AfterM*A*S*H Episode 7 - Little Broadcast of '53

Season 1, Episode 7: Little Broadcast of '53
Original Air Date: 11/7/83
Written by: Dennis Koenig
Directed by: Burt Metcalfe

Klinger starts a private radio station--KMAX--for the staff and patients of General General.

As Klinger plays music and makes announcements, we follow the trials of a new arrival, Nurse Canfield (Alice Cadogan), who is in over her head without a paddle. No one has bothered to show her around, so she's constantly dealing with one problem after the other: not knowing where anything is, not knowing whether to believe what some of the patients tell her (like the one who asks for her a back rub), and not knowing enough to find a way to make time to eat lunch.

Meanwhile, Father Mulcahy is trying to connect with a patient who seems either unable or unwilling to talk. There's a second patient, named Ernie(Timothy Stack) who talks too much--he's more than happy to take up all of Mulcahy's time (even when he's in the men's room!) going on and on about his problems, which are relatively minor.

Nurse Canfield is the victim of another prank by two of the patients, and she gets so fed up that she decides to quit. Col. Potter tries to talk her out of it by offering her some fatherly advice, which she takes to heart. Deciding to stick around, she ends up helping save the life of one of the two pranksters, with the help of the other one: after she shows what she's made of, the patient apologizes for giving her such a hard time.

Outside in the hall, the mute patient Father Mulcahy was trying to reach stands by Klinger's radio station, and sings along to one of the songs. Mulchay notices this, and finally connects with the young man.

Later, Mulcahy is in the radio booth as Klinger signs off for the day. He tells Klinger how his radio program helped the young patient, and Klinger promises to keep doing the show.


Fun Facts: This episode features a crawl that says: "Our grateful thanks to The Veterans Bedside Network", which was the organization in that "Toughest Ticket" ad.

Mrs. Potter, Alma Cox, and Soon-Lee do not appear in this episode.


Favorite Line: Klinger makes an announcement about the day's events: "There's a bus tour: Historic Hannibal: Mark Twain's house, Mark Twain's school, and the famous Courtney Hotel, once slept in my Merl Utley--who once met Mark Twain!"