This month, M*A*S*H celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Spun off from Robert Altman’s 1970 film of the same name, the TV dramedy followed the lives of U.S. military medical personnel stationed in South Korea during the Korean War. The iconic CBS show was widely beloved, and its ’83 finale remains the most-watched scripted television episode in history.
The thought of revisiting these TV classics is usually a thorny one. Products of their time, it’s not uncommon to stumble on episodes, plot lines, and characters that look more than a little problematic in hindsight—especially in terms of their treatment of LGBTQ characters. So, it’s not entirely unfair to be wary of the fact that, in 1974, a M*A*S*H episode addressed the hot topic of gay men in the military.
Related: 5 of the worst attempts at queer(ish) sitcoms ever
But, as a new retrospective piece from SlashFilm reminds us, M*A*S*H was always a show with a “radically compassionate ethos,” and this quote-unquote “gay” episode was indicative of that, telling a rather progressive and open-minded story—even if the ending wasn’t quite the boundary-breaking one the writers had in mind.
The season two episode was called “George,” and it opens with the MASH unit treating a badly bruised George Weston (Richard Ely). After his recovery, George comes out—indirectly, but openly—to Hawkeye (Alan Alda). There’s no big reaction, there’s no hatred or discomfort, and there are jokes, but George isn’t the butt of them.
And when others at the camp learn about George, their reactions are refreshingly unphased. With one exception.
As the piece notes, the episode—written by John W. Regier and Gary Markowitz—”makes sure its heroes treat George’s sexual identity as neither a problem nor even a novelty.” It’s pretty astounding considering it aired a full 36 years before the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
The lone dissenting voice and driving force of the drama is Frank Burns (Larry Linville), a stern disciplinarian who frequently took on the role of M*A*S*H’s antagonist. He’s the only character to express any kind of homophobia toward George, and he does so under the guise of “following the rules” as he tries to have the gay soldier dishonorably discharged.
Related: It gets worse: 5 more awful attempts at queer(ish) TV shows
Hawkeye and Trapper’s (Wayne Rogers) scheming to help their friend leads to them buttering Frank up and coaxing him to admit he once cheated on a med school test. They then use this intel as blackmail so that Frank won’t submit the discharge report, and prove that he has no room to judge anyone else.
It turns out, the writers initially had a different ending in mind. As Markowitz revealed in a 2021 episode of the M*A*S*H Matters podcast, the original plan was to have Hawkeye and Trapper get Frank drunk, during which point the stringent major revealed that he once experienced sexual attraction for another man.
So, right, the intended ending does veer a little too closely to the overused stereotype that homophobic bullies are, themselves, secret closet cases. But its implications were unprecedented for the time in terms of queer representation on screen. SlashFilm sums it up nicely:
“It’s a scene that, if executed as well as M*A*S*H typically pulled off its major moments, could have conveyed a genuinely judgement-free sexual fluidity among the men of the 4077th crew. That in itself would have been extremely groundbreaking, but CBS apparently had other plans.”
Related: Thank You For Your Service: Five LGBT Veterans Who Helped Change The World
Still, the ending that aired is fine final note for a truly landmark episode of television. LGBTQ characters were still few and far between, and they were so frequently the target of mean-spirited jokes—or worse. But with “George,” M*A*S*H presented a gay character on his own terms, and then showed its massive, mainstream audience what it means to be a thoughtful and supportive ally.
For further insights into M*A*S*H, we highly recommend you read the full retrospective at SlashFilm, or check out the below video essay from Matt Baume, both of which offers an insightful reexamination of this historical episode.
All 11 seasons of M*A*S*H are available to stream exclusively on Hulu.
Invader7
Sort of ahead of its time..
wikidBSTN
WAY ahead of it’s time. I was just 9 years old when I saw the episode – and it had a positive impact on me.
Rambeaux
Have wondered why the subject of how the show treated women is never discussed?
The Nurses were treated as “c*m dumps” for the men on the show.
And Mr. “Woke”, Alan Alda, was the worst of all of them.
Man About Town
Not always. I remember an episode that consisted entirely of a journalist interviewing the staff, and when a question came up about the nurses, everyone said they were professional, reliable and efficient, including Hawkeye. Even Frank had to admit they were “competent” which was high praise coming from him.
dbmcvey
Interesting. “c*m dumps” is apparently okay but my comment has to await moderation for a very long time because I questioned the OP’s use of “woke?”
scotty
frank burns eats worms.
Jim
One thing he author missed was that it was the homophobe that was put in a negative light.
Colonel
Mr. Scheetz: Thank you for this worthy article. But I hope you will consider some editing in connection your use of “non-plussed.” Nonplussed means, basically, “freaked out,” or immobilized as a function of fear. It does not mean “nonchalant” or “casual.”
still_onthemark
He also wrote “unphased” which should be unfazed.
heatherleanne
The dictionary literally defines “nonplussed” as “not bothered, surprised, or impressed by something.” I’m not sure where you’re getting your definition.
Walker
Presumably from.any of the major peer reviewed dictionaries. The first definition is always considered, historically, the most common, historically and internationally accepted one.
