Season 4 (M*A*S*H)

M*A*S*H* Season 4
"M*A*S*H* - Season Four"
DVD cover for M*A*S*H Season 4.
Season:	Season 4
Original network:	CBS-TV
Country/Language	United States
Original Run:
First episode:	September 12, 1975
Final episode:	March 18, 1976
Number of episodes	24
Created by:	Larry Gelbart
Executive producer(s):	Larry Gelbart & Gene Reynolds
Season guides
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The first two episodes of Season 4 of M*A*S*H, "Welcome to Korea", parts 1 and 2 aired on CBS-TV on September 12, 1975; it introduced audiences to B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell). Harry Morgan, who won an Emmy Award at the beginning of the previous season for his guest role as daffy Major General Bartford Hamilton Steele, introduced the role of Colonel Sherman T. Potter, the 4077th's new Commanding Officer, to TV viewers the very next week in the episode "Change of Command". The final episode, "The Interview", aired February 4, 1976. Both Colonel Sam Flagg and Major Sidney Freedman appear once, in the episode "Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler".

Major events

• Trapper leaves the 4077th. Wayne Rogers left the show at the end of Season 3.
• B.J. Hunnicutt arrives.
• Colonel Sherman T. Potter arrives and becomes the commanding officer of the 4077h.
• Clete Roberts arrives to interview the 4077th personnel in "The Interview", the only episode in the entire series to be filmed entirely in black and white, and thought by many fans to be the best episode ever.

Season 4 (1975-1976): List of Episodes

• This table lists the episodes in the order they were first broadcast. The broadcast order is also the order of episodes in the DVD set. The episodes were not all broadcast in the same order as they were produced. Syndicated reruns and paid streaming services such as Netflix sometimes follow the production order (e.g. G-501, G-502, G-503....)
• 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. G-501, G-502, G-503....)
• Season 4 is where the production order departs significantly from the storyline in the first few episodes. Attempting to watch the season in production order presents serious continuity issues. For example, in G-501 "Change of Command", Potter arrives to take command of the 4077th with B. J. Hunnicutt already in the unit. B. J. also features in G-502 "It Happened One Night" and G-503 "Of Moose and Men". Yet in G-504, the first half-hour episode of the two parter "Welcome to Korea", B. J. is shown arriving in Korea to be received by Hawkeye and Radar and Frank Burns is still in temporary command. In the second part of the two parter, G-506, Potter arrives to take command! And G-505 intervenes between the two parts of "Welcome to Korea" (G-504 and G-506)!
• There is nothing sacred about the production order. It does not reflect the order that the screenwriters and producers intended the episodes to be watched. As Suzy Kalter points out in her book "The Complete Book of M*A*S*H", the production order was the result of logistical constraints. Entire shows and parts of episodes had to be filmed out of sequence based on the availability of the Fox Ranch which was not available all the time because the studio had given the property to the State of California as a State Park. The broadcast order more closely follows the intended storyline.

