(01x14) 014 - Love Story

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RJ
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(01x14) 014 - Love Story

Post by RJ »

Use this thread to discuss episode 01x14, Love Story.
Ferret Face
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Re: (01x14) 014 - Love Story

Post by Ferret Face »

The placement of this episode is kind of unfortunate, bringing about unintended consequences. The previous episode, "Edwina," is all about the nurses banding together in order to get a date for Edwina, who came to Korea hoping to meet someone to fill the void of losing her fiance. In this episode, Radar's in pretty much the same position as Edwina, losing his fiance, and Hawkeye and Trapper want to get a date for him, and none of the nurses are the least bit open to the idea. Makes them seem kind of hypocritical.

Story-wise, I think this episode was ok, but not great. It's good getting an episode centered around Radar, even though the fact that he had a fiance seems a bit odd for the Radar we come to know. Either way, this episode stands out more for its comedy gags much more than its stories. Moments like "Ah, Bach!," Frank flirting with Hawkeye at the movies thinking he was Margaret, and Hawkeye and Trapper in Margaret's bed were all fun, memorable moments IMO.

That being said, I can't help imagining what this one would have been like if they did it during season 6 or 7, when Charles was around. Lt. Anderson was obviously much more high-class than Radar, with her love for classical music and literature, which I'm sure would attract Charles' interest. But I could see where, if Radar became interested, and they thought there was good enough cause like they did in this episode, they'd threaten/blackmail or bribe Charles to back off a bit and give Radar a chance. Of course Charles would scoff at the idea, but would reluctantly relent. And then he'd make sarcastic remarks and laugh when Hawkeye and Trapper try to give Radar lessons, and when Radar's trying to impress Lt. Anderson.
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Big Daddy O'Reilly
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Re: (01x14) 014 - Love Story

Post by Big Daddy O'Reilly »

Of the three episodes involving Radar falling for a nurse (or four/five if we count his final two-parter), this one probably comes in second place with me. Ignoring the hypocrisy of the nurses not wanting to help Radar after they gave the men such a hard time about wanting to get a date for Edwina (let's keep in mind, M*A*S*H began during a time where most producers and writers didn't take things like continuity into consideration), Hawkeye and Trapper's attempts to class up Radar to endear himself to Lt. Anderson are among some of the more memorable humorous moments from the first season, if not the entire series (who doesn't remember "Ahhh, Bach"?) . . . but, therein lies the problem: Radar wasn't in her league at all; she was far too cultured and high-brow for a simple farmboy such as he - even when he did try to carry on conversations with her, he knew not what to talk about or discuss, and she eventually bored him to sleep - any romantic relationship between them would certainly not last in the long run.

On an related note, I just recently learned that before airing in 1971, ALL IN THE FAMILY produced two test pilots that were unaired - one of these pilots was from 1968, and titled JUSTICE FOR ALL (as the Bunker family was originally the Justice family); among the cast differences in this version of the pilot, Kelly Jean Peters (Lt. Anderson) played Gloria instead of Sally Struthers.
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