Original Air Date: 12/22/73
Written by: Ed Jurist
Directed by: Jackie Cooper
During a session in O.R., Hawkeye and Trapper end up working on a Pvt. Mitchell, who is the son of Gen. Mitchell.
After he pulls through, Gen. Mitchell visits the 4077th andd wants to thank the doctors for their excellent work. They settle on three nights in Tokyo, and the doctors take off for their adventure.
While they're going, reports of their escapades make it back to the 4077th--sending a box of pipe cleaners to MacArthur's table in the grand dining room of the hotel, rickshaw races in the lobby, and the absconding of half the graduating class of a pearl-diving school.
When they return, Frank shows off another nice treat courtesy of the General--a pre-fab Officer's Club, complete with tables, a jukebox, a piano, and a (semi)stocked bar. They like it, but are less happy when Frank insists its just what its called--an officers club: no enlisted men allowed.
The enlisted take offense, and Radar in particular freezes out Hawkeye and Trapper, going so far as to bifurcating the Mess Tent's tables. They ask Henry to make it open to everyone, but he's not much help. But he does agree that if they can get other officers to agree to it, then the club will be open to everyone.
At the opening night of the club, they try and get Frank and Hot Lips to sign the form, but of course they say no.
Later, Gen. Mitchell arrives, and his son also shows up, on crutches. Hawkeye points out the club is officers only, but suggests to Gen. Mitchell that a special allowance be made for relatives. Mitchell agrees, which leads Hawkeye to invite all his relatives in: his son Radar, his daughter Klinger, his cousin Phil, his brother-in-law Leroy...
Fun Facts: In a scene in Henry's tent, we can see he's reading a (presumably) smutty paperback titled Special Nurse. A nice touch by the prop department.
As you could guess, this is the debut of the Officers Club, a set that would house many a scene in future episodes.
Favorite Line: When Hawkeye and Trapper are negotiating with Gen. Mitchell, Hawkeye immediately understands what Mitchell means when he says "Name it."
Mitchell, impressed, says: "The Captain is very good at catching my drfit."
Hawkeye: "I played Left Drift in high school."
4 comments:
I never saw this episode until the late 70s in reruns. By that time, the officers club was a regular part of the new episodes. What struck me was how nice the club looks in this episode and how makeshift it looks in the later episodes (tires used for tables, etc.). It's as if the place gets steadily trashed as the war goes on.
This episode has my favorite Trapper line: Frank says "General, I wonder if I could say something useful," to which Trapper responds "I've often wondered that myself."
The episode also shows that Frank and Margret have been known to suck up to people to gain their favor.
The sign above the door reads
Officers' Only
So no marks for either morale or grammar.
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