Three's Company: Pilot #1

Three's Company: Pilot #1
ABC
Mid-March 1976
Sitcom
DVD
C+

With Man About the House wrapping up in the U.K., an American adaptation was in the works, but it took a few tries to get the right mix.  I would say this episode is more interesting than entertaining.  On my earlier blog (http://mathw3sc.blogspot.com/), I went into a very detailed comparison of this to not only the MAtH pilot but also the 3's C Pilot #3.  For now I just want to examine this pilot in relative isolation.

I was curious to see how Gelbart's script comes across, since he at this point had contributed some of the best and worst moments on M*A*S*H.  There was at least one line of David's that sounded like Hawkeyesque false modesty.  And there's quite a bit of sex humor, some of it kinkier than anything that could've aired on ABC at that time.  I also found a certain Californian and/or post-'60s quality running throughout the show, from the jokes about religion to David's remark that he delivered a baby to a lady in a neighboring tree at a rock concert.

I didn't feel like I really got a fix on the characters, except for Mr. Roper.  (Here called George, as in England, although the Missus is Helen.)  Fell's line readings and even some of his hand gestures are much like they would be.  As Lindley herself recognized, this Mrs. Roper wasn't going to work as a character, too tough and hard.  Susanne Zenor (who was Nurse Murphy on M*A*S*H) as Samantha doesn't come into focus too well.  I like 30-year-old Valerie Curtin, but having her call Zoey (Bobbie Mitchell, who was almost done playing various nurses on M*A*S*H at this point) a "banana person" feels off because she's kind of loopy herself.  And as I said five years ago, David Bell is too drifty and pseudo-intellectual to fit as a John Ritter character, although I do like that he's nicer to the girls than Jack would be.

I think overall this pilot is trying to be outrageous in several directions and there's no sensible/solid base here.  The series would precisely define its characters and settings, sometimes overdoing the stereotypes, but in a way that led to wonderful farce when it worked.

Dooty-dooty-doot-doo!

M*A*S*H: The Interview

M*A*S*H: The Interview
CBS
February 24, 1976
Dramedy
DVD
B+

This episode, written and directed by Gelbart, is among his best work.  It takes the form of a black & white documentary, set during the second year of the war (and yet Eisenhower is President).  Clete Roberts, who was an actual war correspondent, interviews some of the staff of the 4077th.  (Margaret is again absent.)  The answers range from silly to thought-provoking, and completely in character for everyone.  Family notes: BJ and Peg's daughter is named Erin; Klinger's wife's name is Laverne Esposito and his father's Butch; Potter mentions his son, daughter-in-law, and baby granddaughter he has never seen.

M*A*S*H in its fourth year, and the first of what I'm calling for now the Gary-Harry-Larry phase, ranges from C- to B+, with an exact average of B-.  Although there are moments that recall the wilder, more immature (and sexist) style of the first three years, with Frank actually getting more irrational and cartoonish, there are times when the show seems to be growing up, BJ and Potter helping to bring out quieter tones in both Hawkeye and the show.  With Swit's frequent absences (I believe she was doing a stageplay at the time), Margaret's character isn't given as much screen time as I'd like, but we can see changes in her, and in her relationship with Frank.  The continuity, particularly towards the end of the season, goes out the window, as if it's sunk in that they were getting awfully close to July '53 and war's end, and had to pull back from that.  They of course couldn't have known that they still had seven years to go.

M*A*S*H: Deluge

M*A*S*H: Deluge
CBS
February 17, 1976
Dramedy
DVD
B

A newsreel from 1950 is interspersed with scenes of the 4077th, especially in and around the OR.  The Chinese have just joined the war (or "police action" as Frank calls it), which happened in October of that year.  So the retconning begins.  For once, a fragmented format actually helps, with scenes of famous politicians and movie comedians, as well as a ping-pong-playing cat, contrasting with the more serious scenes of the unit.  There are moments where Potter and Houlihan deliberately walk in on each other in the shower, and they're not played for prurience, as they would've been in the Blake era.  The colonel and the major treat each other like equals, both regular Army and understanding each other as no one else in camp can.

Kario Salem makes his first M*A*S*H appearance, as the Youngster.  Lois Foraker (Nurse Able), Roy Goldman (this time as a Corpsman), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), and Lynn Marie Stewart (this time as Nurse Plummer) return.  Gelbart & Muntner wrote this one.

