Hawkeye Voted Least Favorite Episode from Season 4

9 Comments

Last month, visitors to MASH4077TV.com voted “Hawkeye” their least favorite episode from Season 4. The vote was not close. “Hawkeye” received 46 votes, or 21% of the total vote. In second place was “Of Moose and Men” with 28 votes (13%). “The Interview” was a close third with 23 votes (11%), followed by “The Price of Tomato Juice” with 20 votes (9%) and “Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?” with 13 votes (6%).

A total of 219 votes were cast, down slightly from the 228 votes for April’s “Least Favorite Episode from Season 3” poll. Every single episode received at least two votes with the exception of “Mail Call Again,” which nobody voted for.

Here are the full results:

Great 2017 M*A*S*H Episode Poll: Pick Your Least Favorite Episode from Season 4

Hawkeye (21%, 46 Votes)
Of Moose and Men (13%, 28 Votes)
The Interview (11%, 23 Votes)
The Price of Tomato Juice (9%, 20 Votes)
Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler? (6%, 13 Votes)
The Late Captain Pierce (5%, 10 Votes)
Smilin’ Jack (4%, 9 Votes)
The More I See You (4%, 8 Votes)
Welcome to Korea (4%, 8 Votes)
The Novocaine Mutiny (3%, 7 Votes)
The Bus (3%, 6 Votes)
Deluge (2%, 5 Votes)
Dear Peggy (2%, 4 Votes)
It Happened One Night (2%, 4 Votes)
Some 38th Parallels (2%, 4 Votes)
Hey Doc (2%, 4 Votes)
The Gun (2%, 4 Votes)
The Kids (2%, 4 Votes)
Dear Mildred (1%, 3 Votes)
Der Tag (1%, 3 Votes)
Dear Ma (1%, 2 Votes)
Soldier of the Month (1%, 2 Votes)
Change of Command (1%, 2 Votes)
Mail Call Again (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Votes: 219

For the record, back in April 2015, “Welcome to Korea” was voted the favorite episode from Season 4.

I’m not at all surprised that fans consider “Hawkeye” their least favorite episode of Season 4. It’s the episode I voted for. It’s not a terrible episode–in fact, it’s quite remarkable in many ways–but it’s one I don’t enjoy rewatching. The fact that so many people voted for “The Interview” seems to be proof that a lot of people don’t realize these polls are about the LEAST favorite episode.

Which episode did you vote for and why? If you voted for “The Interview” and meant it, what don’t you like about the episode?


Be sure to vote in this month’s poll. Pick your least favorite episode from Season 5.

9 Replies to “Hawkeye Voted Least Favorite Episode from Season 4”

  1. I can’t remember for sure, but I likely would have voted for ‘The Novocaine Mutiny.’

    MASH has told this story better in the past. Part of me hates how one-sided Frank Burns is by now. Early in the run, they tried to bring some nuance to the character, place Hawkeye on the wrong side of a dispute, but this was a lot of work, I guess.

    Larry Linville and Frank Burns were one-note comic punching bags by S4. This is fine for episodes like ‘The Bus’ and ‘Soldier of the Month’ but when his purpose exists solely to be a straw man, for any ethical argument Hawkeye and everyone else broaches, it makes me quesy about laughing at him.

    1. Yes! Frank seems so much more angry in the 4th season. Everytime he addresses someone he tacks on some namecalling at the end. Not to mention the reason for good increased anger isn’t really explored beyond maybe losing his command of the 4077th. Even Margaret seems fed up with him. He used to make me laugh in earlier seasons, but now he’s just coming off bitter.

  2. I voted for Hawkeye, but only because it is the least great episode (but still awesome) My favorite seasons, by far, are 4 & 5 so this and next month’s vote will be supremely difficult for me.

  3. “Hawkeye,” no contest. If not Hawkeye, I would have voted for “Of Moose and Men,” simply because it’s a bad episode and the actor playing the wounded Colonel (forget both of their names) actually looked and sounded worse after surgery than he did before, which is incredibly odd.

