MASH: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (Season 4: Episode 4)

SUMMARY:                       RUNNING TIME: 25:00 Min.

First televised on CBS on September 26, 1975, Gene Reynolds directed this installment.  Amidst an hours-long bombardment on a frigid night, Hawkeye & Margaret supervise a less-than-quiet midnight shift in the 4077^th hospital ward.  Among their cases is one of BJ’s patients suspiciously requiring far too many infusions of blood and another soldier agitated multiple times by shell shock. 

Col. Potter & “Radar” have little luck working the phone to get the Army’s shelling moved away from the 4077^th’s proximity.  Klinger suffers a mishap on sentry duty. Meanwhile, self-involved Frank desperately tries retrieving his extramarital love notes to Margaret that she has evidently stashed somewhere.    

Capt. “Hawkeye” Pierce: Alan Alda                                                    

Capt. BJ Honeycutt: Mike Farrell

Col. Sherman Potter: Harry Morgan                                                   

Cpl. “Radar” O’Reilly: Gary Burghoff

Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan: Loretta Swit                            

Major Frank Burns: Larry Linville

(Lt.) Father Francis Mulcahy: William Christopher (credits only)                         

Cpl. Maxwell Klinger: Jamie Farr

Abbott: Christopher Allport                                                                 

Private Jenkins: Darren O’Connor

Edwards: Uncredited

REVIEW:

Considering newcomers BJ and Col. Potter had just been introduced, “It Happened One Night” delightfully helps entrench their characters on MASH. While the plotting itself isn’t remarkable, almost magically, most every element (i.e. the acting, perfectly-timed gags, etc.) clicks exactly as it should.  For Season 4, this one is definitely recommended!      

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                      8 Stars