Mash / Tropes J to Z

A to I | J to Z

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J-L

• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Frank was right when he warned Margaret that Donald might not be all that he seems. Yes, he said this in an attempt at getting her into bed, but Donald was eventually revealed to be cheating on Margaret and stealing her money. He ultimately requested a transfer behind her back, which led to their divorce.
  • Frank is also perhaps the only one to acknowledge how the hospital is only three miles from the front line, while everyone else seems to act like it's a vacation between OR sessions.
  • Hawkeye reluctantly points out that Frank is correct in that Trapper needs a physical to diagnose what's wrong with him, which turns out to be an ulcer.
  • When Hawkeye and B.J. question Frank on a missing gun (which he had stolen), he points out that Radar is given the presumption of innocence, even though he should be the one responsible for the gun locker, but they won't give Frank the same right.
  • The episode "Rainbow Bridge" tries to make Hawkeye and Trapper seem completely in the right by upholding the Chinese stipulations for MASH personnel to come completely unarmed for a prisoner exchange, while Frank is painted as a Dirty Coward, ridiculous and needlessly jeopardizing lives for bringing a tiny gun for protection. Except the PVA troops came armed to the hilt at the same time they demanded the US medics come unarmed, giving a lot of credence to Frank's (and Margaret's) protests that they could be walking right into a trap.
  • In the early seasons, Margaret might be acting like an asshole, but she’s right in how sexually harassing Trapper and Hawkeye (who brags about harassing men too) are, especially when they nearly always respond with sexual insults. In the later seasons she calls Hawkeye’s sexual/sexist shit out and is applauded for it.
• Jokers Love Junk Food: As Hawkeye notes, every last one of them would love to be out of the Army, but Corporal Klinger will stop at nothing to get out. From crossdressing on a regular basis, sending photos of himself in drag to superior officers at HQ, attempting to eat a Jeep, and dressing himself in heavy furs in triple-digit weather, Klinger is determined to get home to Toledo. When he meets a patient who is also from Toledo, the two of them bond over memories of the place, one of which is time spent at Tony Packo's Hungarian Hot Dogs.^note An actual real eatery in Toledo, OH, and still in operation as of this writing in 2024 When the patient gets sent home for his injuries, he sends Klinger a care package from home; a crate of Tony Packo's hot dogs on dry ice, with all the fixings available.
• Juggling Loaded Guns: Gun fanatic Frank Burns. He frequently shot himself, and at one point, he accidentally shot B.J., for which he was relentlessly mocked.
  Frank: Sir, I think the Chinese have captured Major Houlihan.
  Col. Potter: I see. So, naturally, you shot Captain Hunnicutt.
  • One incident involved him shooting himself in the foot after stealing a high-ranking officer's beautiful revolver, which leads to the Fridge Logic that not only did Frank assume it was unloaded, but that Radar had left it loaded. He also had a particularly entertaining scene where he pulled the pin on a grenade for no good reason, and about six seconds later realized he was waving around a live grenade. Cue frantic search for the dropped pin and fumbling attempt to return it to the grenade (he found the pin and managed to get it back in the grenade).
  • When a sniper takes a shot at Hawkeye and his date in one episode, he initially assumes it was Frank being an idiot nearby with his target practice, then another shot comes in.
• Jump Rope Blunders: Father Mulcahy was jumping rope as part of training for a race against a runner from another camp. The camera then zooms out to show Hawkeye and BJ are the ones twirling the rope for him, as Mulcahy says this is the only way he knows how do it.
• Kansas City Shuffle: B.J. gaslights Hawkeye into believing he was trying to outdo Trapper's antics and was out to get him and the rest of the camp, culminating in a paranoid Hawkeye sleeping outdoors in a barb wire enclosure. B.J. and his "victims" reveal that they were all in on it and made up their pranks, and the real victim was Hawkeye (which means B.J. lost the bet, since he bet he could prank everyone, not just Hawkeye).
  • B.J. does this to Charles in another episode (in which everyone was exchanging ghost stories) by rigging a tent flap over Charles's cot to flap violently on command.
• Karma Houdini: After his general incompetence, Frank gets promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. After his jerkassery, he gets a cushy stateside post. After he cheats on his wife at every opportunity, he goes home to her and presumably continues cheating without losing his marriage, which he is only keeping for financial reasons.
  • A lesser case, Trapper. He likewise cheats on his wife without a shred of guilt, and never suffers any consequences for it.
  • A micro example: In "Last Laugh," Margaret throws a giant tantrum because she's horny and wants to see her husband to relieve this condition (and coaching it as though Donald is the one who desperately needs to get laid). She wrecks Radar's office and physically assaults him, and Potter lets her go see Donald. She returns smiling and relaxed, rewarded in full for her bad behavior.
• Kick the Dog: Hawkeye has a tendency to do this.
  • In "38 Across", Frank receives a B.B. game for his birthday, and spends three days trying to get all of the B.B.s in the holes. During The Tag, he finally gets the last B.B. in, which Hawkeye intentionally slaps Frank on the back, causing him to knock all of the B.B.s loose. This is certainly one of those few times where one can't help but actually feel sorry for Frank.
    Frank: You did it on purpose! Everytime I do something special, you always ruin it!
    Hawkeye: So do it again.
  • In the pilot, Hawkeye drugs Frank so he can put on a fundraiser to send a young lad to college.
  • In "For Want of a Boot", he steals a birthday card sent to Frank from Frank's wife and uses it to cover a hole in his boot, then returns the card and tells Frank what he did.
  • In "House Arrest", he punches Frank after finishing surgery because he stood up for Houlihan after Hawkeye's unprovoked verbal abuse of her.
  • In "Crisis", Hawkeye and Trapper attack Frank for wearing heated socks he bought privately — which he was wearing in lieu of blankets — during a cold snap.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: During "Bug Out", Potter convinces a despondent Klinger to trade his dresses to a group of prostitutes to secure use of their building for a temporary OR after he had blocked them from his wardrobe and tackled one. As he looks forlornly upon his lost dresses, one of the prostitutes literally rubs them in his face.
• Kids Are Cruel: Billy from “Bless You Hawkeye”. Hawkeye (who has been established from season one to have been a weird child, and was six years younger) loved him so much and, and all the adults loved him too, but in reality he pushed seven year old Hawkeye off a boat and told him he’d be dead if it weren’t for Billy.
• Killing for a Tissue Sample: In one episode, Margaret thinks she might be pregnant. She asks Hawkeye to do a Rabbit Test on her (where they inject a rabbit with a urine sample from a possible mother and then dissect the rabbit to examine its ovaries). The only female rabbit available is Radar's, who refuses to allow them to kill his pet, but he will let them do the test if they promise that the rabbit won't be killed. So Hawkeye does an ovarectomy on Radar's rabbit.
• Kinky Role-Playing: Mentioned in an episode where Margaret decides to chase a promotion by making her nurses the most efficient unit in the Army; she's crestfallen when the general she tries to impress only wants to transfer her to his command for some games of "escaped convict and the warden's wife."
• Kissing Cousins: With a strong dose of Innocent Inaccurate, even as an adult, Hawkeye talks about having a codependent relationship with his six years older cousin, who groomed him and who he loves so much he doesn’t understand why he would hurt him.
• The Klutz: Nurse Edwina Ferguson in "Edwina", Private Paul "Look Out Below" Conway in "Too Many Cooks".
• "Knock Knock" Joke: Hawkeye tells a couple truly awful ones in "Dear Dad...Again".
• The Lancer: Trapper, and later B.J., were basically this for Hawkeye.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • Margie clocks Hawkeye/Trapper almost immediately (and this is the third episode of the show), asking them if they’d prefer to be alone.
  • The closest they got to an answer on Hawkeye’s sexuality was “Rally Around The Flagg Boys”, when Flagg accuses him of “being one of those too” and Hawkeye responds with banging his head against a wall with a tired eye roll, and definitely not saying no. It’s then followed by BJ making innuendo about Charles swallowing his pride means he’ll swallow anything, and Hawk giving him a Look.
• Language Barrier:
  • There was a language barrier between Americans who didn't speak Korean and some Korean civilians didn't speak English either, though a lot of them did to at least some degree.
  • It happened several times that one of the doctors was sent away to help some Koreans and got lost. They were nearly unable to communicate with people who tried to help them.
    • The amount of Korean that the various personnel speak seems to vary. In one episode, Radar is able to speak at least conversational Korean, and in another (later in the series, mind you!) is completely unable to speak any of the language. Margaret of all people seems to be the most fluent. Hawkeye is later shown to be able to read the language best of all the surgeons.
• Large Ham Radio: "Your Hit Parade" has Radar playing DJ by spinning a new batch of records over the camp P.A. system.
• Last-Second Term of Respect: In one episode, Frank, who is temporarily in command of the 4077, goes on a lengthy diatribe to poor Igor about the arrangement of the food on the line in the mess tent. Igor replies, "Yes."
  Frank: "Yes", what?
  Igor:, "Yes", Sir.
  Frank: "Yes, Sir", what? ^note It's implied Frank wants Igor to address him by rank, as in "Yes, sir, Maj. Burns, sir.", but being a draftee unused to military protocol, and having already met the minimum, Igor is now confused.
  Igor: "Yes, sir" yes, Sir? Three bags full?
• Leader Wannabe: Burns coveted being the CO, so he relished the few times when, as the camp's second in command, he would temporarily receive command. (His underlings, not so much.)
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • In an episode from Season Six (when the show was airing on Tuesday nights), Potter remarks "Why is it Tuesdays are always the worst?" in reaction to one of Klinger's more irritating schemes.
  • Everyone seemed aware that they were Frozen in Time, from Trapper telling Hawkeye the war won’t end and it’s continuous to B.J. having no clue how to think of time as anything but big shifts.
• Leather Man: Both B.J. in “No Laughing Matter” (season 9) and the Nurse Of The Week in “Sometimes You Hear The Bullet” (season 1) make jokes that Hawkeye is into men in leather.
• Left the Background Music On: The earliest episodes of the series actually contained music scoring throughout the whole show, as other sitcoms of the time would do. In the second season onward, music scoring was slowly, yet progressively, toned back; for at least a couple of seasons, Background Music would usually be heard in particularly lengthy comic sequences (e.g., Klinger hang-gliding out of camp, Flagg tearing apart a tent), though music buttons would be heard coming in and out of commercial breaks. For the next few seasons, those buttons were pretty much the only Background Music you heard. By Season Eight, the show had no Background Music whatsoever. Burt Metcalfe's reasonings for eliminating the BackgroundMusic were similar to that of Larry Gelbart's reasonings for wanting to forgo the laugh track altogther: "Just like the actual Korean War."
  • Coincidentally, just before the final episode was filmed the show's outdoor set burned down in a wildfire.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: In "Mulcahy's War", Father Mulcahy accompanies Radar to an aid station (in spite of Potter's orders not to—Mulcahy had been ostracized by a wounded patient about never having been in the field of war) where a soldier with a chest wound is unable to breathe because his tongue was swollen. Using radio instructions from Hawkeye, Mulcahy makes an incision in the soldier's throat and inserts an eye dropper tube in it so the soldier can breathe.
• Life-or-Limb Decision: This is done in an unusual way in "Heal Thyself". Potter and Charles are down with the mumps, and the one replacement surgeon has been showing signs of instability. When they get a large batch of wounded, at one point Hawkeye is forced to amputate a soldier's leg because other patients don't have time for him to do anything else.
  Hawkeye: If I save this leg, I lose that life!
• Lighter and Softer: The show basically started out as a milder, more TV-friendly version of the movie.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Hawkeye and B.J. act like husbands most of the time, even when they’re bickering. Hawkeye lampshades in “A Holy Mess” that they’re not married (to someone who asked if they were married to people at home), they’ve just been through so much that they look that way.
• Likes Older Men: This is invoked in "Potter's Retirement". During the Kentucky Derby party, Hawkeye—dressed like a Colonel Sanders Expy—once again hits on Bigelow, only for her to actually go along with him this time.
  Hawkeye: Why has it taken you over a year?
  Bigelow: [tugs on Hawkeye's false beard] I like older men.
• Limited Advancement Opportunities: Only Klinger and Father Mulcahy get promoted in the show (though Burns makes Lieutenant Colonel after his departure, and Flagg goes from Lt. Col. to full Col. between appearances). Radar also received a temporary promotion (as well as a fake one to "Corporal Captain").
• Limited Wardrobe: This is played straight when you consider that most of the people in camp are army personnel and thus pretty much wear their uniforms all the time. But it is curiously averted whenever we see a character leave for R&R and they start packing a whole bunch of different clothes we never see them wear at all, even when they're out of uniform in camp. Hawkeye and Trapper seem to pack a lot of Hawaiian shirts, despite only wearing the same ones over and over again, and when Radar is unpacking his to stay at the 4077th rather than go home, he seems to have a lot of clothes he's pulling out of his suitcase and duffle bag.
• Literal-Minded: Hawkeye and Potter, returning from an aid station take refuge from an attack in a foxhole. Potter hands Hawkeye a gun and tells him to defend himself:
  Potter: Fire that weapon!
  Hawkeye: All right. (to the gun) You're fired.
  • When General Barker sees Radar at Henry's desk smoking a cigar and drinking his brandy:
    Gen. Barker: What are you doing, Corporal?
    Radar: (nervously) Doing, sir?
    Gen. Barker: D-O-I-N-G. What are you doing??
    Radar: Listening to you spell "doing," sir.
• Loan Shark: Winchester to B.J. in "The Merchant of Korea", and Rizzo to Winchester in "That Darn Kid".
• Local Hangout: Rosie's. Also, the Officers' Club.
• Locked in a Room: Happens to Trapper and Margaret in an early episode.
• The Loins Sleep Tonight: Hawkeye experiences this in "Some 38th Parallels".
  • "U.N., the Night and the Music" has Margaret falling for a Swedish soldier who suffers from this due to a war injury. To her credit, when she finds out, she insists he stay the night with her anyway to continue talking with one another.
• Long List:
  • Hawkeye seems to utilize this trope whenever he can, usually in describing things he will or won't do in any given situation.
  • A few characters (mostly Radar) will go into detail of all the specific paper, forms, requisitions, and such that are needed in order to obtain something that is needed.
• Long-Runner Cast Turnover: The series had a significant cast turnover during its eleven seasons. Alan Alda (Hawkeye) and Loretta Swit (Margaret) were the only main cast present from pilot to finale. Jamie Farr (Klinger) was introduced early in the first season, but he started off as an extra and was promoted to the opening credits in the fourth season. William Christopher played Father Mulcahy beginning early in the first season, but the role was played by a different actor in the pilot, and he didn't become part of the main cast until the fifth season. The military hospital setting made it easy to write characters in and out with the excuse of them getting drafted, transferred, or discharged.
• Loud of War: In one episode, Hawkeye and B.J. got in a showdown with Charles — they didn't like him playing the French horn, so they refused to shower until he stopped. He refused to stop.
• Love Triangle: The show wasn’t exactly subtle with Trapper leaving Hawkeye with a kiss, Hawkeye’s bitterness over that being his only goodbye, and B.J.’s (sometimes unfounded, other times helped right along by Hawk) jealousy.
• Loving Bully: In “Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind”, Hawkeye and his dad mention a girl, Sandy Falcon, who was and is sweet on him, but “dipped [his] pigtails in the inkwell” when they were kids.
• Lower-Deck Episode: “The Nurses” focused more on Margaret and her nurses, with Hawkeye and other guys taking a backseat, and also cementing Margaret’s development along with the show trying to be more feminist, showing the nurses as well-rounded instead of just snarky girls of the week.
• Lucky Charms Title: M*A*S*H.
• Lust Object: Margaret had a lot of high-ranking officers after her, and even got an excited kiss from a priest. Then there was Hawkeye, who actively wanted people to lust after him (and made jokes about being an alternative for unavailable women) and got his wish half the time.
• Lysistrata Gambit: The "Edwina" episode has the nurses cutting the doctors off in this manner until one of them "dates" Edwina.

M-P

• Macgyvering:
  • In "Good Bye, Radar," with the camp's generator on the fritz, the doctors put together a Wangensteen suction device, which had long since been made obsolete by electrically-powered suction machines, from items in the camp kitchen to drain fluid from a patient's abdomen. Also in that episode Radar arranges for a large number of jeeps to be sent up to act as lighting for an operating session as the camp has no electricty.
  • In "A War for All Seasons", Hawkeye and B.J. rig a primitive dialysis machine out of odds and ends, including casings from a Toledo sausage company and a washtub ordered from Sears & Roebuck.
• Mad Brass: In "The General Flipped at Dawn", General Steele quickly shows evidence that he isn't all there, such as when he sees Klinger in drag and apparently thinks he's his wife. When he's holding a hearing to bring court-martial charges against Hawkeye, he starts singing and dancing, completely apropos of nothing, and is quietly promoted and reassigned. ^note  Steele was portrayed by Harry Morgan, whose performance impressed producers enough that they brought him back as new 4077 CO Colonel Sherman Potter the following season.
• Madonna-Whore Complex: LIP has Hawkeye complain that it’s “assumed that any girl who isn't a blue-eyed, blonde-haired baton twirler is automatically a pro”.
• The Main Characters Do Everything: M*A*S*H is a particularly bad example.
  • Other surgeons are occasionally mentioned, but rarely seen. This leads to many instances of the four doctors working many hours straight without a break. There is also only one person who does the clerking work (who also works as a stretcher-bearer), when there should be somewhere between two and four, plus an entire administrative staff. In the first season, the camp had an anesthesiologist, "Ugly John", who was written out after a few episodes and replaced with whoever was closest to the anesthetics at the time, regardless of their qualifications to administer it.
  • Perhaps the worst and most confusing is "Cementing Relationships". Despite a camp full of lower-ranking soldiers with a great deal more experience with manual labor and less to lose from a hand injury, three surgeons, the head nurse, and the camp chaplain are the ones who put the new cement floor in the OR. Unsurprisingly, they screw up their first try. Similarly, in "MASH Olympics", when an ambulance is overturned, three surgeons, the head nurse, and the camp chaplain are tasked with righting it, then chastised for not being strong enough.
  • Justified on one occasion in the Season 3 episode "Bombed". A wounded enemy soldier came in rigged with a wire and a live grenade. Frank recommended getting Staff Sergeant Benson, the camp demolitions expert, to look after it; trouble was, the camp was being shelled and Benson was on the next table.
• Maligned Mixed Marriage: GIs with Korean girlfriends/wives (and sometimes children) occasionally appear, often struggling to get through red tape to either get married or bring their new families back to the States with them.
  • This also became a central plot point in the Spin-Off series AfterMASH, as Klinger struggled with his fellow Americans maligning his marriage to the Korean Soon-Lee.
• Malingering Romance Ploy: Downplayed example; After Hawkeye spends much of an episode flash-blinded from fixing a stove in the nurses' tent, he fakes a relapse to worm his way back into said tent. However, the nurses are wise to his ploy and toss him out.
• Manly Tears: Several times, but especially in "Abyssinia, Henry". Even Frank is seen crying on hearing the news of Henry's death.
• Mattress-Tag Gag: Variant: In "The General Flipped at Dawn", Henry dons a new set of fatigues in anticipation of Gen. Steele's arrival. He asks Radar if there are any tags visible, and Radar tears one off from the back of the pants before reading: "Do not remove this tag under penalty of Federal Code 764-J."
