Episode Spotlight: Welcome to Korea

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

“Welcome to Korea” (#73, 4×01)
Originally Broadcast: Friday, September 12th, 1975
Written by Everett Greenbaum & Jim Fritzell and Larry Gelbart
Directed by Gene Reynolds

Capsule Summary: While trying to catch Trapper at the Kimpo Air Base, Hawkeye meets the 4077th’s new surgeon–B.J. Hunnicutt. Meanwhile, Frank is in command and loving every minute of it.

I honestly don’t have much to say about “Welcome to Korea,” at least not about the storylines and plot. The episode had one big goal, to introduce the character of B.J. Hunnicutt, and it did a decent job.

Watching the episode, it’s clear that B.J. won’t be a clone of Trapper. He’s a family man and seemingly a nice guy who clearly doesn’t know what to expect in Korea. His first few hours in country are a trial by fire: he watches locals risk their lives to clear a minefield, comes under fire from guerillas, gets shelled, and sadly sees death and destruction up close. As if that isn’t bad enough, he slips in the mud.

Poor Hawkeye. He’s shocked when he learns that Trapper has gone home gone. Even worse is his distress when he misses saying goodbye to his friend by ten lousy minutes. Frank finding Trapper’s robe and hat in the Swamp is a nice touch. So is the brief mention of Colonel Blake in the Kimpo Officers’ Club. “Henry was okay, from the navel out in every direction,” Hawkeye tells B.J. “He sure was,” Radar says.” Notice the look on Radar’s face. He’s still devastated.

Does anyone else feel even a little bit sorry for Frank, knowing his days in command are numbered? In earlier episodes, his brief stints as CO didn’t go well for the rest of the camp and judging from his actions in “Welcome to Korea,” he had no intention of easing up on rules and regulations. Margaret seemed to be doing more of the work than Frank.

Random thoughts:

-Is Trapper running “naked through the Mess Tent with no clothes on” a reference to Hawkeye walking through the Mess Tent naked in “Dear Dad, Again” during Season 1?

-Hawkeye promoting Radar to the rank of Corporal-Captain is hilarious. So is the reaction of the unnamed colonel: “I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.”

-Klinger flipping through one of Hawkeye’s nudist magazines (“I wonder what a naked girl sounds like on the phone.”) and then stuffing it under his shirt is amusing.

-Frank’s voiceover about the United Nations seems out-of-place.

-Is it just me or does the blood on the wounded soldier Hawkeye and B.J. treats look incredibly bright and fake?

Still from the M*A*S*H episode Welcome to Korea, showing B.J. Hunnicutt.

Welcome to Korea, B.J. Hunnicutt.

This was the first hour-long episode of M*A*S*H. It was produced as two half-hour episodes (with production numbers G504 and G506). CBS repeated the episode in its original hour-long form but when the series went into syndication, it was aired in two parts.

Larry Gelbart was asked quite a few questions about this episode over the years at the alt.tv.mash Usenet group. Fans were particularly interested in knowing details of how the departure of Wayne Rogers impacted Season 4 episodes. Gelbart offered the following explanation in May 2000:

With Stevenson definitely gone at the end of season 3, plotting began on what would have been the first episode of Season 4 – “Change of Command.” The work was done during the hiatus between (seasons) 3 and 4.

During that period, we sweated out the Rogers situation – would he leave the show, wouldn’t he, etc. When it became clear that he was leaving, we began casting for another actor and preparing the script for “Welcome to Korea,” without a whole lot of time to get it ready.

In other words, had Rogers not left the series, Season 4 would’ve opened with “Change of Command” and the arrival of Colonel Potter.

For many years, fans have wondered whether the PA announcement at Kimpo Air Base (“Sergeant Sterner, report to maintenance. Sergeant Sterner, on the double.”) was voiced by Wayne Rogers. When asked in March 2002, Larry Gelbart responded with the following:

No. Wayne was long gone when we recorded that PA announcement.

However, in January 2016 Ken Levine was asked the same question at his blog. According to him, Wayne Rogers did provide the voice, uncredited. I’m still not convinced. Rogers was in the middle of a contract dispute at the time. Why would he agree to record a PA announcement? Plus, Larry Gelbart said it wasn’t Rogers.