Merriam-Webster: 1. : unsure about what to say, think, or do : PERPLEXED
NOTE: The use of nonplussed to mean “unimpressed” is an Americanism that has become increasingly common in recent decades and now appears frequently in published writing. It apparently arose from confusion over the meaning of nonplussed in ambiguous contexts, and it continues to be widely regarded as an error.
Dictonary.com: 1. completely puzzled or perplexed by something unexpected
USAGE NOTE FOR NONPLUSSED
In correct usage, nonplussed means “puzzled or perplexed”: Her odd choice of words left me somewhat nonplussed. However, there is a more recent, generally unfamiliar usage, meaning “not dismayed; indifferent or unexcited”: He imitated the nonplussed expression of the character Spock on Star Trek. This newer meaning can be ambiguous, since it is almost the opposite of the original meaning. Partly for this reason, it is not accepted as standard usage and should generally be avoided.
Oxford: surprised and confused so that you do not know what to do or say
OP is a little overboard in describing the word as “paralyzed,” it is not that extreme a reaction. But you are completely incorrect in defending a usage that all major dictionaries consider wrong.
Pray tell, what dictionary are YOU using that “literally” uses that definition without a note saying it is nonstandard and regarded as incorrect?
Covid Hermit
There was also the hypocrisy of Frank Burns wanting to discipline someone because of their private sex life, while Frank (the “happily” married, God-fearing “Christian”) was carrying on an extramarital affair with Major Houlihan (the head nurse). That also made this particular episode stand out in my mind.
still_onthemark
It’s worth noting that military antigay purges were almost always in peacetime when they had time for such trivial stuff. During a war, everyone was too busy doing their jobs to worry about that. Only a pedantic pr!ck like Frank would make a big deal about it in wartime.
Similarly, Klinger dressed in drag as a way (he hoped) to get discharged, but the unit being shorthanded while a war was going on, nobody cared about that!
Vince
I remember the first mash movie and Elliot Gould thinking he was gay so they gave him a mock funeral and then a women made love to him that night and totally saved him. A very defining moment for me. I equated gay with being better off dead after that.
Ironically he had a gay son and was very gay positive later on.
KyleMichelSullivan
Wasn’t it Painless, the dentist, who was going to off himself and was given a last supper in the same visual as DiVinci’s?
Mr. Stadnick
The character in Mash the movie was played by John Schuck . His character was Capt. Walter “The Painless Pole” Waldowski, DDS
dbmcvey
I guess the series was “spun off” the movie, but the series was so much better. I’ve never liked the movie. I think it’s sexist and homophobic and just unpleasant. The “protagonists” come off as bullies. The series is much, much better and so much funnier.
BGreen1963
Everyone has missed the main advantage for the LGBTQ Community at the time was EVERYONE was talking about the show the next day & anyone who spoke negatively about “Gays” were called “Franks” or “Ferret Face” for a while.
pat5713
I can’t believe this article didn’t mention Jamie Farr’s character Maxwell Klinger who dressed as a woman to get out of the military. While it was his attempt to get out of the military, it didn’t work. In a way, and although it was meant to be funny, it normalized his cross-dressing behavior.
ffmikey
I served in the army from 1967 to 1969. Every unit I was in from Basic Training to where I was ultimately assigned had openly gay servicemen. We had a openly gay First Lieutenant Training Officer in my Basic Training Company having a sexual affair with one of the trainees. I knew one guy in my AIT Company who was gay and we ended up in the same unit in Germany. There was a rumor two guys were found in bed together on night in our AIT unit and I asked him if it was he. He replied no, but knew who the two guys were. In Germany there were openly gay couples. There was a career NCO who had been in the Army for over ten years. Yes, we were at war in Viet Nam and yes the military was taking any warm body they could find as they did in Korea and WW2. But lets not fool ourselves into believing gay did not serve openly in the military, the myth that they didn’t was only to be politically correct and calm the fears of ” little Johnnys parents their sons ASS was safe sleeping in those overcrowded barracks at night.”
DADT was not repealed by Obama. It was a moot point by the time he signed the legislation and in fact delayed the implementation of allowing gays in the military by one year. The Log Cabin Gay republican Club filed a lawsuit which reached the Federal Courts and DADT was declared unconstitutional. With that said and myself previously in the military, it should have taken only a couple of months to implement regulations concerning gays serving. Rule One: Don’t mess with your fellow soldiers who are gay. Rule Two: No sucking or F**king in the barracks. Combat troops are trained for their mission in about sixteen weeks, instituting regulations concerning gays in the military should have taken only a short time instead of the entire year it took after Obama signed the beuracratic legislation.
Rock Star
Hey guys, mostly positive answers here and I am grateful not every one has to start a flame. Those with slightly negative reactions have to remember that declaring you were gay back then got you drummed out or not let in at all. Times have changed so be grateful. Let’s not dwell too much on the sordid past.
Yes it’s true some were basically openly gay as my Marine brother who served with a Marine contingent on a battleship in charge of guarding the nukes. He had no problems because he was dating a senior officer I suppose, but he also said being openly gay was not a big issue on board. Flaunting it was a no no but almost nobody cared one way or another.
monty clift
It really was ahead of its time, but it’s ashamed that sentiment didn’t follow in the years to come. Just over a decade later there was one of the most horrific killings of a gay serviceman (Allen Schindler), and a follow up response to that was DADT, that really did nothing to protect gay servicemen and women.