Every Monday, I spotlight a random episode of M*A*S*H, providing a brief review and asking readers to offer their thoughts.
“The Interview” (#96, 4×24)
Originally Broadcast: Tuesday, February 24th, 1976
Written by Larry Gelbart
Directed by Larry Gelbart
Capsule Summary: Reporter Clete Roberts interviews members of the 4077th to learn more about how MASH units work.
As M*A*S*H fans know, this was the last episode of the series that Larry Gelbart worked on. It wasn’t written the way regular episodes of television shows are written. It doesn’t feature any sort of plot or storylines. It is a masterpiece and one of the best episodes of M*A*S*H.
And yet, there’s very little I have to say about the episode. It’s too bad that Loretta Swit wasn’t in the episode because Margaret’s thoughts on the war would have been interesting to hear. As the story goes, “The Interview” was an extra episode ordered by CBS at the last minute and Swit had already been given permission to do a play in New York City. She was also absent from a few other late Season Four episodes.
Father Mulcahy and Colonel Potter are the best of the interviewees, in my opinion. Mulcahy’s story about the doctor’s warming themselves on the steam rising from the bodies of patients is the highlight of the episode. Hawkeye doesn’t come across that well due to the constant joking while Radar suffers from being slightly too immature to be realistic. Surprisingly, Frank manages to keep his crazy in check.
I wonder how much footage was shot for “The Interview” and not used. Reportedly there was some improvisation on the part of the cast. During the last scene of the episode there are a few lines spoken in voiceover that I don’t believe appear earlier in the episode. Perhaps there were entire scenes that didn’t make the final cut.
The sequel to this episode, the hour-long “Our Finest Hour” from Season Seven, wasn’t quite as a good.
In February 2006, Larry Gelbart wrote brief “The Interview” interviews for Henry, Trapper and Colonel Flagg and posted them to the alt.tv.mash Usenet group:
Henry’s “The Interview” Interview (February 9th, 2006)
Trapper John’s “The Interview” Interview (February 10th, 2006)
Flagg’s “The Interview” Interview (February 13th, 2006)
As mentioned earlier, Margaret does not appear in this episode.
I wasn’t aware that this episode was ordered at the last minute… I knew “A Night at Rosies” (7×24) was done practically at the last minute because Season Seven was going to end with a farewell episode for Radar and CBS decided to hold that over till the following season and make it a two-parter, so it fell upon Ken Levine & David Isaacs to write a new episode to fill the void.
As I understand, there wasn’t just some improvisation done in this episode, it was mostly all improvised: as I understand it, Larry Gelbart wrote the questions for Clete Roberts to ask, and the actors gave their own answers, to see just how set in their characters they really were, then Larry put the final script together based on all of that.
There’s one other thing you forgot to mention about this episode: CBS was apparently so horrified that the episode was in black-and-white that they feared viewers would think either their sets were broken, or they would change the channel, and insisted on Burt Metcalfe’s voice-over disclaimer at the beginning saying, “The following is in black-and-white.”
I believe members of the cast were also asked additional questions during filming, ones they were not given beforehand, and allowed to improvise answers on the spot.
I agree about this being a fantastic episode. For essentially improvising their monologues, every person got their characterization spot on. Mulcahy’s speech about doctors warming their hands with the steam emitting from their patients was so heartfelt and beautifully delivered.
Great episode and Larry Gelbart’s crowning achievement on the show.
A terrific, out-of-the-box episode. I agree that “Our Finest Hour,” while good, just doesn’t measure up to this ep. Fr. Mulcahy’s “warming their hands” story is a knockout, every single time.
Larry Gelbart also said that Mulcahy’s line about doctors warming themselves over the open wounds was his all-time favorite line, and that he got that from an actual Korean War doctor’s anecdote.
yes, Larry Gelbart & Bruce Metcalf actually went to Korea, and visited a real MASH unit where they interviewed the personnel and one of them said that “warming the hands” story.
I love Radar’s story about Eleanor Roosevelt coming to Ottumwa!
I don’t want to turn this into the “Our Finest Hour” discussion, but RJ, when you get to that episode, the interesting thing to note is that it was essentially produced by a completely different production team. I’m sure there is a story around that – did CBS want an “extra” episode or special one-hour episode but not want to pay a full license fee? Why did different producers work on that episode?
Interviewer: What about your colleagues?
Radar: I only went as far as high school, sir.
Another great line!
