Production code J310 | Original air date October 22, 1972 | |
Episode no. Season 1Episode 6 (6th overall) | ||
"Yankee Doodle Doctor" is an episode from the television series M*A*S*M*A*S*H. It was the sixth episode broadcast and aired on October 22, 1972, and it was rerun April 8, 1973. It was written by Laurence Marks and directed by Lee Philips.
Contents
Guest cast is Ed Flanders as Lt. Bricker, Bert Kramer as Sgt. Martin, Tom Sparks as Corpsman, Marcia Strassman as Nurse Margie Cutler and Herb Voland as Brig. Gen. Crandell Clayton.
Overview
Lieutenant Bricker is making a documentary about Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M*A*S*H) units and General Clayton recommends the 4077th. However, when Hawkeye and Trapper discover the "documentary" is little more than Army propaganda, they destroy it and make their own version.
Detailed story
Lieutenant Bricker is making a documentary about MASH units and Brigadier General Clayton recommends the 4077th. Bricker wants one of the doctors to "star" in his documentary and Hawkeye Pierce agrees when faced with the possibility that the role could go to Frank Burns. The documentary is nothing more than overhyped propaganda. In the night, Pierce and McIntyre destroy the film by exposing it to light. After much convincing by Lt. Col. Blake, they remake the film, casting Hawkeye as a Groucho Marx-type doctor and Trapper as a Harpo Marx-esque surgeon. The crowd loves it, but Clayton is not impressed at first. After the film is over Clayton does find the ending exceptional.
Themes and reception
This is one of the first episodes of M*A*S*H to deal strongly with anti-war themes. In April 1973, this episode was cited by Newsweek as an example of "irony at its most abrasive".