    Other than that, this month’s results seem a bit more plausible, though I’d disagree with the ranking of “The Price of Tomato Juice,” as it’s one of my favorites of a foursome of Season 4 episodes (“The Gun,” “Mail Call Again,” and “Dear Ma”).

    1. It was Tim O’Connor playing Col. Spiker in “Of Moose and Men”.

      I voted for “Hawkeye” this month. The reason being it didn’t appeal to me.

  4. ‘Hawkeye’ is definitely a polarizing episode considering it’s widely considered as catering to the show star’s ego. I too, initially, hated it, but it’s grown on me on further viewings.

    My worst episode for the month was ‘The More I See You.’ I don’t get the point on this episode. Was it to show why Hawkeye was the way he was?? Was it to show that even Hawkeye had a one true love he never forgot?? I didn’t get why they had to introduce us to Carlye and then never mention her again for the rest of the series. Boring episode. Boring dialog. Boring fake emotions.

  5. I voted for Of Moose and Men. I find the episode too bitty, not very interesting, I’ve never been a fan of Zale as a character and Tim O’Connor is a terrible actor.

    I’m not a fan of the episode Hawkeye but I appreciate they were trying to do something different and at least Alan Alda can act.

  6. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if “Hawkeye” was indeed an experiment by Larry Gelbart to see if just one of the characters could carry the show by himself, then Hawkeye was the wrong choice: he was already the unofficial star of the show anyway, so this could have been a moment to let any of the other characters to shine – like B.J., or Potter, perhaps, as they were both new to the show, this could have been an opportunity to learn more about them, and see how either of them would react to their situations.

  7. Hawkeye has my vote. I understand that Alan Alda was a big fan of the theater and got his start there. This episode had less cuts than some of the others which forced him to have his lines correct and hit all his marks in the same way he would on a stage. It’s well known that Gelbart called this an experiment to see if one character could carry the show but to that I say, to what end? If the experiment had been successful (to some, I suppose it was), were they going to eliminate the rest of the cast and have Hawkeye do monologues the rest of the season? I very much doubt it so what’s the point of this?

    I do like Hawkeye and Alan Alda but I didn’t need convincing that he was a great actor. If anything this episode made me dislike him because it showed that his ego was so big that he didn’t care if anyone was listening to what he was saying. He didn’t care if they responded to him. I’m guessing the culture of the time informed this experiment. A fan favorite had left the show (McClean) as had Trapper so the creators perhaps wanted to reassure the audience by giving them a lot more of another fan favorite, Hawkeye. Unfortunately, some of the writing didn’t make sense. He was so anxious to have someone come and get him so he could get “help” for his concussion. Why didn’t he dress his own wound or even wipe the blood off his face? What exactly was he wanting them to do for a concussion? I’ve had a severe concussion and all they prescribed was rest while they monitored the situation. Hawkeye behaved as though they had some magic drug that would help him if only they would get there.
    The other issue was the camp being 20 miles away. Are we to believe that little girl ran all that way in a few hours? Or did she have wings under her dress? I don’t blame Alan Alda for this one although I’m sure he was very excited to challenge himself as an actor and you can’t really blame him.
    The only good thing about the episode was not having to listen to BJ and his fast-talking one liners that are rarely funny. I’m very much a Henry/Trapper fan though I preferred BJ/Potter when I was a kid. Unfortunately, the laughter died when Henry and Trapper left. In fairness to Alan Alda, the real Hawkeye WAS a thoracic surgeon so Wayne Rogers’ disgust at Hawk being made the chest guy wasn’t really warranted when taken on those terms. Even Frank was funny at times when he would teeter on the edge of delight and madness. But Henry was the biggest loss. McClean was such a natural comedian (as many of the cast have said in interviews) that his presence on screen was enough to illicit a chuckle at the least and a rolling belly laugh at the most. I don’t remember ever laughing like that at BJ’s one liners spoken so rapidly you can barely understand them or Potter’s Missouri witticisms like “horse hockey” that are good for nothing except a smirk. I think the majority prefer the first cast less because they were only there a short time. Perhaps they were easier to forget. I get sad thinking about what could have been.

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