Other behind-the-scenes details from Larry Gelbart:

-When Hawkeye and Radar are driving to Kimpo, time compression was utilized. “It was the only way we could make it seem as though
our clunky old jeep could appear to be going swiftly,” Gelbart explained [July 1998].

-Pete Rugolo was brought in to compose most of the music for this episode, including the jazzy version of “Suicide is Painless” used during the “roll call” montage. The score was meant to reproduce the sound of the big bang era. “It was a giant effort and I feel he brought it off brilliantly,” said Gelbart [January 2000].

-The scene in which Hawkeye, B.J., and Radar steal the jeep and drive off at Kimpo was shot at the Fox Ranch. The same location was used in the movie MASH [December 2004].

Kimpo Air Base as seen in “Welcome to Korea.”
Kimpo Air Base as seen in MASH the movie.

A quick shot of B.J. running toward a helicopter is added to the opening credits in place of Trapper. The same shot is also used in several other episodes before being replaced by a close-up of B.J. Also, the final shot of the jeeps transporting wounded has been cropped to cut out Trapper in the top jeep.

Starting with Season 4, Jamie Farr’s name was added to the opening credits.

The “roll call” near the end of the episode prior to the brief scene with Colonel Potter was the fourth and last time that particular device was used on M*A*S*H. Similar roll calls were used in “M*A*S*H–The Pilot,” “Dear Dad,” (both Season 1), and “Divided We Stand” (Season 2).

34 Replies to “Episode Spotlight: Welcome to Korea”

  1. This is one of my favorite episodes – a brilliant way to quickly introduce the viewers to a brand new character as well as explain why another character left. Although, I STILL wish Trapper and Hawkeye would’ve been able to properly say goodbye to each other…. But, I guess that probably would’ve been it’s own episode. But, I didn’t know that they had to quickly write this episode… Just another display of the talent in front and behind the camera.

    Now, one thing I’ve always wondered…. Was BJ’s fall/slip in the mud planned? Or was it Mike Farrell accidentally falling and they decided to keep it in the show? I know the creators of the show did not permit improvising. I like when TV shows and movies decide to keep items that were not a part of the script.

    Another great write-up of another great episode. Thanks RJ!

  2. While I immensely enjoy this episode now, I remember it threw me off the first time I saw it almost twelve years ago: I was already stunned by Henry’s death, so I wasn’t prepared to discovered that Trapper had left as well, so as such, and since it was handled in sort of a haphazard way, I took me a while to warm up to B.J., but I eventually did.

    To this day, I still believe that completely replacing Trapper with a different character was the wise thing to do: had M*A*S*H been another standard sitcom from the 60s, Trapper would have either been completely recast, or a very similar character would have been brought in instead, and it wouldn’t have worked. I remember in a documentary that Burt Metcalfe said when replacing one character, they had to make sure that the new character differed significantly from their predecessor, while still be appealing – M*A*S*H did it well with all of their replacements: faithful B.J. compared to promiscuous Trapper, efficient Potter compared to bumbling Henry, and gifted Charles compared to incompetent Frank.

    I know some fans consider “Welcome to Korea” to be a “road trip” episode, and I guess most things considered, it makes sense.

    I don’t find Frank’s comments about the U.N. out-of-place at all: he mentioned his disdain for the U.N. on other occasions, and it seems to be a common thing among the Republican party (which Frank clearly was).

    During the 1973-74 TV season, M*A*S*H actually had a sister show called ROLL OUT!, starring Stu Gilliam and Hilly Hicks are drivers for a supply unit in France during WW2 – CBS had pretty much commissioned Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds to make the show for them to try to bank on M*A*S*H’s newfound success, but because of that, ROLL OUT! failed and barely last half a season . . . from what very little I’ve seen (such as the main titles on YouTube), it appears the set used for Kimpo Air Base was actually used as the main camp compound for ROLL OUT!

    The one minor thing that sticks out for me in this episode was when Radar runs out to save the farm girl that was hit by the land mine, B.J. yells at him by his last name . . . do you think they were initially going to try to make B.J. a little more military than Trapper was?

