Episode Spotlight: Fade Out, Fade In

30 Comments

Every Monday, I spotlight a random episode of M*A*S*H, providing a brief review and asking readers to offer their thoughts.

“Fade Out, Fade In” (#121, 6×21)
Originally Broadcast: Tuesday, September 20th, 1977
Written by Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum
Directed by Hy Averback

Capsule Summary: The 4077th needs a temporary replacement surgeon when Frank Burns goes AWOL so the stuffy Charles Emerson Winchester III is sent to help out. When Frank gets a transfer and a promotion, Charles is assigned to the 4077th permanently, much to his horror.

As I mentioned in my review of “Margaret’s Marriage” earlier this year, the writers wanted to bring Larry Linville back for a farewell episode at the start of Season 6 but he declined to return. According to Ken Levine, no script was ever written but a story was planned out to give Frank a proper farewell. That’s basically what happened when Gary Burghoff left M*A*S*H.

Because Linville didn’t want to come back, the writers had to craft an episode that wrote Frank out of the series without actually featuring Frank. That’s more or less what happened to Trapper when Wayne Rogers left M*A*S*H after Season 3. However, Frank plays a much larger role in “Fade Out, Fade In” than Trapper did in “Welcome to Korea.” Trapper went home to his family and Hawkeye never got to say goodbye. That was the end of it.

That could have happened to Frank, too, but it would have been repetitive. Instead, the writers decided to have Frank suffer a breakdown following Margaret’s marriage to Donald Penobscott and use that to explain his departure from the 4077th. Rather than simply have him sent home on a medical discharge, Frank was given both a promotion and a transfer stateside. It may have upset viewers as well. Allowing Frank–the “villain” on M*A*S*H–to go home while everyone else remained in Korea might appear cruel. Or is it a perfectly reasonable thing for illogical, irrational, and irrefutably absurd military to do?

The reaction to Frank’s transfer back to the United States is hilarious. I wonder who came up with having everyone throw papers in the air after the toast in Colonel Potter’s office. Of course, their jocularity turned to disgust when Frank called and told them about his promotion and transfer.

It’s strange but even though I’ve a lot to say about Frank (“Fade Out”) I don’t really feel like there’s much to say about Charles (“Fade In”). I’ve mentioned numerous times how much I’ve grown to appreciate the character of Charles and, more importantly, how superbly David Ogden Stiers portrayed the character. The seeds of Charles Emerson Winchester, III are planted here in his first appearance. He’s a little stiff, quite a bit obnoxious, and a very talented surgeon. He ruffles feathers the second he arrives at the 4077th and makes it clear he considers himself better than the other surgeons. And he gives this little speech:

“But know this. You can cut me off from the civilized world. You can incarcerate me with two moronic cellmates. You can torture me with your thrice daily swill, but you cannot break the spirit of a Winchester. My voice shall be heard from this wilderness and I shall be delivered from this fetid and festering sewer.”

I love it. There’s a bit of humanity in Charles, however. After B.J. has to take over for him in the O.R., Charles opens up about his concern that he can’t adjust to meatball surgery. Of course, he then proceeds to insult them all.

Ken Levine had this to say about Charles a few years ago at his blog:

I was there for the creation of Charles Emerson Winchester. The idea was to replace Frank Burns with a character that was very much his opposite. We all wanted Charles to be smarter and more gifted as a surgeon than Hawkeye or B.J. and, as opposed to Frank, a worthy adversary.

There were no auditions for the part. Producer Burt Metcalfe had seen David Ogden Stiers guesting on an episode of the MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW and thought he’d be perfect. It was only after David was hired that we learned he could do that slight Boston accent.

Charles is no Frank. He’s a gifted surgeon and knows his way around a prank. I wonder what fans of M*A*S*H thought of Charles while watching this episode when it first aired.

There are other minor storylines in this episode. One of them, the wounded battalion aid surgeon Captain Berman, ties into the Charles storyline. The others are unrelated: Klinger and his “lawyer,” Margaret and her worries about Donald becoming distant, the soldier who doesn’t want to return to the front because he doesn’t want to kill anyone else. They help flesh out the episode but don’t add much substance. Margaret’s problem with Donald lay the groundwork for her eventual divorce.