I also thought Radars story about when Eleanor Roosevelt came through his hometown was funny! LOL
Also when the reporter asks Frank if he wants to say HI to the people back home and Frank says “Oh no, I know how everyone feels about me.” LOL
also, R.J. didn’t mention that this episode was the first time Klinger mentioned Tony Packos.
I loved the range of responses when Roberts gave the interviewees opportunity to say hello. They all personified each character to a TD.
Hawkeye always has to wisecrack, saying hi to Bess Truman.
Mulcahy, so deeply affected by all the death and devastation he’s seen, can only muster the wherewithal to say ‘hello’ to no one in particular.
Radar’s innocence shined through in his greeting to mom and Uncle Ed.
You could feel the depth of love from BJ to his wife and daughter.
Klinger enthusiastically embraced it. It showed that, even through his efforts to get out, he for the most part is resigned to his fate.
Best response of all was from Potter. Focused on maintaining his dignity and command presence, his answer was refreshingly straightforward.
And, to add…Burns’ response just showed how obstinate and unaware his character was destined to become, especially after Margaret distanced herself from him.
Was I the only one that noticed that Potter said he missed his son and daughter in law…when in fact he had a daughter and son in law?
Well put, Phil!
This episode could also be considered to be the beginning of a long term character arc for BJ: notably his distress and bitterness at being separated from his family. Following this episode, his bitterness only increases, exploding from time to time as a plot point in numerous episodes
This is a very good episode, and way ahead of its time. I can’t believe the network would allow the bleeps to be aired in 1976, because you can tell what the words are.
My main complaint is that Hawk gets the lion’s share of the interview time. Don’t get me wrong, Alda did a fine job here, but so did all of the others. BJ and Mulcahy and Potter should have been given more time.
I wish Houlihan had been there, and that they had interviewed some of the minor characters.
Finally, I didn’t like that they made Burns look like a complete joke. But that’s where he was headed anyway.
Overall, a fine episode.
I just watched this episode on Hulu. It was in color! They shouldn’t have messed with it!
I just watched this episode tonight. I am always moved by Father Mulcahy’s responses in this episode. The steam rising story always gets to me every time, and the way he quickly and evadingly tells his folks back home “hi” suggests to me that he isn’t close to his family except, of course, his sister, the sister.
I’d either not seen or forgotten his remark about a woman being a source of comfort and hope. Hmmmm… regretting he can never have that sort of relationship, perhaps?
All in all, a good episode, and some of William Christopher’s best work in the series, IMO.
I agree with you, Jocularity Girl. The line about steam rising is what I think is the best line in the episode, maybe in the series. A fine actor and long one of my favorites.
Thanks, Pickled Amnesiac! Love your username! It’s from the unwedding of Charles in Mr. and Mrs. Who, if I remember right.
I like Frank’s saying he might write a book about his experiences at the 4077th, I wonder if the writers were doing some long distance thinking, considering the possibility of wrapping up the series implying that Frank is the Richard Hooker who wrote the original book. I suppose they still could have after Fade In Fade Out, if they wanted to.
Father Mulcahy’s story about the steam rising off a patient and the doctor warming his hands over it is one of the most moving moments I have ever experienced watching television. It gives me the chills every time I see it. And William Christopher’s delivery and timing are spot on. An amazing moment in time.
Competely agree!:-)
Surprising continuity goof in this episode when Potter says he misses his son and daughter in law…when in fact he has a daughter and son in law.
Along with Father Mulcahy’s heartfelt answers, Potter’s mature, and Radar’s immature, I also find these very much in character:
[Hawkeye] “… everything is painted green. The clothes are green. The food is green, (pause) except the vegetables, of course. The only thing that’s not green is the blood. The blood is red. That’s what we get the most of here.” (The balance of humor and serious, always so well done.)
[B.J .] (when asked if there was a lot of drinking there):
“A lot is a relative term.
We do considerable drinking as opposed to sitting at home.
We do not enough drinking as opposed to being here.”
The voiceover was a good way to put an explanation mark at the end, my favorite is Potter’s, “These guys aren’t soldiers, they’re doctors.”
Excellent episode!
A superb episode, nothing much more to say … and Mulcahy’s line about the steam rising is probably the single most important line of dialogue in the entire 11 seasons of MASH. If you could summarise all of MASH in one line that would be it, and William Christopher nailed it beautifully …
… and yet, brilliant though it is, it is something of a conceit …
… because up to that point in seasons 1 to 4 Mulcahy was hardly ever in the O.R. to witness such a scene, in fact there has never been a cold weather O.R. scene in season 1 to 4 that could have caused Mulcahy to observe (or even hear about) such a moment.
