M*A*S*H: Divided We Stand

M*A*S*H: Divided We Stand
CBS
September 15, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B-

CBS shifted M*A*S*H over to what would be a winning Saturday night line-up, with this series that performed poorly in its first year now happily sandwiched between All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, with The Bob Newhart Show at 9:30.  (Bridget Loves Bernie had the 8:30 spot the previous year, but obviously would never be regarded as a classic sitcom by anyone.)  This season-opener does a nice job of (re)introducing the characters and set-up.  We know that the visiting psychiatrist will decide that, yes, this team is crazy but they do good work, and craziness is a survival mechanism.  Note that while Jamie Farr is still listed in the closing rather than opening credits, Klinger is one of the people whom we are told to tune in to see each week, and he has a couple scenes (and fetching outfits).

She's not credited, but Kellye Nakahara makes her debut as Lt. Kellye Yamato.  She'd go on to do an impressive 166 more episodes, including some where she'd have more to do than poor Ginger (Odessa Cleveland, returning, getting one line here I think) ever got.  Nakahara was 23 in '73, one of the younger members of the cast.

Linda Meiklejohn (in her last appearance as Henry's girlfriend Leslie Scorch), Bobbie Mitchell (previously Mason, here Marshall), and Herb Voland (Clayton) also return.  Lesley Evans plays Nurse Bryan, her first of three nurses that season.