Dear Mildred - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: The injured horse that Radar, BJ, and Hawkeye go after, and who's later gifted to Colonel Potter, is played by different horses.
Visible crew/equipment: When Frank climbs into the jeep belonging to Major General Cornell Dickering, the MPs show up at the same time that BJ and Hawkeye walk up to join the fun, and during this scene there's a T-mark (albeit a dusty one) on the ground at the driver's side of the jeep.
Continuity mistake: When Radar and Burns leave the tent for morning parade, Radar's clipboard acquires a pencil. (00:02:50)
Factual error: Amongst Radar's comics are several not published until after the end of the Korean War, including issues of The Avengers and Spider Man.
Continuity mistake: When Hawkeye is examining the orphan who is wiggling his tongue, there are two camera angles: one of Hawkeye from the front and one of the orphan over Hawkeye's shoulder. In the first shot, the tongue depresser that Hawkeye is holding is horizontal, in the other it is vertical. This flips back and forth a couple of times. (00:06:30)
Factual error: When the South Korean Colonel and General are in the mess tent, their rank insignia are wrong. The insignia they are wearing are for the U.S. Army.
Suggested correction: They could have been Korean Augmentation To the United States Army (KATUSA) officers, who were Koreans drafted or volunteered into the US military to act as a liaison between Koreans and the US military. As such they wore US uniforms and rank.
The Price of Tomato Juice - S4-E15
Other mistake: Actor Jeff Maxwell plays Private Igor Straminsky, however when Maj. Burns is in line and asks for his name, he replies "Maxwell" and Burns in turn repeats the name "Maxwell", instead of "Straminsky."
Plot hole: When the truck with the orphans arrives, Col. Potter and Nurse Cratty greet each other like one would an old friend. Being new to Korea, Col. Potter doesn't know Nurse Cratty - as becomes clear from his reaction to Hawkeye's explanation to BJ earlier (who doesn't know Nurse Cratty for the same reason, but that's not relevant for this mistake). Note that in other parts of the series Col. Potter is depicted mostly as somewhat old-fashioned and reserved towards strangers. (00:05:20)
Audio problem: When the soldiers in the back come flying through the window, you hear a window pane break and cullets tingle when the window is in fact a Japanese-style paper window. (00:43:40)
Factual error: Nearing the end of the show, we are told that the Chinese have become involved in the conflict and have attacked with some 300,000 soldiers. This apparently refers to massive attacks by the Chinese starting on November 1, 1950. Although the numbers are correct, the US/UN forces were unaware of the numbers. As late as November 6, the Far East Command continued to insist that there were no more than 34,500 Chinese communist soldiers in country. http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/kw-chinter/chinter.htm.
Dear Mildred - S4-E7
Visible crew/equipment: In the scene where BJ, Hawkeye, and Radar are in the motorcade talking about the horse, Radar is talking about how he doesn't want to give away the horse. He is standing in front of some barrels and when he moves, you can see some of the crew, the horse owner, and what looks like another horse in the background for 1 second.
Continuity mistake: Along with Radar holding an anachronistic comic book (the Avengers), the exact issue changes between wide and close shots. One has the older Avengers logo used in the '60s and very early '70s, while the second issue Radar is holding has the newer Avengers logo that just gained currency as the episode was being filmed. (00:00:45)
Deliberate mistake: With the show having lasted longer than the war, the producers apparently decided to turn back the clock to the very beginning of the War (June 25, 1950). To do this, it seems they have tried to make things as confusing as possible, intentionally mixing up facts, even when this openly contradicts the facts as presented in earlier episodes. For example, both B.J. and Potter arrived in or about mid 1952, but now are in the O.R. when the Chinese launch their massive offensive on 1st Nov. 1950, almost two years earlier. Trapper and Blake, who were there for the Army Navy Game which would have occurred Nov. 25 1950, are not. Many of the supporting clips also are too early or late for the events being discussed. For example, Winston Churchill's speech must have been before August 28 when the first British troops started arriving, likely also before the Canadians in July 1950, but the first MASH Unit was not set up in Korea until September 1950. Truman's speech to University of Wyoming students is actually from May 9 1950, a month and a half before the beginning of the conflict and 5 months before the first MASH was established, but the clip about his "Whistle Stop Tour" must be from the 1948 campaign. MacArthur's speech, on the other hand, is in response to the ticker tape parade of April 22 1951 when he was replaced.
Continuity mistake: After Hawkeye and Burns drive through the puddle, the mud on the colonel's face is different in the long and closeup shots. (00:02:00)
Continuity mistake: When Margaret pins on Frank's purple heart, his scrubs are very damp with sweat. When he enters the swamp, they're practically dry. (00:03:50)
Factual error: After Radar asks Klinger when his home movies will be ready, Max answers, "Ready whenever you are, C.B." This is the specific punch line to a joke that relates to the actual filming of Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 movie The Ten Commandments, which wasn't released until after the Korean War. (00:16:30)
Continuity mistake: When Jack delivers the patient to the MASH and when he is taking photos of the operation, there is no wound on his right hand. It only appears when Col.Potter says that he treated it "months ago". (00:04:30)