  Henry: Boy, you get me in trouble and I'm gonna have your keister.
• May It Never Happen Again: Discussed and downplayed. In one episode, the 4077 is desperate to get ahold of some penicillin, as their supply was stolen. Father Mulcahy decides to arrange a swap on the black market, and accepts whatever others are willing to donate to obtain the medicine. Major Winchester is cajoled into donating some of his fine wine, but insists on coming along to try and talk the black marketeers into a lower price. He ends up insulting them, is stripped down to his long underwear, and they nearly leave empty-handed, until Mulcahy realizes the black market thugs will be distracted with drinking the wine they acquired. He and Winchester succeed in stealing the needed penicillin. Col. Potter is impressed that Mulcahy took Winchester along.
  Mulchahy: Having him along was a real...blessing. And God willing, I'll never be blessed with him again.
• Mean Character, Nice Actor:
  • Larry Linville got shortchanged as the nasty, one-dimensional Frank Burns. Still, he graciously played the part until his contract expired and was always friendly and polite to the cast and crew. His castmates described him as a highly intelligent man and totally opposite from the Frank Burns character.
  • Edward Winter played the nasty and paranoid CID officer Sam Flagg. While the characters didn't like Flagg at all, the cast members were fond of Winter and happy to see him when he showed up to film an episode with his character.
• Meaningful Echo: Provided by Sidney Freedman in the finale.
  "You know, I told you people something a long time ago, and it's just as pertinent today as it was then. Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice: Pull down your pants and slide on the ice."
• Meaningful Gift: In "Dear Sis", Radar, on the advice of Father Mulcahy, contacts Maj. Winchester's parents, explaining that the major was not adjusting well to his environment and asked to send him something that would make him feel better. Winchester is delighted and amazed to see his old toboggan cap, which brings back memories of his childhood. So moved is Winchester, he gives Mulcahy a large donation for the orphanage he looks after, telling him, "Buy the orphans whatever they need." He then adds even more money, saying, "Buy them what they don't need."
• Meaningful Name:
  • Back home, the O'Reillys have a goat named Randy, who apparently likes to try and mate with other animals on the farm. In fact, in a letter from home, Randy had tried to kiss a turkey.
  • Meta example: The episode "38 Across" is about what happens when misunderstandings spiral out of control with disastrous results. The title refers to a crossword puzzle clue that kicks off the episode's plot, but also to the 38th Parallel—the line of latitude that cuts across the Korean Peninsula between North and South Korea, where much of the war's combat (and fruitless peace talks) occurred.
  • As a subtle joke, Margaret’s perfume is called “Forbidden Furlough”, meaning essentially forbidden absence, showing how truly Married to the Job she is.
• Meatgrinder Surgery: Hawkeye actually calls it "meatball surgery". A MASH unit's main objective was simply to make sure the wounded did not die; soldiers with minor injuries could be sent back to their units, but more severe cases had to be patched up so they could survive a trip to an evac hospital. The MASH unit was actually an intermediate step; first, the patient would be treated by a field medic to the extent possible, then moved to a battalion aid station, which had actual surgeons whose job was just to stabilize him enough to be transported to MASH.
  • He comes close to quoting the trope in "Fallen Idol" when he refers to his job as pulling bodies out of a sausage grinder.
  • Charles struggles with this concept in his debut episode because he is a perfectionist and and takes pride in being able to perform complicated and delicate procedures that should really be done further away from the front line. He also has trouble with how poorly he keeps up with the other surgeons, though Hawkeye generously points out that it's only due to "sheer repetition" making them fast.
  • In one episode, Recurring Character Dr. Sidney Freedman tells the gang that he himself performed "meatball psychiatry", after he implants a hypnotic suggestion in a suicidal patient of Chinese descent so he'll twitch his hand instead of try to kill himself when he feels guilt over killing Chinese soldiers. As Freedman says, the twitching is only a substitute symptom; the guilt itself has to be addressed, which will take a great deal of therapy.
• Medal of Dishonor: B.J. in "Bombshells".
• Megaphone Gag: The camp's microphone is surreptitiously placed in Major Houlihan's tent while she and Major Burns are making out. Their lustful dialog and heavy breathing are broadcast through the camp's loudspeaker system, until the pair realize their foreplay has an echo.
• Mildly Military: Justified somewhat by the Real Life Army practices of drafting civilian doctors in wartime, and automatically giving all M.D.s the rank of Captain. (Occasionally averted in the real Korean War, which did have some surgeons with the rank of Lieutenant.)
  • Very few of the non-draftees wear the appropriate uniform or haircut.
  • No main character in the entire series ever seems to wear a unit patch on the left sleeve to identify his division as was (and still is) the common practice at the time. One-shot characters will sometimes have a patch on, like the Colonel with V.D. who wore a 1st Cavalry patch.
  • It's extremely unlikely someone dressing and behaving like Klinger would have been tolerated in any military unit in the early fifties. More than likely he would have gotten a dishonorable discharge just to get him the heck out of there.
  • Averted with Hawkeye when he actually agrees with the regulations. If the regulation makes sense (such as when he confronts someone impersonating a surgeon, or Frank attempting to smuggle Korean artifacts out of the country, or Potter dealing with his high blood pressure) Hawkeye will absolutely invoke military policy and regulation without hesitation.
• Military Moonshiner: There's always been a distillery in the Swamp, but it's been three different stills. The first (which looked radically different) was destroyed by Frank Burns in the pilot episode and rebuilt in the design that was seen for the rest of the show. The second was totaled by B.J. in the episode after Radar's departure. The third iteration of the still survived to the end of the show, but it's not clear what exactly happened to it; presumably it was discarded, as Hawkeye and B.J. would have no need for it at home.
  • In one episode, Col. Potter says he had a still while stationed on Guam.
• Minor with Fake I.D.: In "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet," Hawkeye discovers that a wounded soldier is too young to have enlisted; he used his older brother's birth certificate to sign up. At the end of the episode, Hawkeye turns him over to the MP's so they can send him home.
• Minsky Pickup: B.J. and visiting chopper pilot Doug Aylesworth sing a long version to welcome back Hawkeye & Margaret in "Comrades in Arms: Part 2".
• Mischievous Body Language: There was plenty of mischief at the 4077, and plenty of scheming faces to go with it.
  • Hawkeye and Trapper got away with a great deal, considering they were very bad at hiding their mischievous intent. From the pilot episode:
    Col. Blake: Sounds reasonable enough. So why don't I trust you?
    Trapper: (grinning) Because we're not trustworthy.
    Col. Blake: Then maybe that's it.
  • Frank also had a scheming face, but he was far less successful in his various schemes. Unlike Hawkeye, Trapper, or BJ, Frank was simply too obvious about whatever it was he was up to at any given moment, from trying to have any of them arrested at any given moment to belittling his commanding officers, Frank's scheming and feckless attitude earned him the nickname "Ferret Face."
  • Interestingly, BJ was very good at hiding his scheming intent. It comes as a shock to Sidney Freedman in "Dear Sigmund" that BJ is the resident prankster who has become a folk hero to everyone in camp. He also skillfully hides his intent when he tricks Hawkeye into taking the blame for a series of pranks involving Maj. Winchester's pants, until Klinger tips Hawkeye off.
  • The success rate of Klinger's various schemes was inversly proportional to how scheming his face looked at any given moment. For example, he looked downright conniving when he threatened to immolate himself, but Potter was wise to the fact that there was only water in the gas can...until he had Radar swap it out for actual gas, causing Max to run in a panic for the showers. However, he nearly succeeds in getting sent home when he keeps his face neutral and pretends he thinks he's back in Toledo, and only slips up when Potter is about to fill out the Section 8 paperwork and asks him his rank, which Klinger answers out of habit before realizing the trap.
• Misplaced Wildlife:
  • In "The Joker Is Wild", a hyena can be heard in the background when Hawkeye is sleeping outside. Hyenas are indigenous to Africa.
  • Given the plethora of pranks in that episode, perhaps that was BJ messing with him. Or maybe not.
  • Radar's menagerie of pets includes a skunk. Those don't exist in Asia.
    • He is seen in at least one episode as having subscribed to a service that mails him animals. It's possible he got it that way.
    • They also could be unit mascots that he took in after the soldiers caring for them went home.
• Mobile Shrubbery:
  • Radar (spying on Hawkeye) in "I Hate a Mystery"; Klinger (attempting to escape the 4077) in "Dear Peggy".
  • Colonel Flagg hides inside a garbage can for a meeting with Charles in "Rally 'Round the Flagg, Boys".
• Modern Major General: Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake is a top-notch surgeon, but is clearly out of his depth as commanding officer of a M*A*S*H unit.
• The Mole:
  • The "Dear Comrade" episode involves a North Korean spy who infiltrates the 4077 posing as Winchester's houseboy.
  • "Potter's Retirement" has one of these posing as an orderly and reporting to HQ about slipshod discipline at the 4077th.
• The "Mom" Voice: Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan begins to show Character Development in "Mad Dogs and Servicemen", when she actually dotes on a feverish Radar as he receives shots for potential rabies exposure. She can also use it for stern effect with ease, such as in "It Happened One Night" when she barks at Klinger, who has stripped down to his skivvies and is running around in sub-zero weather trying to make himself sick. "Corporal Klinger, get in here! GET IN HERE! IMMEDIATELY!" It's notably her "Mom" voice because she's not phrasing it with her usual "That's an order".
• Momma's Boy: Frank became a doctor as per his mother's wishes, he keeps her picture by his cot, and when he flips his lid over Margaret's engagement, Radar places a call to his mother.
• Mood Whiplash: The show has far too many to list, but "Yankee Doodle Doctor" in particular stands out, both In-Universe and out. After doing Groucho Marx-esque gags throughout the film, Hawkeye ends it by sitting next to a critically injured patient and explaining that despite doing all they could, he has a 50/50 chance of surviving his wounds and they just can't save everyone.
  • Arguably one of the biggest instances is The death of Colonel Henry Blake in "Abyssinia, Henry." While the episode has a hint of sadness tinged through it once it's revealed he's leaving, it's not a downer situation, and after he departs, there's a closure. In the final scene, we have the doctors in the ER working together cracking jokes, only be be told by Radar of Blake's death. The final camera shot pans to all of the formerly jovial doctors in tears, struggling to hold it together and finish surgeries on their patients. Ouch.
• MST: In "There Is Nothing Like a Nurse," Hawkeye, Henry, Trapper, Radar, and Klinger riff on home movies of Frank's wedding. As it starts with a scene of the wedding guests in line:
  Hawkeye: I've invited you all here today because I'm ready to name the murderer.
• Mundane Made Awesome: During one episode when Korean orphans have overrun the 4077th, a pair of kids persuade Colonel Potter to read a user manual for a Garand rifle as a bedtime story. Potter reads in an epic tone to satisfy the kids.
• Mundane Solution: How does Colonel Potter get Klinger to stop dressing as a woman? He orders him to stop doing it. Since Klinger has never disobeyed an order, he complies.
• My Friends... and Zoidberg: When Hawkeye, B.J., Charles, and Radar are in the Swamp together, Charles will often excuse himself with: "Gentlemen. (nod to Radar) Corporal."
• My Girl Is a Slut: Gender-inverted with Hawkeye, who feels shame for the issues that cause it later on, but is still more than happy to brag about being “that kind of boy” all the way into the finale. One of his ways to prove he’s Not Himself in “Bananas Crackers and Nuts” is making a scene about “what they all want”.
• My Nayme Is: Sidney Freedman. It's actually brought up in one episode, where Hawkeye spells it out to Flagg: "Two 'E's, as in "Freedom". Flagg even later confronts Sidney; "I've done a lot of reading about you, Dr. Freedman with two 'E's."
• Naked People Are Funny: Done to great effect.
• Narrator: In the "Dear ______ " episodes.
• Near-Death Clairvoyance: "Follies of the Living - Concerns of the Dead" is a combination of this and Fever Dream Episode.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye:
  • In "Welcome to Korea", Hawkeye discovers Trapper was sent home while he was away on R&R. Made even worse that they tried to call and tell him but he was busy with a geisha at the time.
  • In "Goodbye Radar", the entire camp decides to throw Radar a going-away party, which he is late to attending. Before he can get to it, the choppers arrive and the camp goes into hospital-mode, the party left abandoned. Radar is forced to settle for quick goodbyes with the primary cast, and a simple salute from Hawkeye, who is in the O.R. performing surgery.
  • In the Grand Finale "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", B.J. leaves for home while Hawkeye is in the psychiatric hospital recovering from his breakdown. Subverted when B.J.'s discharge orders are rescinded, Hawkeye is released from the hospital, and both of them are sent back to the 4077 to see the end of the war together.
• Never Lend to a Friend:
  • "The Merchant of Korea" has Winchester loaning money to B.J. and then proceeding to treat him like a servant, expecting him to do everything he wants. For some reason B.J. grudgingly complies, even though he already has the money and these conditions were never discussed when he asked for the loan.
  • Another episode has Frank and Hot Lips arguing over this, including the obligatory mention of the "neither a borrower nor a lender be" quote from Hamlet.
• Never My Fault:
  • One of Potter's old war friends, a general named Woody, ends one of the last few episodes with one of these. Since the main conflict of the episode is trying to get him to realize that he shouldn't have even been on the front lines in the first place (he was an Armchair Military general who took command when an attack hit the base he was visiting, when he should have been in the rear with supply distribution, and his only contribution was getting a lot of men injured trying to secure a hill that they'd previously been ordered to stay away from) because the "young bucks" don't know what they're doing, eventually Potter sits him down to try and have a talk with him and explain that the glory days are gone. Rather than realize that his glory days in the Army have come and gone, Woody gets an Ignored Epiphany and angrily storms out of Potter's tent, claiming that he ruined their friendship and leaving Potter somewhat depressed over having lost one of his old friends.
  • In "A War for All Seasons," Klinger wins a bet with Colonel Potter on the Brooklyn Dodgers' performance in the 1951 National League. Seeing this, Charles decides that he wants in, and joins Klinger in making new bets on the Dodgers winning the pennant. When the Dodgers gain a seemingly unbeatable lead in August, Charles starts making bets with everybody in the camp, at extremely high odds (6-to-1 or more), over Klinger's protests. Later in the year, as the Dodgers' lead shrinks, Charles is furious and begins threatening Klinger. Charles ultimately loses a huge amount of money when the New York Giants beat the Dodgers to win the pennant. At the end of the episode, when Charles sees a film of the Giants winning, he slashes the screen with a knife and shouts, "Where is that Lebanese mongoose?!" Charles was blaming Klinger for everything, despite that (1) Klinger never asked Charles to cover his bets, Charles did it voluntarily, and (2) Klinger had repeatedly warned Charles not to get greedy.
• Never Recycle Your Schemes: Zig-zagged with Klinger. In the early days, we learn that he'd tried certain schemes repeatedly, such as multiple letters from home that had various family members either pregnant and/or dying. However, when Potter arrived, the first thing he told Klinger was that he'd seen all the dodges for many years in his military career, and wasn't going to buy Klinger's tired old schemes. From there Klinger gets creative. He tried immolating himself (or threatening to, as the gas can held only water until Potter fixed it for him), trying to eat a Jeep (getting a tummy ache in the process), sitting atop a flag pole in freezing weather, faking that he believed he was in Toledo already, fake fainting spells, voodoo, pulling a Lady Godiva on Potter's horse Sophie, and even trying to get himself a recommendation to West Point. As Sidney Freedman once said, Klinger had come up with more ways to go crazy than Freud had ever dreamed of. Eventually after going through just about every possible scheme he gives up and largely stops trying to get discharged on a section 8. ^note The producers stopped with the cross dressing/section 8 schemes at Klinger actor Jamie Farr's insistence as Farr felt his children would be ashamed of seeing him dressing as a woman.
• New Year Has Come: "A War for All Seasons" covers an entire year in the life of the 4077th, bookended by New Year's Eve celebrations in 1950 and 1951.
• Niceness Denial: Maj. Winchester, noted Dr. Jerk and aristocratic blue blood, agrees to help Hawkeye by taking on a duty for him. He quickly warns that it is not because he is a nice person.
  Maj. Winchester: All right, all right, all right. I'm giving in merely because I can use a three-day vacation from you. Now please don't get the idea that I'm doing it because I'm generous, or worse, amiable.
• Nicknaming the Enemy: Both North and South Koreans are called "gooks" by unsympathetic guest characters.
  • Truth in Television. The term "gook" was coined during the Korean War and was later used more famously in Vietnam. It's derived from "Miguk", the Korean word for the United States. Apparently, American soldiers thought the Koreans were identifying themselves as "gooks" in Hulk Speak ("Miguk" sounds like "me gook"). And yes, all too many American soldiers didn't even bother to make a distinction between the South Koreans they were defending and the North Koreans they were fighting, viewing them all as "just gooks".
  • The North Koreans are also referred to as "unfriendlies" on a couple occasions.
• No Ending: Parodied and played straight in one episode (in the same scene, even): The entire camp shares a murder mystery chapter by chapter. Once they reach the ending, the murderer is revealed to be...well, nothing, because the last page is missing. They go so far as to hunt down and contact the author at her home across the globe to get the answer, with some difficulty (she is so old that she has trouble even remembering which novel it is). Then, the kicker: later on, Colonel Potter notices and announces that her answer couldn't possibly have been the murderer due to several in-story scenes that contradict that. The episode then ends with Hawkeye humorously declaring himself to be the murderer.
• No Full Name Given:
  • This happens in the episode "Lil" when Hawkeye tries to figure out what "B.J." stands for. Every record Hawkeye can find (even B.J.'s official personnel file) lists the name as simply B.J., much to Hawkeye's chagrin. As revealed in the end of that episode, B.J. was named after his parents: his mother Bea and his father Jay.
  • Radar's first name, Walter, was not revealed until "Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler".
  • Maxwell Q. Klinger's middle name was never revealed.
  • Trapper's full middle names Francis Xavier are not revealed during the course of the series, but the initials are seen on his footlocker. He does mention Xavier in "Bombed".
• No OSHA Compliance: One episode revolves around the 4077th making a new concrete floor for the operating room because the old one is covered with germs that's causing multiple staph infections. Everything goes well, eventually, but in The Tag we see what's causing the staph infections in the first place: All of the bloody cloth and whatnot used in surgery being tossed onto the floor instead of in the buckets beneath the operating tables.
• Noodle Incident:
  • The origin of Margaret's nickname, "Hot Lips", is this in the series. Hawkeye uses it in the pilot episode, but when General Hammond arrives later in the episode and uses it, they react like they've never heard it before; Hawkeye simply stumbled onto an embarrassing nickname she already had. The origin is known to the audience and all of the characters in the novel and movie.
  • In “Sometimes You Hear The Bullet”, Tommy is affectionately telling Trapper that Hawkeye was “a bit of a sissy” as a child, and whispers something in Trapper’s ear, causing cackling, Hawkeye throwing a pillow at Tommy and the word “Maxine” is the only clue.
• Not So Remote: In "They Call the Wind Korea", Klinger and Charles are out in a Jeep (Klinger was taking Charles to the airport, as he was going to Tokyo for R & R) when a bad storm breaks out. They take refuge in an overturned truck, and find several wounded Greek soldiers inside, whom Charles must treat without adequate medical supplies. The next morning Klinger goes out in search of more resources and discovers that they were only a short distance away from camp the entire time.
