Here’s today’s image. Can you name the episode it’s from?

Name That Episode

May 1st, 2009 Edit: Here’s a hint. The episode is from Season Eleven.

This is an experiment that I’m going to try for the next few weeks. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning I’ll be posting an image from a random episode of M*A*S*H. It will be up to you to name the episode the image is from. Sounds easy enough, right? It would be, too, if the images were from “classic” episodes. But I’ve tried to avoid those episodes.

There are no prizes for correct guesses. It’s all in good fun. Here’s the first image:

Name That Episode

Good luck!

The Seventh Annual TV Land Awards (taped Sunday, February 19th) were shown on TV Land last night, which is a cable channel I don’t get. Thankfully, TV Land has put highlights from the show on its website, including a 13-minute segment showcasing the presentation and acceptance of the Impact Award.

Martin Sheen introduced the award and the cast and crew who were on hand to accept it. A montage of clips from the series was shown, interspersed with comments from Bob Newhart, Kate Flannery, Phil Rosenthal and others as well as Harry Morgan and Jamie Farr. Sheen then welcomed everyone to the stage and the audience took to its feet and applauded.

Alan Alda Accepting the Impact Award

Alan Alda made the following speech:

“I have to tell you this is really a surprise to me. I bet we all had this reaction. I got a little emotional watching that as I remembered each of those shots when we shot them.

“You know, people ask us why the show was so successful. And it was in great part because of the talents of the writers and producers — the great Larry Gelbart, Gene Reynolds and Burt Metcalfe — the great the directors, a string of great directors, and the actors and not only their talents but this thing we had among us. We loved one another. And that affection we had I think came through the lense of the camera. The thing is that what I don’t think is noticed much is that what was underlying all of it was that we were playing out the lives of people who had really lived through these harrowing experiences. The people who had gone through this both in the MASH units and on the front lines in Korea. And no matter how silly the show got in the comedic moments we never forgot that real people and lived through these things.

“And I have to tell you Tom [Selleck] is right. When I think of them, when I remember them, I think of the people now who are living through a war. And I think we have to support them even as they come home. And there are organizations that help ease the transition back into civilian life. And just in the spirit of M*A*S*H it wouldn’t be a bad idea to search them out and support those organizations. For eleven years we healed imaginary wounds and that’s a chance to heal some real wounds.”

Burt Metcalfe took a moment to note that Gene Reynolds couldn’t be at the taping because he was ill and accepted the award on his behalf. Loretta Swit recounted that a young teenager recognized her at the airport and said “Golly, my grandfather is going to be so thrilled.” She then thanked TV Land only to be interrupted by Alan Alda, who gave her a big kiss.

Loretta Swit Accepting the Impact Award

Larry Gelbart extended Gary Burghoff’s thanks (he was in Florida) and made the following request:

“One of the reasons the show has its continued success is because the costumes, unfortunately, never go out of style. Rather than make them so familiar perhaps it would be a good thing for the people who run this world to sit down and make the show obsolete.”

Wayne Rogers gave Larry Gelbart credit for the success of the show and joked that if he had a mustache he’d be a bigger star today.

Wayne Rogers Accepting the Impact Award

The Seventh Annual TV Land Awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will be broadcast tonight on cable channel TV Land from 8:00PM to 10:30PM ET (check your local listings). The awards show was taped on Sunday, April 19th. Cast and crew from M*A*S*H were on hand to accept the Impact Award which, according to a TV Land press release, “is given to a show that offered both entertainment and enlightenment, always striving for both humor and humanity, with comedy that reflected reality.”

Accepting the award were Allan Arbus, Alan Alda, Burt Metcalfe, Gene Reynolds, Jeff Maxwell, Kellye Nakahara Wallet, Larry Gelbart, Loretta Swit, Mike Farrell, Wayne Rogers and William Christopher. The official website for the awards show can be found here. The show will be repeated immediately from 10:30PM to 1:00AM.

