M*A*S*H (1972–1983): Season 1, Episode 18 - Dear Dad, Again - full transcript

Hawkeye is bored and tired, the best time to pen another missive to his father. He describes Klinger's sheer white wedding gown, which does little to hide his white boxer shorts but is better than Hawkeye's naked dining fiasco. There is more fun to be had over Hotlips' recent tiff with Frank; he got drunk on gin and confided that his own brother used to call him Ferret Face. Radar is now a real, honest to goodness mail order graduate. But, Captain Casey, the new boy genius of their surgical team, is not really a doctor; Hawkeye's failure to throw the book at him causes Casey to reassess his career choices: and an R.C. priest named Schwartz is born. Henry conducts the doctors playing and Hotlips singing "My Blue Heaven" but no one is listening. Hotlips is really selling it, but it is hard to get the Army behind any color but olive drab,

"Dear Dad."

"Sorry I haven't written sooner.
The work piles up around here."

"Korea's pretty much the same story."

"The fighting goes on: hatred, senseless
brutality, men behaving like animals."

"Then, of course, there's the war."

"Business, unfortunately,
remains very brisk."

"You know by now I'm not being flip.
Doing meatball surgery,

you either develop a thick skin or you
wind up in the Tokyo Giggling Academy."

Oh, wow, what a mess.

- Stomach... kidney... liver...
- What is this, an organ recital?

- Quiet. I'm doing something difficult.
- Tying your shoe?



Could we have some measure
of military discipline?

Everybody up for callisthenics.

- Join me for push-ups, Hot Lips?
- Oh, really!

Knock it off!

"Luckily, we've got extra help
these days. Captain Adam Casey."

"He's really a fine surgeon.
Every bit as good as I am."

"And I'll get him for it."

- Help me with these intestines.
- Gimme a retractor.

"The work's hard and ugly, but
the North Koreans hand us some laughs."

- What's that?
- They got the generator.

- We need lights.
- Nobody panic. Let's keep cool.

- Who's panicking?
- You are.

I can't see anything. It's dark!

Shove patients you can't finish
under a table. It's safe there.



How the hell did you get in the army?

- 3-0 silk.
- 3-0 silk.

- Suture scissors.
- Suture scissors.

- Snoo.
- "Snoo"? What's "snoo"?

Not much. What's new with you?

- Can't you be serious?
- I tried it once. Everybody laughed.

"And so it goes."

"Here comes Corporal Klinger,
one of our orderlies."

"A nice guy whose purpose in life
is to get out of the army -

a purpose shared by many,
only Klinger will stop at nothing."

Come in.

I have the x-rays you wanted to look over.

Thank you.

Klinger, do you mind
a little constructive criticism?

- No, sir.
- First of all, it's gorgeous.

It's easy to go overboard.
That's tasteful without being gaudy.

Thank you, sir.

Just one suggestion:
you must wear a slip.

With the sun behind you,
I could see through to your shorts.

Of course.
And I've got so many slips in my tent.

- Thanks for the x-rays.
- Yes, sir.

- May I ask where you got that?
- Mail-order catalogue, sir.

- A white wedding gown?
- I'm entitled. I'm a virgin.

"I guess the sanest guy in the outfit
is Father Mulcahy."

"He should be deaf from the sound of all
the commandments breaking around here."

- Father? Is everything all right?
- It's my back.

- You throw it out?
- No, but I'd sure like to.

- Let's go in the tent. I'll take a look at it.
- Thanks.

Thanks, Captain Casey.

- Do you have a history of back trouble?
- Started in Jesuit school.

All that kneeling.

You stay with your back toward me,
Father, and just relax.

- How's that feel?
- Better. My back really feels better.

Good. Now you just try and take it easy
for a few days, and stay off your knees.

Thank you very much, Doctor.

- Father?
- Yes?

- It's all right.
- Doctor, one good turn deserves another.

Father...

Can we consider this a confessional?

I am a priest.

I'm... not a doctor.

"I don't want you to think this is a madhouse,
Dad. We're nowhere near that organised."

"What we are mainly is bored.
Bored right out of our skulls."

- Nothing fazes anybody here!
- What's the matter?

Everybody's a cipher.
An army of walking zilches.

I bet I could walk into that mess tent,

order lunch stark-naked,
nobody would pay any attention to me.

- Are you crazy?
- I betcha 50 bucks.

- A little drink before lunch?
- I don't mind if I do.

One for the road, as it were.

I have always relied upon
the kindness of strangers.

We don't usually serve
people without neckties.

- Shall we?
- After you.

- 50 bucks.
- I left my pockets back in the Swamp.

Now, that's tasteful without being gaudy.

"It's quiet at the moment, Dad."

"The only man in sight is Radar O'Reilly.
An amazing kid."

"I've never put much stock in ESP,

but if it is possible for one person
to read another's mind,

Radar has that ability - the little fink."

Is that a nice thing to say?

"I don't know what Henry would do
without Radar."

"And I don't know what
we'd do without Henry."

"But I can't wait to get home and find out."

- Sir?
- Yes, Radar?

- Are you busy?
- No, no.

- Sign these, please, sir.
- Righty-o.

Oh, for...

- My dad's pen.
- Oh...

What's this, Radar?

- That's personal, sir.
- Well, you can tell me. My name's on it.

I'm taking a correspondence course

from the Triple-A High School Diploma
Company of Dellavin, Indiana.

The Triple-A...

High School Diploma Company
of Dellavin, Indiana.

I see.

Well... It's final week...

And you want me to take you
to the senior prom, right?

Oh, no...

Oh, no. That says that
I passed my final exam.

- How do I know you passed it?
- You must, sir. You signed it.

Easy, Radar.

You know me. I'll sign anything army.

I'll sign the surrender papers.

But I've got a reputation and a civilian
practice to think of and the last thing I need

is trouble from the Triple-A High School
Diploma Company of Dellavin, Indiana.

I'm sorry, sir. You could give me the test.
I just didn't want to take up your time.

That's no problem.
The war's pretty slow right now.

- Where's the test?
- It's here, sir,

in this officially sealed envelope.

- The seal's broken.
- Oh?

That must have been the censor. They're
always on the lookout for a dirty question.

Let's see here.

All right, Radar, take a piece of paper,

and a pencil, and sit down.

Comfortable?

- C-O-M-F...
- No, no, no, no, no, no.

- That was just a rhetorical question.
- Oh.

- I don't study those.
- Study what?

- Rhetoricals?
- Come on, Radar. Stop horsing around.

I, uh... I'm very nervous, sir.

Look, take a deep breath.

- That makes me throw up.
- Look, just settle down.

This is not gonna be difficult.

- There. Good boy. OK?
- Yes, sir.

First question.

"What is a three-sided object
with two equal sides?"

The Gettysburg Address.

"For which speech is Abraham Lincoln
most remembered?"

The isosceles triangle.

- Something wrong?
- No, no.

No, your answers are right. You just
memorised them in the wrong order.

I just peeked at the first few.

- That's cheating.
- It's my only chance.

Nonsense, Radar. You're smart enough
to get through this on your own.

- OK?
- OK.

Now, I'm gonna give you
two famous dates from history.

- OK.
- 1492.

OK, hold it.

1492, yeah.

- 1776.
- 1776. Uh-huh.

- Now, what do these...
- I know!

- What?
- 3,268.

Congratulations. You've just graduated

from the Triple-A High School
Diploma Company of Dellavin, Indiana.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much.

This is the proudest moment of my life.

- Radar?
- Sir?

- Your dad's pen?
- Yeah.

See if you can get the coffee out of it.

Yes, sir.

"I'll bring you up to date
on Frank and Hot Lips,

the King Kong and Fay Wray
of the 4077th."

"Last week, Frank paid an afternoon call."

"Hot Lips argued that she had a brain
and Frank was only interested in her bones."

"We then found out that, impossible as Frank
is as an enemy, he's intolerable as a friend."

- Knock, knock.
- Who's there?

- Abe Lincoln.
- Abe Lincoln who?

Don't you know me?

That's awful.

- OK, can I do another one?
- No!

- Knock, knock.
- Who's there?

- Thomas Jefferson.
- Thomas Jefferson who?

Was Abe Lincoln just here?

Hawkeye, I never liked you.

Hiya, Chuckles.

I gotta hand it to you, Frank. You got
all the gaiety of an impacted wisdom tooth.

Is that a martini?

In case you didn't read the paper today,
Prohibition was repealed.

Well, I want one.

- A drink? You, Frank?
- A double.

If you have a drink, you'll loosen up.
You might even smile.

Frank, you could break your face!

And leave out the olive.

- You want to talk about it?
- I don't want to talk about it.

I don't want to think about it.
I don't want to think about talking about it.

Take it easy. That's very young gin.

Go slow. That stuff'll
take the paint off your stomach.

Fill 'er up.

# A, B, C, D

# E, F, G, H, I...

# I got a gal in Kalamazoo

- Frank?
- Zoo.

- Frank?
- Yo!

If you don't stop singing,
I'll glue your tongue down!

Don't be a party pooper.

Or a pooter parpy.

Frank, the party's over.
It's a quarter of three.

# And there's no one in the place
except you and me

- Frank, you take requests?
- Anything.

Shut your cakehole.

# Oh, shut your cakehole

# The more I want you

Come on, Frank, knock it off!
Close your eyes!

If I close my eyes,
my brain won't get any air.

- Your what?
- I got a brain, you know!

I got a brain as big as hers are.

- Right, pal. Right, buddy.
- Pal and buddy.

I sure hope that's not a song.

Get away from there, Frank. We're closed.

You know,

no one ever called me "pal" or "buddy"
in my whole rotten life.

You know what my own brother
used to call me? My own brother?

Ferret Face.

Can you imagine that?

Do you think I look like a weasel?

- No, you're very handsome.
- Honest?

- Honest.
- Really?

- Do you think he looks like a weasel?
- Who?

Ferret Face!

Hey, I had a brother used to call me that.

Frank, go to sleep. You look beautiful.

Say, you sure you don't
love me just for my body?

Believe me, that's the last thing
we love about you. Go to sleep.

Come on, let's do something!

Hey, knock it off over there!

Oh, yeah? How'd you like to
step inside and say that?

Come on, fellas. Let's do something.

We don't want to do anything.

Then I'll do something.

- What should I do?
- Fall down.

Right.

Can I see you for a second, Hawkeye?

I told you not to disturb me
during the Korean War.

- I've always liked girls with your blood type...
- It's important.

Go away!

This young nurse and I are discussing
the possibility of a surrender.

She's giving me her terms right now.

- Let's go back to my place and talk.
- I think you're gonna want to see this.

- Where are you going?
- The nurses' shower.

Good. Then I'll see you.
Unless they plugged up the hole.

- Important, huh?
- Yep.

It better be, or I'm putting
your appendix back.

Terrific(!)

Captain Casey, huh?

- I'll talk to him right now.
- After the choppers.

- What choppers?
- Wait for it.

Attention. Incoming choppers with wounded.

Report to the hospital. All personnel.

- Very good work, Captain Casey.
- Thank you, Father.

- I'll give you a hand here.
- It's all right, Captain.

Better let me give you a hand... Sergeant.

The provost marshal has a circular
out on you. You're hot, fella.

Are you gonna blow the whistle?

Be off the base in 24 hours, and never...

repeat: never... touch a patient
again without a licence.

And contact me the minute you get one.
You're a damn good surgeon.

- On the level?
- Next to you, Frank is an alterations lady.

Thanks.

- I gotta ask you one question.
- "Why?"

I've passed myself off as
a teacher, a lawyer, an engineer.

I can do it all.

I just never had the patience
to go through it by the numbers.

I guess I never had the drive to get
the diploma, the permit, whatever.

Try it once.

You'll be great, Casey.

Schwartz, actually.

"I forgot to thank you for
sending me your old tuxedo."

"It really added class
to our charity no-talent night."

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Before bringing on our all-star attraction,

I'd like to say that tonight

we raised over $300
for the Korean Refugee Fund.

And someone who wishes to
remain anonymous gave $5 for Israel.

And now we'd like to bring you
an act with a lot of polish.

They're going to sell it after the show.

And here they are, those doctors
of rhythm, those medics of melody,

the 4077th's own Hawkeye Pierce
and his Swinging Surgeons,

under the direction of Colonel Henry Blake!

Give me an M.

# You'll see a smiling face

# When evening is nigh

# We'll hurry to my blue heaven

- # Heaven
- # A turn to the right

# A little white light

# Will lead you to my blue heaven

# You'll see a smiling face,
a fireplace, a cosy room

# A little nest that's nestled
where the roses bloom

# Just Molly and me

# And baby makes three

# We're happy in my blue heaven

One more time!

"I'd like to write more, but it's Saturday,
the one night we look forward to."

"I'm gonna shower now, shave,

put on a clean uniform
and cry myself to sleep."

"Kiss Mom and sis."

Hawkeye! Hawkeye, are you asleep?

I never know.

There's somebody here who'd
like to say goodbye to you.

Thanks for everything you did.
And everything you didn't.

In a place with characters,
you held your own, "Doctor".

No, not any more.

Goodbye, my son.