The Young and the Restless was the 19th episode of Season 7 of the M*A*S*H TV series, also the 166th overall series episode. The episode, which was written by Mitch Markowitz and directed by William Jurgensen. The episode originally aired on CBS-TV on January 22, 1979.
Synopsis[]
The arrival of fresh-faced lecturer Capt. Simmons and his subsequent performance in ER turns Winchester into a drunk, Potter into an invalid, and B.J. into a bookworm. Meanwhile, Klinger begins acting like he's back home in Toledo.
Detailed episode summary[]
The 4077th is visited by a young doctor, Captain Simmons (James Canning), who will be delivering a lecture on new surgical techniques. Simmons is very young, so young that Winchester immediately assumes he knows nothing of value. Col. Potter, currently feeling his age while suffering from phlebitis, now feels even older when faced with such a young whiz kid.
Wounded arrive, and Simmons helps out. At first he's stunned by the volume of casualties, but he quickly gets up to speed, filling in for Col. Potter after his phlebitis gets even worse and causes him real pain. All during the session in OR, Winchester is condescending to Simmons, assuming he doesn't know what he's doing. But Simmons proves to be a superb surgeon, fully capable of keeping up with the others.
A day later, Col. Potter refuses to get out of his bed, shirking his responsibilities. Winchester, too, is not dealing well with being shown up by a younger surgeon, drinking to excess for three nights in a row. Radar tries to boost Col. Potter's spirits, while Hawkeye and B.J. try to comfort Winchester. When Radar's efforts don't work, he turns to Hawkeye, B.J., and Margaret for help; Margaret offers to try. She is sweet but tough with Col. Potter, refusing to let him lounge around in bed - at one point grabbing his sheets, literally dragging him out of his bed. But then wounded arrive, and the Colonel agrees to get up and help. Winchester begs to be let off because of his raging hangover, and he and Potter end up arguing with each other before going in over who's the better surgeon, inspiring each of them to put in their best performance over the course a grueling OR session.
Meanwhile, Klinger's scam du jour is pretending that he's living in Toledo, treating everyone in camp like they live in Toledo, too. After going through this for several days in a row, Col. Potter offers to give "Mr. Klinger" a Section 8, which Klinger goes along with. He answers Potter's routine questions to fill out the form, but gets tripped up when Potter asks for Klinger's rank. Klinger automatically responds with "Corporal", which causes Potter to exclaim: "A-ha! Gotcha, soldier!"
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- The title, of course, references the hit CBS daytime drama of the same name.
- Continuity error: When Klinger is in Col. Potter's tent trying to sell him aluminum siding, the samples he's holding change between close-up and full shots.
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- James Canning as Captain Simmons
- Uncredited appearances
- Shari Saba - in mess tent
- Jo Ann Thompson - brief speaking part in outdoor triage scene
- Gwen Farrell - brief speaking part in outdoor triage scene
- Laurie Bates - outdoor triage scene
- Jennifer Davis - outdoor triage scene
- Kellye Nakahara - outdoor triage scene