• Not Where They Thought: "They Call The Wind Korea", Klinger and Major Winchester get hopelessly lost on the way to Seoul trying to catch Winchester's flight. They get caught in a massive windstorm that also knocked over a Greek troop truck. After spending the night out in the elements, Winchester orders Klinger to scout out the area. Klinger, grumbling, does so — to find out that they were stranded no more than 200 yards from the 4077th the whole time.
• Not With the Safety On, You Won't: When Hawkeye and Potter are pinned in a foxhole and Hawkeye must actually fire his pistol, Potter cocks the hammer first. Which means Hawkeye carries it hammer down, which on a 1911^note Actually a Star Model B, a Spanish 9mm copy (without a grip safety), because 9mm blanks were more reliable then. is actually the least safe way to carry it (John Browning designed it this way, so no matter how much you drop a cocked 1911, it will never accidentally discharge).
• Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: Parodied by Father Mulcahy, of all people.
  Now I lay me down to sleep,
  A bag of peanuts at my feet.
  If I die before I wake,
  Give them to my brother Jake.
  • Followed by a full fifteen seconds of the other cast members in the tent laughing uncontrollably. It's unclear whether they just lost it or they were scripted to laugh.
• Now You Tell Me: This happens in Season One when Henry reads instructions on how to disarm a bomb while Hawkeye and Trapper perform the actual task. A few steps in, they're given one step—followed by a "but first" clause.
• Obfuscating Disability:
  • In "Deal Me Out", Radar apparently hits an elderly Korean villager with a jeep. When the man demands $50 not to report Radar to the MPs, a visiting officer susses out that he is a notorious con man known as "Whiplash Hwang".
    • Reprised in "Exorcism" with a twist: Frank warns that this too may be a scam, until the man's granddaughter explains that the old man was trying to frighten away a demon he believed had possessed him.
  • Klinger employs this (and/or Playing Sick) in some of his dodge attempts. Once he faked fainting spells, and another time he pretended to have crippling depression. This is averted, however, in the one time that he was actually ill (he had anemia) but everyone else assumed he was faking. His response points out that while he may try to scam his way out of the Army, he has never done it when people's lives are on the line and he is needed in surgery. Indeed, his only fake fainting spell in the OR was after the last patient was seen to.
    • Inverted when Klinger is too close to an exploding land mine^note He was on guard duty and the cold weather was making the soil contract around the land mines and set them off and loses his hearing. At first, the main characters suspect he is attempting another scam, but it turns out he really has lost his hearing. At the end of the episode, he gets his hearing back, only for another character to tell him that hearing loss is a sure-fire way out of the Army. Klinger, being Klinger, immediately starts pretending he lost his hearing again.
• Obfuscating Insanity:
  • Klinger tries this—repeatedly and unsuccessfully—throughout the entire series.
  • Also tried unsuccessfully by Hawkeye to get leave in the episode "Bananas, Crackers, and Nuts."
  • In "Fade Out, Fade In", Klinger enlists the services of a "lawyer" who turns out to be using this.
  • This is subverted by a one-off character, Corporal Miller, in "Major Topper". Klinger is initially convinced Miller is faking, but changes his mind when Miller starts firing his rifle at nonexistent North Koreans. Miller returns to the States and makes a fortune off of the toys he was able to make based on his experiences in Korea, leaving Klinger despondent that even he was fooled. Then Potter reads part of Miller's letter where he asks if anyone had taken photos of the glider Miller claimed to have shot down.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: They're in the Army, after all, so the 4077th occasionally find themselves dealing with one or more of these. This includes things like supplies, where on occasion the 4077th gets sent the wrong supplies and can't protest because according to the Army's records they got what they were supposed to, when they clearly didn't.
• Obvious Stunt Double: When some of the characters are riding in a chopper, and it's clear it's not the actual actors.
• Odd Friendship: Hawkeye and Klinger end up bonding over gentle jealousy of Hawkeye’s breakdowns and Hawkeye helping Klinger out with some of his dresses.
• Office Golf: Henry.
• Officer and a Gentleman: Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, as his name and his Boston Blue Blood accent would suggest, tries to affect this trope most of the time.
• Oh, Cisco!: Generally the various plots of each episode would wrap up before the last commercial break, then the show would come back for a quick one- or two-joke scene before the credits. Occasionally it was used for dramatic effect as well.
• Oh, Crap!: Draftees at the 4077th, particularly the doctors, are occasionally surprised by either the extreme quirkiness of the Army or the horrifying effects of the war. Examples: everything to deal with the unexploded bomb in "The Army-Navy Game"; Klinger realizing the depth of his legal dilemma at the end of "Snappy Judgment"; and Hawkeye encountering a soldier who has lost his memory in "The Billfold Syndrome". Then there was the Army sending the 4077th a lawyer instead of a doctor, throwing both Hawkeye and B.J..
• The Oldest Profession: Played for laughs and drama is Hawkeye’s many prostitution jokes about himself. He laughs off that he’s so easy when agreeing to be given a nickel for having sex with someone, but he really does feel like that’s all he’s useful for.
• Old Soldier: Colonel Potter, who had served in World War One. ^note  Potter's exact age is debatable. In his first appearance he states that he was so young he lied about his age to enter the US Army while World War I was going on. In "Pressure Points" Potter states he is 62 years old, meaning that in any event he would've been well above the minimum age to join the Army even in 1914.
• Omniglot: Klinger. He speaks English and Arabic, and has picked up a little Korean.
• Once a Season:
  • Up until Cerebus Syndrome set in, the writers and producers made it a point to have at least one episode each season that was far more serious in either tone or subject matter (e.g., "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" from Season One, "George" from Season Two).
  • Beginning with Season 3's "O.R.", there would also be at least one or two episodes per season where the laugh track would be omitted entirely.
• One Crazy Night: Several episodes compress the usual wacky hijinks into one night.
  • The episode "Deal Me Out" centers around a poker game. Between hands, the characters have to deal with a con man, a violent soldier, and a paranoid CID officer.
  • "It Happened One Night" deals with the entire camp observing blackout conditions due to enemy shelling—which turns out to be their own artillery. During this time, Hawkeye deals with a spastic shell-shocked soldier in Post-Op, Klinger trains a new corpsman pulling guard duty, Frank literally tears Margaret's tent apart to look for his love notes she kept, B.J. worries about his patient whose had an excessive amount of blood IVs, and Potter and Radar work to try to get the shelling stopped.
  • "No Sweat" has the camp unable to sleep during a miserable heat wave. B.J. stays up fuming because he got a letter from his wife mentioning that the gutters need to be cleaned, which he views as his responsibility; Winchester stays up to do his family's taxes after their accountant is arrested; Klinger stays up taking apart and putting back together the P.A. system; Potter takes a sleeping pill to help him sleep only for the camp to have various situations that require him to be involved in resolving them; and Margaret suffers from a severe case of prickly heat on her butt.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: During an episode when Margaret (whose Hot Lips nickname itself is an example) demands a transfer from the 4077th, citing Hawkeye and Trapper's hijinks as one cause:
  Margaret: I am not looking for a truce with these two shower tent peekers!
  Trapper: Boy, you peek into one shower and you're labeled for life.
• One-Liner, Name... One-Liner: At the conclusion of "Smilin' Jack," Hawkeye asks Potter which of the three campaigns he's been in was the worst when word comes in that France suffered 500 casualties in an attack at Solma-Ri.
  Potter: Every last one of them, Hawkeye. Every last one of them.
  • In "As You Were," Radar is on the phone trying to get shelling either stopped or diverted:
  Radar: I said west, Tony! West!
• The Oner: "Point Of View" has several, including an Epic Tracking Shot that begins over the hill and ends on the helipad.
• One Scene, Two Monologues: In "Life with Father", Colonel Blake and Father Mulcahy have a conversation of this type. (Blake's worried about his wife being unfaithful back home; Mulcahy's worried about his sister, a nun, possibly leaving the sisterhood; the two of them consequently talk right past each other.)
• One-Shot Character: Not only were there a number of them, but many of them got a Day in the Limelight episode:
  • Young-Hi: A young Korean woman who was bought by an America Sergeant as his own personal "Moose" (an oriental slang term for girl), whom Hawkeye, Trapper, and Spearchucker liberate and attempt to teach her how to act like a person.
  • John "Cowboy" Hodges: A Reno-native chopper pilot who fears his stateside wife may be cheating on him and continually attempts to assassinate Henry for refusing to let him go home.
  • Lieutenant Edwina Ferguson: A disasterously clumsy and awkward nurse who initially joined the Army on an impulse after her fiancee enlisted and she never heard from him again, and still hadn't found love since.
  • Colonel Buzz Brighton (the ringbanger): who's so callous about his army career, yet in such peak physical fitness that Hawkeye and Trapper convince him he's suffering a mental breakdown and needs to be sent stateside for a while.
  • Kim: An assumed orphaned boy who Trapper decides to adopt until his mother turns up in the end to reclaim him.
  • Nancy Sue Parker: A young twentysomething whom Henry falls in love with, despite the difference in their ages (and already being married), and despite taking into consideration at that young age, Nancy's hormones aren't quite under control.
  • Private Baker: Who was desperate for plastic surgery to reshape his large, bulbous nose.
  • George: A foot soldier who was beaten by his fellow soldiers for being gay, for which Frank tries to get him dishonorably discharged.
  • General Bartford Hamilton Steele: The crazy general who inspects the 4077th and decides they need to move even closer to the front to conserve on helicopter fuel and get casualties to the hospital faster.
  • General Robert "Iron Guts" Kelly: A visiting general who dies in the middle of hanky-panky with Margaret.
  • Colonel Reese: An older female colonel who has the hots for Frank, but when she's caught forcing herself on him, she claims rape.
  • Lieutenant "Digger" Dettmuller: An undertaker who was sent to claim Hawkeye's body after he was mistakenly registered as dead, but is still in need of taking a body back to the morgue.
  • Captain Arnold Chandler: A downed bomber pilot who suffers an identity crisis and believes he's Jesus Christ.
  • Smilin' Jack: A chopper pilot whose desperate to win the Chopper Pilot of the Year award, despite Potter ordering him to be grounded due to having diabetes.
  • Most of the nurses in "The Nurses", particularly Mickie Baker, who ends up in house arrest for arguing with Margaret but gets sneaked out so she can spend the night with her newly-wedded husband as he passes through on a 24-hour pass.
  • Sergeant Billy Tyler: The All-American running back from Ottumwa, Iowa, who loses his leg, and believes his football career is over.
  • Lieutenant Carrie Donovan: A heartbroken nurse who receives a "Dear Jane" letter from her husband, but finds comfort (and kinda probably a little more) from B.J.
  • Leo Bardanaro: B.J.'s old friend who is a notorious practical joker and gets B.J. by having him arrested for pranking a general in a hotel by yelling "fire" while the general and his secretary were in the bathtub at the time.
  • Captain Roy Dupree and Captain Lorraine Anderson, both of whom temporarily trade places with Hawkeye and Bigelow, respectively; the former B.J. and Charles find incredibly obnoxious for his boorish personality, the latter is a childhood friend of Margaret's and is actually envied for still retaining her carefree spirit.
  • Colonel Lillian "Lil" Rayburn: An elderly female colonel who spends a few days at the 4077th for inspection, and ends up becoming very friendly with Potter, much to Radar's outrage.
  • Sergeant Jerry Neilsen: A field medic who comes down with amnesia after his baby brother is killed by mortar fire in his bunker.
  • Private Rich: A foot soldier whose stay at the 4077th is seen completely through his point of view after sustaining a throat injury.
  • Kwang: A Korean Charles hires to be his own personal houseboy, not knowing he's actually a North Korean spy sent to gather information of the 4077th's surgical techniques to find out what makes the unit so efficient.
  • Inga: A Swedish lady doctor who unintentionally bruises both Hawkeye and Charles's male egos.
  • And this is only a partial list!
• One-Steve Limit:
  • Trapper John McIntyre, Francis John Patrick Mulcahy, Ugly John Black, Ho-Jon.
  • Henry's wife's name was originally Mildred (later Lorraine), while Potter's wife was also named Mildred (as well as a girl Trapper had a one-night stand with in Chicago).
  • Both Trapper and Frank's wives names were Louise.
  • This is played straight in an episode where the hospital had to examine and treat five different locals, all named Kim Luck. (It was their Kim Lucky day.) This is implied to be a case where a number of people are all using the same alias.
    • In addition to them, Trapper almost adopted a presumed orphaned boy whose name was Kim, and Hawkeye also helped one of the medics marry his Korean baby-mama, whose name was also Kim. Mind you, "Kim" is a family name in Korea, not a personal name; and it is more common than Smith in English speaking countries. So it's actually more surprising that even more characters weren't named Kim.
  • Various different nurses went through the names Able, Baker, Gage, Mitchell, Anderson, Simmons, among others.
  • Radar had two different pets (one was a bunny, the other was a guinea pig) that were named Bongo.
  • In "Mail Call Three", we learn there's at least one other Capt. Benjamin Pierce serving in Korea, and having his letters mixed up with Hawkeye's.
  • Peggy Hunnicutt and Peggy Bigelow.
• The Only Believer: From the main cast, only Frank Burns and Margaret Houlihan really believe in the cause of the Korean War. All the rest are draftees and anti-war.
• Open Heart Dentistry: On one occasion, Dr. Freedman was asked to help out in O.R.; as a psychiatrist he is a qualified medical doctor, but he's not a surgeon, and as Sidney put it, "Medical school was a long time ago."
  • Spearchucker as well. He commented once that "anything outside the skull, I'm dead" while performing surgery on a patient's abdomen.
  • Major Houlihan is also taught by Hawkeye to perform emergency surgery ^note they have temporarily been sent to replace a medical team killed in action in the front line. Despite her protestations that she is not trained and legally cannot perform surgery, she performs very capably.
  • Even Father Mulcahy performed basic surgical procedures when assisting in the OR. On one occasion, he performed a tracheotomy on the road with Hawkeye coaching him over the radio.
  • One gifted doctor, temporarily with the 4077th, turns out not to be a qualified doctor at all—he is a Walter Mitty who is pretending to be a doctor. Hawkeye notes that for a guy with no medical training, he's still ten times better than Frank Burns (and never lost a patient).
• Open Secret: Frank and Margaret's relationship in the first four seasons is this. Father Mulcahy was the only one who didn't officially know...but he did suspect.
• Operation: [Blank]: "Operation Noselift", "Operation Friendship"
• Opposites Attract: Laid-back Hawkeye and hard-nosed Margaret had quite a few Tsundere-type moments throughout the series, especially in times when Margaret expressed disappointment in her marriage to Donald Penobscot. Perhaps as a result of this, she became more laid-back herself, and started showing a rapport with the snobbish Charles in the last three seasons or so.
• ...Or So I Heard: In "Adam's Ribs":
  Hawkeye: Don't you come from Chicago, Klinger?
  Radar: No, he's from Toledo.
  Klinger: But I get my lingerie from Chicago.
  Trapper: And it's beautiful. (after the others turn and look at him) I hear.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Charles screwing over Korean peasants by buying scrip for a tenth of its value in "Change Day". This is nothing like blue blood, old money Charles, who later anonymously donates candies to an orphanage. It feels more like something Frank or Klinger might do. In fact, it's almost as if it was a leftover Frank script that had the names changed. It's even lampshaded in the show that he has no need for extra money, but he claims it's for the thrill of making the money, not for the money itself. There's a later episode where he demonstrates a similar motivation by making bets with just about everyone in camp over the World Series, but it still comes off as strange.
• Out with a Bang: "Iron Guts Kelly" combines this with a bit of Of Corpse He's Alive.
• Pacifism Is Cowardice: The series has a clear anti-war perspective and plays with this trope somewhat.
  • If you accuse Captain Hawkeye Pierce of being a coward, he'll readily admit it.
  • Frank Burns, in particular, was a straightforward patriot and took the United States' involvement in the Korean War conflict very seriously to the point that he would often accuse any of his comrades with anti-war sentiment of being "bleedin' hearts" and give them rousing speeches about the disasters that would be heaped upon America if they were to just make peace with the enemy. On one such occasion, the 4077th is pinned down by a lone sniper, and Hawkeye and Trapper insist on surrendering in hopes that the sniper will cease fire so they can tend to their wounded; both Frank and Margaret are appalled at the idea and are more concerned about maintaining the integrity of their positions as U.S. Army personnel rather than trying to help any wounded that may come in and be under fire.
• Paperwork Punishment: Klinger finds his leave cancelled and an absurdly large pile of paperwork waiting for him, as thirty days prior, "I-corp" changed forms for the daily reports, but Klinger didn't, and he now has a month's worth of forms to redo. As luck would have it, this is exactly when a medication for malaria causes an adverse reaction in Klinger, and the others believe he's goldbricking under protest of his cancelled leave.
• Paranoia Gambit: In "The Joker is Wild", B.J. bets Hawkeye that he can prank everyone in the camp, but as his pranks intensify and everyone but Hawkeye gets pranked, Pierce becomes so paranoid that he sleeps outside within a barb wire enclosure. At the end, B.J. and his "victims" reveal that no one was actually pranked—it was all a plan to prank Hawkeye by making him paranoid. Though it does mean that, technically, B.J. lost the bet.
  • In another escalating prank war initiated by Charles, after they drop a dummy on her while in bed, Margaret tells B.J. she sent a letter to his wife detailing their year-long affair, and that Hawkeye set them up. It's actually another Kansas City Shuffle, this time on Charles.

• Paranormal Episode: "Follies of the Living - Concerns of the Dead" involves a recently-killed soldier whose ghost hangs around the 4077 and communicates with Klinger, who's delirious with fever.
• Parenthetical Swearing: Both versions in Hawkeye’s miserable assertion that he should have been a cocktail waitress. Cocktail is slang for male hooker anyway, and it’s said with so much self loathing that you know it’s what he means.
• Patriotic Fervor: This is frequently displayed by both Frank Burns and (especially) Colonel Flagg.
• Perspective Flip: “Hey Look Me Over” is from Nurse Kellye’s perspective. We see her trying to get up the nerve to ask Hawkeye out, and his Really Gets Around nature is played a lot more chronic and pathetic.
• Pervert Alliance:
  • An unique mixed gender alliance formed against Capt. BJ Hunnicut in one episode as the result of a prank war. After Hawkeye and Winchester came to the realization that BJ had been arranging for Charles to be pranked and Hawkeye to take the sole blame, they get revenge. They strip BJ naked while he slept and left his cot in the nurse's tent, with his blanket nailed to the cot so he couldn't use it for cover. The nurses were eagerly eyeing their new tentmate. And then, to really sell it, Hawk and Winchester had arranged for a fake announcement of incoming wounded, leaving BJ with no choice but to exit the tent, to the hoots, hollers, cat calls, and wolf whistles of the whole camp.
  • In another episode, and another prank war, Margaret steals Hawkeye and BJ's bathrobes from the showers. The two try to discreetly make their way back to The Swamp (their tent), only to find the nurses of the camp sitting there waiting for them. They were very enthusiastic about what they saw.
• Pet the Dog: Margaret gets one in Season Three as a prelude to her later softening-up, as she cares for a feverish Radar.
