Goof: Klinger’s Not Naked in “Chief Surgeon Who?”

5 Comments

Near the end of “Chief Surgeon Who?,” Hawkeye, Trapper, Colonel Blake and General Barker walk out of the O.R. and find Corporal Klinger waiting for them, rifle in hand. General Barker exclaims “That man’s naked!” Hawkeye and Trapper are nonplussed and suggest Klinger put some clothing on as they walk off. Colonel Blake mumbles incoherently. It’s a wonderful introduction to a wonderful character.

But Klinger–and by extension Jamie Farr–wasn’t naked. As the following image shows, he’s wearing something, presumably a pair of shorts.

Still from the MASH episode Chief Surgeon Who? showing Jamie Farr clearly wearing clothes.

One has to hand it to Jamie Farr for putting up with, and putting on, a lot during his time on M*A*S*H. But no one can fault him for not actually being naked. That’s a lot to ask for what was originally a bit part.

5 Replies to “Goof: Klinger’s Not Naked in “Chief Surgeon Who?””

  1. This is hardly a mistake – and at most a nitpick.

    Imagine somebody commenting on a topless woman “She’s naked” – technically incorrect if she’s just topless, but certainly something natural that somebody would exclaim.

    It’s essentially the same having a man just wearing shorts when he should be in uniform. Technically not naked, but who cares?

    1. I agree. Like why would someone even comment on someone who is shirtless or topless. But, it’s a whole different story if someone is bottomless because that would be bad.

    2. Klinger character himself was supposed to be naked fully to prove he was crazy, but I don’t think Jamie Farr would ever have gone that far. What you are seeing is a blooper, it never was supposed to be in the shot. It was supposed to look like Klinger was naked. End of discussion.

  2. Klinger was originally just going to appear in one scene in the pilot, but he looked so funny in a dress that they decided to keep the character on the show.

  3. Sorry first – I’m way late to this and it turned into a huge post – sorry.

    This is actually my favorite early episode and one of my favorites overall. I really enjoyed General Barker’s acting throughout and wish the character was chosen as the “primary” general for the show. His movement around camp and interactions with all the characters was almost a “behind the scenes” view of the 4077th.

    Special recognition – whomever’s great legs those were under the poncho – the girls of course!! – is she credited? Anyone know? (Probably nurse Baker. It’s always Baker!) High heels, probably short shorts, blind behind the guy and poncho, and having to match his steps. It’s not long, and the legs are very distracting, but think how hard that had to be to pull off. Had to be hard for the guy too I bet 😉

    For Mr. Farr, even as brief as the two scenes were, when the decision makers watched them I’d bet they said right then they needed to find more for him. Henry Blake points it out perfectly “He’s got the legs for it haha”. They knew they were lucky to find him I bet.

    As far as the “not naked” point. Of course he wouldn’t be. Things slip through editing all the time, so you gotta…wait for it…”cover your butt” to be sure the censors don’t kill the episode. Especially back then. Editing really screwed it, though, in my opinion. This should have been an easy one to frame correctly.

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