1974-75: THE THIRD SEASON

Year-End Rating: 27.4 (5th place)

Larry Gelbart and Laurence Marks share third-season scripting chores with Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum, notable additions to an over-worked stable of writers that also includes Sid Dorfman and Simon Muntner, among others. Producers Gene Reynolds and Larry Gelbart bolster their third-year story sessions with anecdotes they've gathered during a tour of Korea's 43rd Army Surgical Hospital.

49 The General Flipped at Dawn    First Aired: September 10, 1974
Writers: Jim Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
Director: Larry Gelbart
Guest Stars: Harry Morgan, Lynnette Mettey, Theodore Wilson, Brad Trumbull, Dennis Erdman

The doctors suspect their new spit-and-polish commander is missing a few marbles after he threatens to move the 4077th out onto the battlefield.

When Harry Morgan's crazed general was shipped off to the Pentagon at the end of this episode, no one guessed that the accomplished character actor would return to the series as Henry Blake's replacement the very next season.

50 Rainbow Bridge    First Aired: September 17, 1974
Writers: Larry Gelbart, Laurence Marks
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Mako, Leland Sun, Loudon Wainwright III

McIntyre and Pierce abandon their planned furlough when they travel into enemy territory to retrieve a group of wounded GIs.

51 Officer of the Day    First Aired: September 24, 1974
Writer: Laurence Marks
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Edward Winter, Dennis Troy, Jeff Maxwell, Jerry Fujikawa, Tad Horino, Richard Lee Sung, Mitchell Sakamoto, Norman Hamano

While Henry vacations in Seoul, Hawkeye protects a wounded North Korean prisoner from Colonel Flagg, who wants to see the alleged spy executed.

52 Iron Guts Kelly    First Aired: October 1, 1974
Writers: Larry Gelbart, Sid Dorfman
Director: Don Weis
Guest Stars: James Gregory, Keene Curtis, Byron Chung

A visiting general suffers a fatal heart attack in the throes of passion on Hot Lips' bed, and his loyal aide schemes to give the commander a hero's funeral.

From the general's entrance--pearl-handled pistols at his side--to his final send-off in an ambulance packed with prostitutes, this first-rate effort from Glebart and Dorfman ranks among the season's best: a sardonic black comedy that employs the medium of laughter to deliver a trenchant statement on the folly of those who seek glory in war.

53 O. R.    First Aired: October 8, 1974
Writers: Larry Gelbart, Laurence Marks
Director: Gene Reynolds
Guest Stars: Allan Arbus, Bobbie Cleveland, Bobby Herbeck, Orlando Dole, Jeanne Schulherr, Roy Goldman, Leland Sun

The staff faces an unrelenting day in the operating theater as casualties continue to mount, with no end in sight.

Set entirely in the O.R., the story builds on the stark drama of life and death as the doctors struggle to save those who can be saved and move the rest out as quickly as possible. It's an uncompromising episode, and though it's not without humor, it was one of the earliest episodes of the series to be aired minus a laugh track. Despite the network's early objection to scenes set in the O.R., the producers steadfastly refused to compromise the impact of those sequences by dubbing in canned laughter. "It's hard to imagine the audience belly laughing at bowel surgery," quipped Gelbart.

54 Springtime    First Aired: October 15, 1974
Writers: Linda Bloodworth, Mary Kay Place
Director: Don Weis
Guest Stars: Alex Karras, Mary Kay Place, Greg Mabrey

In spring, even an enlisted man's fancy turns to romance--a maxim that's borne out when Radar and Klinger are both stung by Cupid's arrow.

Writer Mary Kay Place scripted herself into this episode in the role of Louise, the willing object of Radar's affection. Two years later, the actress would achieve considerable acclaim for her portrayal of Loretta Haggers on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

55 Checkup    First Aired: October 22, 1974
Writers: Laurence Marks
Director: Don Weis
Guest Stars: Jeff Maxwell, Patricia Stevens

The camp throws a teary farewell party for Trapper John when he discovers that his ulcer guarantees him a one-way ticket home.

Though a last-minute technicality spoils Trapper's clean break this time, Hawkeye's stirring--if premature--farewell speech would have to do. There would be no time for more formal good-byes a few months later when Wayne Rogers' leave-taking forced his character's equally abrupt departure at the end of the season.

56 Life With Father    First Aired: October 29, 1974
Writers: Everett Greenbaum, Jim Fritzell
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Star: Sachiko Penny Lee

Henry suspects his wife may be having an affair; and Father Mulcahy officiates at an infant's circumcision.

This was the second M*A*S*H script from Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell, a veteran comedy team with impeccable credits--they'd scripted Mr. Peepers in the 1950s and written some of the finest early episodes of The Andy Griffith Show in the 1960s.

57 Alcoholics Unanimous    First Aired: November 12, 1974
Writers: Everett Greenbaum, Jim Fritzell
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Star: Bobbie Mitchell

In Henry's absence, Frank uses his executive powers to declare a prohibition at the 4077th.

58 There Is Nothing Like a Nurse    First Aired: November 19, 1974
Writers: Larry Gelbart
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Molli Benson, Leland Sun, Jeanne Schulherr, Loudon Wainwright III

The compound becomes more hellish than usual when the threat of enemy invasion forces the nurses to evacuate the 4077th.

