| M*A*S*H* Season 8 | |
|---|---|
| "M*A*S*H* - Season Eight" | |
 DVD Cover for Season 8 of M*A*S*H. | |
| Season: | Season 8 |
| Original network: |
CBS-TV |
| Country/Language | United States |
| Original Run: | |
| First episode: | September 17, 1979 |
| Final episode: | March 12, 1980 |
| Number of episodes | 26 |
| Created by: | Larry Gelbart |
| Executive producer(s): | Burt Metcalfe (executive producer) |
| Season guides | |
| Previous Season 7 |
Next Season 9 |
The first episode of Season 8 of M*A*S*H, "Too Many Cooks", aired September 17, 1979; the final episode, "April Fools", which guest starred veteran film/TV/stage actor Pat Hingle, aired March 24, 1980.
Major events[]
- Radar appears for the final time in "Good-Bye Radar: Part 1", and "Good-Bye Radar: Part 2", a two-part episode arc, both which kick off the new season.
- Both B.J.who has a hard time stomaching the concept of Radar, who was to meet with his wife Peg and daughter Erin when he landed stateside upon his stop in San Francisco, being called "Daddy" by Erin, and Klinger, who was having an equally hard time meshing into his new job as company clerk, drown out their frustrations in booze before B.J. strikes Hawkeye after an argument concerning the meeting Radar and Erin, and he missing his family because of the war in "Period of Adjustment"
- Susan Saint James of the McMillan and Wife TV series fame appears as Aggie O'Shea, a visiting photojournalist who takes a shine to B.J. in "War Co-Respondent".
- Howard Platt, who is best known for his role as Officer "Hoppy" Hopkins on NBC-TV's Sanford and Son appears as Major Ted Spector, who gives Hawkeye and B.J. an Army style red-tape/runaround hard time when the medical staff, that finds an American/Korean baby left at the 4077th, try to figure what to do with the child in "Yessir, That’s Our Baby".
- Veteran TV/film actor Pat Hingle guest stars as Colonel Daniel Webster Tucker, an old war buddy of Col. Potter, who appears as a hardnosed stickler as a visiting inspector in playing a practical joke on the medical staff with Potter in the season finale episode "April Fools".
Miscellany[]
Season 8 (1979-1980): List of Episodes[]
- This table lists the episodes in the order they were first broadcast. The episodes were not all broadcast in the same order as they were produced. The broadcast order is also the order of episodes in the DVD set. However, syndicated reruns and paid streaming services such as Netflix sometimes follow the production order (e.g.S-601, S-602, S-603....)
- There were the following gaps in the dates of the original broadcasts:
- February 25, 1980 - no episode
- March 17, 1980 - a repeat of The Yalu Brick Road was broadcast. Reason is unknown but could be to bring the April Fools episode closer to April 1.
| Season 8 episodes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ep.# | # in Series | Date aired | Episode title | Directed by | Written by | Prod. code |
| 1 | 174 | September 17, 1979 | "Too Many Cooks" | Charles S. Dubin | Dennis Koenig | S-601 |
The 4077 receives a patient who is a bumbler at the front but regular gourmet in the mess tent. The surgical staff try and convince Potter to keep him but he flatly refuses, he has enough trouble as it is. His marriage is in danger.
| ||||||
| 2 | 175 | September 24, 1979 | "Are You Now, Margaret?" | Charles S. Dubin | Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox | S-602 |
| A Congressional aide comes to the camp with accusations of Margaret of being a communist sympathizer that could ruin her career. | ||||||
| 3 | 176 | October 1, 1979 | "Guerilla My Dreams" | Alan Alda | Bob Colleary | S-603 |
| Hawkeye refuses to accept a South Korean officer's warning that a wounded civilian he brought in is a dangerous enemy guerrilla soldier. | ||||||
| 4 | 177 | October 8, 1979 | "Good-Bye Radar: Part 1" | Chares S. Dubin | Ken Levine & David Isaacs | S-610 |
| As Radar makes his way back from leave, the camp struggles with a total loss of electricity with a malfunctioning generator and the backup is stolen. | ||||||
| 5 | 178 | October 15, 1979 | "Good-Bye Radar: Part 2" | Charles S. Dubin | Ken Levine & David Isaacs | S-611 |
| Although Radar is granted a hardship discharge, the camp's difficulties make him seriously consider staying. | ||||||
| 6 | 179 | October 22, 1979 | "Period of Adjustment" | Charles S. Dubin | Jim Mulligan & John Rappaport | S-604 |
| B.J. and Klinger get drunk in despair at being envious to the now departed Radar. | ||||||
| 7 | 180 | October 29, 1979 | "Nurse Doctor" | Charles S. Dubin | Story by: Sy Rosen Teleplay by: Sy Rosen, Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox |
S-608 |
| The senior staff's attempt to help a nurse enter medical school to become a doctor is complicated by her unwanted romantic advances towards Father Mulcahy. | ||||||
| 8 | 181 | November 5, 1979 | "Private Finance" | Charles S. Dubin | Dennis Koenig | S-605 |
| Pierce deals with a dead soldier's ill-gotten gains, while a Korean mama (Shizuko Hoshi) attacks Klinger for dishonoring her daughter (Denice Kumagai). | ||||||
| 9 | 182 | November 12, 1979 | "Mr. and Mrs. Who?" | Burt Metcalfe | Ronny Graham | S-606 |
After a drunken trip to Tokyo, Winchester is visited by his new wife. Meanwhile, the camp is hit with an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever that they don't know how to deal with.
