M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H - The Pilot
Season 1, Episode 1 · Aired 1972-09-17
Synopsis
At the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M.A.S.H) unit in Korea, two army doctors by the names of Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre receive some exciting news in the mail. Their Korean house boy, Ho-John got accepted into Hawkeye's old college. Hawkeye and Trapper decide to hold a party filled with music, dancing, and alcohol to raise money for Ho-John's plane trip to the U.S. They achieve this by raffling off a weekend pass with a nurse, Lieutenant Dish for R&R in Tokyo.
From the desk: M*A*S*H opens its catalog run with “M*A*S*H - The Pilot” (1972-09-17). Showed comedy could be serious art without losing laughs. Set tensions, Alan Alda's power, and the cultural detonation of 'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.'
In the series
This episode is part of M*A*S*H (1972–1983) on CBS.
War comedy that earned its tears — and a finale still used as a ratings myth.
Key cast
- Alan Alda as Capt. Hawkeye Pierce
- Loretta Swit as Maj. Margaret Houlihan
- Jamie Farr as Cpl. Maxwell Klinger
- Harry Morgan as Col. Sherman Potter
- Gary Burghoff as Cpl. Radar O'Reilly