Original Air Date: 11/21/83
Written by: Ken Levine & David Isaacs
Directed by: Burt Metcalfe
The Potters are throwing Thanksgiving dinner, and they've invited the Klingers, Father Mulcahy, and some surprise guests.
The Klingers are first to arrive, and Max gets misty about missing his family in Toledo. He asks Col. Potter if he can call his family, but Col. Potter puts him off and asks him for some help setting the table.
Also invited is the Potter's daughter Evie (Sandy Burnard) and her family, Bob Scanell (Pat Cranshaw), an old war buddy of Col. Potter's, and Dr. Pfeiffer, who is happy for the free meal. Mike D'Angelo also shows up, and sort of invites himself.
There's still no sign of the Potter's surprise guests, and they keep delaying Klinger and his call home. Luckily, a friend of Father Mulcahy's has come along, and he's spending the whole day on the phone talking to his family.
Finally, the surprise guests arrive--Klinger's family from Toledo, invited by the Potters as a gift to Klinger. Klinger nearly weeps with joy when he sees them.
After dinner, everyone sits around the piano and sings, while Dr. Pfeiffer is still eating. Klinger's parents ask Max and Soon-Lee to come back to Toledo and live with them--the first time they've really accepted Soon-Lee--but Klinger wants to stay where he is and build a life.
Fun Facts: We've heard Evie mentioned on M*A*S*H a few times, now we get to see her! The Potter's son (mentioned in Season Five), however, seems to be lost to the mists of time.
Evie's husband--here called Bruce--is played by James Widdoes (most famous as Hoover in Animal House), not Dennis Dugan, who appeared in Season Eleven's "Strange Bedfellows" as the Potters' son-in-law, Bobby.
This episode features another installment of The Young Sherman Potter Chronicles: Bob Scanell talks about a time in the Ardennes Forest he, Col. Potter, and two others "Got trapped in a barn with the Perault Sisters and their goat."
The end credit sequence (pictured) is made up of snapshots from the party, a nice touch.
Alma Cox does not appear in this episode.
Favorite Line: Mike D'Angelo gives Father Mulcahy a glimpse of his life back in school: "I was very active in college: Hygiene Officer for the Young Republicans..."
This entry resembles the feel of a scene in the M*A*S*H messtent or Rosie's bar- and its certainly not the food (or booze). The cozy domesticity works well here for veteran fans. It's sweet.
ReplyDeleteThe spinoff regulars fare as background here; even the patient making his long distance phone calls gets as much attention. He's actually more humorous.
A fun episode, and we finally glimpse Klinger's storied family! (We're getting far afield of the original premise, but this could have been an interesting series in its own right.)