"M*A*S*H"
Radar's Report (1973)

Director:

Jackie Cooper

Writers:

Sheldon Keller (writer)
Laurence Marks (teleplay)

TV Series:

"M*A*S*H" (1972)

Original Air Date:

29 September 1973 (Season 2, Episode 3)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Plot:

Radar reports on the comedies and tragedies of a typical 4077th week while Majors Houlihan and Burns try to get Cpl. Klinger transferred and Hawkeye falls hard for a nurse.

Plot Keywords:

Adding Machine | Entire Title Is Capitalized Acronym | Sitcom | Asterix In Title | Major

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Sept. 11	10:30 PM	TVLAND	Radar's Report	#2.3
Wed. Sept. 17	5:30 PM	HALMRK	Radar's Report	#2.3

Cast

Alan Alda	...	Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce
Wayne Rogers	...	Army Capt. "Trapper John" McIntyre
McLean Stevenson	...	Lt. Col. Henry Blake
Gary Burghoff	...	Cpl. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly
Larry Linville	...	Maj. Frank Burns
Loretta Swit	...	Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan
Jamie Farr	...	Cpl. / Sgt. Maxwell "Max" Q. Klinger
William Christopher	...	Lt. / Capt. Father Francis J. Mulcahy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Allan Arbus	...	Maj. Milton Freedman
Derick Shimatsu	...	Chinese Prisoner
Joan Van Ark	...	Lt. Erica Johnson

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Trivia:

Father Mulcahy tries to calm the patient by repeatedly calling out "bung jau! bung jau!" which he believes means "peace and friendship" but, according to Radar's report, means "the news of your daughter's pregnancy brings great joy to our village." In fact, "bung jau" is a Cantonese slang term for the male sexual organ.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Henry Blake calls Klinger into his office to discuss the charges brought against him by Majors Burns and Houlihan, Klinger is wearing the red spaghetti-strap dress that was already damaged by the Chinese P.O.W.

Quotes:

Lt. Col. Henry Blake: Corporal Klinger, this is Major Freedman, divisional psychiatrist.
Cpl.: Major sir!
[curtsies wearing a frilly pink dress]
Dr. Sidney Freedman: You got me up here to ask me about him? About that?
Lt. Col. Henry Blake: Yeah well, you see, it really wasn't my idea.
Dr. Sidney Freedman: All the way from Seoul to ask me what? Whether he needs a girdle under that? Whether his seams are straight?... OK, OK. It's all part of the war, I guess.
[picks up a clipboard and looks at Klinger]
Dr. Sidney Freedman: I have a few questions to ask you. Sit down, soldier.
Cpl.: Yes sir!
[runs over to the chair. Freedman takes his time filling out the first part of his report]
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Casablanca (1942)

Corporal O'Reilly's Factual Report!!

The start of "Radar's Report" began with his typical task of typing his documentation on the typewriter. His report included any and all casualty statistics on the week of October 15,1952 through October 22, 1952. He momentarily glanced away from his typewriter and used his adding machine. The adding machine started printing out numbers by accident -- much to Corporal O'Reilly's dismay. In his report, a Chinese Communist prisoner was on the operating table for surgery to remove a bullet in his rear. Captain Pierce was ready to operate on his patient ... or so it seemed to him.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Erica Johnson introduced herself to Captain Benjamin Pierce. The surgeons were ready to the soldier to sleep during surgery. Little did they know he grabbed a scalpel to terrorize the unit. He wounded an orderly during surgery. Hong Chow -- in terror -- then destroyed an I.V. unit containing AB Negative Blood ... thus obviously contaminating the whole field. Lieutenant Erica Johnson became wounded in the struggle. Only Corporal Klinger was the one person to save the day in surgery ... despite his 39 dollar dress being damaged with the scalpel.

Captain McIntyre was adamantly upset about the prisoner lousing up his patient after the surgery. Meanwhile, Corporal Klinger was using Major Houlihan's hair dryer and shampoo in her tent. Obviously, Major Burns and Major Houlihan had one thing in mind: kicking Klinger out of the Army. Lieutant Colonel Henry Blake acted indifferent about Coporal Klinger's mental status; they were planning to resolve the matter by contacting Major Freedman about Klinger's circumstances. By the same token, O'Reilly told McIntyre that his patient was in serious danger after post-operative surgery.

In the latter half of the episode, Major Freedman evaluated Corporal Klinger in Blake's office. After careful review, he told Klinger that he was a transvestite and a homosexual ... for which the report would be on his permanent record. Klinger just wanted his Section 8. He was in a no-win situation with Freedman.

Captain McIntyre was heading to Pre-operation room for surgery. He and another nurse were ready to have surgery on his patient. Major Houlihan intervened quickly. The Chinese soldier received an I.V. transfusion. He was resting well in the V.I.P tent. McIntyre was shocked but reassured that the patient was recovering well. In the end, a life was saved through the transfusion.

Lieutenant Johnson entered "The Swamp" at the end of the episode. Captain Pierce had just finished shaving. He was about to realize that she would be reassigned to another unit. Even so, Corporal O'Reilly had just finished typing his report with a smile. A Fat 10.4!! Enjoyful And Surprising!!