Ten Favorite MASH Episodes: Five O’Clock Charlie (#7)

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Attention all personnel! It’s time for another episode off my list of favorites from the long-running classic TV series M*A*S*H! In case you didn’t know, the series ran for eleven seasons, winning a total of 14 Emmys (including awards for stars Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, Harry Morgan, and Gary Burghoff). Here’s todays episode. #7: Five O’Clock Charlie Another episode played for laughs instead of “comedy-drama,” there’s only one quick OR scene (Henry and Ginger discussing their bet on Charlie). It involves a lone North Korean pilot (“and his astigmatism,” as they say over the intercom) who shows up every day at 5 PM, trying to bomb an ammunition supply storage put near the MASH so it would theoretically be safe from enemy attack. (“We learned it from the Germans,” General Clayton tells Henry, prompting Hawkeye to quip, “Great, now we’re taking lessons from the losers.”) Of course, Frank and Hot Lips take the “attack” seriously while everyone else in camp realizes it’s not (nearly everyone in camp gets in a betting pool on how close Charlie will come with his bomb). Gung-ho, GI Frank provides some of the best comedy in this episode, as every time he reaches for his side arm it’s something other than a pistol (e.g., a water gun, a plunger [“Atta boy, Frank!” Hawkeye calls when Frank draws a plunger, “flush ‘em out of the skies!”]). Because the general’s Jeep is hit by Charlie’s bomb (a total accident: Charlie couldn’t hit the broad side of the Grand Canyon!) he agrees to Frank’s request for an anti-aircraft gun to try to shoot Charlie down. Lots of humor in this one. I particularly enjoy watching this one with the laugh track turned off (one of the benefits of owning the DVDs is that you can turn the canned laughter off) so you can hear jokes that were almost drowned out by the laugh track. Five O’Clock Charlie Written by Larry Gilbert, Keith Walker, and Laurence Marks Directed by Norman Tokar Season 2, episode 2 A little gay humor: