The Longjohn Flap, the 19th episode of Season 1 of the M*A*S*H TV series, was also the 19th overall series episode in both broadcast and production order. Written by Alan Alda, it was directed by William Wiard, and originally aired on CBS-TV on February 18, 1973.
Synopsis[]
Hawkeye receives a pair of longjohns in the mail, much to everyone else's envy. He lends them to an ill Trapper out of sympathy, who promptly loses them to Radar in a poker game. The longjohns pass through the hands of just about everyone in the camp before finally ending up in Hawkeye's possession again.
Full episode summary[]
It's freezing at the 4077th, unless you're Hawkeye, because he got some long, woolly underwear from home.
Trapper has a cold, and guilt-trips Hawkeye into giving the longjohns to him. Then Trapper loses them to Radar at poker. After offering to trade them to Nurse Beddoes for a possible date with her, Radar trades them to the cook who offers him a whole cooked leg of lamb (with mint jelly).
The cook then uses them to bribe Frank not to demote him. Frank and Margaret have an argument about his wife, and to make it up to her, he gives the longjohns to her (Margaret, not his wife).
Klinger tries to rob Frank of the longjohns, because he's getting a terrible draft up his skirt. Frank tells Klinger that he gave the longjohns to Margaret, so he steals them from her.
Later Klinger, feeling guilty, confesses to the act to Father Mulcahy. He gives the longjohns to Mulcahy, who passes them to Henry as stolen property (after wearing them the night before).
Henry is caught trying them on by Hawkeye and Trapper. He's intent on keeping them, but just then his appendicitis flares up (a condition he's kept secret), so he is forced to take them off so the surgeons can operate on him, so Hawkeye finally gets his underwear back. When Radar returns them to Hawkeye in the Swamp, both he and Trapper start fake coughing, but Hawkeye refuses and puts them on again.
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- Hawkeye, Trapper, and Henry are roughly the same build, so the longjohns would fit all of them OK - but what about Radar, Klinger, Mulcahy, Margaret, and the cook? Perhaps when it is cold enough, anything is better than nothing.
- The Klinger Collection: Out on sentry duty with a short green cocktail dress and thin pink stole.
- Hawkeye says to Trapper, "Courage, Camille." This phrase originates from the play Camille by Alexandre Dumas, Jr. While it's unlikely anyone from that era would be familiar with the original 1848 play, they might have heard the phrase quoted by comedian Bob Hope in the 1940 film The Ghost Breakers. Potter also uses this phrase in Season 7 "Commander Pierce".
- Joseph Perry's only appearance as the company cook.
- This is the second time Klinger threatens Frank's life. The first time was in the Season 1 episode "Dear Dad". When Frank demanded that Klinger give him his red bandana that his Mom had given him, Klinger knocks him down and gets a grenade to shove down his shorts. Father Mulcahy talks him down.
- Despite all the people who had their hands on the longjohns, only five people actually wore them: Hawkeye, Trapper, Frank, Father Mulcahy, and Henry.
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Jamie Farr as Klinger
- William Christopher as Father Mulcahy
- Kathleen King as Nurse Beddoes
- Joseph Perry as The Cook
Gallery[]
