22 Aug
M*A*S*H – The TV Series, Season 1, Vol. 2 [VHS]
M*A*S*H – The TV Series, Season 1, Vol. 2 [VHS] Review
This tape provides the middle third of the first season of “M*A*S*H,” when Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and Trapper John (Wayne Rogers) were more interested in chasing pretty young female lieutenants than saving lives in the operating room. However, the foundation was being set for the show to become television’s first dramedy/black comedy and not just another military sitcom in the tradition of “Sgt. Bilko”:
(9) “Henry, Please Come Home” (Writer: Laurence Marks, Aired: November 19, 1972) finds Frank Burns (Larry Linville) taking over the 4077th when Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) is transferred to Tokyo. Consequently, it is up to Hawkeye and Trapper, with help from Radar (Gary Burghoff) to get their bumbling but beloved leader back home. Grade B-: Actually, the best part of this episode is watching Frank turn the camp shipshape, because getting Henry back is a foregone conclusion.
(10) “I Hate a Mystery” (Writer: Hal Dresner, Aired: November 26, 1972) finds Hawkeye playing detective when all the evidence suggests he is the one who has been stealing things from everybody in the camp. Grade D+: I do not like this episode because it runs counter to the notion of family that exists in such a unit and because the real thief is so obvious that the final resolution seems forced.
(11) “Germ Warfare” (Writer: Larry Gelbart, Aired: December 10, 1972) forces Hawkeye to tap a sleeping Frank for a pint of blood for an emergency blood transfusion only to discover that there might be something wrong with Frank. Grade B-: A minor outing but interesting because for the first time the guys show some concern for Frank as a human being.
(12) “Dear Dad” (Writer: Larry Gelbart, Aired: December 17, 1972) is an innovative effort to stretch the narrative boundaries of the show as a situation comedy. Hawkeye narrates the episode as a letter home in which he reveals what is happening with everybody in the camp. Grade A: This format was utilized several times over the rest of the series, including Winchester dictating a tape home, but it also marks the point where it is clear once and for all that Hawkeye Pierce is the star and voice of “M*A*S*H.”
(13) “Edwina” (Writer: Hal Dresner, Aired: December 24, 1972) has the nurses insisting the guys find a date for the accident-prone nurse Edwina (Arlene Golonka). Grade C-: Back to standard military sitcom nonsense; compare this with the next episode.
(14) “Love Story” (Writer: Laurence Marks, Aired: January 7, 1973) has Trapper and Hawkeye giving Radar a course in high culture (“Ah, Bach!”) to impress a brainy new nurse (Kelly Jean Peters) with whom the little corporal is smitten. Grade B+: The first true Radar O’Reilly episode that provided the character with heart to go along with that ESP.
(15) “Tuttle” (Writer: Bruce Shelly, David Ketchum; Aired: January 14, 1973) has Hawkeye and Trapper creating a fictional captain so that his army pay can be donated to the local orphanage. Grade B+: One of the better military comedies on the show, and the first decent script written by someone other than Gelbart and Marks; again, see the next one.
(16) “The Ringbanger” (Writer: Jerry Mayer; Aired; January 21, 1973) is an overzealous colonel (Leslie Nielsen) whose gunho attitude is getting his troops killed. So the boys decide to do what they can to take the colonel out of action. This is also the first episode directed by former child star Jackie Cooper, who would become a main director for the series in Season 2. Grade B+: One of the first episodes to deal with the war against the war and how the doctors periodically tried to fight back.
Overall, the second third of Season 1 grades slightly higher than the first third; there is only one clunker in the lot, which is pretty good. The show is starting to take things a bit more seriously. However, it is the next tape, which begins with the most significant episode in the history of “M*A*S*H” that shows the series could play both comedy and drama, thereby reaching operatic heights. To be continued…
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