M*A*S*H: The More I See You

M*A*S*H: The More I See You
CBS
February 10, 1976
Dramedy
DVD
B+

This Gelbart & Reynolds story, directed by Reynolds, has Hawkeye reconnecting with a woman from his past, Blythe Danner as Carlye Breslin Walton.  They lived together during his residency and she has since remarried.  He's still carrying a torch for her and she still has feelings for him.  They get involved again, but she realizes this won't work because his first love is medicine.  No one is judgmental here, although BJ makes clear why he personally is faithful to Peg.  Danner's performance is very good and I completely believe that this is the kind of woman he'd fall for, quietly beautiful, with a dry wit to match his own.  There's also a cute subplot about Potter painting portraits of the staff.  Interestingly, Frank and Margaret are both absent this episode.

Mary Jo Catlett, who was Mrs. Englehart on The Bob Newhart Show (and would later be the last maid on Diff'rent Strokes), makes her first of three M*A*S*H appearances, here as Becky.

M*A*S*H: Smilin' Jack

M*A*S*H: Smilin' Jack
CBS
February 3, 1976
Dramedy
DVD
B-

This Gelbart & Muntner story surprised me by not killing off either of the guest characters I expected, neither the young patient Radar befriends nor the helicopter pilot who's trying to set a record.  Alba Francesca, who plays Nurse Cathy King, would be Joan on Three's Company the following year.  And, yes, Margaret is finally back, and surprisingly BJ sort of flirts with her.  This is the first of 44 M*A*S*H episodes Charles S. Dubin directed.

M*A*S*H: Hawkeye

M*A*S*H: Hawkeye
CBS
January 13, 1976
Dramedy
DVD
C+

Not getting enough of Benjamin Franklin Pierce?  Watch this episode where he does an almost non-stop monologue, including musical numbers, in front of a mostly silent Korean family, who gives him shelter after he almost runs over the kids and himself receives a concussion.  Me?  I'd take a nap till Radar rescued me, but I guess that would be too quiet an episode.

Susan Sakimoto, who's the Oldest Child, would return later that year as a different Korean Girl, while this is the first of four M*A*S*H appearances for Pregnant Woman June Kim.  Mother Shizuko Hoshi makes her second of four, and Father Philip Ahn his first of three.  Gelbart directed and co-wrote with Muntner.

M*A*S*H: The Price of Tomato Juice

M*A*S*H: The Price of Tomato Juice
CBS
December 16, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
B-

This Gelbart & Reynolds story (also directed by Reynolds) is another of the episodes based on the barter system.  The odd thing about this one is that the only person who's happy with what they end up with is Klinger, who gets to go to the party Margaret was invited to.

Jeff Maxwell returns as Straminsky, although he tells Frank his name is Maxwell.

M*A*S*H: The Gun

Frank with a different gun.

M*A*S*H: The Gun
CBS
December 2, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
B-

M*A*S*H shifted over to Tuesdays at 9 p.m., so I could've watched it after Welcome Back, Kotter at 8:30, but of course this was past my second-grade bedtime and M*A*S*H was far too grown-up for me at that point.  I certainly wasn't ready for the Freudianism of Margaret's excitement that Frank seems to own a gun like her father's.  He's actually stolen it, and Radar gets blamed and threatened with fifteen years' imprisonment, so Frank reluctantly returns the gun, shooting himself in the foot.  We can see here how Margaret continues to fall out of love with Frank, as she becomes more and more disillusioned with him.  Yet she stays with him, for inexplicable reasons.  I'm curious to see where this goes in the long run.  (I remember she gets married and later has a one-night stand with Hawkeye, but I don't remember details.)

Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky) returns.  Metcalfe directed, Gelbart & Reynolds co-wrote.

M*A*S*H: Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler

M*A*S*H: Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler
CBS
November 7, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Burt Prelutsky's first of eight M*A*S*H scripts, directed by Gelbart, is an odd one.  A soldier claims to be Jesus Christ, and so both Flagg and Freedman show up, leading to a scene where Flagg basically calls Freedman a Commie.  The tone of the episode shifts wildly and, laugh-track-less this time, it's hard to know how we're supposed to take any of this.

Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) returns.