Still from the M*A*S*H episode Fade Out, Fade In showing Charles.

“I shall be delivered from this fetid and festering sewer.”

Robert Symonds returns as Colonel Baldwin in Season 9’s “No Laughing Matter.”

CBS repeated this episode in two parts on March 6th and March 13th, 1978. It was later syndicated as two half-hour episodes.

Radar supposedly smokes his first cigar in this episode even though he was seen smoking a cigar in several early episodes (including “Requiem for a Lightweight” and “Chief Surgeon Who?”).

I honestly didn’t notice while rewatching the episode for this review but during the scene in the Officers Club when Charles is talking to Igor, it’s not Jeff Maxwell’s voice we’re hearing. It’s a mystery why another voice was inserted in post-production. Several sources online state it is Johnny Haymer’s voice. Haymer played Sgt. Zale.

30 Replies to “Episode Spotlight: Fade Out, Fade In”

  1. Some fans have theorized that Frank made up his own promotion and transfer as one last attempt to piss of Hawkeye and B.J. on purpose and get a last laugh for himself. I’m not sure if I entirely buy that – I don’t think Frank’s clever enough for that – but then again, that makes as about as much sense as the army actually promoting Frank and transfering him.

    That being said, I feel like the way Frank was handled in this episode was a lot better than how they handled Trapper (and Wayne Rogers was confirmed to have return to record the P.A. announcement at Kimpo, so why couldn’t have given us one last look at him before going home?) – even though we don’t actually see Frank, he’s definitely there in spirit, which made for a smoother transition to Charles.

    I quickly warmed up to Charles when he arrived, if only because I was already familiar with David Ogden Stiers – but mostly for his extensive career lending his voice talents to a number of Disney movies; Cosworth from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is very similar to his portrayal as Charles, and also has a stuffy accent to accentuate the character’s snootiness.

    I do have one minor quibble with this episode, and that’s the minor subplot involving the soldier who didn’t want to go back to the front: B.J. offers to have him talk to Mulcahy (despite saying he’s an atheist), and he tells Mulcahy that he’s already killed three people, saw the agony in their eyes, and just doesn’t want to kill anymore. That’s it. Nothing else is said about it. Mulcahy offers up no words of comfort or wisdom, and we see no resolution to the soldier’s plight, we don’t know if he was sent back or not. It was really clumsy in an otherwise smooth episode.

  2. Regarding Charles going into the Officer’s club and talking to Igor, it was Johnny Haymer’s voice heard instead of Jeff Maxwell.

    Charles: My father knows Harry Truman. He doesn’t like him, but he knows him.
    Potter: Fine, you have Dad call Harry, then Harry will call me and maybe we’ll work something out. In the meantime, vamoose.
    Charles: All right, I am vamoosing.

  3. Just watched this one on DVD for the first time. I had never seen that scene with Hawkeye, BJ, & Father Mulcahy in the mess tent talking about Burns before. It must be cut on the TV Land/ME TV runs. I always thought it was strange how they ended season 5 with Burns being relatively okay (albeit sad) about the whole thing, and then all of a sudden he’s on R&R and gone bananas.

    This scene at least gives some explanation from BJ and Hawk about it.

    Pretty sure the scene with Radar puking from the cigar is cut from tv runs too because I don’t recall that either.

  4. I think Frank’s character had gotten stale by that time-Charles was indeed different, able to hold his own both in the OR (eventually) and against Hawkeye and BJ. And he did have more humanity and compassion than Frank ever did.

  5. The subplot involving Klinger was very engaging. Here, you’re led to believe that Max is finally going to pull it off, only to find out his “lawyer” has been trying to pull the looney act longer than he has. Of course, you’d like to think this would make Klinger give it up for good, but…

  6. Wonder what Baldwin told Potter that he replied “Oh really? I’ll remember that.”

    1. Pretty sure he was mentioning that he owed Charles money, there’s simply no other time Potter could have learned that, and he mentions it to Charles later.

  7. Goodbye, Ferret Face!

    Hawkeye (after throwing out Radar’s phone): “The army, in its infinite wisdom, has not only cleared Frank of all the charges, they’ve promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel and put him in charge of a veteran’s hospital in the states.”