  • Winchester had a few in later seasons. In "Fathers and Bowlers" he stayed up with Hawkeye, who was awaiting word from the States regarding his father's surgery, and in "Run for the Money" he befriended a private who had a bad stutter and even threatened to file a formal complaint against the private's CO for berating his intelligence. It is later revealed that Winchester's sister Honoria also stuttered. And in another episode, he helps a soldier who is a Juliard-trained pianist who has suffered nerve damage to the fingers of one of his hands by giving him music specifically written for people with only one hand, and telling the soldier that his musical ability is a gift that should not be wasted - one that Charles wished for himself, but was forced to admit "I could play the notes, but I could not play the music".
• Phantom Limb Pain: One episode has a former football player take a serious injury to his leg. He tells Hawkeye, if he can't save the leg, don't save him. He wakes, and initially believes he still has his leg, due to the phantom pains. Then he is made to realize it's gone. He becomes suicidal, until Radar gently reminds him of all the times, as a player for Iowa's football team, he'd overcome the odds.
• Pie in the Face: Father Mulcahy gets one (thrown by Margaret and meant for Hawkeye and B.J.) in "An Eye for a Tooth".
• Ping Pong Naïveté: Both Margaret and Hawkeye know a lot about working, sex and flirting, but act like awkward children when it comes to much else. It’s a trauma response, her having Abusive Parents and being Not Used to Freedom, and him constantly being told he’s only worth anything if people can take things from him.
• Pin-Pulling Teeth: In a moment of ill-considered "manliness", Frank pulls the pin out of a grenade with his teeth and spits it away. Then he realizes what he's done and starts desperately searching for it.
• Pointy-Haired Boss: Colonel Blake, much of the time.
• Poor Man's Porn: Hawkeye's nudist magazines, and Radar's reference to looking at National Geographic when his Uncle Ed wasn't around.
  • Additionally, Radar's holes drilled in the nurses' shower tent.
  • And Hawkeye was prone to bribing Radar by offering him books on reproduction or the chance to develop the nurses' x-rays.
  • Henry's movies from Cuba and his Japanese prints.
  • All of which is justified since the real thing as we know it today was hard to come by in the 1950s.
• Porn Stache:
  • B.J. has one of these beginning in Season Seven.
  • Ugly John also sported one.
• P.O.V. Cam: "Point of View" is shot entirely from the perspective of a wounded soldier going through the MASH.
• The Prankster:
  • B.J. is this especially, but other characters (Hawkeye, Trapper, Charles) take on this role in various episodes as well. Even Frank Burns gets to try his hand at this in "Showtime".
  • The Season Eleven episode "The Joker Is Wild" turns the entire camp into Pranksters. Although they're eventually revealed to have all been collaborating on a master pranking of Hawkeye at the behest of B.J.
• Precision F-Strike:
  • The usually timid and soft-spoken Radar once lets loose an exasperated "Hell!" When B.J. gives a surprised "What?" in response, Radar replies, "You heard me! H-E-double-toothpicks!"
  • Also lampshaded in "Mad Dogs and Servicemen" when he's bedridden following being bitten by a dog but his test for rabies comes back negative. Radar, having endured numerous rabies shots:
    Radar: (to God) A deal's a deal, Sir. No more "hells," "damns," and especially not the big one.
  • Col. Potter gets a minor one after finally stopping a facially wounded soldiers' suicide attempts. Instead of using one of his plethora of substitutes:
    Col. Potter: I'm too old for this kinda crap.
  • The Wham Line from the final episode, which was one of the forbidden Seven Dirty Words in The '80s:
    Hawkeye: You son of a bitch, why did you make me remember that?
  • The above was actually used first in the episode "Guerilla My Dreams," when Hawkeye seethes at a Korean interrogator taking a female enemy soldier off to be tortured. It was the first time the phrase "son of a bitch" had ever aired uncensored on prime-time television.
• Pregnancy Scare: A subplot of "What's Up Doc?" has Margaret believing she's pregnant after having spent R&R in Tokyo with her beau Daniel Penobscott; she worries that giving birth will result in an automatic discharge. For confirmation, Hawkeye borrows Radar's female bunny for Margaret's pregnancy test, which turns up negative. Apparently, Margaret was simply having gallbladder problems.
• Present-Day Past: The show is pretty infamous for how much its version of the early '50s resembles the '70s. Some of this was carried over from the film, which deliberately made the Korean War look like the then-ongoing Vietnam War as a political statement. In the series, this was apparently due more to laziness, at least if you take the show's producers at their word that the series was not meant as a Vietnam allegory. And much like with Happy Days, the laziness about period detail tended to increase with each passing season. The show does have occasional flashes of remembering when it's supposed to take place, usually for the sake of It Will Never Catch On jokes.
• Pretty in Mink: Klinger, although one was used as a plot point before he stopped cross-dressing.
• Prison Rape: Played for laughs by Hawkeye in “House Arrest” who when asked by Frank what he’ll do for five years at Leavenworth, he shruggily assumes he’ll enjoy it and get married.
• Prized Possession Giveaway: In the episode "I Hate a Mystery", after Ho-Jon is revealed as the thief the unit has been looking for, everyone pities him and allows him to keep their stolen valuables. (He had stolen their things as a means to raise money to bribe border guards to bring his family from North Korea to South Korea.)
• Promiscuity After Rape: It’s not talked about, mostly because the in-universe reaction to Hawkeye making a lot of rape jokes about himself is Dude, Not Funny!, but his Really Gets Around behaviour was shown a few times to be partly a trauma reaction. Lorreta Swit’s read on Hawkeye is that his flirting was like an overgrown child looking to be held.
• Promotion, Not Punishment: Klinger is threatened with this. In his continued efforts of trying to get a discharge from the Army by running around in dresses (among other things), Frank, at one point, says to him, "I've warned you, that crazy stuff's not gonna wash with me! The next time I find you in a floppy hat, or a brassiere... I'll promote you!" On one occasion, Klinger recalls trying to convince his draft board he was crazy. He was told, "Keep this up and we'll make you an officer."
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Jamie Farr (season 4), William Christopher (season 5).
• Prosthetic Limb Reveal: In the episode "Dreams", Hawkeye dreams that he's taking a test and the proctor tells Winchester to remove Hawkeye's arms, which are then tossed onto a pile. Then Hawkeye is supposed to operate on an injured Korean boy, but can't because he doesn't have arms. In the context of the dream, Hawkeye doesn't have real arms, which is revealed when Winchester removes them. It symbolizes Hawkeye's frustration at his inability to make any real changes to the war.
• Pungeon Master: Most of the characters at times, but Hawkeye and B.J. in particular.
• Punished for Sympathy: "The Trial of Henry Blake" puts this into perspective: In an attempt to have Henry relieved of duty as commanding officer of the 4077th, Margaret and Frank have him charged with a number of misdemeanors, including giving aid and comfort to North Koreans. In actuality, Henry had been contributing penicillin, among other drugs, to an elderly American nurse who runs a clinic in enemy territory dedicated to aiding poverty-stricken civilians.
• Put on a Bus: Henry, Trapper, Frank, and Radar are all Put on a Plane and sent back to the States. (In Henry's case, the plane crashes, literally and figuratively.) Each of these people get a mention in the final two episodes. In "As Time Goes By", Hawkeye and B.J. contribute items once belonging to Radar and Henry for the time capsule and explain to Charles that nothing of Frank's would be included due to his incompetence. And in "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", after B.J. has left for home without leaving Hawkeye a farewell note, Hawkeye laments that Trapper did the same thing.

Q-S

• Questionable Consent: Klinger brags that Hawkeye can coerce anyone in a sexual manner (and the Edwina episode had a nurse actually have to push him off), and reversed, he’s casually mentioned ending dates all bruised, likes making jokes about being followed home and losing his virginity ridiculously young. Margaret’s also had lines about having to deal with generals and their wandering hands.
• Quietly Performing Sister Show: Roll Out!. Airing for only one season in 1973, it too was created by Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds, as CBS decided to try and have another military sitcom with M*A*S*H's success to bolster it. It didn't work out that way though, and today is virtually all but forgotten.
• Quirky Doctor: Captains Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre are never in uniform, chase the nurses, drink to excess, gamble, and use medical equipment to prank others. The early seasons have many episodes where generals and colonels appear at the 4077th and are appalled at their behavior yet refuse to charge them because they are the best doctors around. Occasionally they dress up in crazy outfits to make patients laugh in post-op.
• Quote-to-Quote Combat: Margaret asks Frank for a loan.
  Frank: "Neither a lender nor a borrower be." Polonius.
  Margaret: "To give and not count the cost." St. Ignatius Loyola.
  Frank: "The holy passion of friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last throughout a whole lifetime if not asked to lend money." Mark Twain.
  Margaret: "Blow it out your ear." Margaret Houlihan.
• Race for Your Love: Hawkeye gets over a hangover lightning fast, cons MPs, Drives Like Crazy to try and meet Trapper before he leaves stateside. He misses him by ten minutes.
• Racial Face Blindness:
  • In a season two episode, the Korean liaison officer semi-sarcastically explains the difficulty in finding the father of a half-American baby as, "You all look alike to us." There are also several episodes that deal with or make reference to the difficulty in people being able to tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Korean people.
    Frank Burns: [They're] clever, boy. They don't all look alike by accident, you know!
  • Invoked in the finale, Klinger's Korean fiancee (played by Rosalind Chao, Chinese-American) is looking for her family, whom she describes several times as "Short, dark hair?" Perhaps a meta casting gag in that there were plenty of Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese actors cast to play Koreans.
  • Humorously invoked in "To Market, To Market". Hawkeye and Trapper arrange a deal with Charlie Lee, a black marketeer, to give him Henry Blake's newly-acquired antique oak desk — without Henry's knowledge — in exchange for some hydrocortisone. As a prelude to the deal, he shows up at Henry's office disguised as a South Korean general to examine said desk. Then, at the end of the episode after the exchange has been made, Henry sees Charlie again without the disguise:
    Henry: [suspiciously] Hey, have you got a relative who's a general?
    Charlie: [shrugging] You know how it is, Colonel. We all look alike.
• Radish Cure: Father Mulcahy cures a dog of its liquor-stealing habits by giving the dog all the whiskey it can drink. One massive hangover later, and the dog refused to touch alcohol ever again.
• Rape as Backstory: Margaret has a Trauma Button of being raped but has had to deal with being attacked on the show and wandering generals hands, and Hawkeye makes too many references to getting taken advantage of for comfort (his crack about losing his virginity twenty years ago disgusts everyone, and by season nine B.J. is sick of how casual he is about it). It does help them a little, as they’re both afraid of enemy assault and he occasionally reassures her by covering up with jokes.
• Rape as Comedy: After Frank and Margaret save Hawkeye and Trapper's cause in "For the Good of the Outfit", Trapper pins Margaret to Henry's desk to kiss her despite her protests while Hawkeye chases Frank around the office to apparently do the same.
• "Rashomon"-Style: "The Novocaine Mutiny" has Hawkeye and Frank narrating very different versions of the same events during a court-martial hearing.
• Real Award, Fictional Character: This is used basically the same way twice.
  • In one episode, Frank Burns slips and injures his back in a "normal" accident on the base, which requires routine intervention. He browbeats Colonel Blake into accepting the logic that since the 4077 M*A*S*H is officially a front-line military hospital which shares front-line perils like occasional shelling and sniping, his "wound" was sustained on the front lines and thus merits a Purple Heart. Henry grudgingly gives in and writes the citation. Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Trapper are dealing with a real American hero: a fifteen-year-old boy who lied about his age to enlist in the Marines. Hawkeye wrestles with the ethical dilemma about breaching a patient's confidence, but exposes the youth to the Military Police. He is to be discharged from the Marines and sent home to his parents. Hawkeye and Trapper sweeten the pill by stealing Frank's medal and re-presenting it to a soldier who really was wounded in combat.
  • Frank claims a Purple Heart because when he cracked open his breakfast egg, some of the eggshell got in his eye. The official medical records read "shell fragment", and since they're a frontline unit, it counts as a war wound. Hawkeye & B.J. steal Frank's Purple Heart medal and give it to a Korean baby born to a mother had a harrowing time getting to the unit before she gave birth.
  • In "Bombshells", Potter has B.J. awarded the Bronze Star after hearing that B.J. helped a chopper escape while under fire—he likely did not hear that B.J. was forced to cut a rope to wounded soldiers, abandoning one to either death or capture. B.J. gives it to a wounded soldier for "getting out in one piece".
  • In his introductory episode, Colonel Potter reveals he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal during the First World War. Though he is correct that it is unavailable to officers, he served before the medal was established and the retroactive dates only go to 1940.
  • Radar is awarded the Purple Heart (presented to him by Hawkeye) when he is wounded by the enemy while on a three-day pass.
• Reality Has No Soundtrack: The show started out playing incidental music throughout each episode like most sitcoms of the era, but starting in Season Two, it was reserved for extended comedy sequences. By Season Eight, it was gone entirely (though music continued to occasionally be played over the camp P.A. system). Producer Burt Metcalfe said the phasing out of the music was done because he wanted the show to be "just like the actual Korean War". Similarly, the Laugh Track forced upon the show by CBS was phased out as the show progressed; it was initially removed from certain types of scenes, then removed from certain episodes, and was completely absent in the finalé.
• Reality Is Unrealistic: Many people found the presence of a black surgeon, Capt. Oliver Harmon "Spearchucker" Jones, in a 1950s American unit to be political correctness. M*A*S*H is based on a real unit, the 8055th, which did indeed have an African-American surgeon on staff.
• Really Dead Montage: "Abyssinia, Henry"
• Really Gets Around:
  • Hawkeye, obviously, though surprisingly he is portrayed as more or less monogamous with Nurse Gage during the second and third season. He gets called out more in the later seasons (with even B.J. calling him depraved in "Taking The Fifth"), and heavily implied to be trauma-related in "Who Knew", but still tries to prostitute himself for charity in "Give and Take" and teases everyone in the finale that he loved as many of them as he was able.
  • "Trapper" John is as bad as Hawkeye when it comes to chasing; unlike Pierce, Trapper is actually married back home.
  • Major Houlihan is this during the Comedic phase, as she tends to have had intimate relationships with the visiting officers; her promiscuity is her worst-kept secret (alongside her passionate love affair with Frank Burns) and is why she has her nickname. But she also tends to make use of these relationships to further various schemes hatched by she and/or Frank. This aspect of her character gets cut almost completely during the Dramatic phase, though the effects continue to linger long after.
• Really 17 Years Old: In "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet", the 4077 receives a wounded kid (played by Ron Howard, who ironically was 18 at the time of filming) who lied about his age to get into the Army and impress a girl back home. Hawkeye discovers this and initially agrees to keep his secret, but after seeing a friend die on the operating table from wounds received in combat, he changes his mind and turns the kid in.

  Kid: I'll hate you for the rest of my life!
  Hawkeye: Let's hope it's a long and happy hate.

• Reasonable Request Rejected: In one episode, Trapper and Hawkeye are lamenting that they have no incubator, meaning that they have to wait days to get results on cultures to find out what illness a patient might have. They arrange a meeting with the Quartermaster's office, who looks up the incubator and what it does. He notes that it would be useful for a medical unit, then promptly denies the request. He would, he notes, be able to give them a jukebox or a pizza oven.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Hawkeye gives a fairly blistering one to Frank in "Sticky Wicket".
  • Margaret gives an epic one to Hawkeye about his treating women as sex objects.
  • Margaret also gives one to Lieutenant Gail Harris in "Nurse Doctor" when Harris refuses to actually say why she's asked for a transfer from the 4077th, calling out Harris's excuse on how everyone hates her when most of the other people in the camp have been nothing but supportive of her. It works.
• Reassigned to Antarctica:
  • How Henry Blake ended up in the 4077th. He was in Honolulu when he responded to an order for a coffee enema by asking, "With cream and sugar?"
  • Also applies to Charles, who happened to be beating his CO at cribbage (to the tune of $672, or about $6,100 in today's money) and being insufferable about it when the request for Frank's replacement came.
• Reckless Gun Usage: Frank Burns, who seems dangerously unaware of basic firearm safety for a military officer. In the course of the series he managed to accidentally wound a fellow officer (B.J.) and even shot himself in the foot. Not to mention the time that he blew up an Army ammo dump (though it was technically Hawkeye that made that happen; Burns' crew was about to refuse the order) or caused an enlisted man to shoot Radar's bugle out of his hand with a miniature cannon salute during Morning Colors.
• Recurring Character:
  • Colonel Sam Flagg - the overzealous Intelligence officer.
  • Major Sidney Theodore Freedman - the divisional psychiatrist.
  • Private Igor Stramensky - the 4077th's mess tent server.
  • Sergeant Zelmo Zale - the 4077th's supply sergeant.
  • Sergeant Luther Rizzo - the 4077th motor pool sergeant.
  • Cho Man Chin - the swindling Korean peddler.
  • Rosie - the proprietor of the Local Hangout just outside of camp.
  • Sergeant Jack Scully - a front-line soldier and potential romantic interest for Margaret.
  • Klinger and Father Mulcahy started out as this before eventually becoming regulars.
  • The numerous nurses and the handful of generals as well.
  • The first two seasons had three different recurring generals that Henry reported to. First General Hammond (3 episodes), then General Barker (2 episodes), and finally General Clayton (7 episodes).
• Retcon: The timeline was frequently reset out of necessity thanks to the show's Long Runner status. The first and perhaps most notable came in Season 4's "Deluge": although the season opener was set in September 1952, this episode is set in October, 1950, at the time of the Chinese entry into the war.
• Retirony:
  • The soldiers who died often suffered from this, as did Henry Blake.
  • B.J. takes extreme measures to negate some of the irony in "Death Takes a Holiday".
• Redundant Romance Attempt: Radar catches a girl's attention by just being sweet and Radar-like, and without realizing it, tries to grab her attention again by pretending to be an ex-footballer, by ignoring her and 'playing cool', and then by trying to be 'interesting' with talk about rabbits. She's mostly confused, but in the end, he admits what he's been trying to do and they end up together... until the next episode.
• Red Wire Blue Wire: In an episode where an unexploded bomb lands in the compound and the doctors are given instructions on how to disarm it.
• Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: Being the jingoistic patriot that he was, Frank would prioritize allied casualties over enemy casualties during triage, even putting Americans with minor injuries over severely wounded POWs. On occasion, wounded American soldiers would criticize the doctors for treating the enemy soldiers at all.
• Rewatch Bonus: While they were jokier in earlier seasons (and he had an alive mother with a sister, maybe, he also makes jokes that he’s an only child) and looked into deeper later on, Hawkeye had abandonment and sanity issues during the whole series. Even in "Bananas Crackers and Nuts", he’s forced to admit he’s exaggerating to get some rest, but he is genuinely struggling.
• Reunion Show:
  • Memories of M*A*S*H (1991) and M*A*S*H: The Comedy That Changed Television (2024) featured clips and pre-recorded interviews with the cast members; 30th Anniversary Reunion (2002) had the producers and surviving cast members getting together for a roundtable discussion.
  • Done in an episode by having the families of the 4077 personnel gather in New York for a weekend together to bond and lament missing their loved ones.
• Right Behind Me:
  • Invoked a few times in earlier seasons, whenever Frank and/or Margaret would barge in to register complaints with Henry, while Henry is preoccupied with reading sports magazines, or even sleeping, and casually mentioning to Radar what pains they are.
    Henry: Frank Burns has got to be the biggest horse's patoot in this man's army.
    Frank: You think so?
