Unfilmed Script – “The Contract” (1978)

5 Comments

Here’s the summary for the second of four M*A*S*H “spec” scripts, courtesy of Eric. For more information about unfilmed/unproduced scripts for the series see this post.

The Contract (V-540)
July 19, 1978
Third Draft
Mac Ness
32 Pages

The show starts in Potter’s office with BJ, Hawkeye, and Potter sharing a drink. They are awaiting the return of Charles and Klinger from the 8055th. Radar enters the office and indicates the two had to stop to refuel.

Meanwhile, Charles is waiting for Klinger to refuel the jeep and notices a rare spice growing in the field and tries to pick it. Klinger notices the plant is bobby trapped an stops Charles from picking it. Klinger tackles Charles just as the grenade attaches to the copper wire explodes. Charles realizes that Klinger has saved his life and vows to repay him. Klinger says there is only one thing he wants…..his signature.

Back in the Swamp, BJ and Hawkeye are playing chess when Charles returns from his mission. Charles is in a foul mood when the camp is flooded with casualties. Charles is upset due to conditions of surgery and the fact they gave all their four-oh silk to the 8055th.

The next day, Charles is in the Swamp with BJ and Hawkeye and apologizes for his behavior from the night before. He asks for a drink, then explains what happened to him and Klinger the day before. Klinger then enters the Swamp wearing a dress uniform and ask for Charles’s signature. Charles signs without hesitation. Hawkeye and BJ ask what he is signing and he explains they are discharge papers. BJ comments that it takes three doctors signatures and Klinger reminds BJ that he and Hawkeye signed the papers as part of a poker winnings pot.

In Klinger’s excitement he goes to Post-Op and visits a patient from Toledo. Klinger is recounting his favorite memories from Toledo, but the patient is only crushing Klinger. All of his favorite hang-outs are gone and favorite neighborhoods have changed. Klinger is suddenly depressed.

Klinger reenters the Swamp where BJ and Hawkeye are concerned about what they have done for Klinger. Charles is drunk. Klinger explains that he is divorced and his parents will disown him for wearing a dress. He realizes a Section 8 will not make his life better, but worse.

The episode closes with Hawkeye, BJ, Potter, and a hung-over Charles headed for the Mess Tent. They are stopped by Klinger who is wearing a tu-tu. Potter tells him it is not going to work; he will never get out by wearing dresses. Klinger just smiles!

Again, a big thank you to Eric for this summary.

5 Replies to “Unfilmed Script – “The Contract” (1978)”

  1. This is almost a rehash, with Charles’ life being saved, and he owes Klinger something. Also, by the time Charles came along, wasn’t Klinger pretty much done with trying to get out?

  2. It is a lot like “Operation Friendship,” but that did not air until January 26, 1981!!! Klinger stopped wearing dresses shortly before Radar left in 1979. This scripts precedes both those events.

    This episode interested me because it seemed like they were preparing Klinger for his role as company clerk with him giving up the Section 8 routine and growing as a character.

    I think of the four spec scripts, this is the most plausible. It reads like an episode of M*A*S*H and, with a few adjustments, could have worked. The important thing is, Klinger learns that a Section 8 is not the way out….but he also turned one down in “Radar’s Report.”

    1. The thing that irritated me most about “Operation Friendship” was that it ripped off a plot from The Brady Bunch, replacing Peter with Charles and Bobby with Klinger. Of course since it was a light subplot to the main plot of this episode, it received a much lighter treatment than that Brady Bunch episode. Charles merely shredded Klinger’s paperback instead of leaving his trapped in a closet.

  3. I too feel this could have worked out to be a great episode (albeit with a couple of adjustments). Thanks Eric for the summary and thanks for posting it RJ!

  4. I agree, with a little bit of tweaking this actually could have been a pretty decent (and funny) episode, possibly even better than “Operation Friendship” (which probably wasn’t that great to begin with, mind ya…)

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