And I wonder why that clearly surgical O.R. scene memory is quoted in this episode by Mulcahy, as opposed to someone else? If it was so moving for Mulcahy to witness watching doctors warming their hands over the open wounds, why was it that none of the said doctors thought to or remembered to say that directly in this episode? Why not Hawkeye?
Don’t get me wrong, “The Interview” is magnificent television (although it would have been better if Houlihan was interviewed), I just had these thoughts about that line of dialogue. As indicated above, it came from genuine memories of MASH personnel in the real war, but, unlike other real events, it never seemed to make it into any of the episodes in seasons 1 to 4.
First: In those early years Father Mulcahy is in over half the OR scenes, mostly seen walking around praying (putting him in the perfect position to quietly witness what he describes). He often doesn’t have any lines but is easy to spot by his purple sash, cross, and/or Bible.
Second: Plenty of opportunities …
* “Dear Dad”, “O.R.”, and “Carry On, Hawkeye” are very cold weather episodes where we see Mulcahy in OR.
* Other cold weather episodes (no OR scenes): “The Longjohn Flap”, “Crisis”, “The Late Captain Pierce”, and “It Happened One Night”.
We’d seen plenty of cold weather (and an abundance of wounded).
Third: The answers to Roberts questions give us some new insights to their struggles/hardships, e.g., we also hadn’t seen Hawkeye in the kind of fear he describes; we hadn’t seen (or heard of) slivers and splinters from the toilet seats in Radar’s butt (or him trying to take them out himself); or seen/heard of these silly ways they dealt with boredom.
There is no need to see Father Mulcahy experience the memory (one of the many things making M*A*S*H great is they didn’t spoon-fed details); we had seen enough of Mulcahy, enough OR scenes, and enough cold weather to have all we needed as he answered “Has this whole experience changed you in any way?”, ending with “Could anyone look on that and not feel changed?”.
Yes, it is a superb episode.
I thought I would make three other observations about this very fine episode …
Firstly, Frank comes across as pretty unlikeable in this, and he gets noticeably less screen time than any of the others, often being cut down to monosyllabic, curt answers.
Secondly, from the point of view of Clete Roberts and the likely interests of those at home in 1951, there is no particular reason for Klinger to be featured in this episode (other than Jamie Farr is a key actor of the show). Klinger is no more worthy of being interviewed than Igor or Sgt Zale, who were noticeably not interviewed, nor were any of the nurses. Not one of them. You would think they could find time to interview at least one nurse rather than Klinger (he really did get a lot of air time in “The Interview”).
Thirdly, despite the high quality of the episode, its visual style is unrealistic. What I mean is that if it were a real interview in Korea 1951, Clete and his film crew would have interviewed the MASH staff, and the film would have focussed on the MASH staff giving their answers, with Clete only appearing at the start and finish and otherwise being an off screen interviewer/presenter/narrator.
What we get however are scenes of interviews that actually show Clete asking his questions, or conversationally responding to what the MASH staff said, as often as it shows the MASH person answering them, with many cuts back and forth between Clete and Hawkeye, or Clete and BJ etc. such that by the end of the episode Clete Roberts himself has taken up most of the running time as the person on screen for the longest in this episode. This is most noticeable in the segment where Clete interviews Radar, which his filmed as if it is a 3 camera setup from the point of view of camera angles.
It would have been more like a genuine newsreel interview if Clete was mainly an off screen voice, wit ha fixed camera on the staff, rather than being filmed in the style of a 1970’s sitcom (albeit in B/W) with back and forth camera cuts. Watch the episode and you will see what I mean.
I think it detracts from the episode somewhat, however the material is strong enough to withstand it.
I am just saying it would have been even more effective if Clete was the off screen voice and not cutting back and forth so much, letting the camera linger on the interviewees.
I would have to disagree, the way it’s filmed adds depth; it’s not a real interview, and for interest sake it shouldn’t look like one.
They captured everyone’s character perfectly (yes, main characters).
I don’t think this episode could be improved on (an interview with Margaret would be nice, but not essential, besides, in 1951 a nurse probably wouldn’t have been interviewed).
As others have said:
“A masterpiece.”
“… a fantastic episode.”
“A terrific, out-of-the-box episode.”
“ … very good episode, and way ahead of its time.”
And as you said, “A superb episode.”