Season 4 episodes
Ep.#	# in Series	Date aired	Episode title	Directed by	Written by	Prod. Code
1 2	73 74	September 12, 1975	"Welcome to Korea"	Gene Reynolds	Everett Greenbaum, Jim Fritzell & Larry Gelbart	G-504 G-506
Hawkeye returns from R&R to find out that Trapper John has been discharged. He rushes to the airport, against Major Burns's orders not to leave camp, to say goodbye to Trapper, as he leaves with Radar, who is to pick up the new surgeon, but to only find out, to his much bitter disgust, that they missed saying "goodbye" to Trapper by just 10 minutes! But it still gives Hawkeye an opportunity to welcome Trapper's replacement, new draftee doctor B.J. Hunnicutt (new permanent cast member Mike Farrell), to Korea.
3	75	September 19, 1975	"Change of Command"	Gene Reynolds	Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum	G-501
New 4077th CO Colonel Sherman T. Potter (Harry Morgan) arrives in camp and assumes command of the 4077th.
4	76	September 26, 1975	"It Happened One Night"	Gene Reynolds	Story by : Gene Reynolds Teleplay by : Larry Gelbart & Simon Muntner	G-502
It's a bitterly cold night, and Hawkeye and B.J. are stuck with the overnight shift and a roomful of unruly patients. In the meantime, Margaret tells Frank that she keeps all his love letters - so he ransacks her tent to get them back.
5	77	October 3, 1975	"The Late Captain Pierce"	Alan Alda	Glen Charles & Les Charles	G-507
Hawkeye finds out that due to clerical error, he has been declared dead.
6	78	October 10, 1975	"Hey, Doc"	William Jurgensen	Rick Mittleman	G-510
Hawkeye and B.J. agree to help a colleague trying to start a Korean restaurant when he gets home. But Frank refuses to cooperate - until he is involved in an ridiculous tank accident.
7	79	October 17, 1975	"The Bus"	Gene Reynolds	John D. Hess	G-512
After their bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere on the way back from a medical convention, Hawkeye, B.J., Colonel Potter, Frank and Radar find themselves stranded.
8	80	October 24, 1975	"Dear Mildred"	Alan Alda	Everett Greenbaum & Jim Fritzell	G-505
Colonel Potter writes his anniversary letter to his wife. Meanwhile, Frank and Margaret try to find the perfect anniversary gift, only to be outdone by Radar.
9	81	October 31, 1975	"The Kids"	Alan Alda	Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum	G-511
The 4077th takes in Nurse Cratty's Korean orphans during a shelling attack, including a pregnant girl with a bullet wound. But Frank accuses one of the orphans of stealing his newly (and dubiously) awarded Purple Heart.
10	82	November 7, 1975	Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler"	Larry Gelbart	Burt Prelutsky	G-513
The latest group of casualties includes a one Captain Arnold Chandler (Alan Fudge) a bomber pilot who claims that he's Jesus Christ. Frank and Margaret think he's faking battle fatigue in order to get a discharge, and they bring in Colonel Flagg (Edward Winter) to help expose him, as Hawkeye and Potter enlist the help of Dr. Sidney Freedman (Allan Arbus) to help Chandler with his dilemma.
11	83	November 14, 1975	"Dear Peggy"	Burt Metcalfe	Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum	G-509
B.J. writes a letter home to his wife, and Father Mulcahy gets a visit from one of his rigid superiors.
12	84	November 21, 1975	"Of Moose and Men"	John Erman	Jay Folb	G-503
Hawkeye saves the life of a colonel who wants him reprimanded for disrespect. B.J. tries to save the marriage of a friend who found out his wife is cheating on him, and Frank is paranoid that all Koreans are hiding or burying bombs.
13	85	November 28, 1975	Soldier Of The Month	Gene Reynolds	Linda Bloodworth	G-514
The 4077th introduces a "soldier of the month" award, which includes a week of R&R in Tokyo, and Klinger and Radar go all out to win the honor. Frank is supposed to choose the winner, but he contracts a rare fever.
14	86	December 2, 1975	"The Gun"	Burt Metcalfe	Larry Gelbart & Gene Reynolds	G-517
A vintage revolver is stolen from the camp's gun locker and Radar is accused as the thief.
15	87	December 8, 1975	"Mail Call...Again"	George Tyne	Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum	G-518
Colonel Potter finds out that he's about to become a grandfather, and Major Burns learns that his wife knows about his affair with Margaret - and wants a divorce.
16	88	December 16, 1975	"The Price of Tomato Juice"	Gene Reynolds	Larry Gelbart & Gene Reynolds	G-519
What seems to be a simple request to request to get tomato juice for Colonel Potter becomes a ridiculous, complicated ordeal when Major Burns asks for something in return.
17	89	December 23, 1975	"Dear Ma"	Alan Alda	Everett Greenbaum & Jim Fritzell	G-515
Radar's letter home recounts the latest round of foot inspections, and how Colonel Potter's wife's premonition of bad luck comes to fruition.
18	90	January 6, 1976	"Der Tag"	Gene Reynolds	Everett Greenbaum & Jim Fritzell	G-522
Hawkeye and B.J. place a toe tag on a passed-out Frank as part of a drunken practical joke. But the joke backfires on them when he is accidentally shipped out to the front lines.
19	91	January 13, 1976	"Hawkeye"	Larry Gelbart	Larry Gelbart & Simon Muntner	G-520
Hawkeye Pierce, going solo, has an accident with a Jeep, and is rescued by a South Korean family. To prevent himself from succumbing to a concussion, Hawkeye begins talking endlessly to the family, who can't understand a word he's saying. Note: Philip Ahn guest stars.
20	92	January 20, 1976	"Some 38th Parallels"	Burt Metcalfe	Reiger & Markowitz	G-521
Hawkeye has impotency problems, Frank auctions off the 4077th's garbage, and Radar becomes distraught after a patient he has taken special interest in dies.
21	93	January 27, 1976	"The Novocaine Mutiny"	Harry Morgan	Burt Prelutsky	G-523
Hawkeye is put on trial for attempted mutiny under Frank Burns' command, as the surgeons all give their account of what really transpired at the 4077th under Frank's temporary command while Colonel Potter was on leave for six days.
22	94	February 3, 1976	"Smilin’ Jack"	Charles S. Dubin	Larry Gelbart & Simon Muntner	G-508
A chopper pilot with diabetes who's dead set on bringing in the most wounded from the front to be the 'Chopper Pilot of the Year', continues flying against the docs' orders. Robert Hogan guest stars as Lieutenant Smilin' Jack Mitchell.
23	95	February 10, 1976	"The More I See You"	Gene Reynolds	Larry Gelbart & Gene Reynolds	G-524
A nurse that Hawkeye used to live with and never got over arrives at the 4077th. And Hawkeye's heartbreak is only intensified when he learns that she is now married. Blythe Danner guest stars.
24	96	February 17, 1976	"Deluge"	William Jurgensen	Larry Gelbart & Simon Muntner	G-516
The Chinese Army joins the war, killing any hopes the 4077th has about a speedy resolution and homecoming.
25	97	February 24, 1976	"The Interview"	Larry Gelbart	Larry Gelbart	G-525
War Correspondent Clete Roberts (as himself) interviews the members of the 4077th MASH hospital.