This is an example of how cuts made to episodes in syndication can lead to confusion. I used to keep a list of M*A*S*H goofs with dozens of submissions from fans. One such goof came from the Season Eight episodes “Dreams“>Dreams,” originally broadcast February 18th, 1980. Many years back Sean sent me the following:

Winchester dreams he is performing magic. They show all the other characters applauding, and Klinger is wearing earrings. After they show Charles again, they show the other cast members. Klinger is not wearing earrings anymore.

Robert later sent in this correction:

This appears to be the case only in the syndicated version, because of bad cuts. In the fully uncut version, Klinger takes up the collection from the O.R. crowd, “passing the hat,” and he puts in his earrings. Because that was cut, in the syndicated version it appears as though Klinger’s earrings just disappear due to a lack of continuity.

Brent then sent in a correction to the correction:

If you watch that episode on DVD there is a cut scene that shows Klinger taking off his earrings and putting them into a hat BUT later on after that it shows him again with his earrings ON.

So, a goof that wasn’t quite a goof turned out, in the end, to be a goof? Whew. That’s confusing. Here’s what happens: Charles walks into the O.R. and everyone begins to gather around to watch his show, Klinger included. He actually isn’t wearing any earrings at this point.

“Dreams”

Cut to a shot of Charles against one of the white privacy dividers. In the next shot, which shows everyone clumped together, Klinger is now wearing large diamond earrings.

“Dreams”

Charles does a few tricks, everyone applauds and Klinger passes around Charles’s top hat, placing his earrings (we actually only see him put in one) inside.

“Dreams”

The dream then takes a turn for the somber: everyone stands aside to reveal Colonel Potter and a patient is wheeled in on a gurney. Charles does another trick and everyone applauds. Klinger is once again wearing the earrings.

“Dreams”

Everyone stops applauding when the patient goes into distress. Charles keeps the act going but no amount of magic can save the dying patient. In several close-up shots, Klinger is seen without his earrings.

“Dreams”

The patient eventually dies and, as Charles dances with a pair of sparklers, is wheeled back out on his gurney. Charles wakes up and utters a single word: “Damn.”

So what does this tell us about M*A*S*H? Surprisingly little. The reaction shots with everyone applauding and smiling were simply filmed at the same time. Thus, Klinger always has his earrings on in those shots. What this does indicate is the closeness with which some fans view the series. To notice a goof in an episode, even one created due to a cut scene, is one thing. To realize while watching the uncut episode that the goof in question wasn’t actually a goof is something else entirely. But to then figure out that there is in fact a goof? That takes the cake.

Here’s a two paragraph review of M*A*S*H by Gerald Clark for TIME magazine, originally published on October 16th, 1972. Be forewarned, it’s brutal:

This show, which began as one of the most promising series of the new season, is now one of its biggest disappointments. Based on the 1970 movie of the same name, which followed the misadventures of an Army medical unit during the Korean War, M*A*S*H started out as television’s first black comedy. It is now as bleached out as Hogan’s Heroes.

The creeping blandness was probably foreordained. Commercial television is simply not prepared to accept the savage satire of the movie original. Beyond that, no series could hope to recreate the film’s peculiar tension between comedy and horror. The writers seem to have given up their initial efforts and now stand on their cliches.

Ouch. I think the phrase “creeping blandness” hurts the most. But Clarke makes a good point in his second paragraph. No network sitcom could ever hope to match the film MASH. On the other hand, by Monday, October 16th, 1972 M*A*S*H had been on the air just five weeks. And I doubt Clark had a chance to view the Sunday, October 15th episode prior to writing this review. That’s not a lot of time to go from “television’s first black comedy” to being “as bleached out as Hogan’s Heroes.”

The review was found through TIME’s online archive and was published alongside Clark’s reviews of Anna and the King (another CBS sitcom) and Vanity Fair (a British drama shown by PBS). I plan on presenting other reviews of the series from the early 1970s as I find them.