    Other than that, as I’ve said, I really enjoy this episode now, but at the time, I didn’t so much.

    1. IMHO, BJ called him “O’Rielly” because BJ was fresh out of basic training and so was still a little more “military”.

      IOW, he wasn’t quite “fit in” yet.

      1. Hawkeye hadn’t broken him in,in reverse so to speak,and “corrupted” him yet.

    2. I’m sure Hawkeye(definitely him for sure,him being one of the “crazy 3”)and the rest of the personnel who liked Henry and Trapper were every bit as stunned by Trapper’s sudden departure,being that it happened within a week,I’m assuming,of Henry’s departure and subsequent death. And Hawkeye not getting to tell Trapper goodbye didn’t help matters either I’m sure.

  3. There were very few things about the series and decisions made by writers and producers that I wasn’t okay with but this episode includes one of them. I love this episode, but it still bugs me to this day that Trapper never left a note. I’m fine with the fact that they didn’t have a face to face goodbye. The guys said what needed to be said and Trapper had a goodbye party in the episode “Checkup.” Not leaving a note just seemed out of character for Trapper, and I always felt like the reason was because of sour grapes on the part of the producers because of the way Wayne Rogers left. Just wondering if this bugged anyone else as much as me.
    When Hawkeye and Radar remember Henry and when Klinger pulls Trapper’s hat and robe out from under his bunk always makes me sad for a moment but the funny parts of this episode make up for it. My favorite part is at the end when a very drunk Hawkeye and BJ get out of the jeep and BJ collapses on Margaret and calls Frank “Ferret Face.”

    1. If Trapper had left a note he wouldn’t have left a kiss; then no great scene of Radar giving Trapper’s kiss to Hawkeye, and then getting in the shower fully clothed to wash off the kiss Hawkeye gives him. … Doesn’t the kiss say more then any note could?

      I also find very few things about the series I’m not okay with.
      So much talent from everyone involved with getting it to production.

  4. A very funny episode in what must have been a chaotic production environment for the producers, writers, and actors.

    One of my favorite M*A*S*H lines of dialog is in this episode after Radar orders his Grape Nehi in the Officer’s Club.
    “We don’t use straws in combat, fella” — still cracks me up every time.

  5. Also don’t have much to say about this episode except that all it does is serve to remind me that M*A*S*H was irrevocably changed. Trapper and Blake are two of the best tv characters ever, and definitely the best two M*A*S*H characters (IMO) and the show was never even close to the same after their departure.

  6. This is one of my favorite episodes! 🙂 The transition between Trapper and B.J. is sad, and was hard for me to watch at first, especially after Henry’s death. However, I think that the writers did a really good job considering that Wayne Rogers left between seasons. B.J. is one of my favorite characters, and this episode does a good job of showing that he’s a little more serious than Trapper but still knows how to have fun. I think my favorite quote from the episode is “What Say Ya, Ferret Face?”. 🙂 And yes, the announcement at Kimpo does sound a lot like Wayne Rogers (even if it’s not him).

  7. one thing about this episode that I’ve always wondered-did they get the idea of having Hawkeye steal the jeep from the airfield; from the scene in the movie where he also does it?

    1. Most likely that is it. Several early season ideas came from the movie or book.

      I haven’t seen the movie in years, but doesn’t Duvall’s Burns get hauled away in a jeep? In this episode, Frank is arrested and taken away in the stolen jeep. A borrowed idea also, maybe? Also, is Linville’s Burns going nuts at the beginning of season 6 a nod to the movie?

      By the way, in the TV series, who was in charge of the 4077th while Frank was arrested? And how was his plight resolved so quickly?

      1. “And how was his plight resolved so quickly?”

        Because a Colonel is what the Army requires to cammand a MASH unit. Frank (as a Major) was only temporary, so some colonel was always destined to be selected to command the 4077th. Potter was selected for a little bit before he could be transferred there.

  8. When did Eisenhower say he would go to Korea? Notice when Assembly is called, it’s bright and sunny even though Frank says it’s 0516 in military time.

    A good start to a new era for the 4077th.
    I believe Frank’s indictment of the U.N. was typical Burns.
    Seeing “Burnslihan” getting gushy over BJ’s file made me uneasy as well Margaret overruling Frank’s idea of forging MacArthur’s signature on a picture of “Dugout Doug”.

  9. Frank would make another comment about the UN to some Koreans that he was trying to teach English: “Get us out of the UN!” It was definitely in character for the xenophobic Frank.

    BJ would prove to be an interesting contrast to Trapper-a dedicated family man who would only fall off the marriage wagon once, but who had his own nonconformist side that made him such a good fit with Hawkeye, while in some ways being more responsible and mature than Trapper was.

    The scenes with the Jeep are among the best-from stealing it to Radar actually saluting a tire jack when they come under fire, and BJ’s learning to quickly adjust to the realities of combat, allow the viewer to identify with him as a human being. Back at the 4077th, Frank and Margaret are immediately impressed with the newcomer’s record-until he and Hawkeye finally show up: “Whaddya say, Ferret Face?”

    Overall a good way to set the change of tone for the post Blake and Trapper era.

  10. In this episode Hawkeye mentions Radar having an earthworm farm. A recent rerun of “Match Game ’75” mentioned panelest Gary Burgoff having a side earthworm business in real life.

  11. Does anyone know what BJ’S “Goldman-Hawkins” reference is in this quote? I can’t seem to figure this out.

    Capt. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce: That’s a new directive from the Pentagon. That’s right out of G2 and G3 making a G5 Combined Officers Op-Tech Glitch. We’re experimenting with a new rank: Corporal-Captain. We’re down here taking a survey, to see, uh, you know, if everybody likes it, uh, asking everybody in Seoul.
    Capt. B.J. Hunnicut: Goldman-Hawkins, right?
    Capt. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce: Right.
    Colonel: Well, I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all!

    1. I think he says Coleman Hawkins, who was a jazz musician.

      On the nitcentral site, there is the following explanation: “The reference is to a jazz saxophonist famous for the hit “Body and Soul”. (“…everybody in Seoul.”)”

      Obscure word play, I guess. I never knew what it meant either.

  12. Ok, there is a goof in this episode that my wife points out every time this is on. Radar says that he left his bubble gum in the other jeep, but then chews a Chiclet later on. I told her that one is bubble gum and one isn’t. She says gum is gum. I don’t think it’s a goof myself, but interesting nonetheless.

  13. Some small observations:

    Toward the beginning, when Radar plays the bugle as Hawkeye enters the showers after returning from R&R, it sounds like he plays “Shave and a Haircut” at the end of his bugle call.

    Also, when Frank Burns berates Klinger for wearing a ladies hat to roll call, Klinger responds, “It’s spring, sir.” Yet we know this episode occurs in September, since Col. Potter arrives soon afterward and the date given for his arrival is Sept. 19, 1952. That’s late summer in the Northern Hemisphere (where Korea is located).

    One thing I never understood since I first saw this episode as a child: why did B.J. vomit when he saw the dead soldier? I understand that it was likely mangled by the explosion but he’s a surgeon and so should be used to human anatomy and even some gore. Maybe I’m missing something; maybe I don’t understand since I’m not a doctor, but I’ve long wondered about that.

    1. The dates/timeframes were always just flat around wrong in the show. I suspect they just stopped trying to have it make sense since they were working on a show that was many years longer than the war itself. Having Potter arrive on that date makes little since, since the war ended less than a year after that, and there’s no way Seasons 4-11 were just a single year. That would also mean seasons 1-3 were over 2 years of the war, which I guess is actually possible.

      As for BJ throwing up, despite being a surgeon, I suspect it was extremely difficult and shocking for him to see a body mangled so badly, purposely, by another person basically. I’ve seen interviews with doctors after things like the school shootings where they are clearly very bothered by what they saw, despite probably seeing similar on a daily basis. The violence and senseless destruction by other human beings as Hawkeye would put it.

      1. They would’ve brought in a new CO or doctor or whatnot probably up to literally the day before the war ended,had circumstances allowed it and called for it as well. Field hospitals need doctors and people to run it until the unit is no longer needed.

  14. Just watched this episode on True Entertainment (UK). They’re showing two episodes, Monday to Friday and I try never to miss it. Crazy really, I could watch all episodes either on DVD or streamed… without adverts or the laughter track, but watching it on TV gives it an authenticity somehow?

    I find it difficult to believe how fantastic MASH still is, the dialogue sharp, incisive, funny, and very often poignant. There was nothing comparable being produced here in the UK. I was twelve years old when it was first aired and it moved me then and still does now. Anarchic and at the same time bittersweet. Beautiful.

    As for the scene where BJ is being sick, his reaction has nothing to do with seeing a dead soldier but the fear of being exposed in a battleground, bullets flying, mortars exploding, bodies dropping. The whole episode is BJ’s baptism of fire and at the same time reintroduced the viewer to the horrors of war.

  15. I seem to remember when this episode first aired on CBS, there were constant CBS News “special reports” interrupting the telecast…however, they did not pre-empt any of the episode…no parts were missed and it ran past the half hour…

  16. Actually,there were 2 other roll calls that were not mentioned in the article. Of course this one may not be technically a “roll call” since it only shows the characters individually and lists their portrayers names onscreen but that particular montage was on the closing tag of the season 1 finale “Showtime”. The other one is in the closing tag of the season 2 finale “A Smattering of Intelligence”

  17. At the end of the 2nd episode, where they preview Col. Potter coming to take command, the announcer says he reports to duty on September 19th 1952….

    However in later episodes, namely the one where one episode takes place during 1 full year with Potter playing the old, ageing year and Klinger the new year baby.

    The year in question is 1951…so that is a fun factoid of inaccuracy.

  18. The one thing I liked about the episode was simply meeting the new replacement for Trapper – that is, BJ Hunnicutt. Otherwise, I can take it or leave it. It isn’t one of my very favorite episodes.

  19. A few minor observations about a very impressive episode in my view:

    At the start, Hawkeye was away in Seoul on R&R and uncontactable, Henry’s death was already known about, Trapper John had left earlier – so that seems to me that at the time MASH 4077th had only one surgeon – Frank Burns. That seems highly risky, given that casualties can turn up at any time, and it seems unlikely that anyone (it would have to have been Burns, who else could have given him permission?) would have given Hawkeye permission to go on leave and be uncontactable.

    If you watch the episode in its two-parter format, you will see recap scenes at the start of part 2 that were not in part one – Burns waking Radar prior to the reveille – part one opened with the reveille. To my knowledge, this is the only two-parter in MASH that did not end part 1 with “To Be Continued” yellow text on screen, or have on screen text over the recap from part one. It did have audio narration however.

    It is curious that “Welcome To Korea” Parts 1 and 2 have non-consecutive production numbers (G504 and G506). Why would that be? And being 4th or 6th into the series is quite a long way in for an introductory episode. It also has a unique credit that at the end there is a separate copyright credit for the music and a separate copyright credit for the episode itself.

  20. Just a correction – if you watch the end credits of “Welcome To Korea” part 1 and part 2 you will note that they both show the production code G-504.

  21. One final comment:

    There is a bit of a logical flaw at the start of this episode:

    In “Abyssinia Henry” Henry gets his points and goes home (with tragic outcome).

    Straight after, in “Welcome To Korea” TJ is said to have gotten his orders and gone home. Points weren’t specifically mentioned but nonetheless he went home (By the way, I wonder how TJ would have felt getting a plane to Japan so soon after hearing that Henry’s plane was shot down? Very nerve wracking, but no it wasn’t mentioned).

    So if Henry and TJ got rotated home in quick succession, then why didn’t Hawkeye all get rotated out at the same time?

    Also, why didn’t Radar, Mulcahy or Klinger ver get rotated home on points? They have all been there since day one also.

    I know that Hawkeye is the star of the show and all, but it always struck me as odd as to why Henry and TJ would go home but not Hawkeye. And at no time in Welcome to Korea (or in fact at any time until season7’s “Peace On Us”) does Hawkeye ever wonder why he could never go home on points or why TJ went home and not him and why immediately afterwards in season 4 Hawkeye had no interest in enquiring as to why he couldn’t go home?

    It would have been an interesting ongoing plot point, and I always found it diminished the credibility of TJ’s departure that this was never explored or mentioned.

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