    I often wondered about that as well-who would allow Frank Burns to be in charge of anything, let alone a hospital?

    Charles’ reaction to the 4077th-from the smell to the food-is classic Winchester, although he would adapt in his own way. He would also prove to have more humanity than Frank and truly show compassion.

  8. Wouldn’t the foot soldier get in trouble for basically abandoning Charles after the jeep exploded and telling him to hitchhike with what/whoever comes along?

  9. What’s the joke when Radar says, “What swell gloves” and Charles says something to which Radar reacts disappointedly?

  10. If memory serves, Winchester says “Calf” in his snootiest tone, meaning the gloves are made of calf-skin. This explains Radar’s reaction.

    1. Ah you know I always wondered what he said there too. It does sound like Calf, but also a bit like “Off” like he was telling Radar to stay away.

  11. It’s too bad that Larry Linville chose not to come back one final time. It could have been a great episode. As it turns out, Burns’ off-screen sendoff was pretty good anyway. Burns actually got the last laugh. Or maybe he didn’t, since Hawkeye and BJ got to pack his belongings with the “system” they used.

    Regarding whether Frank was lying about his promotion, it probably would have been easy enough for Potter to use his connections to find out the truth. I choose to believe that Burns did get the promotion, since one of the major themes of M*A*S*H was to comment on the absurdity of the military.

    Charles was a much better character overall, but Frank’s lunacy was definitely missed in subsequent seasons.

    1. Yea it really is too bad Larry couldn’t come back for one more episode, just like Trapper. I understand there’s legal mumbo jumbo behind that with contracts and all that, but out of love for the character and fans, Larry and Wayne couldn’t just show up at the studio to do a proper send off? Even without a contract and all that, I’m sure the producers and directors would have let them in the studio to do it. Imagine if Hawkeye DID make it to Kimpo in time to see Trapper off, what an awesome “cameo” that could have been at the end for Wayne.

      At least they got Gary back to do his send off.

      Also, they did at least they handl Franks departure a bit better than Trapper’s by having the on-screen characters communicate with him like he was really there.

      1. I don’t mind that Larry didn’t come back for a farewell episode. His character was dumbed down to an almost caricature of himself, I have no idea what they could have done. In the first seasons, Frank at least had his moments, but season 5 Frank was painful to watch, especially since he was all alone, having lost Margaret.
        Gary came back, but I wish he hadn’t. He was playing, as many noticed, a grumpy, annoyed Gary Burghoff, Radar was nowhere to be found in that performance.

  12. I never understood why the writers decided to separate Margaret and Frank. With a few more human moments from Frank like the one in Sticky Wicket, the show could have easily gone for at least two more seasons having Margaret as an ally to Frank.

    He was truly alone in Season 5, I don’t know how Linville was able to get through that. As RJ put it, the character became pathetic.

    That said, Charles is a great character and one of my favourites too.

    1. I saw an interview with Linville years ago, and he basically pointed out what you said. With Margaret married, Frank was totally alone. He ha no ally, no confidante. Linville got to the point that he no longer enjoyed watching the dailies anymore, as Frank just become an isolated buffoon. (Other side note, apparently off camera Linville was one of the truly nice guys in the business, he just played a jerk.)

  13. Frank and Charles might have been interesting together. I could see Charles as a new confidant for Frank, along with Frank’s whining versus Charles’ superior skills and arrogance I could see them conspiring against Hawkeye and BJ together.

    1. Wow I don’t see that at all. I think maybe Frank would have tried to suck up to Charles so he could have an ally but Charles wouldn’t have wanted to befriend Frank at all. He wouldn’t have respected his surgical skills, his personality, or the fact that he came from Indiana. I think he actually had more in common with Hawkeye and B.J. Than he did with Frank.

  14. I’ve noticed the past couple of times I’ve seen these episodes on MeTV, Larry Linville is included in the opening credits (right before David Ogden Stiers). Don’t think that was the case in previous syndication packages, and certainly not during the original airings in ’77 — I was only 12 at the time, but am pretty sure I would have remembered seeing both names back then.