M*A*S*H: It Happened One Night

M*A*S*H: It Happened One Night
CBS
September 26, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
C+

This is a Gelbart & Muntner script, so a pretty good episode has to be marred by the last few minutes.  I will say that it seems odd that suddenly it's winter again, or at least really cold, since the previous episode was set at the end of summer/ beginning of autumn.  Things I like about this episode:

• BJ realizing that sometimes you have to re-open a patient even when you think your job is finished
• Hawkeye and Margaret bonding over taking care of a patient with PTSD (not that it was called that then), and over a can of 1943 surplus beans exploding on them
• Klinger volunteering to donate blood, B positive
• Radar looking on admiringly at how confidently Potter handles himself on the phone, quite a contrast to Blake of course

As for those last few minutes, Hawkeye suggests he and BJ escort Margaret to her tent from the OR.  She says she'll be fine.  BJ says, "What if you get hit on the head and taken advantage of?"  Hawkeye says, "Let's wait till we get inside first."  And then when she gets to her tent, she finds that Frank has ransacked it, trying to find the love notes that she told him she keeps.  She's understandably upset, but the episode ends there, with no real consequences, and I'm sure that next week they'll be back to their usual relationship, despite his betrayal of trust.

This incidentally is the 75th episode and aired in '75.

M*A*S*H: Welcome to Korea

M*A*S*H: Welcome to Korea
CBS
September 12, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Gelbart, Greenbaum, and Fritzell wrote this hour-long episode in which Hawkeye finds out that Trapper is on his way home, and his replacement, 28-year-old B.J. Hunnicut, is arriving.  So Hawkeye goes with Radar to the Kimpo airport.  He just misses Trapper.  (Wayne Rogers, according to IMDB, is uncredited as the Man on the PA in Kimpo.)  But he does meet with and spend most of the rest of the episode bonding with B.J., who's new to Korea but soon loses much of his shininess.  Meanwhile, Frank is in nominal command, although Margaret seems to be signing the papers.

At one point, Klinger claims to be wearing a flowered hat because it's Spring, but at the very end of the episode we're told that Col. Potter will be arriving on Sept. 19, 1952, and we get a brief glimpse of him interacting with Radar.  I suspect they just wanted the date to align with the next week's air-date.  Note that Hawkeye says he lived with Trapper for over a year.  At this point, there should be ten months left of the war, so it'll be interesting to see how they get around that in Season Five and beyond.  In any case, this is an interesting, if sometimes a bit forced kick-off for Season Four, and it's good to see Christopher and Farr promoted to the opening credits.  Oh, and M*A*S*H was now shifted over to Fridays.  I definitely wasn't watching it then;  Donny & Marie was a more likely selection when I was seven.

Kimiko Hiroshige's role as the Korean Mother is her first of four on the show.  Robert Karnes is a Colonel here and would later be a General.  Tom Dever (this time the M.P. Lieutenant), Roy Goldman (as Roy Goldman), Virginia Ann Lee (formerly the title character on "The Moose," this time a Korean Daughter, perhaps the one Radar saves), and Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky) return.

M*A*S*H: Abyssinia, Henry

M*A*S*H: Abyssinia, Henry
CBS
March 18, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
B+

This Greenbaum & Fritzell episode, directed by Gelbart, is arguably the most remembered episode of the series, and certainly one of the all-time season-closers.  It also wraps up the first phase of M*A*S*H.  But before we get to that, including the literally killer scene, which most of the cast didn't know about till it was shot, I want to talk about the episode as an episode, as well as Henry Blake as a character.

There are some funny and/or touching scenes here, as everyone prepares for Blake's departure, in a different way than when it seemed like Trapper was going to go home.  Everyone reacts in character, like Margaret and Frank looking forward to Frank taking command, and Hawkeye and Trapper knowing they're going to miss their buddy but still being happy for him.  Henry and Radar have some father-and-son-like moments, including talking about their fathers, and Burghoff's acting is just wonderful throughout the episode.  By the way, Henry's son is already playing the trombone, so either he wasn't born during the war, or he's a Mozart-level musical genius.  It is 1952, which would be plausible after two-and-a-half years on the air, and no one knew that there would be eight seasons left.

I'm not crazy about Blake as a person (as I've mentioned in other posts), but I think Stevenson does well with the role, especially in this episode, where he has to play so many emotions.  His lackadaisical "command" fits Hawkeye and Trapper's attitude and gives Frank and Margaret something to play off of, as well as someone for Radar to benignly manipulate.  I can believe that all of them, even the two antagonistic majors, will miss him.