    Henry: (Hums innocently while turning around to find Frank in his office)
  • A later episode has Charles Winchester, who's temporarily in charge while Potter's away, occupying the CO's office and employing Klinger as his personal valet. In a scene toward the end, Charles makes insulting remarks about Potter to (he assumes) Klinger, not realizing that Potter has returned and slipped in behind him.
• Right on the Tick: Five O'Clock Charlie, every day at 5 pm, comes in his plane and tosses a single bomb at an ammo dump.
• Road Trip Plot:
  • The two-part Season 4 premiere "Welcome to Korea" (B.J.'s debut) was one of these.
  • Also, "Rainbow Bridge" and "Aid Station" (Season 3); "The Bus" (Season 4); "Bug Out" (Season 5); "Comrades in Arms" (Season 6); "They Call the Wind Korea" and "C*A*V*E" (Season 7); "The Yalu Brick Road" (Season 8).
  • A significant chunk of the series finale, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", takes place away from Uijeongbu: the beach party in Incheon, the mental hospital where Hawkeye is treated by Sidney, and the temporary camp where the 4077th relocates after the wildfire forces them to bug out.
• Romantic Spoonfeeding: Hawkeye casually feeds Trapper martini drips in “5 O'Clock Charlie” and Greek food in “Private Charles Lamb”. When Trapper is sick in “Carry On Hawkeye”, it opens with Hawkeye trying to feed him like he’s his mother.
• Running Gag:
  • For no readily apparent reason, every episode that features Colonel Flagg also features someone named Perkins - usually with the rank of Captain, and usually not their actual name. Also, not actually a gag.
  • Throughout the first couple seasons:
    Henry: Folks, could I have your attention, please?
    (Everyone ignores him and keeps talking)
    Radar: (Stands up) QUIET!!!
    (Everyone shuts up)
    Henry: Thank you, Radar.
  • A group of characters introducing each other by rank: "General, Captain." "Major, General." "Colonel, Major." "Captain, Colonel." And so forth. A gag possibly perfected with:
    Henry: Major Houlihan! Major Stoner.
    Margaret: Major.
    Maj. Stoner: Major.
    Henry: Major Burns, Major Stoner.
    Frank: Major.
    Maj. Stoner: Major.
    Hawkeye: Major Pierce. ^note A little bit of self promotion from Captain Pierce...
    Henry: Major.
    Hawkeye: Well, I think we made a major breakthrough here.
  • Tried out in a couple of episodes:
    Henry: (To a visitor) These are Captains Pierce...
    Hawkeye: (Interrupting and gesturing to Trapper) And these are Captains McIntyre.
  • In the early seasons, the majors going to Henry's office to complain about something and Margaret doing all the talking for Frank, usually leading to a snarky comment from Henry.
  • Also in the early seasons, Radar informing Henry that Frank and/or Margaret wanted to see him, and Henry telling Radar to send them away, only for them to walk in without waiting to be admitted.
  • Henry's awkward sex lectures.
  • Frank and Margaret exchanging secret knocks prior to his entering her tent. Subverted on at least one occasion by having Radar enter instead. Subverted on another occasion where Hawkeye and Trapper enter... then later, when Margaret lets Frank in without knocking, he mentions it, to which she replies, "Frank, EVERYBODY knows our secret knock."
  • Hawkeye/Trapper/B.J. greeting Frank with "Hello", "Good morning", etc. and Frank automatically taking it as an insult.
  • Several times in Seasons 4 and 5, Col. Potter mentions how many months and days remain until his retirement.
  • Various characters waking Radar up in the middle of the night to make a stateside phone call, since he's the only one who knows how to operate the telephone system; we even have this exchange on one occasion:
    Radar: Why can't anybody ever use this darn phone during the daytime?!
    B.J.: I'm sorry Radar, I can't wait that long, look, I owe you one...
    Radar: Boy, if I had an hour sleep for everytime somebody ever said that to me!
    • Ironically, Radar explained to Frank in an earlier episode that it's no use trying to phone the States in the middle of the (Korean) afternoon, because it's last night there. "By this time, everybody's gone to bed and already said, 'See you tomorrow'."
  • Hawkeye spends much of the first couple seasons kidding Radar mercilessly about his short stature.
  • The latrine has an odd habit of bad things happening to it, i.e. getting hit by mortar fire, run over by tanks, towed away to North Korea...
  • The P.A. announcer making disparaging comments about the Mess Tent food and/or the movie that's going to be shown later. For example, "Tonight's movie is a holdover from last week and will be shown right after supper, which is also a holdover from last week."
    P.A. Announcer: Attention, all personnel. Due to circumstances beyond our control, lunch will be served today.
  • An episode-specific instance: In the episode "Bottle Fatigue", Charles is upset about a letter his sister sent him with news of her engagement to an Italian. His attempts at making contact with her include him specifying that he's trying to get a hold of someone in Boston. Each time, whoever he is speaking clarifies by asking, "Boston, Massachusetts?" which is followed by him angrily declaring, "Yes! Boston, Massachusetts!"^note Admittedly, there are other towns and cities named "Boston" in the US, but most people would assume by default that you meant the capital of Massachusetts unless otherwise specified
  • Almost every time a home movie is shown, the characters watching inevitably comment on it MST3K style
  • Another episode-specific case: In "Lend a Hand", Klinger having to change the writing on the cake he's prepared, every time the personnel are planning to celebrate a different occasion.
• Running Over the Plot: Whiplash Wang makes a meager living by purposely getting run over by GIs in jeeps, then making them pay him off to keep him from reporting it.
• Sad Clown: Hawkeye. But don't tell him that. B.J. accusing him of this contributes to the plot of Season 9's "No Laughing Matter".
• Sadist Teacher: Hawkeye might have some teacher trauma left over, as in “Hawkeye” he mentions a geometry teacher who had a yard stick and would scream at him if he got an answer wrong, and in “Dreams”, his teacher forces him to remove his arms.
• Sanity Slippage: Frank Burns starts to show signs of this after replaced as commander of the 4077th in the fourth season by the long serving Col. Potter, and the slippage really starts to take hold after Major Houlihan's character begins to develop and she becomes engaged to another man.
• Sarcasm Failure
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: A lot of the times when Hawkeye mentions his parents, his dad will be described as chill and going with the flow, while his mom was a bit of a cloudcuckoolander. Echoed in Hawkeye’s important relationships, as he has manic energy with friends trying to calm him down.
• Scenery Censor:
  • Hawkeye's naked stroll through the compound in "Dear Dad...Again". They even moved the signpost to just beside the door of the Swamp to complete the effect. (It normally stands in an open area in the middle of camp.)
  • Done with Hawkeye and B.J. after Margaret steals their robes from the shower in "An Eye for a Tooth", and with Winchester after Hawkeye pulls down his pants in the O.R. in "Bottoms Up".
• Scrabble Babble: In "Mad Dogs and Servicemen".
  Hawkeye: "Vailness". A quality of "vail". The act of "vailing". To be full of "vaily".
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: A lot of character conflict in the early seasons is from several of the characters are focused on helping the wounded stay alive by any means possible while By-the-Book Cop characters like Frank and Margaret focus more on following Army regulations to the letter.
• Screw the Rules, They're Not Real!: Much of the show's humor comes from transgressing military discipline, military regulation, and the reputation of the American military itself. The doctors figured that since they were already drafted and putting them in the stockade would leave the military down a doctor, the rules could be played with without as many repercussions.
• Screw the War, We're Partying:
  • Subverted, as most of the personnel in camp were simply "acting crazy to keep their sanity". After all, the instant the wounded arrive, the staff drop their hijinks and get to work with the utmost professionalism beyond their usual snarky banter.
  • Most of the Season 2 premiere, in which a psychiatrist is sent to the 4077th to determine if the personnel have begun to succumb the stress of operating so close to the front and that the unit should be disbanded and everyone reassigned. He's completely certain that they should be, until a batch of wounded show up and suddenly this bunch of total nutbars turn into the most efficient medical operation he's ever seen. He gets drunk and gives his report to the general while drunk.
• Scunthorpe Problem: Father Mulcahy's nickname of "Dago Red", used once in the pilot and then never again in the series. In a way, this inverts the movie, where he was initially introduced by his name, and then always addressed by his nickname after that.
• Security Cling: If you took a shot for every time Hawkeye clung onto Trapper or B.J.’s shirt sleeves when he needed them, you’d be in the hospital by season four.
• Seduction-Proof Marriage:
  • Played straight by B.J. Hunnicutt, who is (almost) completely faithful to his wife because of this. The one or two times he does get seduced he feels awful about it afterwards.
  • Played with between Frank Burns and Margaret Houlihan. The former is married but is having an ongoing relationship with Margaret. When Margaret gets engaged he thinks they can still fool around but she shoots him down.
• Seemingly-Wholesome '50s Girl: Nancy Sue Parker, in "Henry in Love".
• Self-Imposed Exile: When Colonel Potter finds out that the reason he was offered a post stateside is that negative reports were coming from his own M*A*S*H unit, he is so demoralized that he takes the offer out of the shame he feels for having somehow failed. He takes the offer initially, that is. Once Captains Pierce and Hunnicut weed out the anonymous reports as having come from a mole in the outfit, Colonel Potter recants.
• Series Continuity Error: The show had quite a few of these.
  • Early on, Hawkeye is said to be from Vermont, have a sister and his mom still alive; later he's from Maine, an only child and his mother died when he was ten. In the novel, his mother is dead but he has a brother.
  • Colonel Potter's hometown is Hannibal, MO, but for some reason, in one episode, it's changed to Nebraska, and in another it's Montana.
  • During B.J.'s earlier appearances, he mentions that his daughter, Erin, is two years old; however, in the finale, he's upset at the prospect of missing her second birthday. He also says he and his wife went out for the first time after Erin was born and returned home to find his orders to ship out to Korea had come through.
  • In "Last Laugh", B.J. claims that his friend Bardonaro played a practical joke his wedding and that they both gave up practical joking "ten years ago" (peresumably after they both graduated from med school and after B.J.'s wedding). 1953-10=1943; both B.J. and Bardonaro would have been drafted in World War II; yet Bardonaro wears only Korean War medals on his dress jacket. In "Welcome to Korea" B.J.'s age is given as 28, which means B.J. went to Medical School at 14 and graduated at 18.
  • Radar's virginity. It's established in the original novel and movie that he's lost his virginity, as an example of being corrupted by wartime impulses; when the series begins, Radar is a virgin (and the fact is even played with on occasion); in an early Season Three episode, it is heavily implied that he loses his virginity to a nurse of the week; afterwards, he's back to being a virgin, and seemingly stays that way.
    • Radar is more than happy to smoke Colonel Blake's cigars and sneak his whiskey when he isn't around, but is introduced to them for apparently the first time by Colonel Potter.
    • In one early episode Colonel Blake discovers Radar has a tattoo while giving him a physical. A much later episode has a subplot about Radar contemplating getting a tattoo for the very first time.
  • Within the same season, Frank mentions having taken two judo lessons, then, just a few episodes later, Frank confuses judo for a religion.
  • The 4077 staff's ability to speak Korean. At times Radar can speak it conversationally, other times it's like he's unaware Korean is even a language. Hawkeye is seen practicing Korean a couple of times, but doesn't seem to have picked it up. Father Mulcahy speaks a few words, but Margaret is the only one that is particularly fluent. And even that wasn't entirely consistent: in the episode where the 4077th adopts a seemingly orphaned boy, Margaret tries to read him a bedtime story, but is constantly checking with an English-to-Korean dictionary throughout the story in an attempt to translate for him.
  • The year the show is supposed to take place changes repeatedly, from 1950 in the pilot to (reasonably) 1953 by "Rainbow Bridge" in season three (based on a real incident), then Potter's arrival in September 1952 and a passing reference several episodes later to General Eisenhower's visit to Korea in 1952 in "The Late Captain Pierce", then New Year's Day 1951 and 1952 in "A War for All Seasons" (which did the most damage) ^note The episode begins New Year's Day 1951 and included Col. Potter as Father Time. Henry Blake was killed in August or Sept 1952 since Col. Potter reported for duty at the 4077 on September 19, 1952. Did Potter step back in time?, an episode covering China's entrance to the war in October 1950 with MacArthur's statement of "This is an entirely new war" announced on the PA, and a near constant reference to General MacArthur being in command throughout the show's run (MacArthur was relieved of command in spring 1951 for insubordination).
  • Before Radar's discharge, Klinger was a reasonably competent substitute clerk. One episode after Radar leaves, Klinger has trouble doing even the most basic duties until he gets help from Potter and Mulcahy.
  • In "Comrades in Arms Part 2", while demonstrating a new vascular surgery at the 8063, Margaret mentions the clamp they use was invented at the 4077, yet three episodes later in "Patient 4077", they actually make the clamp. Subverted in the episode order on Netflix where "Patient 4077" is 3 episodes earlier.
  • In "For Want of a Boot" in Season Two, it's the dead of winter, and it's Frank's birthday, however, later in "The Most Unforgettable Characters", it's Frank's birthday again, yet it's the middle of June.
  • Potter's age and service in the First World War. He mentions he lied about his age to join in "Change of Command", and in "Foreign Affairs" he mentions he fell in love with a French woman named Danielle twenty years his senior. But, in "Pressure Points", he says he's 62, which would put his date of birth in 1889 or 1890, making him at least 27 by the time the US entered the war. He also mentions he was inspired to join the cavalry by Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders and San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War, so while it could be possible he joined before the war, he also states he joined in 1917.
  • At the end of "Smilin' Jack", the PA announcer makes a reference to the battle of Solma-Ri, also known as "Gloucesters Hill" or the battle of the Imjin River, in which 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment held off overwhelming Chinese forces for four days, from 22 to 25 April 1951. ^note Although completely surrounded, hugely outnumbered and short of ammunition, the Gloucesters continued to fight, delaying the Chinese advance long enough for other UN forces to establish a new defensive line where the Chinese advance was finally halted. When finally ordered to retreat, only 46 Gloucesters out of an initial strength of around 700 men managed to reach UN lines, with the rest either dead, missing or captured. Following the battle, the "Glorious Gloucesters" (as they became known) were awarded the US Distinguished Unit Citation for "exceptionally outstanding performance of duty and extraordinary heroism in action", while the British decorations included two Victoria Crosses. However, two episodes later in "Deluge", China has intervened in the war, entering Korea with 30 divisions, totalling 300,000 troops, which occured on 3 November 1950, and a reference is made to General MacArthur's statement of "we now face an entirely new war", which he made to the Joints Chiefs of Staff on 28 November 1950.
  • In "Mail Call", Hawkeye says this is his second war. But then mentions that he was drafted. If he had served in WW II he would have had a 4A classification for prior service, making him exempt.
  • In "The Novocaine Mutiny", Frank Burns is stated to have been drafted as a doctor, but other episodes state he was a reservist who was activated when the war broke out.
  • Mulcahy's piano playing skills, or lack thereof, seem to change all the time. On some occasions, he can actually play the piano quite well, especially when it comes to ragtimes or waltzes, but most of the time, his playing leaves a lot to be desired, either rendering the tune unrecognizable, or having trouble finding where the music ends.
  • In the Season 6 episode "Potter's Retirement", Charles mentions that the first successful open-heart surgery has just been performed. This took place on May 6, 1953, less than three months before the Korean War ended.
• Serious Business: In "Sons and Bowlers", the 4077 has a bowling match against a Marine unit, and Col. Potter makes it abundantly clear that winning it is very, very important to him.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness:
  • A sample from "Iron Guts Kelly," when Hawkeye and Trapper tells Kelly's second-in-command, Col. Wortman, that Kelly is dead and he asks how:
    Trapper: Myocardial infarction.
    Wortman: What does that mean?
    Hawkeye: It means his pearl-handled guns are up for grabs.
  • In "A Smattering Of Intelligence," Hawkeye and Trapper hint to Intelligence officer Pratt (Trapper's old friend) that Frank's wall-to-wall patriotism may be a front to a fascist revolt.
    Pratt: I think I'll take a little look-see into his file.
    Trapper: Right now?
    Pratt: No. If I ask the Colonel to see the Major's file and they're co-subversives in sub-security profile, they'll pull the old dossier switcheroo and I'll chalk up a zilch.
    Hawkeye: Boy, I wish you came with subtitles.
• '70s Hair: Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, and Loretta Swit all sported increasingly blatant (and therefore blatantly anachronistic) examples of this as the show went on.
• Sexual Extortion: A lot of generals or high ranking officers wanted to sleep with or date Margaret for a weekend as a favor. In early seasons she enjoyed the amount of brass and saw it as something she might as well do, but in later seasons she had too much self-respect.
• Sex for Solace: “The Price For Tomato Juice” has B.J. and Hawkeye having a rare moment of sympathy for Margaret and Frank as a couple, saying they’re two lonely people who have barely a heart between them. Hawkeye would know, his constant sleeping around even long before Korea being half because he enjoys it, and half a response to trauma: being abandoned, a way to protect himself and because he sometimes feels like he’s not much good for anything else.
• Sex for Services: Hawkeye wasn’t above offering a chance to have sex with him in exchange for decent wine, or even outright attempting to prostitute himself for charity money in the third to last episode. And in season three, a bonus prize for winning a race is fucking him.
• Sex Is Good: Despite various trauma, one of the core aesops of the show, with Margaret showing her Character Development by telling Aggie people can do what they want in a MASH. It’s only when she’s hypocritical, or various men cheat, or Hawkeye acts coercive/tries to sell himself does the narrative punish them.
• Shameful Source of Knowledge: In "Tea and Empathy", a passing soldier confesses to Father Mulcahy that he was involved with the black market, and reveals that stolen penicillin is kept under an old bell at a burn-out school house. As it turns out, the 4077th is having a dire penicillin shortage (which was stolen by the aforementioned soldier and the black market) and can't obtain any new supply, leaving Mulcahy conflicted about what he should do about what he knows about the whereabouts of some penicillin.
• Shared Fate Ultimatum:
  • "A Full Rich Day": Implied. When Lt. Smith holds the doctors at gunpoint and demands they work on the wounded man he brought in, it's suggested he might open fire if the wounded man dies.
  • Referenced but subverted in "The Best of Enemies". Hawkeye is held at gunpoint by a North Korean soldier and ordered to treat a wounded man. Hawk wonders aloud if failure to save the injured soldier will result in him being shot. But so desperate is Hawk to save the wounded man, when he needs help, he yanks the rifle out of the other man's hands and has him hold the patient down. Though the injured man dies, Hawkeye is allowed to go, because the soldier who held Hawkeye realized his desire to save him had been sincere, and not motivated solely by fear of consequences.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: “The Incubator” has Henry tell Hawkeye and Trapper to dress up in their actual uniforms if they want to get anywhere. One guy sneers that they’re rich doctors dressing up like drum majorettes (dancers who had roots in prostitution) and a Dirty Old Man colonel leers at Hawkeye.
• Ship Tease:
  • A few episodes hint at the fact that Margaret and Hawkeye actually have feelings for each other... some do more than just hint it... and their last interaction is a decent length, passionate kiss in the series finale. It's at least a half a minute long, during which Col. Potter, B.J. and Charles are standing on looking uncomfortable and trying to find something else to look at. The season 6 two-parter "Comrades in Arms" has them making out while spending the night in an abandoned hut behind enemy lines. In the morning it's clear that Margaret takes things a lot more seriously than Hawkeye does, leading to a serious falling-out between them before they finally decide they're Better as Friends.
