Doc

28th Jan 2023

M*A*S*H (1972)

Answer: The 1st movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 Op. 13.

Bishop73

23rd Mar 2022

M*A*S*H (1972)

Chief Surgeon Who? - S1-E4

Character mistake: As Hawkeye goes to help Maj. Burns right at the end of the episode, he touches the patient with his bloody, contaminated gloves he used to work on the last patient. Such a blatant error would be anathema to any surgeon from the civilized world of the 20th century, let alone one of Hawkeye's caliber.

Doc

20th May 2020

M*A*S*H (1972)

Baby, It's Cold Outside - S7-E9

Factual error: As Hawkeye performs CPR on the hypothermic soldier, he pumps his arms from his ellbows. CPR is done by keeping the arms stiff and pumping with the whole upper body. Hawkeye as a surgeon would know that. Fun Fact: You can perform CPR one-handed in a pinch, but only as long as you keep your arms stiff.

Doc

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: True, but doing CPR the real way is going to likely seriously injure the actor it is being performed upon.

LorgSkyegon

Explaining why mistakes occur does not invalidate them.

Bishop73

Chest compressions can definitely be performed by pumping from the elbow, one or two handed. The first documented use was in 1891, so Hawkeye would be aware of it. However, modern CPR standards, including straight arm procedures, were not developed until at least 1960 by the American Heart Association. Using straight arms and bending at the hips uses the larger muscle groups of the core and legs, which provides more control, as well as stamina. This is not an error for the Korean War era.

Additionally, what Lorg said - you don't want to hurt the actor, you can see his shoulders rise as his arms straighten, giving the illusion of compressions. There is another episode where Hawkeye is performing chest compressions similarly, and yells at the unconscious patient that his arms are getting tired, which is what would happen with bent elbow compressions, and one of the reasons modern technique uses straight arms.

I didn't know that, but it makes sense that CPR procedures would evolve. You should submit that as a direct correction to my mistake.

Doc

10th Apr 2020

M*A*S*H (1972)

The Smell of Music - S6-E15

Audio problem: After Potter convinces Saunders he still wants to live, the hiss from the anesthesia machine fades out even while Potter and Saunders are still standing next to it. Neither Potter nor Saunders turned off the valve again.

Doc

5th Apr 2020

M*A*S*H (1972)

38 Across - S5-E15

Revealing mistake: Klinger makes a big show of removing a big nut from the Jeep's leaf spring. The nut is clean and shiny whereas the rest of the undercarriage is painted and dirty. If you look closely, there are no screw threads where he takes it off either, there's another hex under it. The simple reason for this is that that nut doesn't belong there and never was affixed, Jamie Farr just pretended it was.

Doc

20th Mar 2020

M*A*S*H (1972)

The Korean Surgeon - S5-E9

Plot hole: This episode revolves around the doctors trying to "transfer" a north Korean surgeon to the outfit. To this end, they get him papers, uniform, dog tags, etc. In the end, the plot is toppled and The Korean Surgeon taken to a POW camp by the MP. In reality, it would not have ended quite so pleasantly. A combatant wearing the uniform of an enemy is usually automatically considered a spy, and Hawkeye, BJ and Radar would also have been considered guilty of espionage or at least complicity therein.

Doc

19th Mar 2020

M*A*S*H (1972)

The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan - S5-E6

Other mistake: As Frank cocks his gun in the Swamp, the slide locks open and he has to hit the slide release to get it to move forward. Next he fiddles with the hammer. Next we hear the shot go off. Burns' excuse later is that he was cleaning The Gun and it went off (although admittedly, Frank doesn't always stick to the truth that religiously in situations like that). The slide on a semi-automatic locks open only if the magazine is empty or missing. The Gun locking open is also a clear, unmistakable indication that the breech is empty. He would have to insert a filled mag, then pull the slide back again to chamber a round before The Gun even had the chance to go off. One never does that while cleaning a gun. One does what Frank did to begin with: Pull the slide back without a magazine inserted to make sure the breech is empty.

Doc

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Frank has demonstrated on numerous occasions that he does not follow the rules of safe gun handling, so ascribing his failure to do so is not a mistake.

LorgSkyegon

You are missing the point. His gun is demonstrably unloaded when we last see it. He would either have to change his mind about cleaning it and load it instead, or load it first and then try to clean it (which makes even less sense), neither of which is not supported by anything in the dialogue.

Doc

Cleaning The Gun was the lie. He told BJ he was going to hunt for Margaret. He had every intention of loading his gun at that point.

Bishop73

You got me there. Frank talks about looking for Margret, fiddles with The Gun, and only after the shot goes off, he talks about cleaning it.