Years later, MAD Magazine would joke that Col. Blake was destroyed by a bomb, i.e. Hello Larry.  There were actually several failed series for Stevenson, but somehow this fits the bumbling image of Henry.  I like that this ignoble man has a hero's death.  (Well, to the extent that dying in a plane crash is heroic.)  It actually makes an important point about war, and about life, that a death can be tragic even if the life, as represented in the pre-closing-credits montage, is comic.  As such, that scene and this episode are an important demarcation line, separating the Blake-in-nominal-charge first three seasons from the next phase of the show.  Henry has a line in this episode where he says he wishes they were all going home with him.  Rogers would very soon leave the show as well, as would Linville a couple years later.  Those that would remain would undergo many changes.

As for Season Three, it's been another crazy ride, with episodes ranging from F+ to B+s like this one, all averaging out to B-, like usual.  Do I think that the show will improve without Henry?  Maybe, but the main problems are sexism and inconsistent characterization and plotting.  The show needs a major overhaul of writers after three years, either a whole new batch or at least retraining for the existing ones (especially the over-praised Gelbart, who's not a bad director though).  It's frustrating, because the show can be quite good at times and then dip in quality a week or two later.  (The writers here also wrote the F+.)  I'm sorry to keep comparing it to BNS, but that show does what it does so well and got no Emmy nominations.  It is an interesting ride here at the 4077th though and I am curious to see where it takes me in the remaining year or so of the war.

Gwen Farrell (now Nurse Gwen), Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) all appear in this episode.  This is the 700th program I've reviewed.

M*A*S*H: White Gold

M*A*S*H: White Gold
CBS
March 11, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
C+

This Gelbart & Muntner story has its moments, mostly involving (not surprisingly) Flagg and/or Klinger, but it's muddled in tone and plot.  We're expected to laugh at the idea that Frank is excited by Flagg wanting to torture a prisoner.  (The laugh track is used intermittently this season, or rather unused and misused.)  And, as in some other recent episodes, other characters' actions are also morally dubious, even within the context of the episode, or the series.

Hilly Hicks, who plays Corporal Perkins/Johnson here, would come back as Corporal Moody.  Stafford Repp, who's best known as Chief O'Hara on the '60s Batman and who was on a '71 episode of That Girl, died a few months before this episode with him as Sgt. O'Hara aired.  Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky) returns and has a nice reaction shot to Hawkeye in the mess tent.

M*A*S*H: Aid Station

M*A*S*H: Aid Station
CBS
February 11, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
B+

Simon Muntner's second M*A*S*H story, co-written with Gelbart, is to put it mildly a vast improvement over the previous episode.  Hawkeye, Margaret, and Klinger go to the title location, which, with its roof blown off and its doctor killed, is little better than an open-air shack.  They all give it their utmost and develop more respect for each other.  Meanwhile, the people back at the 4077th worry about them and, Frank in particular, gripe about the "primitive" conditions of the camp.  This leads to a lovely moment at the end, where Frank and Trapper are criticizing the food, while Hawkeye and Margaret, who are glad to be back at what Klinger described as an "upholstered toilet," exchange a look of amusement and affection.  I also like the scenes between Klinger and Radar; I'm pleased to see that friendship develop recently.


Tom Dever this time plays a Corpsman.  William Jurgensen directs his first of ten M*A*S*H episodes.

M*A*S*H: The Consultant

M*A*S*H: The Consultant
CBS
January 21, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
B

Robert Alda (whom we last saw on a That Girl episode) makes his first of two appearances as Dr. Anthony Borelli and he plays well off Alan A.  Yes, other actors could've done fine in the role, but since there are themes of generational conflict and feet of clay, having a father and son in these scenes adds an extra layer.  Note that Margaret, who seems to have a thing for older men, is attracted to Borelli, but nothing happens between them.

Tad Horino was the 1st Korean Kim Luc and is the Bartender here.  Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky) and Kellye Nakahara (Yamaton) return.  This is Robert Klane's last M*A*S*H script, based on a story by Gelbart.

M*A*S*H: Bulletin Board

M*A*S*H: Bulletin Board
CBS
January 14, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
C+

Simon Munter's first of seven M*A*S*H scripts, a collaboration with Gelbart, doesn't have much of a plot, just a series of incidents.  We do find out that Margaret has a younger sister, a captain who's getting married, and a mother who's turned to drink and kleptomania since the father died.  And Trapper writes to his seven-year-old, Becky.  (Was Kathy the five-year-old before?)  Oh, and there's yet another sex lecture by Henry.  I could've done without the Gelbartian line about Hawkeye and Trapper "molesting the nurses."