  • Some early episodes show Margaret also having a barely-suppressed attraction to Trapper John. One episode has her openly, albeit drunkenly, coming on to him when everyone thinks he's going home and throws him a farewell party.
  • Early Winchester episodes suggested that he'd become Frank's replacement in more way than one by hinting at an upcoming Relationship Upgrade between him and Margaret, but that never came to fruition.
  • An early season episode has Hawkeye grab Margaret and give her a long, passionate kiss in front of Trapper, Henry, and Frank. Frank's increasingly angry protests eventually result in Henry telling Hawkeye to stop already. Afterwards, a blissed-out looking Margaret makes an appreciative comment in response to Frank's insult of Hawkeye, and Hawkeye makes an appreciative comment to Trapper in response to asking how it was.
• Shirtless Scene: Any scene in the showers. Depending on the actor, this was either fanservice or Squick.
• Shoo Out the Clowns:
  • Henry Blake and Frank Burns were probably the most broadly comedic characters in the ensemble during the early seasons, and their departures (and replacement with the more grounded Potter and Winchester, respectively) marked a definite sea change in the show's shift in emphasis from comedy to drama.
  • The switch from wisecracking, skirt-chasing Trapper to quiet, cerebral family man B.J. is another example.
  • As is the departure of Radar, which in a way cost the show two of its funniest characters; not only was Radar himself gone, but Klinger was made his replacement as company clerk and consequently abandoned his pursuit of a Section 8 discharge (and the cross-dressing and other wacky stunts that went along with it).^note This change was largely due to actor Jamie Farr becoming tired of the shtick (as well as his children being teased for what their father was doing on television), so it likely would have happened regardless
  • Part of the reason for Colonel Flagg getting written out of the later seasons was that his characterization didn't mesh with the show's tone by then.
• Shoo the Dog: When Radar decides he wants to stay with the 4077 rather than accept a hardship discharge after the death of his Uncle Ed, Hawkeye starts packing his suitcase, demanding he leave, because if he stays it's an insult to the rest of the camp who wouldn't even think twice about going home.
• Show Some Leg: Subverted in “The Nurses”, as in exchange for Klinger not asking questions, Nurse Baker gets close… and offers him her peasant blouse and scarf.
• Shown Their Work:
  • A lot of people with bipolar (or similar experiences with mania) attest to Hawkeye’s manic spirals or breakdowns being either eerily accurate or uncomfortable to watch. Alan Alda’s mother had schizophrenia, and he had his own experiences with mental health.
  • Surgical residency is notoriously hard, a 110 hour week when Hawkeye would have been doing it (as he puts it, if he had two tails he’d have worked them both off), and that is one of the reasons why his and Carlye’s relationship fell apart, him justifiably working himself into the ground and her justifiably feeling alone.
• Shout-Out:
  • Folksinger Loudon Wainwright III appeared in a couple Season 3 episodes as a "Captain Spaulding", a clear Shout Out to Groucho Marx's Animal Crackers character.
  • For a short while in S4, they had a really big thing for referencing The Shadow in almost every episode. More generally, many other classic programs, films, and songs of the era are referenced, either in-universe or in episode titles or both.
  • Charles Emerson Winchester III was possibly named after a fellow Bostonian, founder of Emerson College, Charles Wesley Emerson.
  • Sherman Tecumseh Potter is one for William Tecumseh Sherman.
  • Klinger's early Running Gag of wearing womens' clothing in an unsuccessful bid to be declared insane and win a Section 8 discharge is loosely based on stories about Lenny Bruce attempting to get thrown out of the Navy by dressing up as a WAVE (or women's naval auxillary) during World War II (in truth, he only wore a WAVES uniform once for a comedy show, then lied to the psychiatrist to spite his commander for ordering an evaluation). Klinger even obliquely lampshades this with a reference to an uncle in the Navy using the same trick in WWII (and his family periodically sending him things from his uncle's WWII wardrobe).
  • Klinger often expressed his support of two real-life institutions in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio: the Mud Hens (minor-league baseball team) and Tony Packo's Cafe (hot-dog restaurant). These references were added due to Klinger's actor (Jamie Farr) being from Toledo and being familiar with both of those institutions.
  • At one point, Charles, who is complaining about the womanly chores he is forced to do, is referred to as "Mister I'm A Doctor, Not A Woman."
• The Shrink: Sidney Freedman
• Sick and Wrong:
  • In "The Late Captain Pierce", this is a nurse's reaction to B.J.'s idea to hold a wake for Hawkeye, who's been mistakenly listed as dead by the Army. Hawkeye quickly assures her that he would have wanted it that way.
  • In "Period of Adjustment", Hawkeye and Margaret discover that a drunken B.J. and Klinger made a Dartboard of Hate with a picture of Radar's face, calling the game "Vaccinate Radar" (It Makes Sense in Context), leading Margaret to exclaim, "Now that's sick!"
• Sick Episode: Most of the characters come down with the flu in "Carry On, Hawkeye" and get food poisoning in "The Yalu Brick Road".
  • Hawkeye starts sneezing uncontrollably in "Bless You, Hawkeye" and has chronic back pain in "Hepatitis". Both turn out to be psychosomatic in nature, however.
  • Henry suffers a Ruptured Appendix in "The Long John Flap".
  • Frank develops a hernia in "As You Were" and contracts a severe fever in "Soldier of the Month".
  • Radar gets tonsillitis in "None Like It Hot".
  • Col. Potter and Charles get the mumps in "Heal Thyself".
  • "Follies of the Living, Concerns of the Dead" has Klinger getting a severe fever and seeing the ghost of a dead soldier.
  • Margaret develops laryngitis in "Say No More", and both she and Charles get food poisoning in "The Grim Reaper".
• Significant Reference Date: During the P.A. announcement at the end of "Welcome to Korea".
• Sitcom
• Skip the Anesthetic:
  • Col. Flagg of the CID insists on going into surgery without anesthetic because if he's knocked out he might inadvertently talk, and nobody at the unit is cleared to hear any of the state secrets he might accidentally divulge.
  • In another episode a Turk and a Greek soldier are both at the 4077th at the same time trying to out-stoic one another, refusing anesthetic after a fight at Rosie's bar.
    Turkish soldier: What's this?
    B.J.: Something to kill the pain while I fix your leg.
    Turkish Soldier: I am Turk. I not need that.
    Greek Soldier: If Turk no need, Greek no need.
    Charles: Heh. That'll teach him a lesson, boy.
  • After drunkenly crashing B.J.'s motorcycle and ending up with glass shrapnel in his rear-end, "Blood & Guts" Kibbee initially refuses the anesthetic before Hawkeye and B.J. remove the glass. He relents after a "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Hawkeye.
  • Potter takes a shot to the butt as Margaret rushes him to the operating tent. He doesn't want to be put under and asks for a local so he can see how Hawkeye and B.J. perform first hand.
• Sleep Mask: The staff need to get their sleep whenever and wherever they can due to the everpresent possibility of midnight OR sessions, but for some, wearing a sleep mask is part of their character rather than simply a way to block out the light while trying to sleep.
  • Henry Blake wears a "double eyepatch" sleep mask, signifying that he would much rather sleep during breaks between OR sessions than try to run the 4077th (which he prefers to leave to Radar).
  • Charles Emerson Winchester wears a blindfold-style sleep mask as one of the trappings of his privileged background.
• Slut-Shaming:
  • By the end of the show, most people in the cast had (usually affectionately) found a subtle way of calling Hawkeye a slut. Most of all himself in “Who Knew”, as a nurse who he dated and had feelings for him dies, and admits it’s a part of his Sad Clown-ing and a reason to hate himself.
  • Frank gets in two for one, as in “Hawk’s Nightmare” he assumes a sleepwalking Hawkeye is “tomcatting around” and Nurse Able is “willing and able”.
• Smack on the Back: Lyle in “Springtime” smacks Hawkeye on the ass, sending him flying.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Frank Burns, who thinks of himself as a patriotic and loyal American who deserves to be looked up to as a role model for the unit, when everyone else (except Margaret) thinks of him as an asshole and blowhard.
• Small Reference Pools: Hawkeye makes a lot of references to queer historical figures, like Noel Coward, Tolstoy going both ways, Gertrude Stein, that pass over the head of his colleagues (as well as probably the 70s censors).
• Snowball Lie: "Tuttle" and "Bombshells", among others.
• Solemn Ending Theme: A slow, somber, muted-brass version of "Suicide Is Painless" is played at the end of the closing tag in a few episodes such as "Good Bye, Radar" and "Dreams".
• Somber Backstory Revelation: In the aptly titled "Fathers and Sons", Hawkeye and Winchester do this mutually, with Hawk worried about his Dad going into the hospital. He tells Winchester how the same thing had happened when his mother died, and how his Father tried to protect him from the reality of what was going on. Winchester, who has always been at arms length with the rest of the 4077, then tells Hawkeye that his own father, though a good and moral man, was a detached and distant father, and that while he had a father, Hawkeye had a Dad.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: Compared to the movie version, the show's version of "Suicide is Painless" is very upbeat-sounding, the closing theme even more so. Worse, several episodes have the closing theme played over the opening credits.
• Source Music: In a carryover from the film, the P.A. occasionally plays music in camp. This actually becomes a plot point in "Your Hit Parade", where Potter tasks Radar with keeping up morale during one grueling O.R. session by spinning popular tunes of the day. (Particularly "Sentimental Journey".)
• Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Played with in "Margaret's Marriage"; at the line in question, everyone present turns to Frank, but he demurs.
• Speaking Up for Another: "Run for the Money". Maj. Winchester hears several soldiers mocking and taunting a young man, Pvt. Palmer, for his stutter, calling him "dummy" and "idiot" and such. Winchester, with absolute venom in his voice, informs the others that if they say another unkind word to Palmer, he will put them all on report. Winchester has a private conversation with Palmer later, telling him that he's reviewed his record and found that he's quite intelligent, and cites several famous people who stuttered. And he even lends one of his treasured books to Palmer. Winchester then returns to his tent to listen to a recorded letter from his beloved sister Honoria, whom we learn as we listen to the tapes also has a stutter.
• Speech Impediment: Winchester counsels a soldier who is cruelly bullied as "stupid" because he stammers. Revealing that he's looked into the man's service record and knows of his actual high intelligence, he gives him Moby-Dick to read. Returning to his tent, he listens happily to a taped letter from his beloved sister Honoria... who also stammers.
• Spider-Sense: Radar had this (hence his nickname), although it was downplayed over time. Although the man Radar was based on (in the book) says he did it just by really paying attention (so he'd hear things like incoming choppers before other people would).
• Spinoff: Two or three, depending on how you look at it. Trapper John, MD is the first and the only one with any success, lasting a whole seven seasons. The second, AfterMASH, only lasted two seasons, and struggled every step of the way — a TV Guide article called it the seventh-worst TV show of all time, and a TIME Magazine poll ranked it as one of the 100 worst ideas of the 20th century. The third, W*A*L*T*E*R, wasn't picked up, and the pilot was aired on CBS as a half-hour special (and only on the Eastern and Central time zones due to coverage of the 1984 Democratic National Convention).
• Stalking is Love: Hawkeye seems to like making jokes about getting followed home or getting made drunk enough that he’ll go home with someone. Less that he actually believes the trope and more that he’s a messy Sad Clown with issues.
• State Visit: The episode "The Late Captain Pierce" shows the effects of this trope from the semi-civilian side. Captain Pierce can't get so much as a telegram to his father due to Eisenhower's visit to Korea requiring ironclad security.
  Captain Pierce: "What's he coming over here for, anyway? Who needs a president with dysentery?"
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Usually attempted unsuccessfully by Flagg.
• Stealth Insult: Hawkeye manages to hate himself and dig at Carlye (who left him without a goodbye), saying only creeps get sent to a MASH while they’re pretending to not know each other.
• Stealth Pun: According to Father Mulcahy in "That's Showbiz", the chaplin at the 8063rd is named Charlie.
• Steel Eardrums:
  • Averted, when Father Mulcahy is deafened by an artillery shell.
  • Happened to Klinger once too, except he regained his hearing by the end of the episode. Mulcahy didn't until the spinoff.
• Stiff Upper Lip: Explored: In one episode, the 4077th is treating wounded from a British unit. Their Major walks around, telling the men how they'll soon be back in action, after handing out cups of tea to the wounded in the field. Hawkeye asks him how he can be so callous about his men's lives, even risking killing some of them by giving tea to those with abdominal wounds. The British major explains that he is speaking about going back into battle soon to give the men the impression that things aren't as bad as they seem (by downplaying their injuries, he is keeping up their morale by not letting them dwell on the severity of their wounds), and that it wasn't known on the frontlines that giving tea to treat abdominal wounds could cause complications, and promises to stop the practice immediately.
• Stock Footage: Aside from the opening sequence (which sometimes still featured Radar years after his departure), all the bugout footage of the camp being torn down was filmed in season one. In the finale, you can even see Radar!
• The Stoolpigeon: During Henry's tenure as CO, Burns and Houlihan often would go running to the nearest authority figure whenever he did something they didn't like. This all but disappeared when Potter took over.
• Strawman Political: Frank Burns, but that's okay since he was damn funny that way.
• Stress Vomit: After B.J. first arrives in Korea, he faces a young Korean girl injured in a minefield, pinned down by guerilla sniper fire, and having to assist foot soldiers under mortar fire, all before he even got to camp; at one point, when he sees how badly a soldier had been wounded (and killed) by mortar fire, and the situation finally sinks in, he crawls over to a thicket of tall grass to vomit, while Hawkeye holds his head for him.
• Strip Poker:
  • An early episode has a gag where Hawkeye and Trapper are down to their underwear while playing this with (and losing badly to) a nurse. When Hawkeye loses another hand, he takes off... his dogtags.
  • A later episode has several characters playing this. However, since it's the dead of winter, even the losers are still donning several layers of clothing when the game's interrupted by arriving wounded.
  • In another early episode, a visiting general looking for Henry walks in on Spearchucker and Nurse Ginger playing strip dominoes (albeit not too far into the game).
• Stuff Blowing Up: One episode had the camp experience weather so cold that the landmines around the camp detonated on their own due to the contracting dirt. Though the explosions occur in the middle of the camp, where mines simply would not be located (and are much larger and fiery than actual landmines).
• Stylistic Suck: Radar, having recently enrolled in the Famous Las Vegas Writers' School, narrating the staff duty log (via voiceover) in "The Most Unforgettable Characters".
• Such a Phony: Majors Burns and Houlihan to Blake's "friend" Nancy in "Henry in Love".
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Margaret Houlihan, Justified in that she took her job as head nurse seriously (and that she was an Army brat). Frank Burns was too immature, and Donald Penobscot treated her poorly behind the scenes, but the likes of B.J., Col. Potter, and especially Hawkeye helped soften her up.
• Suicide Dare: Col. Potter deals with a suicidal patient by giving him the Radish Cure: Potter puts the mask from the knockout gas on the boy and forces him to continue to breathe in the fumes even when the boy tries to struggle free. Potter then points out the dichotomy, which makes the patient no longer suicidal.
• Suicide Is Painless: The show's (and film's) theme song is the Trope Namer. One episode has an example of the trope, where a soldier, injured when his rifle backfired and the bolt struck him in the face, would rather die than go home disfigured. Colonel Potter eventually gets him to give up when he tries to overdose on anesthetic by opening the valves to make the dosage lethal, and explains that the part of the body that wants to live is stronger than the part that wants to die.
• Summation Gathering: Hawkeye holds one in the mess tent in "I Hate a Mystery".
• Superstition Episode:
  • A B-plot in season 4's "Dear Ma" has Colonel Potter's wife getting a premonition that something bad will happen to him. Sure enough, he gets shot in the butt by a sniper while making a supply run to a nearby village.
  • In season 5's "Exorcism", Potter makes Radar remove a Korean spirit post from the middle of the compound because it's blocking traffic — on Friday the 13th, no less — after which a bunch of bad things happen, from a lighter not working to an ambulance crash. Radar puts a horseshoe up in Potter's office to ward off the bad luck, and a shamanic priestess is brought in to exorcise any evil spirits from the camp.
  • The season 11 Halloween Episode "Trick or Treatment" has the group telling ghost stories to each other in the O.R. with varying degrees of credulity from the listeners.
• Surprise Party:
  • In one episode, B.J. tries to organize a surprise birthday party for Hawkeye, despite the fact that it isn't Hawkeye's birthday, in order to get some camp morale going. Hawkeye learns of this and counters by "accidentally" letting it slip that the same day is B.J.'s wedding anniversary. In the end B.J. drafts a random extra to be the Birthday Boy.
  • In "For Want of a Boot", Hawkeye organizes a surprise birthday party for Frank Burns as part of his attempted Chain of Deals for a new pair of boots.
  • In another episode, Mildred Potter (Col. Potter's wife) enlists Hawkeye to throw a surprise "the Mortgage is Paid Off" party for the Colonel.
  • Still another episode ("Peace On Us") has the staff throwing Hawkeye a surprise party in the mess tent...where everyone is dressed completely in red, Hawkeye having said that he's sick of seeing green Army stuff everywhere he looks.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • When the 8063rd gets a professional bowler transferred to their outfit as a ringer for their bowling competition with the 4077th, the latter gets him drunk to throw him off. Turns out even a drunk professional bowler is still really good.
• Surrogate Soliloquy: "Hawkeye"
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Surprisingly mostly averted, given the large amount of replacement characters over the show's 11-year run. Every time a character left the series, a new character was brought in to fulfill the same in-universe role, but generally came with a very different personality and character history than the character being replaced:
  • The incompetent commander-in-name-only draftee Henry Blake was replaced by the very competent (and respected by all) career-Army man Sherman T. Potter.
  • The womanizing Trapper John, who was often seen casually cheating on his wife, was replaced by the stringently faithful B.J. Hunnicutt, who raked himself over the coals the one time he did slip up (and who nonetheless largely shared Trapper's ability to match Hawkeye joke-for-joke).
  • Jerkass Major Frank Burns, a truly incompetent doctor and the constant butt of Hawkeye and Trapper/B.J.'s jokes, was replaced by Jerk with a Heart of Gold Major Charles Emmerson Wincester III, who quickly makes it known that he can not only one-up the rest of the medical staff in the operating room (his only issue is his perfectionism, which slows him down in an environment where speed is paramount), but can match wits and pull pranks with the best of them.
  • Hyper-competent and loyal "Radar" O'Reilly, while not replaced with a new character, had his job functions transferred to Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger, who had done nearly everything he could to get out of the Army by any means necessary. Radar had an uncanny ability to predict his C.O.'s needs, while Klinger's competence came mostly in the form of his talent for under-the-table deals to help get the 4077th whatever it needed.
• Suspiciously Small Army: A real MASH unit usually had around 200 personnel, at least 10 medical officers, 12 nurses, 89 enlisted soldiers of assorted medical and non-medical specialties, one Medical Service Corps officer, one Warrant Officer and other commissioned officers of assorted specialties, such as an anesthesiologist, and a dentist. The 4077 had, at most, 70 personnel, an administrative staff of just the CO and his clerk, and four doctors (five in season one, but Spearchucker Jones was written out without explanation), Ugly John (the anesthesiologist) shows up in the first few episodes on season one, but is also written out without an explanation, and Dr. Kaplan (the dentist) is Put on a Bus in the first season finale. After Ugly John's disappearance, a nurse usually administers the anesthetic, something that isn't even done today.^note Women can be anesthesiologists, of course, but all anesthesiologists are doctors, not nurses, who undergo extensive training to administer the correct dosage, tailored to weight, age, type and duration of surgery, and preoperative exposure to central nervous system depressants. One half-joke is that they're not paid to put people to sleep, they're paid to make sure they wake up. This is why it is not a job just anybody can do. Of course, it wouldn't be impossible for the situation to make them short-handed enough that a nurse with enough experience would be "drafted" to fill the role, but it would never be done as a regular thing the way it is portrayed
  • While occasional references are made to other doctors being present ("All surgical personnel report to the O.R.! Both shifts!") we never see any of them.
