"M*A*S*H" Fallen Idol (1977)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Alan Alda

Writer:

Alan Alda (writer)

TV Series:

"M*A*S*H" (1972)

Original Air Date:

27 September 1977 (Season 6, Episode 2)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Plot:

Radar has always looked up to Hawkeye and admired him as his hero. But after suffering a Jeep accident en route to R&R at Hawkeye's behest. Radar questions his own hero worship. Particularly when he and his hero have a falling out.

Plot Keywords:

Alcoholic | Directed By Star | Nurse | Colonel | Doctor

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 15	9:00 PM	TVLAND	Fallen Idol	#6.2
Tue. Nov. 17	7:00 PM	HALMRK	Fallen Idol	#6.2

Cast

Alan Alda	...	Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce
Mike Farrell	...	Captain B.J. Hunnicut
Harry Morgan	...	Colonel Sherman T. Potter
Loretta Swit	...	Major Margaret Houlihan
David Ogden Stiers	...	Major Charles Winchester
Gary Burghoff	...	Corporal Walter Eugene O'Reilly
Jamie Farr	...	Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger
William Christopher	...	Father Francis Mulcahy
Frances Fong	...	Rosie
Patricia Stevens	...	Nurse Baker
Robin Riker	...	Nurse Perry
Larry Gilman	...	G.I. #1
Michael Talbott	...	G.I. #2

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Sound Recording)

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Quotes:

Col. Sherman Potter: [to Hawkeye] Your behavior is incomprehensible. Again! You have a boy there, fresh out of the cornfields, who is highly vulnerable and impressionable, not to mention the fact that he worships you...
Margaret: Although WHY I can't imagine.
Col. Sherman Potter: Then you make this kid the target of the most bellicose barrell full of bull durham anybody's ever heard you utter!
Margaret: And I've heard you utter plenty.
Col. Sherman Potter: If you don't mind, I rehearsed this as a single.
Margaret: And you're doing fine, really.
Col. Sherman Potter: Gee, Major, I appreciate that. Now will you CLAM UP?
[to Hawkeye]
Col. Sherman Potter: This boy's been told he's nothing more than a pimple on a flea by the man whose opinion he values more than any one in the world. And I think you DAMN WELL better do something about it! Now what do you think?
Hawkeye: I think you're right.
[...]

Excellent.

This is one of the best episodes of this series, which for a series that ran for eleven years is saying a lot. Powerful acting coupled with an excellent script makes this episode worthy of special mention. Although a comedy, MASH covers many themes that portray various aspects of the human condition, here the theme being hero worship and what happens when your hero fails and you are forced to confront the reality of the situation, that your hero has imperfections and could even let you down. Oh how smug one can get when they believe that they can rely on someone else to help them out until the time comes when help is needed and the "hero" fails. Okay, it's not comedy, but in this case it's better than comedy because it's dramatic, compelling and real.