M*A*S*H: Germ Warfare

M*A*S*H: Germ Warfare
CBS
December 10, 1972
Dramedy
DVD
D+

There are some serious consent issues in this episode written by Larry Gelbart.  Most noticeably, Hawkeye and Trapper take Burns's blood while he's asleep, to give to a North Korean P.O.W., something he obviously wouldn't agree to if he were conscious.  And later when they suspect Frank has hepatitis, they steal his urine!  Later they handcuff him and Margaret together to prevent him going into surgery.  And then at the end they give him daisies and say, "No hard feelings?"  A smaller example is that Hawkeye tells Dish (Karen Philipp, not seen since the pilot) he has fantasies about her, even though she's not interested (she seems to be wearing a ring), and she and we are meant to just see this as charming.  I realize this was a different era (early '70s as well as early '50s), but personal autonomy did exist and should've been respected.  I won't go with a lower grade though, since there are a couple clever lines (Radar using the word "aesthetic" and Burns accurately saying that he's only paranoid because everyone's out to get him).

Patrick Adiarte (Ho-Jon), Timothy Brown (Jones), Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss), and Robert Gooden (Boone) return.  Byron Chung plays the P.O.W., his first of seven roles on the show.  This is the only series episode directed by Terry Becker, who also directed one for The Brady Bunch.

The Brady Bunch: Tell It Like It Is

The Brady Bunch: Tell It Like It Is
ABC
March 26, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B-

The then slightly dated title phrase here applies to Charles Hoffman's last Brady story, where Carol writes an article about the family for Tomorrow's Woman magazine.  Interestingly, none of the actual misadventures of the family are mentioned, although Peter does show up with a black eye from Buddy Hinton later.  It's always both funny and frustrating to watch writers write in old movies and TV shows, because they go through paper like crazy.  Notice that Carol hunts and pecks but Alice seems to be a touch typist.  It probably would've saved time to have Carol write in longhand, edit it, and then have Alice type up the final draft.

Jonathan Hole, who plays Willie Witherspoon, previously was Thackery.  This is the only time Terry Becker directed BBunch, but he would do a M*A*S*H episode the next year.

The second season averages out to a B- again.  I think it's more memorable, and more topical, than the first but we haven't yet got to my favorite season.