  • All of which makes the season three episode "Rainbow Bridge" and the season 4 episode "The Bus" especially problematic, as the former depicts three of the 4077's surgeons (Hawkeye, Trapper and Frank) leaving to rescue wounded UN forces taken prisoner, while the latter has all four of the 4077th's regular surgeons (Hawkeye, B.J., Frank, Col. Potter) spending an extended period away from camp for a medical convention. Who was operating on the wounded in their absence? For that matter, both episodes feature Radar, even though it's repeatedly demonstrated the camp literally cannot function without him.
  • The proper total number of people in this type of unit was known to the show's creators, at least for a time. In "Dear Ma", Radar mentions the unit has about 200 people in it when he's helping Hawkeye with the regular foot inspection (and then gets the math wrong and says that 200 people times 10 toes each makes 20 000 toes to check).
  • On rare occasions, other doctors are addressed just offscreen or shown in the background (one episode has Hawkeye ask for "Don" to help him with an operation, and in that same shot a never-before-seen man with glasses is seen helping Trapper; in the episode where Frank ends up at Battalion Aid with a toe tag, wounded come in and are treated without any of the main cast being woken up for it), but other times they are simply referenced as though they are in camp but offscreen for some unknown reason.

T-Z

• Take That!:
  • In universe example - when Frank Burns is not returning following his nervous breakdown after Margaret's marriage, the happiness and euphoria that is felt over him not returning is soured when it's revealed that the charges against him were dropped, he's being shipped home and promoted to Lt. Colonel to top it all off, much to the anger of Hawkeye and B.J.. In a weird sense, it really does feel like Frank's parting shot at Hawkeye and the camp as a whole.
  • The show creators were not shy about insulting the movie, saying a Republican couldn’t carry a show, and Hawkeye would be better liberal and “flamboyant”.
• Taking the Bullet: Margaret's foot locker. She's trying to get it replaced in one episode, and I-Corps will do so only if it's been damaged in combat.
• Tall Poppy Syndrome: Happens in multiple episodes. Normally whenever a character gets something that the rest of the camp has been longing for, everyone ends up wanting it, no matter how unreasonable they're being in wanting it, whether it's Hawkeye getting woolen longjohns^note during a Cold Snap, Hawkeye and B.J. getting a bathtub^note during a Heat Wave, Charles getting newspapers, or something else. They all immediately demand the use of something that does not belong to them.
• A Tankard of Moose Urine: The stuff that comes out of the still in the Swamp is roundly deemed to be barely drinkable.
• Tanks, but No Tanks: An interesting example. In the finale, a wounded tanker drives an M24 Chaffee light tank◊ into the compound, destroying the latrine in the process. The tank begins drawing enemy mortar fire, so Klinger erects a tent to hide it. It doesn't work, and the mortar crew resumes firing on the camp, and Hawkeye drives it out of the camp. The tank he drives out is an M4 Sherman◊, destroying the newly-built latrine. While both were used Korea, the two tanks look nothing alike, not even the running gear, and the Sherman is missing its bow machine gun.
• The Tape Knew You Would Say That: In the "M*A*S*H Olympics" episode, Potter goes on the PA to tell the camp (which has been unwillingly doing daily calisthenics) that those who can move should report to the mess tent at a certain time, while those who can't move should report five minutes earlier. Knowing what kind of reaction his announcement would get, he waits a beat and adds, "Same to you."
• Tastes Better Than It Looks: In "Too Many Cooks", the recuperating Private Paul Conway spends his time at the 4077th cooking for the personnel, using what little ingredients he has to work with, but applying his ingenuity; at first, his dishes (such as Spam Parmesan) may sound and look awful, but they turn out to smell and taste so wonderful that the camp literally lines up outside the Mess Tent for his culinary delights.
• Team Dad: Colonel Potter, and to a lesser extent Henry Blake.
• Team Kids: Cols. Blake and Potter are each the Team Dad for their time at the 4077th, with Potter actually acting as a surrogate for Margaret, but the biggest example of the team Kids are the denizens of "The Swamp", which always include Hawkeye, Trapper until Season 4, Burns until Season 6, BJ from Season 4 onward, and Winchester from Season 6 onward. They often prank each other, spar with one another, particularly with Burns as The Unfavorite, and have petty squabbles, such as when Hawk and BJ are in a protest against Winchester over his music, during which they refuse to bathe. Potter even once tells Hawk, after the Captain had misbehaved particularly egregiously, that if he were the man's father, he'd take him to the woodshed.
• Technical Pacifist: Father Mulcahy, as a priest, chaplain, and medic, is forbidden from engaging in combat. That doesn't stop him from dropping a few folks with that right hook of his when the need arises.
• Telegraph Gag STOP: Used when Hawkeye sends a telegram to his father to let him know he is alive and safe. He even recites his intended message to Klinger, using TELEGRAM SPEAK STOP He also integrates the STOP directions into his message, "Thinking of selling my clubs STOP!"
• Temporary Blindness: Hawkeye (and, in another episode, Temporary Deafness for Klinger).
  • In "The Bus", Col. Potter mentions experiencing this after being gassed in World War I.
• Tempting Fate:
  • Eleven seasons of other characters hoping to keep Hawkeye out of the “funny farm”. Guess what happens in the finale?
  • In “The Interview”, Hawkeye believes that the only good thing that would come from the war is him getting out alive. Well… it’s good he has low expectations.
• Thanksgiving Episode: "The Yalu Brick Road" takes place immediately after Thanksgiving, and a subplot involves most of the camp contracting salmonella poisoning from the black-market turkeys Klinger had procured.
• That Came Out Wrong: Invoked when Trapper calls up a girl he had a one-night (more like three-night) stand with in Chicago:
  Trapper: (On the phone) Hello, Mildred? This is John McIntyre... yeah... that's right, "Big John".
  Hawkeye: (Raises eyebrow) "Big John"? (Whistles)
  Radar: Luc-ky!
• There Are No Therapists: Averted, with Sidney Freedman, who admits that he himself could use one sometimes. He actually comes up to the 4077 in "Dear Sigmund" to take a bit of a 'rest cure' after a patient commits suicide.
  B.J.: We couldn't help but notice that you came for the poker game and stayed two weeks.
• Think Nothing of It: In "Hot Lips And Empty Arms," Hawkeye and Trapper sober up Margaret, who is so upset over mail from home she dumps Frank, requests a transfer and gets toasted (on the boys' homemade hooch and Henry's liquor cabinet). In the O.R.:
  Margaret: Doctor...Doctors...I'm grateful for you helping me.
  Trapper: Don't mention it.
  Hawkeye: To anyone. We've got reputations to protect.
• Third-Party Peacekeeper:A downplayed example. After Radar and Hawkeye have a fight, Col. Potter tells Radar that one day the two of them might find themselves talking about the weather, and just slowly rebuild their friendship afterwords. It doesn't hurt that Hawkeye feels like a grade-A Jerkass for how the rift started in the first place.
• This Is Not a Drill: The unit is rehearsing for a visit from General Douglas MacArthur when over the P.A.:
  Attention! All personnel! General MacArthur has just passed checkpoint Able! He'll be here in seconds! This is not—repeat—this is not a drill. This is a real emergency!
• Thriving Ex-Crush: "Dear Dad...Three" references this trope. While watching a home movie, Henry explains to Hawkeye and Trapper that his wife, Lorraine, had been dating quarterback Buzz Walinski when they first met. Walinski, Henry notes, went on to own the biggest cement contracting company in the state. Hawkeye quips that Henry saved Lorraine from a life of prosperity.
• Time Capsule: "As Time Goes By" sees Margaret deciding to put together a time capsule to commemorate the presence of the 4077th in Korea. Hawkeye is cynical bordering on hostile toward the idea for most of the episode, while several other staff members have singularly inappropriate suggestions for contents for the capsule, but when the time comes to bury the box, the Swampmen have found some suitable contributions that include several nods to now-departed cast members (Radar's teddy bear, a fishing lure that belonged to Henry - and, as Charles observes, nothing from Frank).
• To Absent Friends:
  • Most especially when Potter is the last survivor of his World War I unit.
  • Played with in Frank's departure episode:
    "So long, Ferret Face."
  • The end of "Goodbye, Radar." Radar leaves his teddy bear on Hawkeye's cot. Hawkeye (who sees it along with B.J. and Potter) picks it up and quietly says "Bye, Radar."
• Tongue-Out Insult: In one episode, during an argument in O.R., Hawkeye asks a nurse to pull down his mask, at which point he then sticks his tongue out at Frank Burns by way of rebuttal, then has the nurse raise his mask again.
• Tontine: In "Old Soldiers" Potter is part of one, though it's for a bottle of brandy rather than an investment. He drinks a solo toast To Absent Friends for the rest of his first outfit, listing when each of them died.
• Took a Level in Dumbass:
  • Radar, sort of. Leading to Characterization Marches On when you go back and watch the early episodes.
  • Even William Christopher thinks this of Father Mulcahy when we have this little exchange at the beginning of "Fade Out, Fade In, Part 1":
    Mulcahy: You know... I didn't want to bring this up before... but, I have a suspicion that Major Burns and Major Houlihan were... somewhat... "attached".
    Hawkeye: [Has the look of "Are you kidding me?" written on his face] They knew each other in the Biblical sense.
    B.J.: Both Testaments.
    Mulcahy: Oh dear, oh dear. And he's a married man. [Sighs] My worst fears are confirmed.
• The Tooth Hurts: Charles deals with this in "The Tooth Shall Set You Free".
• Tracking Shot
• Trademark Favorite Food:
  • Hawkeye seems to like bananas, he once mentions to Trapper how as a child he once ate twelve banana sandwiches, and also says one of the first things he's looking forward to when he gets home is a banana (with chocolate cake).
  • Potter says he loves really fresh corn. Inverted with regards to tomato juice; Potter loves it, but he's allergic to it (a detail he neglected to mention before Radar began a series of trades and favors to acquire it for Potter).
  • Frank's favorite dessert must be pudding, if he actually prays for chocolate pudding at lunch, and requires tapioca on his birthday.
• Trans Equals Gay: Hawkeye was compared to women or made jokes about him being female adjacent almost as many times as he made sexuality jokes. Seemingly done tongue in cheek, as he wears his “degeneracy” label with very loud pride.
• Translation by Volume:
  • Lampshaded when Hawkeye tends to a wounded Korean.
    Hawkeye: How's that, bet-ter? "Bet-ter". I've been here all this time, and I still can't speak the language.
    B.J.: Well, you Americans figure everybody understands English, provided you speak-it-slow-ly-e-nough.
    Hawkeye: Huh?
  • Lampshaded by Hawkeye again when, running Rosie's bar while Rosie is recovering, he tries to talk to one of the waitresses for Rosie's cut of the tip money. When both this and Hulk Speak fail to get his point across, he remarks,
    "Why am I suddenly talking like some guy named Milton who's lost in Barcelona?"
  • Frank and Margaret do this a few times when conversing with locals.
• Trash of the Titans: A relatively mild example, but there's a reason Hawkeye's tent is known as "The Swamp". As shown, the Swamp is untidy, but not actually dirty. Character dialog, however, indicates it's supposed to be filthy.
• Trespassing to Talk:
  • In the episode "Cowboy", Henry - who is in a really bad mood - enters his office to find Hawkeye waiting for him behind his desk, wanting to discuss giving chopper pilot Cowboy a temporary medical discharge. Henry even remarks, "Uh-uh-uh! Don't get up... let me just pretend YOU'RE the one in charge of this nuthouse."
  • In "Rally 'Round the Flagg, Boys", Potter walks into his office, with Father Mulcahy in tow, to find Colonel Flagg waiting for them at his desk, and neither of them (nor Radar, who was in his outer office the whole time) can even figure out how Flagg got in there in the first place.
• Triage Tyrant: Frank Burns plays this role at one point, prioritizing Americans over Koreans regardless of the severity of their injuries. Strangely enough, this was actually Truth in Television on Frank's part; he correctly cites the triage procedures of the time period (1st Americans, 2nd Allies, 3rd Enemy troops).
• Tricked into Signing:
  • In the first three seasons, Lt. Col. Blake was often tricked into signing some kind of requisition, or pass, or anything for whatever Zany Scheme Hawkeye and Trapper had cooked up.
  • Radar apparently made a habit of having Blake's successor Col. Potter sign blank pieces of paper, which he could then use to submit routine letters or requests without bothering Potter about them. Potter apparently knew what Radar was doing and didn't mind.
• The Trickster:
  • Hawkeye, Trapper, B.J., and on occasion, Winchester.
  • Father Mulcahy can be one from time to time, engaging in the camp poker games and pools to raise money for the local orphanage, and usually walking away with the other trickster's money.
    Hawkeye: You won again! Who do you know?
    Mulcahy: [Looks skyward]
    Hawkeye: [Good-naturedly] Name-dropper.
• Trivially Obvious: In "Say No More", a laryngitis-afflicted Margaret gets Charles to act as her voice for a phone call to Dr. Steven Chesler, an internationally-renowned ER doctor whom she admires but whom Charles regards as a quack. Charles' first words of the conversation are "Dr. Chesler! Well! This is indeed a... phone call."
• Troll: Charles in "Trick or Treatment" when treating Private Laroche (George Wendt), a Marine with a pool ball stuck in his mouth.
  Charles: Hello, I'm Dr. Winchester. And your name is?
  Laroche: Mm-MMPH!
  Charles: Would that be with one "M" or two? [Laroche grumbles around the pool ball in his mouth and gestures insistently] Of course... three. [writes on pad] Now then, what seems to be the, er, problem? [Laroche makes more frustrated, indistinct grumbling sounds] Now, my dear lad, don't be shy, the doctor is your friend! [more grumbling from Laroche as he gestures to his mouth, but Charles is deliberately avoiding looking at his face and instead puts his stethoscope against Laroche's back to listen to his breathing] You seem to be a bit... congested. [grumbling from Laroche] Maybe a little frog in your throat? [Laroche grumbles again, shakes his head, and points to the pool ball in his mouth, but Charles continues to pretend he hasn't seen it] Could you... could you cough for the doctor, please.
  Laroche: [high-pitched] Mm-MM! [shakes his head]
  Charles: [takes his stethoscope out of his ears] Well, my dear man, how can I discover what's wrong with you if you will not co-operate? [Laroche grumbles and points at his mouth again, but Charles puts his ear next to Laroche's mouth instead of looking] Oh, I see, you want me to take your temperature! I can do that. [he picks up a thermometer, then pretends to only now notice the pool ball in Laroche's mouth] GAD-zooks!... You realise you have something in your mouth?
  Laroche: [nods frantically] Mm-HMM! Mm-HMM!
  Charles: What on Earth could that be? [Laroche mimes playing pool] Oh looky! There's a little "6" painted on it. Could that be... how old you are? [Laroche groans] Oh! Now I see! You may not realise this, but you have a pool ball lodged in your mouth. [Laroche nods and taps the end of his nose to say "You've got it!"] No sweat, there is an alternative... I'll just take your temperature the other way! [he shoves Laroche over onto his side]
• Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour: Thanks to trauma, by the end of the series Hawkeye as a child knew how to repress painful memories, had a Guilt Complex by 12 because he blamed himself for not liking the woman his dad was dating (so his dad stopped dating her), and was having sex by fourteen while his adult thirty years old version makes jokes about losing his virginity twenty years ago.
• True Companions: Near the end of the series, when Winchester and Margaret had developed into jerks with hearts of gold, the main cast were a slightly vitriolic version of this.
• Tsundere: Margaret, especially toward Hawkeye. Her dere-dere side was revealed in "Comrades In Arms, Part 1", and then Double-Subverted in "Comrades In Arms, Part 2"— she began and ended the latter episode with a friendly chat with Hawkeye, but they had quite a few disagreements in between.
• Tuckerization: A number of the characters on the series were named after people the writers and producers knew:
  • Really, the only in-universe example is Hawkeye being given his nickname after the Indian character in the book The Last of the Mohicans, which was his father's favorite book. His real name, Benjamin Franklin Pierce, is supposedly a combination of an Indian, a president, and a stove.
  • B.J. Hunnicutt was named after the show's original cinematographer, William "B.J." Jurgenson.
    • Erin Hunnicutt was named for Mike Farrell's real-life daughter Erin, and one episode has B.J. talking by phone with his father-in-law Floyd Hayden, which was the name of Farrell's actual father-in-law.
  • Legend has it that Sherman T. Potter was named after Larry Gelbart's old doctor. Another has it he was named after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.
  • Writer Ken Levine was perhaps the most frequent user of this trope, as a number of the one-shot and guest characters were named after people he knew (something he does frequently in his writing), including two of Radar's love interests – Linda Nugent, and Patty Haven (both named for two of Levine's former girlfriends).
• Two Lines, No Waiting: Frequently, especially in later seasons.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm:
  • Frank Burns, whenever he's given temporary command of the camp. Col. Potter could be considered something of a Bait-and-Switch Tyrant in his debut episode.
  • Ironically, even Hawkeye falls prey to this when he is put in command for an episode, insisting on silence in the OR (amongst other things) as an indication of how much it's getting to him.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Played with with Margaret and Donald Penobscott, Margaret is so infatuated with Donald, that his physical traits that are pointed by other characters, or even herself, seem to only entice her even more (such as him being stocky, having no neck, one eyebrow, etc). In fact, both of Donald's appearances (played by two different actors) really don't help matters much.
• Ultimate Job Security:
  • No matter what zany scheme Hawkeye pulls off or what general he offends, they need him as a doctor. Also somewhat Truth in Television – surgeons could get away with some ridiculous things, due to the sheer need for them, though there were limits even for doctors.
  • Klinger, no matter how hard he tries to avert this.
  • Although undeniably a force for good, Father Mulcahy gets away with some rather worldly behaviours for the sake of greater charity, such as gambling and black market dealings.
  • Some of Hawkeye's stunts would, in Real Life, land him a court martial, such as "The Sniper", where he defies an order not to surrender, even though it could put the nurses in physical danger. Hawkeye makes an impassioned case for surrender, but what he actually does is go out to bring the wounded in from the ambulance under a flag of truce (which gets fired on). While surrender would also commonly be arranged under a flag of truce, that would involve communicating directly with the enemy, which he does not attempt.
• Unbroken Vigil: In "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde", when Hawkeye’s finally asleep, Henry and Trapper sit by him, make sure he’s okay when he’s whimpering, and talk about him being an unstable Martyr Without a Cause.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: One episode has the gang watching a home movie sent by Radar's mother...who, like Radar himself, is played by Gary Burghoff. Lampshaded when one person jokes that Radar bears a striking resemblance to his dog Ranger.
• Unexplained Recovery:
  • Invoked by Trapper when a Luxembourg soldier is misplaced and presumed dead, then shows up for his own memorial.
    Hawkeye: I thought you said he was dead.
    Trapper: (shrugs) He got better.