| ||||||
| 10 | 183 | November 19, 1979 | "The Yalu Brick Road" | Charles S. Dubin | Mike Farrell | S-607 |
| Hawkeye and BJ get lost in enemy territory. | ||||||
| 11 | 184 | November 26, 1979 | "Life Time" | Alan Alda | Alan Alda & Walter D. Dishell, M.D. | S-609 |
| As marked by an on screen clock, the 4077th staff have a specific time limit to operate on a patient before he dies or is left paralyzed. | ||||||
| 12 | 185 | December 3, 1979 | "Dear Uncle Abdul" | William Jurgensen | John Rappaport & Jim Mulligan | S-613 |
| Now resigned to staying for his term of service, Klinger writes home about his job, which includes appeasing the eccentricities of the officers. | ||||||
| 13 | 186 | December 10, 1979 | "Captains Outrageous" | Burt Metcalfe | Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox | S-614 |
| While the 4077th staff substitute for Rosie (Eileen Saki) at her bar, Father Mulcahy is at the end of his patience when he is passed over for promotion yet again. | ||||||
| 14 | 187 | December 17, 1979 | "Stars and Stripes" | Harry Morgan | Dennis Koenig | S-615 |
| Friction occurs when Winchester and B.J. are asked to write an article for a prestigious journal on a procedure they'd performed. Margaret discovers more about herself through a visit from Scully (guest star Joshua Bryant). | ||||||
| 15 | 188 | December 31, 1979 | "Yessir, That’s Our Baby" | Alan Alda | Jim Mulligan | S-617 |
| When the 4077th staff find an abandoned Amerasian baby, their efforts to help her prove a frustrating struggle. | ||||||
| 16 | 189 | January 7, 1980 | "Bottle Fatigue" | Burt Metcalfe | Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox | S-618 |
| Hawkeye goes on the wagon and drives everyone crazy. When Winchester hears that his sister is going to marry an Italian, he goes nuts, doing everything in his power to stop the marriage. | ||||||
| 17 | 190 | January 14, 1980 | "Heal Thyself" | Mike Farrell | Dennis Koenig (story) & Gene Reynolds (teleplay/story) | S-616 |
| When the mumps bring down Col. Potter and Winchester, a replacement surgeon from Tokyo is brought in. | ||||||
| 18 | 191 | January 21, 1980 | "Old Soldiers" | Charles S. Dubin | Dennis Koenig | S-620 |
| Col. Potter is mysteriously called away to Tokyo. Meanwhile the 4077th must treat a group of refugee orphans. | ||||||
| 19 | 192 | January 28, 1980 | "Morale Victory" | Charles S. Dubin | John Rappaport | S-621 |
| While Hawkeye and BJ struggle as morale officers of the disgruntled camp, Winchester tries to help a patient whose pianist career seems ruined due to a crippled hand. | ||||||
| 20 | 193 | February 4, 1980 | "Lend a Hand" | Alan Alda | Alan Alda | S-619 |
| Irritated that the 4077th is planning a "surprise" birthday party for him, Hawkeye aids a wounded surgeon at the front and habitually disagrees with wisecracking medical advisor Dr. Anthony Borelli (Robert Alda). Constant interruptions prevent Klinger from frosting a cake in Hawkeye's honor. | ||||||
| 21 | 194 | February 11, 1980 | "Goodbye, Cruel World" | Charles S. Dubin | Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox | S-622 |
| When Klinger's attempt to redecorate his office is rejected, he decides to desert while Hawkeye has a homebound war hero patient who attempts suicide. | ||||||
| 22 | 195 | February 18, 1980 | "Dreams" | Alan Alda | Alan Alda (teleplay/story) & James Jay Rubenfier (teleplay) | S-612 |
| During a hectic non-stop rush of wounded that is overcrowding the camp, the staff's brief naps have disturbing dreams in which the war is an never-ending intrusion. | ||||||
| 23 | 196 | March 3, 1980 | "War Co-Respondent" | Mike Farrell | Mike Farrell | S-624 |
| Aggie O'Shea, who's a visiting war correspondent, (Susan Saint James) falls for B.J. He is attracted to her as well, and that causes him to feel torn. | ||||||
| 24 | 197 | March 10, 1980 | "Back Pay" | Burt Metcalfe | Thad Mumford, Dan Wilcox & Dennis Koenig | S-625 |
| Hawkeye is upset by the fact that civilian doctors are making a lot of money off the war, and decides to bill the army for all his work. Meanwhile, Winchester is reluctantly showing 3 Korean doctors American medical techniques, putting them down all the while, until he is on the receiving end of their expertise. | ||||||
| 25 | 198 | March 24, 1980 | "April Fools" | Charles S. Dubin | Dennis Koenig | S-623 |
| A visiting spit and polish officer, Colonel Daniel Webster Tucker (Pat Hingle) pays a visit to the camp at the worst time - during April Fool's Day. | ||||||