Ten Favorite MASH Episodes: Tuttle (#1)
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (86615)
United States
December 4, 2018 8:37am CST
Time to roll the closing credits for this series of my favorite episodes of the long-running classic TV series M*A*S*H. In scanning the web, I've noticed that my favorite episode makes it in the top ten lists of a lot of fans. No wonder. Here's my favorite episode.
#1: Tuttle
This might sound like the most hokey, far-fetched thing you can imagine...but remember, we ARE talking about the US Army here. 
Hawkeye gives some extra supplies to the local orphanage, and when the nun in charge asks who's the generous person, Hawkeye replies, "Captain Tuttle."
"Tuttle," Hawkeye explains to Trapper, was Hawkeye's imaginary friend as a child, the one who got blamed for everything ("who wet the bed? Tuttle!"), much like that "Not Me" ghost in The Family Circus comic strip.
From there, a legend is born. Hawkeye and Trapper create a personnel file for him, prompting a pay officer to show up (James B. Sikking, who'd later be part of the great ensemble cast of Hill Street Blues) to give Captain Tuttle six months of back pay. Tuttle (Hawkeye in surgical garb, with a mask over his face) directs the pay officer to donate all of his future pay to the orphanage.
Meanwhile, everybody wants to be his friend. Frank and Hot Lips are initially suspicious but almost instantly fall for the ruse (when Henry asks Hawkeye to eulogize Tuttle because Hawkeye knew him best, Frank scoffs, "that's not true, I knew him best!"). Henry boasts about having lunch with him. And his generosity gets him noticed by the brass: General Clayton shows up to give Tuttle a commendation for the work he's doing with the orphanage. The way Hawkeye and Radar conspire to kill Tuttle is hilarious.
In the closing credits Captain Tuttle is listed as playing himself. And his life can be summarized by Henry's tearful remark at the conclusion of the memorial service for him: "He was the best damn O.D. we ever had."
What an episode.
Thanks for reading.
Tuttle
Written by Bruce Shelley & David Ketchum
Directed by William Wiard
Season 1, episode 15
Tuttle's eulogy:
Hawkeye gives some extra supplies to the local orphanage, and when the nun in charge asks who's the generous person, Hawkeye replies, "Captain Tuttle."
"Tuttle," Hawkeye explains to Trapper, was Hawkeye's imaginary friend as a child, the one who got blamed for everything ("who wet the bed? Tuttle!"), much like that "Not Me" ghost in The Family Circus comic strip.
From there, a legend is born. Hawkeye and Trapper create a personnel file for him, prompting a pay officer to show up (James B. Sikking, who'd later be part of the great ensemble cast of Hill Street Blues) to give Captain Tuttle six months of back pay. Tuttle (Hawkeye in surgical garb, with a mask over his face) directs the pay officer to donate all of his future pay to the orphanage.
Meanwhile, everybody wants to be his friend. Frank and Hot Lips are initially suspicious but almost instantly fall for the ruse (when Henry asks Hawkeye to eulogize Tuttle because Hawkeye knew him best, Frank scoffs, "that's not true, I knew him best!"). Henry boasts about having lunch with him. And his generosity gets him noticed by the brass: General Clayton shows up to give Tuttle a commendation for the work he's doing with the orphanage. The way Hawkeye and Radar conspire to kill Tuttle is hilarious.
In the closing credits Captain Tuttle is listed as playing himself. And his life can be summarized by Henry's tearful remark at the conclusion of the memorial service for him: "He was the best damn O.D. we ever had."
What an episode.
Thanks for reading.
Tuttle
Written by Bruce Shelley & David Ketchum
Directed by William Wiard
Season 1, episode 15
Tuttle's eulogy:
4 people like this
3 responses
@teamfreak16 (43579)
• Denver, Colorado
5 Dec 18
I love this one. It was on just the other day, in fact.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
4 Dec 18
Useless trivia: William Wiard directed Tom Horn with Steve McQueen.
1 person likes this
