M*A*S*H: That Darn Kid

(See footnote.)

M*A*S*H: That Darn Kid
CBS
April 12, 1982
Dramedy
DVD
C

Karen Hall wrote this story where a goat eats $22,000 that paymaster Hawkeye is supposed to distribute, not exactly on a level as a season-closer with Henry Blake dying.  G.W. Bailey (given quite a bit to do as Rizzo), Tom Kindle (GI), Richard Lee-Sung (his last of eleven appearances, as the Farmer who sells the vase to Charles), Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky, saying that he hasn't sold any grape Nehi since Radar left), and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.  Stiers directed.

M*A*S*H in its tenth season ranges from 2 C-s to 2 Bs, averaging out to C+, still watchable most of the time but not too memorable.  In its penultimate season, it's not the "preachiness" or Alda's ego or any of the usual, ahem, scapegoats that are to blame.  It's simply a lack of energy and originality, and too many episodes like this one, where the premise has little to do with the setting or the characters and could've happened on any sitcom, including Gilligan's Island, which would've at least given us the humor of Jim Backus's reactions.  We'll see if Season Eleven is any improvement, or if I cried over the finale for no reason.


Footnote:  The "new teacher" was on Making the Grade, which starred George Wendt among others.  This ad makes the "goat" episode look more slapsticky than it is.