Dear Dad...Again, the 18th episode of Season 1 of the M*A*S*H TV series, was also the 18th overall series episode in broadcast order. In terms of production order, it was the 17th episode. Written by Sheldon Keller and Larry Gelbart, it was directed by Jackie Cooper, and originally aired on CBS-TV on February 4, 1973.
Synopsis[]
Hawkeye again writes his father about the happenings at the 4077th, including Frank getting drunk, and the discovery of a fraud passing himself off as a doctor.
Full episode summary[]
In Hawkeye's latest letter to this father, the following happens: there's a new doctor, Captain Adam Casey, who's very helpful. Klinger's attempts to get out have led him to mail order a new wedding dress, which Hawkeye says is "tasteful without being gaudy" (but needs a slip). Father Mulcahy is planting a garden when his back starts to hurt, and after fixing it, Captain Casey admits to the Father that he's not really a doctor. Hawkeye and Trapper have a bet that results in Hawkeye walking into the mess tent naked. It nearly works - nobody notices until one guy does and drops his tray, leading to a large round of applause for Hawkeye.
Meanwhile, Radar takes a correspondence high school diploma course (and cheats, although Henry can't be bothered making him go through it properly and signs off on it for him anyway). Frank and Margaret have had a fight and are temporarily no longer dating; Frank gets drunk and hangs out with Hawkeye and Trapper instead, driving them crazy.
Eventually Casey is caught; it appears that he's an unqualified sergeant named Schwartz, who has also been a teacher, a lawyer, an engineer, and several other professions, all unqualified - he has the talent for anything but doesn't have the patience to pursue a formal qualification. Hawkeye tells Casey he will not report him if he promises not to touch a patient again without a license, but to call Hawkeye the moment he gets one. He tells Casey to try for a formal qualification as he has a genuine talent.
Finally, Hawkeye thanks his dad for the loan of his tuxedo - he wore it at the camp's No-Talent night, a fundraiser for the Korean refugee fund. At the end of the episode, Casey comes to say goodbye just as Hawkeye finishes his letter; this time, Casey has become a priest.
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- The character of Captain Casey was inspired by the life of Ferdinand Waldo Demara[1] who impersonated a ship's doctor on board a Canadian destroyer during the Korean War. In 1951, he performed surgery successfully on a number of casualties, including one with a serious chest wound. But he was exposed when his life-saving exploit was published in the Canadian newspapers. His life story was fictionalized in the Tony Curtis movie The Great Impostor. This gag was repeated by Private Schaeffer in "Fade Out, Fade In, Part 1" who posed as a lawyer and tried to convince Klinger that he could get the Corporal his much-sought-after Section 8.
- You can clearly see Hawkeye is wearing GI issue underwear in several shots during the scene where he goes to lunch nude. In some shots, you can even see he is wearing trousers with a belt if his lower legs didn't need to be seen.
- Hawkeye ends his letter to his dad with "Kiss Mom and Sis." In later episodes, his mother had died when he was 10 years old, and by Season 4, he's an only child.
- Although not listed in the closing credits, series regular Roy Goldman is the corpsman who drops the tray in the Mess Tent when Hawkeye walks in naked.
- Hawkeye mentions a fight that Frank and Margaret have, and this fight is briefly shown as Hawkeye narrates. In the next "Dear Dad" episode ("Dear Dad...Three"), we see this exact scenario played out again, only Margaret is wearing a different robe, the fight goes on a little longer, and ends with Frank and Margaret in a passionate embrace (rather than Margaret throwing him out and Frank getting drunk, as in this version).
- In a scene usually edited out of syndicated airings, a drunken Frank tells Hawkeye and Trapper that his brother called him "Ferret Face." This explains the origin of everyone's favorite pet name for the Major.
- During the No-Talent night, Radar can be seen playing the drums in Blake's makeshift band. Actor Gary Burghoff is really playing the drums - he's played them in multiple scenarios, including a sizzling solo in a future episode, "Showtime".
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Alex Henteloff as Captain Casey
- Jamie Farr as Klinger
- William Christopher as Father Mulcahy
- Odessa Cleveland as Ginger
- Gail Bowman as Nurse (identified in a later episode as Nurse Powell)