M*A*S*H: 5 O'Clock Charlie

M*A*S*H: 5 O'Clock Charlie
CBS
September 22, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
C+

This episode co-written by Gelbart, Laurence Marks, and Keith Walker (who was mostly a dramatic actor) has a lot of humor that just doesn't work, although the set-up is interesting.  When Hawkeye and Trapper couldn't even do good, or good-bad, posh English accents, I started lowering my expectations.  As always, Burghoff can do more with a reaction shot than most of the cast can do with a convoluted line.

Soldier Lloyd Kino had been a Houseboy on That Girl and a Japanese Delegate in Gidget Grows Up.  Corey Fischer, who looks completely out of period with his beard and guitar, plays Capt. Phil Cardozo, and would later be a Waiter on Welcome Back, Kotter.

Gail Bowman (Powell), Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss, given more to do than usual), Kellye Nakahara (Yamoto), and Herb Voland (Clayton) return.  Sarah Fankboner is Nurse Klein here but would later be Nurse Owens.  And Jeff Maxwell makes his first of 81 appearances as Igor Straminsky.