Plot: Henry Morgan in an early role as a spit-and-polish general. (Straight out of the T.V. Guide synopsis!)
Said general is a few bricks shy of a load, not playing with a full deck, with a few rungs missing from his ladder, a few bats up in the ol' belfry....

That's Harry, not Henry.

BTW, how is this an early role? Morgan was on Dragnet almost 10 years befor this episode.

Sorry about the Henry. As for the "early", it means that it's "B.P." (Before Potter).

During the run of M*A*S*H, I recall reading somewhere that Harry (not Henry) Morgan had worked continuously on television for something like thirty seasons, or maybe it was twenty. Either way, it's got to be a record.

I loved watching him dance and sing "Mississippi Mud." That's the song our marching band always used for marching up the field.

>That's Harry, not Henry.> Actually, Mr. Morgan has been credited as both Harry Morgan and Henry Morgan (but never as Keith Alan Morgan).

BTW, in one of Harry Morgan's roles he was in the movie State Fair. This movie was shown at the 4077 in the episode "The Moon Is Not Blue". I wonder if any one commented that Potter looked a lot like one of the actors in the film.

Thanks to syndication, this episode does not have the right ending anymore. It originally ended in the Swamp with Hawkeye and Trapper drinking martinis and Frank polishing his boots. Henry enters the tent with the current "Stars and Stripes". From it he reads how General Steele had been promoted one star and stationed state-side. Hawk and Trap make some jokes. Burns defends the general. Hawkeye then begins singing "Mississippi Mud". Henry and Trapper join in. They dance around Frank and the center pole of the tent and exit. The camera centers on Burns who's humming the song and polishing his boot in rhythm to the song.

I'd forgotten that! Then again, it's been so long since I've seen the original run, there's probably a lot that I've forgotten.

People like me, who were too young to watch M*A*S*H* when it first came out, seem to have missed out on a lot! Thank goodness for the DVDs! (Now that I've said that, when are the rest of the seasons comming out on DVD?)

Season Two is due out in May. I have no idea what the schedule will be after that. It may be a season every five months for all I know.

Once again, in this ep, Hawkeye makes a reference to his sister. He says he's making a necklace for her.

IIRC, the OR was supposed to be the one place in the series there would be no laugh track. Yet when Henry reads the list of changes General Steele is making, there is a laugh track playing.

Henry got his new fatigue from the Supply Sgt. awfully quick. I mean, think how long it took Hawkeye to get a pair of boots (“For Want of a Boot”).

Pierce and McIntyre must be a very bad influence on the camp. You’d think that under normal circumstances, the camp would automatically fall into formation when Gen. Steele arrives. Yet they don’t. They continue to play basketball in spite of how loud Steele’s arrival is.

Surely if Henry complained to General Mitchell, or another General, he could get Steele’s orders countermanded. The 4077th is a unit that is meant to be a certain distance from the front. The chain of medical care is Battalion Aide Station – MASH unit – Evac Station. Moving the 4077th to the front would essentially turn the 4077th into a Battalion Aide Station. I don’t think Steele has the authority to do that.

Can a Warrant Officer be a chopper pilot, too? Maybe I’m being naïve, but I thought a warrant officer was a position, not a rank. Yet Williams, the black chopper pilot, is identified as Warrant Officer Martin Williams at Hawkeye’s court martial.

Surely if Henry complained to General Mitchell, or another General, he could get Steele's orders countermanded...Moving the 4077th to the front would essentially turn the 4077th into a Battalion Aide Station. I don't think Steele has the authority to do that.

I dunno. Granted that yeah, Henry had recourse to other Generals, I think the point was that Steele was some sort of uber-General.
That is, he commanded so much respect above and beyond the mere fact of his rank that the other top brass would give much weight to his opinions...and our own Colonel Blake (who was routinely intimidated by anyone in authority) was completely overwhelmed.

OK, it's a stretch, but going along with it makes Steele's already hysterical crackup at the end even funnier.

That could be. I guess what bothers me is that General Steele is essentially turning the 4077th into a Battalion Aide Station and I'm not sure he really has the authority to do that. The doctors cannot do the kind of surgery they are supposed if they are continually under attack. (I know they have worked while being shelled, but never on a daily basis.)

I agree with you about Henry being too afraid to challenge the General, though.

