister Teresa’s orphanage.
General Clayton learns that Tuttle gave 14 months back pay to the orphanage and decides to hold a ceremony so he can give Captain Tuttle a decoration.
Hawkeye then reveals there is no Tuttle. Well, at least not anymore. He says that Captain Tuttle went to the batlle field to perform emergency medical surgery. He had everything he needed, except his parachute.
Hawkeye isn’t out of the woods yet. Colonel Blake calls on Hawkeye, the man who knew Tuttle best, to deliver the eulogy.
Naturally, Frank complains to Margaret that he knew Tuttle best.
Hawkeye says, We can all be comforted by the fact that he’s not really gone. There’s a little Tuttle left in all of us. In fact, you might say that all of us together made up Tuttle.
And we learn of one last charitable act. Hawkeye tells his colleagues that Tuttle’s GI insurance names Sister Teresa’s orphanage as the sole beneficiary.
Henry Blake tears up and the episode ends with him saying, He was the best damn OD we ever had. OD is shorthand for Officer of the Day.
In the episode’s tag, Radar questions where they got the dog tags and parachute to complete the scenario of Tuttle dying. Trapper John explains that they came from Major Murdock. Tall, skinny guy. Tuttle’s replacement.
david@davidkrell.com
M*A*S*H had several memorable characters.
Klinger and his women’s clothes.
Hawkeye and his sarcastic wit.
Charles and his superiority complex.
But one of the most memorable characters in the environs of the 4077th is one who never really existed.
In the episode Tuttle, Trapper John and Hawkeye create a file for Jonathan Tuttle, a fictitious doctor whose name Hawkeye uses to authorize donation of supplies to Sister Teresa for her orphanage.
Word soon spreads around camp about this new Jonathan Tuttle.
Thanks to Radar, Colonel Blake is convinced that he has meals with Tuttle.
Frank Burns starts playing camp politics and says that Tuttle is a friend.
And Hot Lips and Frank demand to see the personnel file.
Hawkeye and Trapper John go to work and flesh out the details of one U.S. Army Captain, Dr. Jonathan Tuttle.
Born in 1924.
Hometown, Battle Creek Michigan.
Parents, Harry and Freeda.
And for medical school, Trapper John suggests Harvard, however, Hawkeye wisely suggests that they can’t use a school that can be checked.
Trapper’s response: Berlin Polytechnic.
Always the benevolent one, Hawkeye says, Now a little something for Hot Lips. Height, Six-Four. Weight, 195 pounds. Hair, auburn. Eyes, hazel.
Army red tape then provides Captain Tuttle with months of back pay. While under an operating mask, Hawkeye says that he’s Jonathan Tuttle and signs the appropriate documents brought to the M*A*S*H 4077th by the officer assigned to this particular duty.
Because he’s independently wealthy, that is to say, because Captain Tuttle is independently wealthy, Hawkeye then instructs the officer who brought the paperwork to give all future pay to Sister Teresa’s orphanage.
General Clayton learns that Tuttle gave 14 months back pay to the orphanage and decides to hold a ceremony so he can give Captain Tuttle a decoration.
Hawkeye then reveals there is no Tuttle. Well, at least not anymore. He says that Captain Tuttle went to the batlle field to perform emergency medical surgery. He had everything he needed, except his parachute.
Hawkeye isn’t out of the woods yet. Colonel Blake calls on Hawkeye, the man who knew Tuttle best, to deliver the eulogy.
Naturally, Frank complains to Margaret that he knew Tuttle best.
Hawkeye says, We can all be comforted by the fact that he’s not really gone. There’s a little Tuttle left in all of us. In fact, you might say that all of us together made up Tuttle.
And we learn of one last charitable act. Hawkeye tells his colleagues that Tuttle’s GI insurance names Sister Teresa’s orphanage as the sole beneficiary.
Henry Blake tears up and the episode ends with him saying, He was the best damn OD we ever had. OD is shorthand for Officer of the Day.
In the episode’s tag, Radar questions where they got the dog tags and parachute to complete the scenario of Tuttle dying. Trapper John explains that they came from Major Murdock. Tall, skinny guy. Tuttle’s replacement.