Roy Goldman (this time as an Orderly), Johnny Haymer (Zale), Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), Kellye Nakahara (Nurse Charlie for a change), Patricia Stevens (Nurse Brown for the moment), and Dennis Troy (this time as an M.P. Guard) all return.  Alda directed again.

M*A*S*H: There's Nothing Like a Nurse

M*A*S*H: There's Nothing Like a Nurse
CBS
November 19, 1974
Dramedy
DVD
C+

In the first part of the episode, Frank is rude to a nurse, who's sarcastic back to him.  Later, Margaret goes to Henry's office to complain, and after awhile he just sees her as a nagging mouth.  Then the nurses and patients are sent away from the camp for their own safety for a couple days.  The men all miss the women but, Frank pining for Margaret aside, not really as individuals.  And then Hawkeye and Trapper trap Frank under a jeep and screen his wedding movie, mocking him for being henpecked.  The scene is echoed at the end with Frank and Margaret.  I think the episode is about taking the nurses for granted, but if so, it's frequently undercut.  The closest it comes to an apology is when the enlisted men have to work as nurses, and the doctors are rude and condescending to them, as if it's the position not the gender that's been insulted all this time.  It's not a terrible episode, but sheesh!  I'm pretty sick of Gelbart's sexism.

Leland Sun makes his first of four M*A*S*H appearances, as Mr. Kwang.  Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), Bobbie Mitchell (Baker), Jeanne Shulherr (this time Louise Burns in the home movie), and Loudon Wainwright III (Spalding, singing a couple of not great songs) return.

M*A*S*H: O.R.

M*A*S*H: O.R.
CBS
October 8, 1974
Dramedy
DVD
B

This Gelbart & Marks story aired without a laugh track for a change, which in this case was definitely the right decision.  As the title suggests, most of the action is set in and around the operating room, with more blood and more serious talk than usual.  I wasn't crazy about the continuing rudeness and condescension to the nurses (who, Margaret aside, never stand up for themselves), but it was good to see Sidney (Arbus) show up again and offer help and common sense.  There are some nice character moments, between Hawkeye and Henry, and surprisingly Trapper and Frank.  And I like that Hawkeye does something heroic in saving a patient, and then when the patient dies, he's even more heroic in continuing on, while Trapper calmly and quickly puts out a fire.

Jeanne Shulherr makes her first of three M*A*S*H appearances, as an Anesthetist.  Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss, first time this season) and Bobbie Mitchell (Able) return.

Likely season two or three

M*A*S*H: Iron Guts Kelly

M*A*S*H: Iron Guts Kelly
CBS
October 1, 1974
Dramedy
DVD
B+

In this story written by Gelbart and Burns & Allen veteran Dorfman, Lt. Gen. Robert 'Iron Guts' Kelly (James Gregory) dies during an evening with Margaret.  She can't let Frank know, so she has to turn to Hawkeye and Trapper for help.  When Kelly's adjutant, Colonel Wortman (51-year-old Keene Curtis, who'd make two memorable appearances on Three's Company), finds out, he decides to make it look like the general died in battle.  Lots of good scenes, including a half-asleep Radar trying to track down a battle.

Alberta Jay makes her first of two appearances, as an Anesthetist.  Byron Chung (this time Mr. Kwok), Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), Bobbie Mitchell (now Nurse Able), and Dennis Troy (this time 2nd G.I.) return.

M*A*S*H: Rainbow Bridge

M*A*S*H: Rainbow Bridge
CBS
September 17, 1974
Dramedy
DVD
B-

I would've given a B to this Gelbart & Marks story, if not for the rape joke.  (Male rape for a change.)  Other than that, it's a good episode, about courage and fear, and how sometimes you have to trust your enemies.  Also, it's nice to see Klinger step forward and volunteer (in a uniform), in hopes that bravery will get him out if "nutsery" won't.

Mako had played Casey on Gidget and his role of Dr. Lin Tam is his first of four on this show.  Bobbie Mitchell (Nurse Mitchell) returns.  Loudon Wainwright III makes his first of three appearances as Capt. Calvin Spalding, his "North Korean Blues" making an ironic underscore (pun intended) to the episode.