59 Adam's Ribs    First Aired: November 26, 1974
Writer: Laurence Marks
Director: Gene Reynolds
Guest Stars: Basil Hoffman, Joe Stern, Jeff Maxwell

Fed up with Army rations, Hawkeye places an order by shortwave to his favorite Chicago barbecue joint: forty pounds of ribs . . . to go.

60 A Full, Rich Day    First Aired: December 3, 1974
Writer: John D. Hess
Director: Gene Reynolds
Guest Stars: William Watson, Sirri Murad, Curt Lowens

Hawkeye's latest letter home describes a typical day at the 4077th: There's a mad Turk in the operating room, and the doctors have misplaced the body of an officer who may, or may not, be dead.

61 Mad Dogs and Servicemen    First Aired: December 10, 1974
Writers: Linda Bloodworth, Mary Kay Place
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Michael O'Keefe, Shizuko Hoshi, Arthur Song

Radar tries to find the potentially rabid dog who bit him; and the surgeons treat a corporal suffering from psychosomatic paralysis.

62 Private Charles Lamb    First Aired: December 31, 1974
Writers: Larry Gelbart, Sid Dorfman
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Ted Eccles, Titos Vandis, Gene Chronopolous

Radar almost sparks an international incident when he rescues a lamb from the skewer of a Greek regiment's Easter feast.

63 Bombed    First Aired: January 7, 1975
Writers: Everett Greenbaum, Jim Fritzell
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Louisa Moritz, Edward Marshall

The medics continue to operate on incoming wounded, despite a steady barrage that threatens to blow the camp apart at the seams.

64 Bulletin Board    First Aired: January 14, 1975
Writers: Larry Gelbart, Simon Muntner
Director: Alan Alda
Guest Star: Johnny Haymer

Posted camp activities include a picnic and a Shirley Temple movie.

65 The Consultant    First Aired: January 21, 1975
Writers: Larry Gelbart, Robert Klane
Director: Gene Reynolds
Guest Stars: Robert Alda, Joseph Maher, Tad Horino

Hawkeye is deeply disappointed when a visiting specialist gets too drunk to perform a vital operation to save a soldier's leg.

Alan Alda's father joins him in this episode, a dramatic vehicle tailor-made for both generations of the acting clan.

66 House Arrest    First Aired: February 4, 1975
Writers: Jim Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Mary Wickes, Jeff Maxwell, Dennis Troy

Hawkeye nearly faces a court-martial after he gets carried away during one of his petty squabbles with Frank Burns.

67 Aid Station    First Aired: February 11, 1975
Writers: Larry Gelbart, Simon Muntner
Director: William Jurgensen
Guest Star: Tom Dever

Margaret and Hawkeye provide emergency aid at the front lines when they're sent into battle with Corporal Klinger.

Klinger suits up in regular Army fatigues when the chips are down, prefiguring the character's eventual position of responsibility much later in the series. Hot Lips, too, undergoes a change when she earns the men's respect with her cool performance under battle conditions. By the end of the episode, she and Hawkeye raise their mugs in a silent toast that only hints at the major changes yet to come.

68 Love and Marriage    First Aired: February 18, 1975
Writer: Arthur Julian
Director: Lee Philips
Guest Stars: Soon Teck Oh, Dennis Dugan, Pat Li, Jerry Fujikawa

Trapper and Hawkeye attempt to unite one enlisted man with his pregnant wife and try to prevent another from marrying a Korean prostitute.

69 Big Mac    First Aired: February 25, 1975
Writers: Laurence Marks
Director: Don Weis
Guest Stars: Graham Jarvis, Bob Courtleigh, Jeanne Schulherr, Loudon Wainwright III

The camp prepares for a visit from Commanding General Douglas MacArthur.

70 Payday    First Aired: March 4, 1975
Writers: John Regier, Gary Markowitz
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Jack Soo, Eldon Quick, Johnny Haymer, Mary Katherine Peters, Leland Sun, George Holloway, Pat Marshall

Hawkeye is surprised when a military oversight nets him an extra $3000 paycheck.

71 White Gold    First Aired: March 11, 1975
Writers: Larry Gelbart, Simon Muntner
Director: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Edward Winter, Hilly Hicks, Stafford Repp

When valuable supplies of penicillin begin to disappear, the doctors suspect the involvement of CIA operative Colonel Flagg.

72 Abyssinia, Henry    First Aired: March 18, 1975
Writers: Everett Greenbaum, Jim Fritzell
Director: Larry Gelbart
Guest Stars: Kimiko Hiroshige, Virginia Lee, Cherylene Lee, Ray Poss

With the memory of Colonel Blake's gala farewell party still fresh in their minds, the 4077th is shocked to learn that the commanding officer's plane has just been shot down over the Sea of Japan.

The producers weren't content to simply write Blake out of the series after the actor voluntarily left the show. "Faced with the show-business reality of one of the star players wanting out," Larry Gelbart explained in The New York Times, "we looked for a bold solution to his disappearance consistent with the series's view of the wastefulness of war. Angry viewers [later] accused us of trying to make them unhappy, as if the warranty that came with their sets promised them only happy moments of viewing."