Doc

16th Nov 2018

M*A*S*H (1972)

Trivia: In several episodes, we are treated to a glimpse of Col. Potter's paint box. He must have had this for quite some time - the inscription in the lid says "Capt. Potter"

Doc

16th Feb 2017

M*A*S*H (1972)

Life With Father - S3-E8

Audio problem: As Trapper opens the door to the swamp and the football flies in, a splash is heard as if it hit a tub of water, followed by the sound of a high, fluted vessel filling with water. Neither of those sounds make sense in this case. (00:07:00)

Doc

16th Feb 2017

M*A*S*H (1972)

Check-Up - S3-E7

Revealing mistake: As Hawkeye calls for quiet in the officers' club, Henry pulls the tonearm off the record player, it comes away trailing a long wire behind it. Why would it even have a long wire to trail? After all, wire costs money too. It's not like the tonearm is designed to come off and be used remotely. My guess is: they lengthened it, so the shot could be taken several times without repairing the record player every time. Now, WHY they would do it that way and not simply use a dud record player is beyond me. (00:20:55)

Doc

31st Jan 2017

M*A*S*H (1972)

Radar's Report - S2-E3

Factual error: Radar claims in his report that Father Mulchahy tried to calm the prisoner by saying "bang zhao", thinking it means "peace and friendship" when it really means "your daughter's pregnancy brings much joy to our village." There is, unsurprisingly, not even a remotely similar word in Chinese that means either of those things.

Doc

3rd Jan 2017

M*A*S*H (1972)

Radar's Report - S2-E3

Stupidity: Radar takes his glasses off, takes a sip of coffee, then props his clipboard onto the typewriter and accidentally starts typing on the desk calculator. Even if he didn't know his desk well enough to wonder what he laid his clipboard upon AND was so blind he couldn't even orient himself by the desk lamp (which he isn't), he would have felt the difference the instant he touched the keys. Note that he puts his hands on the keys, squints at the clipboard (sic!), then starts typing, he doesn't hammer away right off, which would have added at least a little plausibility to the joke.

Doc

8th Mar 2016

M*A*S*H (1972)

April Fools - S8-E25

Other mistake: When Charles, BJ and Hawkeye steal Margret's tent, what's left is a frame of wood, including roof beams. From other episodes we know that the tents are held up by a wooden frame around the edges and a center pole. We even know for a fact that Margret's tent is built that way, because in an earlier episode Hawkeye and Trapper saw through the center pole of Margret's tent. We also know that the construction principle of the tents hasn't fundamentally changed since then, because when Hawkeye finds the oatmeal in his boot earlier in the same episode, you can see the center pole of the Swamp.

Doc

7th Mar 2016

M*A*S*H (1972)

The Price - S7-E17

Revealing mistake: Margret is running out of the shower tent screaming where just moments before we saw her taking a shower. We can see she's wearing a flesh-colored pantyhose.

Doc

7th Mar 2016

M*A*S*H (1972)

Dear Sis - S7-E14

Revealing mistake: When the ambulance arrives in the compound at Christmas eve, it drives through the newly fallen snow, but it doesn't leave any tracks. Vehicles driving over a very thin snow cover always leave dark tracks, because the pressure instantly melts the snow just below the wheels. Even a person walking through the snow would leave dark footprints under these conditions.

Doc

4th Mar 2016

M*A*S*H (1972)

An Eye for a Tooth - S7-E13

Continuity mistake: Charles arranges a prank that involves a cake. The cake looks totally different in the respective shots. At least three cakes were involved: The one Klinger gives to Margret looks different from the one she holds in her hands when walking over to Capt. Hill. The one she holds in her hand in the closeup counter shots is yet another pie.

Doc

25th Feb 2015

M*A*S*H (1972)

Dear Peggy - S4-E10

Character mistake: When he sees the 'P' for Protestant on Davis' chart, Col. Hollister states "A lot of your Davises are 'J's, you know" implying that Davis is a Jewish name. In fact, the ID tag code for Jewish faith was 'H' for Hebrew. (00:18:45)

Doc

13th Mar 2014

M*A*S*H (1972)

Deluge - S4-E23

Continuity mistake: When Klinger is scrubbing the sink, it's empty, or almost so. Klinger turns on the water. When BJ brings in the wounded soldier, the sink suddenly is more than half full - and the water is off again.

Doc

10th Mar 2014

M*A*S*H (1972)

24th Feb 2014

M*A*S*H (1972)

Of Moose and Men - S4-E11

Continuity mistake: When Frank inspects the local workers, the laundry woman bends down to help the kid put away the sandwich Burns suspected of being a bomb. After the cut, she's upright again. (00:10:45)

Doc

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