"Showtime" | |
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M*A*S*H episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 24 |
Directed by | Jackie Cooper |
Written by | Larry Gelbart |
Production code | J324 |
Original air date | March 25, 1973 |
"Showtime" was the 24th (and final) episode of the first season of the American television series M*A*S*H . It originally aired on March 25, 1973.
A USO show is held at the 4077th, featuring stand-up comic Jackie Flash (Joey Forman) and female singing trio The Miller Sisters (Marilyn King, Jean Turrell and Joan Lucksinger), augmented by backup band Charlie Keller and His Claire-de-Lunatics. The performance is juxtaposed with scenes from everyday life in the camp. Henry's wife gives birth to a son. Though Henry is depressed by not being able to see his new baby, Radar cheers him up by arranging for one of the camp's laundry workers to let him hold hers. The camp dentist receives his discharge orders and takes great pains to avoid injury and illness before he starts his trip home, only to crash his jeep and end up in traction. Frank plays a series of practical jokes on Hawkeye, sabotaging the still to spray him in the face, causing a bucket of water to fall and soak him, and rigging the showerheads to malfunction when he tries to take a shower. Hawkeye gets the last laugh by collapsing the officers' latrine tent on top of Frank while he is using it. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
"Showtime" is structurally similar to "Dear Dad" and "Dear Dad...Again," in which it lacks the conventional linear structure of most television programs. It uses moments from the USO show, styled like the ones hosted by Bob Hope, to make commentary and contrast the ugliness of war with the fluff of the performances in the show.
A sequence showing Radar playing drums with the musical band demonstrates Gary Burghoff's drumming talents onscreen. It was Burghoff's idea for him to drum in this episode as it was to pay homage to his drumming idol Gene Krupa, who actually allowed the star to play on his drums.
Gary Rich Burghoff is an American actor who is known for originating the role of Charlie Brown in the 1967 Off-Broadway musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and the character Corporal Walter Eugene "Radar" O'Reilly in the film M*A*S*H, as well as the TV series. He was a regular on television game show Match Game from 1974 to 1979 for 204 episodes, standing in for Charles Nelson Reilly, who was in New York doing a Broadway play, and continued to make recurring appearances afterwards.
M*A*S*H is an American war comedy drama television series that aired on CBS from September 17, 1972, to February 28, 1983. It was developed by Larry Gelbart as the first original spin-off series adapted from the 1970 feature film M*A*S*H, which, in turn, was based on Richard Hooker's 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. The series, which was produced with 20th Century Fox Television for CBS, follows a team of doctors and support staff stationed at the "4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" in Uijeongbu, South Korea, during the Korean War (1950–53).
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"To Market, to Market" is the second episode of M*A*S*H. It was first aired on September 24, 1972 and repeated on April 29, 1973. Like many other M*A*S*H episodes, this one parodies army bureaucracy.
"Dear Dad... Three" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American television series M*A*S*H, and the 33rd episode overall. The episode's title follows the format of two episodes from the show's first season: "Dear Dad" and "Dear Dad...Again". "Dear Dad... Three" aired on November 10, 1973.
"The Sniper" is the 34th episode of the M*A*S*H television series, and tenth of season two. The episode aired on November 17, 1973.
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