MAS*H has been around for a long time. Starting its run in 1972 it showcased the daily lives and drama of a medical crew during the Korean War. The show spanned 11 Seasons and over 250 episodes, making it a classic that would be shown to multiple generations.
Each episode was typically only 25 minutes, with some reaching up to an hour. But with so many episodes to its name, we wondered just which episodes ranked the worse, and how they stacked up against the other season.
L.I.P. (Local Indigenous Personnel) (7.6)
After Hawkeye gets a good look at the new nurse, he finds himself trying to free up more time to spend with her. He offers her a date to the movies, which she accepts and is left with only a hand-shake after she turns him down in her tent. Hawkeye is left to pursue the new love interest that routinely gives him mixed signals while trying to help another G.I get married. The plan is halted after Lt. Willis learns that the G.I’s marriage is interracial, and refuses to sign the papers allowing him to leave the base.
Give And Take (7.5)
While one of the worst-rated episodes, it’s also one of the more wholesome ones you’ll see on the show. The synopsis of this episode revolves around Private Kurland waking up wounded and shooting a Korean soldier after finding him trying to steal his boots. After Kurland makes his way back to base and is resting in his hospital bed, he is appalled to see the same Korean soldier being taken care of in the same hospital. His disdain only weakens over-time, and even offers the man a warm blanket after he realizes he is suffering from severe frostbite.
Images (7.4)
After a patient comes in covered with multiple tattoos, many of the cast members were left impressed. This went double for Radar who instantly wanted a few tattoos of his own after hearing from the G.I that “The ladies won’t leave you alone” Unable to decide which one to get he enlists the advice of Hawkeye and BJ to help him, but find they are completely against the idea. Radar isn’t convinced just yet and ends up leading the boys to Rosie’s Bar where he plans to get one. While there, the tattoo artist agrees they are nice to look at, but gives Radar the horror stories he needs to sway his stance on them.
Love and Marriage (7.3)
This episode is centered around Hawkeye and Trapper Stopping McShane from marrying a call-girl with tuberculosis. When McShane brings in his soon to be bride, she is immediately recognized as a two-year war of Rosie’s Bar. This leads for Trapper and Hawkeye to take him aside and advise him to delay the marriage if only for a few months.
McShane reluctantly agreed but had the conditions set for two weeks instead of two months. McShane’s secret scam was exposed to Trapper after he admitted to doing it to only make extra income.
The Birthday Girls (7.3)
Margret makes plans to visit Tokyo for her birthday and enlists the help of Klinger to drive her to Seoul even though she doesn’t necessarily tell him why. Klinger forgets and is well into the process of arranging a lottery around the birth of a calf. Margret gets furious at Klinger about forgetting their arrangement and they quickly take off to get to Seoul in time. On the way there, Margret gets impatient and wrongfully advises for Klinger to take a presumably faster route despite the rough terrain. The terrain proved too difficult for the Jeep, and it promptly broke down after hitting a massive pot-hole.
ShowTime (7.2)
Another USO touring group, known as The Miller Sisters make their way to the base showing a compilation of clips humorously detailing camp life. Meanwhile, Henry’s wife gives birth to their firstborn son and gets depressed at his absence from the event. Radar’s immediate course of action for this is to show Henry a locally born baby in hopes of cheering him up. The episode shows many cast members getting screwed over in a variety of ways, and the antics didn’t sit very well with many of the fans even with the episode first aired.
Exorcism (7.1)
This episode took a sharp turn away from the major theme of the show. In it, a local peddler has set up shop on the compound which immediately got the attention of Colonel Potter. The Col explains the man needs to leave due to his shop blocking traffic, and orders one of his men to take down the spirit posts around the compound that ward off evil spirits. As soon as Radar does as he’s ordered many bizarre events take place almost immediately. These events only stopped when Hawkeye was allowed to conduct an exorcism.
Hawkeye (7.1)
After coming back from another Aid Station, Hawkeye finds himself almost hitting a young kid on the way back to base. Hawkeye swerves to avoid the child only to end up crashing and hurting his head before finding himself dazed and confused in a local Korean Hut.
Neither of the occupants that he found himself with spoke a single word of English, and he resorted to handing it to a village child in hopes it would reach the regiment. The episode is centered around many of Hawkeyes past experiences and didn’t score well as compared to the other episodes in Season 4, sitting at 7.1/10
That’s Show Biz (7.1)
In this episode, The men meet a touring USO show that quickly stirs up trouble when one of the showgirls ends up needing an emergency operation after getting caught up in an artillery barrage. The showgirl, known as Marina, ends up falling head over heels in love with Hawkeye as soon as she gets to the camp. The affection isn’t subtle throughout parts of the episode since Marina didn’t care to hide it. The episode wasn’t well-received even during its first premiere, and over 280 voted this episode as one of the worst of Season 10.
Our Finest Hour (7.0)
This episode sees a reprising character known as Clete Roberts whom we first meet in “The Interview”. His newscasting career leads him to update people on the Korean War by conducting a series of TV interviews with many of the leading cast members. Many of the scenes used in it are made up of past episodes of the show, which many fans ended up disliking. The episode was one of the lowest-scoring on Season 7, which has some of the lowest-rated episodes aside from Season 11. 234 separate voters polled it at 7.0/10
