"M*A*S*H" Preventative Medicine (1979)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Tony Mordente

Writers:

Larry Gelbart (developer) and
Tom Reeder (writer)

TV Series:

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

Original Air Date:

19 February 1979 (Season 7, Episode 22)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Plot:

Hawkeye Pierce performs a shocking and sinister stunt to keep a war-obsessed colonel from sending more young victims to a possible early grave. |

Plot Keywords:

Body Mutilation | Immaturity | Medical Malpractice | Directed By Star | Nurse

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
James Wainwright	...	Colonel Lacy
Larry Flash Jenkins	...	Private North
Jeff Maxwell	...	Igor Straminsky

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

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Hawkeye admits the moral ambiguity of removing Col. Lacy's healthy appendix, and even seems to regret doing so after the fact, but in the third season he had removed Col. Flagg's healthy appendix without giving it a second thought.

A Crisis Of Conscience!!

The opening part of the episode started with surgery. Captain Hunnicutt was first unsure about a patient's liver looking like Illinois. Little did he know the patient was a crew of Colonel Lacy's outfit. The 4077th -- in its obvious task -- had been involved with doing surgery with the rest of Colonel Lacy's soldiers. No wonder everyone acted confused and unsure about the reckless situation from the likes of Colonel Lacy. Coloney Lacy would later arrive at the 4077th to visit his soldiers in the post-operation section of the hospital. Captain Hunnicutt was crudely shocked -- but surprised -- at Colonel Lacy's presence for the sole purpose of engaging in an obvious counteroffensive. Captain North acted resentful and hateful about the injuries his other buddies endured in the battle under his unit. Another soldier became in shock as Colonel Lacy was about to hand him the purple heart in the post-operation ward.

Captains Pierce and Hunnicutt -- albeit with difference of opinions -- invited Colonel Lacy to "The Swamp" for a round of drinks. Captain Pierce would hand Colonel Lacy his drink; then later encountered appendicitis. Captain Pierce operated on Colonel Lacy in surgery -- without the assistance of Captain Hunnicutt. The Reality: operating on Captain Lacy was a ploy to prevent the mortality rate to reach anywhere between 45 percent and 55 percent from his outfit. Surgery was a plan to prevent Colonel Lacy from causing any more injuries to his soldiers. The Result: A Solid 9!! Recommended For Everyone To Watch!!