    1. I’m watching this now on MeTV, and I just noticed the same thing, even though I’ve seen these episodes many times. As far as I know, the next episode, “Last Laugh”, is the only episode Mr. Stiers missed as a regular.

  15. Charles certainly acted boorish and arrogant during the initial meeting in Potter’s office but I don’t think Hawkeye, B.J., and Potter made that great of a first impression either. It was very rude of Hawkeye to call Winchester “Charlie” when he had just been introduced to him and didn’t know the man and his name was Charles. It was perfectly appropriate for Winchester to correct him, then Potter chides Winchester for correcting Hawkeye by saying “we’re rather informal”. A person’s name is what they say it is; calling people what they prefer to be called is a matter of decency and respect not formality. Of course Winchester was very impolite as well. We know he drinks and he had clearly had a long day and could use one so why decline Potter’s offer to give him a drink? It would only be because he didn’t want to associate himself with the “lower classes”. In the end, Hawkeye, B.J, Charles and Potter are all good people though and it was nice to see them get used to each other and truly care for each other as the show went on.

    1. Since Hawkeye calling Winchester “Charlie” is to help us understand Charles is “upper crust” (and done for the humor) I have no problem with it; for the same reasons Potter’s “We’re pretty informal up here. We get very close.”. I think how they continue to use Charlie and Chuck is fun, as is how they work in the “No offense intended.” and “Offense accepted.”.

      I see Charles’ turning down Potter’s offer of a drink as needing time alone (with his music) to process his overwhelming day.

      [Charles] “I do one thing at a time. I do it very well … and then I move on.”

      [Charles] “All right, Colonel, I am … vamoosing. But know this.
      You can cut me off from the civilized world. You can incarcerate me
      with two moronic cell mates. You can torture me with your thrice-daily swill. But you cannot break the spirit of a Winchester. My voice shall be heard from this wilderness … and I shall be delivered from this fetid and festering sewer.”

      There are so many great lines (and scenes) in this very busy episode.

      IMO it is an excellent episode, great away to write Frank out and Charles in.
      Amazing talent, from the writing and acting to the cameramen and wardrobe.

  16. I found it interesting that Charles would mention being able to quote Spinoza, who was a nonconformist in his day and didn’t seem the type of person Charles would relate to.

    “I should warn you that my father knows Harry Truman. He doesn’t like him, but he knows him.”

    1. Charles saying he’s able to quote Spinoza from memory is him flaunting his education, which helps show his snobbiness; just one of the ways used to capture his character and the attitude of ‘I’m too smart and too good to be here’.

  17. One thing that always puzzled me was why was Frank Burns a Major and Pierce and Trapper and BJ only Captains? Presumably it was something to do with Frank being regular military and not drafted the way the others were, ad being in the Army longer. It certainly wants his surgical skills or personality!

    Fair enough …

    … so why was CEW3 a Major from the start? He most certainly was not “regular army”, yet his Major rank was never explained. He is clearly a Major from day one, yet has had no prior military experience, so why he outranks BJ and especially Hawkeye is unknown to me.

    … and indeed if CEW3 was a Major due to his outstanding medical prowess or connections in the USA, then why didn’t Potter appoint him as 4077th Chief Surgeon at some point in season 6, or why didn’t CEW3 eventually ask for it or demand it at some point in season 6 as compensation for being stuck there? After all, that would have made a very dramatic episode, yet it wasn’t done. And there is no doubt that in season 6 CEW3 is a top notch surgeon.

    And if the reason was that Hawkeye was Chief surgeon was because he was a better surgeon and had a record of service time compared to CEW3, then why wasn’t Hawkeye ever promoted?

    [Note that buy the time season 6 started, the entire surgical staff at the 4077th had been replaced except for Hawkeye. Potter should only have been judging Hawkeye on his behaviour since season 4, and we all know how erratic or unstable Hawkeye had been, even in season 4 and 5.]

    it all seems very inconsistent to me.

  18. An overlooked piece of dialogue that always gets me.

    Potter: “Get me a Snickers bar…”
    Radar: “With peanuts?”
    Potter: “No.”
    Radar: “Milky Way…”
    Potter: “Damn partial!”

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