BTW, it seems to me that General Steele is the first General in the series we don't see Margaret trying to hit on, or with whom has already had a romantic liason.

Just saw this uncut yesterday. They have a scene where the general is pointing out the new location to Henry and Frank. Having given Henry an order to move, the General demands a salute from him. Henry and Frank both nervously say that a salute is not a good idea in that area, as there are snipers and they would see which was the superior officer. The General demands a salute anyway, and bullets start flying. Frank and Henry dive behind the Jeep. The General casually pulls out his gun, surveys the area, and says that they can either fight back, or have lunch. Frank almost squeals, "LUNCH!" and Henry agrees. The General takes the wheel and drives nonchalantly away. This scene is redone in a later episode with a visiting Colonel (who is there to have his "Love Bug" treated). When a sniper starts shooting and everyone dives for cover, the Colonel looks around, mutters, "Ah, civilians!" and drives casually away.

What is it with Saltines and sex? Hawkeye mentions to his nurse of the hour that he will bring Saltines. Later, he tells her that he couldn't find Saltines, but is salting down some Ritz crackers. Still later, preparing for his date, Radar arrives and very proudly displays a box of Saltines that he had stolen from the cook while the cook was personally serving the General's meal. (Also, the tin of cheese that Hawkeye takes along.)

After Steele first arrives and is inspecting the troops, Radar sees Klinger approaching. The corporal warns Henry, telling the Colonel to look "straight ahead at 12 O'Clock." However, Henry doesn't look straight ahead, 12 O'Clock. He's looking in the direction of 1 O'Clock. Radar is looking in the 12 O'Clock direction though. Interestingly enough, Klinger enters the compound from 1 O'Clock.

Is the Nurse Baker in this ep the same seen in other eps, or is she a different one?

General Steele must have bad eyesight not to be able to distinguish an apple from a baseball. (Then again, that could be another sign of how crazy he is.)

Steele chastizes Henry for throwing away a tongue depressor. He notes that you throw away a used rifle. I'm just curious, does the General also believe that used bullets should be reused? It strikes me as the same principle.

BTW, what was that tongue depressor doing out in front of the Mess Tent?

General Steele has a very poor memory. He asks Henry where "the Little General's room" is shortly after Henry pointed out where the Officer's Latrine is. Or does the General think the 4077^th has a special latrine set aside for visiting Generals?

There's a couple of great angles in this ep. Earlier, in the OR scene, we get a great shot of the ceiling to the OR, helping to instill the impression that it is a real building. Later, when Henry is trying to talk Steele out of moving the 4077^th, we see a rare view of the interior of the Officers' Club. This also helps further the illusion that it's a real building.

Is there a fourth person in the Swamp? When Hawkeye and Trapper are playing checkers, you can see a bulletin board with pictures and a bath robe behind Pierce. It's not Frank's. At least, I don't think so. In the shots showing Pierce, McIntyre and Burns, Frank's cot is clearly visible. It's to Hawkeye's right. (The checker board is set on the far side of Trapper's bunk.) It could be that Frank has taken over that entire side of the Swamp, but I'd love to know how he did it without Hawkeye and Trapper protesting.

Henry and Frank protest giving Steele a salute because that would identify the General as the ranking officer present. So would the stars and other insignia on their helmets. (I believe it's standard practice for such identifying markings to be removed in such a dangerous area.)

I swear, the snipers seen throughout the series are horrible shots. Not one bullet fired at Steele and the others seem to come anywhere near the three men. The sniper doesn't even hit the jeep!

Abyssinia!

Regarding Nurse Baker--she probably was a different one. They went through a plethora of "Nurse Ables" and "Nurse Bakers", taking it from the ABC's of the military--Able, Baker, Charlie. (Charlie's up in his airplane, waiting for 5:00.) Nurse Kellye was originally an Able/Baker nurse before she merited her own name.

Nurse Kellye was also probably the only nurse who was able(no pun intended)to work her way into being a recurring character on the show.Most of the other nurses were only one or two episodes.

I swear, the snipers seen throughout the series are horrible shots. Not one bullet fired at Steele and the others seem to come anywhere near the three men. The sniper doesn't even hit the jeep!


They trained at the same targeting school that 5 o'clock Charlie went to? (The Imperial Stormtrooper academy?)