M*A*S*H

Show generally

Continuity mistake: In the first episodes, Col. Blake's wife is named Mildred, later her name is changed to Lorraine. (In case of confusion, when Col. Potter came to the 4077th, his wife was also named Mildred, but that's not relevant).

Show generally

Continuity mistake: At one time, Col. Potter talks about how his daughter is an only child. In a different episode, he mentions that his son's wife is having a baby.

Show generally

Continuity mistake: There are two sets of the 4077 compound - the outside Fox Ranch set located at Malibu Creek State Park, and the second set inside the studio's Stage 9. The layout of both sets are quite different - Studio 9's set was vastly smaller than the Ranch set, so things such as the proximity of the Swamp to the mess tent are different between the shots filmed at the Ranch and shots filmed at Studio 9, when seen within the very same episodes.

Super Grover

Show generally

Factual error: In one episode in the hospital tent, Hawkeye hands a Hershey Chocolate Bar to a wounded soldier lying in bed. The back of the candy bar had a Universal Product Code (UPC) on it. UPCs were not used until the 1970s.

Tom348

Show generally

Deliberate mistake: These errors I assume were caused by the show running 3 times longer than the real war. Col. Potter arrived at MASH in September 1952 a year before the war ended, then a few months passed by Margaret got engaged for 8 months, then Frank Burns left and Charles took his place. In this time the war would have ended. In the final episode Margaret mentions Charles has been there for 2 years. Which means he would have arrived in 1951 a year before Trapper and Henry left and Col. Potter arrived. It's a lot to take in.

Show generally

Character mistake: When Colonel Blake's wife is having a baby, he is on the phone with the hospital as tells them to tell 'Mildred' he loves her and will talk to her soon. His wife's name was Lorraine.

Show generally

Other mistake: Across the show, several times doctors looking at an x-ray picture say things like, "Looks like he swallowed a whole junkyard" or "His belly is full of shrapnel." In fact, shrapnel, being metal fragments, should show up as clear white spots on the x-ray pictures, but none of that is visible in any of the x-rays shown throughout the show.

Show generally

Factual error: Throughout the series, actors are seen wearing cuffless permapress fatigues. Neither cuffless nor permapress utilities were available until the 1970s.

Show generally

Continuity mistake: In any scenes in the CO's office, look at the windows - they're sometimes opaque, sometimes clear. Also the windows in the OR. Usually semi-opaque, once, they were totally opaque, and made of a thick plastic. This was because it was very cold outside, and Hawkeye used a scalpel to cut them open to let in cooler air.

Movie Nut

Show generally

Factual error: Throughout the series, there are repeated instances of "I Corps" being pronounced, "Eye Corps." Since Army corps are designated by Roman numerals, it should be pronounced, "First Corps." (I wonder how they would have pronounced "III Corps" or "XVII Corps?").

mdwalker

Show generally

Continuity mistake: In early episodes, Margaret's father was dead. Later, he was alive and visited the camp. Also, in a early episode, Hawkeye writing to his father, tells him to send his love to his mother. Later, he tells Winchester his mother died when he was a child.

Show generally

Revealing mistake: A number of times, during the night periods (for instance, during an OR scene) the windows are dark when the lights are on in the room. Then when the lights go out, the windows brighten up. They, and the interior lights seem to alternate lightening and darkening.

Movie Nut

More quotes from M*A*S*H

Abyssinia, Henry - S3-E24

Trivia: There were no American planes shot down over the Sea of Japan during the Korean conflict. It is rumoured that producer/director Larry Gelbart knew that, but wrote Henry Blake's death scene as he was very unhappy with the way Mclean Stevenson had left the show, and was determined to make it clear that there was no way he would be coming back.

More trivia for M*A*S*H

That's Show Biz - S10-E1

Question: Talking with stripper Candy Doyle, Potter remarks that he still remembers how she used to spin her tassels and that he is reminded of this every time he sees a C 42 revving up. On the net I do find references to a C40A, a C47 and others, but no reference to an aircraft of the time called a C 42. What would he have been referring to?

Answer: The C-42 was a military variant of the Douglas DC-2. Very few C-42's were built, so it's questionable that Potter would specifically have seen that particular model, but, given his military background, it's not entirely unreasonable that he might use the military designation even when the aircraft in question is actually a civilian DC-2.

Tailkinker

More questions & answers from M*A*S*H

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.