  • Henry Blake, in a blackout gag on Cher's 1975 variety series.
• Unique Pilot Title Sequence: The pilot starts with the title "Korea 1950 - 100 Years Ago" as Hawkeye and Trapper John play golf with "My Blue Heaven" playing in the background. Radar gets tossed a football and stops as he hears the choppers coming, which then leads into an extended version of the standard opening.
  • Just imagine what a whole new meaning it'll take on when we're still watching reruns of this show in 2050.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: Klinger's dresses. In fact, Real Life subverted this trope. He eventually dropped the cross dressing act because the studio ran out of dresses that would fit him.
  • Jamie Farr has stated in interviews that he asked to stop wearing dresses on the show because he didn't want his children to see him wearing dresses. (Although one would think that ship had already sailed, given the early seasons' omnipresence in syndicated reruns even before the show's network run ended.)
  • The size of Klinger's wardrobe is explained in-universe by a combination of him regularly ordering things from catalogs, packages of clothing sent by his family (from his uncle's wardrobe from using the same trick in WWII), and him frequently making things (both shown and spoken of, and they even raided his sewing supplies once when they ran out of sutures). Klinger, it seems, is quite accomplished with needle and thread.
• Unperson: Invoked by the officer in "The Late Captain Pearce" on Hawkeye being declared dead. Hawkeye is not amused.
  Officer: Well, you are, Doctor, I am afraid what George Orwell described in Nineteen Eighty-Four as an "unperson".
  Hawkeye: An "unperson"? Now I'm an "unperson"? Do you know that right now my poor father, not realizing I'm "undead," is at this minute mourning his "un-son"?
  • If anyone was wondering: That is not a continuity error. 1984 was written in 1948 and published in the US in mid-1949. So the officer apologizing for Hawkeye being mistakenly listed as dead was showing off his reading; while Hawkeye had not read the book.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Between Hawkeye and Margret. It was briefly resolved in "Comrades in Arms", but it was undone midway through Part 2 and stayed that way.
• Unusual Euphemism:
  • Col. Potter, often horse-related. More along the lines of sectional euphemism, most of his euphemisms were actual (albeit he used the more family friendly ones) euphemisms used in West Texas.
  • Subverted in the episode "Dear Peggy", when Father Mulcahy mentions Hawkeye is sharing a "spicy sausage" with an Italian nurse. Judging by his breath while scrubbing for surgery, he was sharing an actual spicy sausage.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight:
  • One episode has Hawkeye, Radar and the newly arrived B.J. in Rosie's bar. No one in the bar seems to notice the brawl between two other patrons except B.J. even when it goes literally though their table.
  • Klinger and his dresses have this effect.
  • Hawkeye bets Trapper that he could go into the mess tent naked and no one would notice. No one does, until a startled soldier drops his tray and whistles, drawing everyone's attention.
  • Hawkeye’s old friends in “Hawk’s Nightmare” act like Hawkeye having nightmares and acting weird is nothing new.
• Upper-Class Twit: Frank Burns, in spades.
• Values Dissonance: In-universe, the clash between American and Korean value systems occasionally creates problems. In particular, "The Moose" deals with a scumbag sergeant who's bought a Korean girl as a slave, but her family believes it's an honorable thing to do.
• Villain Decay: Frank - who was one the cloest things to an onscreen villain the series had - rapidly devolved into a cartoonish buffoon. This especially became evident after Col. Potter arrived at camp and his former girlfriend/partner in crime Margaret left him for someone else along with being a far more complex and decent character than she had been initially presented as. ^note  This villain decay was a major factor in why Larry Linville declined to renew his contract for another two seasons at the end of season five as he was tired of playing someone who had devolved into a buffon.
• Vinyl Shatters:
  • In the finale, Major Winchester breaks the classical record he was listening to after he finds out the band of prisoner-musicians he had formed got killed in an ambush. This may or may not be an example of the trope; in 1953, when the Korean War ended, large-diameter shellac records were still quite common.
  • In the episode where the cast are awaiting an expected deluge of casualties, B.J. and Hawkeye start shattering Charles's records on their heads when a war of slovenliness between the major and the two captains reaches boiling point.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Hawkeye and BJ started falling into this more and more in the later seasons, having spats over minor annoyances or various personal quirks. Could be a sign of how the ongoing stress of the war was effecting them, or the Doyleist explanation could be the writers running out of ideas and trying to find ways to shake up their dynamic.
• The Voice:
  • The camp PA announcer.
  • In the episode "Run for the Money", Winchester plays a tape recording from his sister, Honoria.
  • In "Springtime", Laverne Esposito can be heard when Klinger marries her via radio.
  • Pvt. Rich, in the "Point of View" episode.
  • In an early episode, Radar's unseen girlfriend breaks up with him via a "Dear John" recording. Both her voice and the voice of her new fiancé are heard.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: B.J. suffers from this in "Welcome to Korea" when he sees firsthand the savagery of war injuries. Being fresh out of residency at the time he's drafted doesn't help matters any.
• War Is Hell:
  • The defining trait of the final seasons. When it comes to war, absolutely nothing is sacred. Even Major Winchester's love of classical music becomes one of the last casualties of the Korean War.
  • Hawkeye once argues that war is worse than Hell; at least in Hell, you know that everyone there deserves to be there. In war, almost everyone except the Armchair Military is an innocent bystander.
• War Is Glorious: Frank, as an Eagleland Type-2, believes this, sometimes even talking about it as if it's some sort of holy mission against Communism (which many Americans did believe of the Cold War).
• War Refugees: Many Korean characters
• Wartime Wedding: Both Margaret and Klinger get married during the war. Neither marriage proves successful. Klinger, though gets married again at the conclusion of the marriage to a Korean. This second marriage is far more successful.
• Way Past the Expiration Date: A frequent topic of complaining is the surplus army food, some of which (it is claimed, mostly by Hawkeye) came from WWII or even WWI.
  Hawkeye: 1943, a very good year for beans.
• Wedding Finale: The season 5 finale, "Margaret's Marriage", has the Major tying the knot with Donald Penobscott (with a heartbroken Frank Burns serving as best man).
• Wedding Ring Defense: Hawkeye is fooled by one of these, worn by the episode's visting guest nurse.
• Wham Episode: "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet", also the first Downer Ending episode. More would follow, most notably "Abyssinia, Henry".
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • Hawkeye takes up a collection to send his house-boy to the states to go to medical school, but then we never hear from him again. Until he robs most of the regular cast to get money to bribe border guards to allow his family to cross the border. Hawkeye mentions in a Season 4 episode "Our house-boy got drafted two years ago," very likely referring to him.
  • Radar always had a large menagerie of different animals, including rabbits, guinea pigs, raccoons, squirrels, skunks, and even a turtle, each having their own cages. Then, in his very last episode, when he says goodbye to his animals, all that are left are one turtle, one rabbit, and one guinea pig. He tells them the rest of the camp will take care of them in his absence, although we see them only once after that, in "The Red White Blues".
  • In "The Foresight Saga", the MASHers send a Korean boy to live in Iowa and work as a farmhand for Radar. Between AfterMASH and the DOA spinoff W*A*L*T*E*R, we learn that Radar's farming career fell through, but his farmhand is never mentioned past this episode.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • "Preventive Medicine", where B.J. argues with Hawkeye that removing a healthy organ is immoral (see Real Life Writes the Plot above).
  • Hawkeye got one from Radar after he (Hawkeye) showed up for surgery too drunk to operate. He got another one from everyone - including himself - after he laid into Radar for it.
  • Hawkeye laid into Radar when the latter decided he wanted to stay in Korea because he thought they couldn't function without him.
    Hawkeye: We all wait for that day. We dream about it. We pray for it. We'd sacrifice a virgin to it if we could find one. How dare you!
• Wheelchair Antics: During the Olympics episode, Hawkeye and B.J. are team captains. They make a bet that the loser has to push the winner around in a wheelchair for a month.
• White Male Lead: While the show really tried to depict what the Koreans go through, and Hawkeye is subversive in a lot of ways, all the regular characters of colour disappear until it’s just Klinger (who gets a lot of casual racism thrown his way when Charles is made one of the gang) and Nurse Kellye.
• White Man's Burden: Hawkeye always takes it on himself to be the “Jiminy Cricket of Korea”. In the early seasons it’s usually Frank or Margaret being racist and calling him out for “helping commies”, but later on he’s forced to confront his own condescension and need to fix everything, while still being part of the war machine that hurts people, by Koreans themselves.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: B.J. Hunnicutt's given name is, apparently, B.J.. Leads to this exchange:
  Hawkeye: What kind of parents would name their kid "B.J."?
  B.J.: My mother, Bea Hunnicutt, and my father, Jay Hunnicutt.
• Whole Costume Reference: Many of Klinger's dresses were from the studio's stock from other shows and films. Klinger even lampshades it himself a few times when he's intentionally copying a movie character's garb.
• Whole Episode Flashback: used in "The Novocaine Mutiny" to show events that led up to Hawkeye being put on trial for mutiny. The flashbacks are divided between Frank's fictional account and Hawkeye's reveal of what "really" happened.
• Wholesome Cross Dresser: Klinger, of course. It was his plan to get home - they'd think he was crazy and hence unfit for duty if he wore women's clothing. He was otherwise portrayed as a good soldier. This was based on a story about Lenny Bruce wearing a WAVES uniform to get discharged from the Navy during World War II.
• Who's Watching the Store?: In the episodes "The Bus" and "The Novocaine Mutiny", all of the 4077th's regular surgeons (Hawkeye, B.J., Frank, Potter) are away from camp for an extended period. It's never explained who's operating on the wounded in their absence.
• Wildlife Commentary Spoof: Hawkeye describes an encounter between Frank and Margaret in this fashion:
  "Observe the female of the species. Seemingly calm and detached, her tiny GI bosom is beating wildly, because she senses the presence of her frequent partner, the notorious red-necked nose-breather. Uh-oh, the signaling process has begun. Eyeballs are exchanged, and our khaki lovers do their famous 'Where'll we meet today?' ritual. It is almost impossible for the uninitiated to discern any connection between these two US Army majors. Yet, the trained observer will see that what these two officers have in mind is to arrange a bit of brass rubbing."
• Wire Dilemma: "The Army-Navy Game"
• With Friends Like These...: Hawkeye’s old friends in “Hawk’s Nightmare” don’t seem to care about him very much, which hurts his feelings.
• Woken Up at an Ungodly Hour: This happens frequently to the characters, though it's justified by the fact they work at a hospital and can get wounded at any hour of the night. Also, often they may get calls to Korea from the U.S., which is under a different time zone and where it's already the middle of the day there. Not that it makes the characters feel any better about it — in one episode, Col. Potter complains to Klinger the entire time he's walking to the phone to answer a call.
• World's Smallest Violin: Possibly the Trope Maker: Margaret does this in 1978 when Charles complains that an overflow of post-op patients has kicked him out of his tent.
  Margaret: Charles, do you know what this is? It's the world's smallest violin, and it's playing just for you.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • Winchester, for Hawkeye and B.J.. In fact, he was designed this way, in contrast to the man he replaced, Frank, who was little more than a punching bag for Hawkeye and B.J. and Trapper before him. Charles stood as an equal or even a superior to his colleagues in surgery, and could give as good as he got in insults and pranks.
    • Occasionally moved into the realm of Vitriolic Best Buds, whenever Hawkeye or B.J. would have an actual problem and Winchester's empathy would kick in, and likewise Hawkeye and B.J. both admitted a respect and care for Charles they never displayed for his predecessor Frank.
    • If Winchester hadn't had total disdain for pretty much everyone in camp, he'd probably have been very close friends with the other two. The boys probably respected him more because he was capable of taking their pranks and pranking them back, and his surgical skills were impressive (which is more than could be said for Frank's, especially post-Flanderization).
    • Then there were those times when one of them (usually B.J.) would form a temporary alliance with Charles, either against the remaining Swampmate (usually Hawkeye) or some other character.
  • Margaret actually has hints of this with Hawkeye. They might have clashed over matters of discipline and regulation (especially early on in the series) but it's quite clear that both of them never had anything but the highest respect for each other's skills and professional ability. If Margaret hadn't been so uptight (or if Hawkeye hadn't been so nuts) that Ship Tease probably would have become more than just teasing.
  • One time, Frank managed to continually one-up Hawkeye with pranks (trick showerheads, a bucket of water over the door, etc). In the end, Hawkeye wins the prank war by rolling up the wall of the latrine tent while Frank is occupied therein, finishing with a genuine looking salute.
• Writer on Board: Became increasingly pronounced in the later seasons of the show, particularly in the episodes that Alan Alda scripted (where this approached Author Filibuster or even Author Tract status).
• Wrong Insult Offense: Hawkeye, B.J., and Charles were all called a crumb, a louse, and a schmo in that order by Major Houlihan. When Houlihan later calls all of them crumbs together, Hawkeye corrects her by saying B.J. is a schmo and Charles is a louse, while he is the only crumb. B.J. and Winchester then correct him that B.J. is the louse and Charles is the schmo.
• Wrote the Book: Hawkeye wrote the book on the appendix. (He even wrote the appendix, but they took that out.)
• Yank the Dog's Chain:
  • The first season has an episode where everyone comes to believe that there's been a ceasefire and the war is over. During their "farewell" party they learn the sad news: the war isn't over, and the wounded are arriving.
  • Another early episode has Trapper thinking he'll get to go home due to a stomach ulcer, and even getting a farewell party, before being told by HQ that he'll have to stay in Korea and be operated on there.
  • Trapper gets put through the wringer again in "Kim", deciding to adopt a seemingly-orphaned Korean boy with his wife back in the States, then having to rescue the kid after he wanders into a minefield...then having to watch as the kid's mother turns up and whisks him away.
  • "Abyssinia, Henry" has Col. Blake getting discharged and finally getting to go home. What happened next was a moment. invoked
  • In "Welcome to Korea", Hawkeye races to an airport to try and say goodbye to Trapper, who was discharged while Hawkeye was away on leave and couldn't stay any longer. Naturally, despite his best efforts, Hawkeye misses him by minutes.
  • In a more humorous example, Klinger comes tantalizingly close to actually getting a Section 8 discharge in "None Like It Hot". He dons a fur coat and other warm-weather gear in the middle of a blistering Heat Wave, and Col. Potter is so impressed with his determination that he promises to approve a Section 8 if he can keep it up for 24 hours. When Klinger finally breaks down and gives up toward the end of the episode, a sincerely disappointed Potter notes that he only had an hour left to go.
  • In "Goodbye, Farwell, and Amen", B.J. receives discharge papers, though it's discovered that they were rescinded just as he's leaving for home. Col. Potter is informed of this, but doesn't say anything, hoping B.J. will be stateside before anyone finds out. Unfortunately, he only makes it as far as Guam before he's yanked back to the 4077. (However, he does get to go home — along with everybody else — when the war ends shortly thereafter.)
    B.J.: I'm sitting there in this crummy officers club, and this guy comes up to me, and says, "You Hunnicutt the doctor?" Now, I didn't like the sound of that, so I said, "No, not me, pal. I'm Hunnicutt the chaplain." He says, "Well, chaplain, you'd better start praying for a miracle, because you're going back to Korea to do surgery."
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
  • Played with in "Chief Surgeon Who?" Hawkeye plays up his promotion to chief surgeon, when General Barker (whom Frank and Margaret called) comes to see Pierce in action. In the operating room with a patient:
    Hawkeye: Y'see, dad, we've seen only large holes, no small ones. I think he took one in his lingular and we won't find it unless we go in and get it. I've seen some bubbles I can't account for. (To nurse) Suction. please. (feels around in patient; then reaction) And there it is.
    Gen. Barker: I'm impressed!
    Hawkeye: (sheepishly) So am I.
  • One of the more heartwarming examples of this trope comes in the Season 8 episode "Morale Victory". Winchester manages to save the leg of a soldier, only to find out the patient is more worried about the fact his hand is permanently damaged, as he's a concert pianist. Winchester is so devastated by this, and by the man's desire to give up, that he actually goes to Father Mulcahy for advice, and Mulcahy tells Winchester his love of classical music is the way to reach the man. Winchester ends up ordering some sheet music for piano players with one hand, gives them to the reluctant patient, and gives him this speech:
    Winchester: Don't you see? Your hand may be stilled, but your gift cannot be silenced if you refuse to let it be. The gift does not lie in your hands. I have hands, David. Hands that can make a scalpel sing. More than anything in my life I wanted to play, but I do not have the gift. I can play the notes, but I cannot make the music. You have performed Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Chopin. Even if you never do so again, you've already known a joy that I will never know as long as I live. Because the true gift is in your head and in your heart and in your soul. Now you can shut it off forever, or you can find new ways to share your gift with the world - through the baton, the classroom, or the pen. As to these works, they're for you, because you and the piano will always be as one.
• You Are in Command Now:
  • "Carry On, Hawkeye" was a funny example; "Commander Pierce" much less so.
  • The one time that Winchester was left in command, he simply allowed everyone to go about their routine and instead focused on pampering himself (having Klinger acquire silk sheets, fine food, etc).
  • Anytime Blake or Potter said this to Burns, the unit prepared for a journey across the Despair Event Horizon.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious:
  • Despite their disdain for military protocol, Hawkeye and B.J. on regularly address Col. Potter by his rank out of respect for his competent, compassionate, thoughtful approach to command. Only once, when Potter has been badly upset by another soldier snitching on him to his superiors and is contemplating leaving the Army, does Hawkeye call him "Sherm," urging him to stay.
  • Winchester only ever refers to Hawkeye as "Pierce" except for when they are waiting by the phone to hear word about Hawkeye's father (who is having a surgery done). He calls him "Hawkeye" while telling him that he envies the relationship Pierce and his father have. It's the only time that Winchester drops his walls around his fellow surgeons. Similarly, when Klinger and Winchester call each other Max and Charles at Christmas when Klinger lets on that he knows about Winchester secretly donating sweets to the orphans.
  • Invoked in the finale: Col. Potter calls Father Mulcahy "Francis" for the first time as they say goodbye. Made heartbreaking by the fact that the Father couldn't hear him due to his deafness.
• You Can Say That Again: In "A Smattering of Intelligence," when Pratt and Flagg show up to arrest Frank:
  Flagg: He's a communist.
  Pratt: He's a fascist!
  Frank: I am not! I'm nothing!!
  Trapper: I'll vouch for that.
• Younger Than They Look: Everyone by the finale. Hawkeye was meant to be 29-31 (they even mention him being about 11 during the depression) but started to get grey hair by the middle seasons, B.J. was said to be 28 when he came in and the other characters had to stay at the same age even when their actors grew out of being able to accurately look early thirties.
• You No Take Candle: Korean characters sometimes talk like this, much to the disdain of actual Korean viewers.
• You Say Tomato We have this exchange between Frank and Klinger in "It Happened One Night:"
  Klinger: Halt!
  Frank: It's me, Major Burns!
  Klinger: What's the password?
  Frank: Uh, "ca-rib-bean."
  Klinger: I thought it was "carri-be-an."
  Frank: It's the same thing, you simp!
• Zip Me Up: In "Abyssinia, Henry", Klinger comes out to farewell Henry in an amazing gown, which he tells him he didn't have time to zip all the way up. Henry offers to zip it, Klinger turns around to let him - cue Klinger saying, "Up, sir," culminating a 3-season-long tradition of Henry/Klinger jokes.

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