A Televisual Feast

Blah. And here I thought I liked Robert Klane on “M*A*S*H.” Henry’s got someone after him and comedy ensues. While it does give McLean Stevenson more screen time than any other episode to date (by cutting Hot Lips out), the episode betrays the simplest “M*A*S*H” rule to date: no subplots. This episode doesn’t really have a subplot (it’s a red herring for the main one), but it suggests it will–Henry being a hard-nosed jerk. Except, with the exception of not granting a tired Trapper leave (it’s so odd to see Wayne Rogers in a scene on his own, it’s little wonder he left, tired of playing second fiddle to Hawkeye–and I love Rogers as Trapper, but I can understand it, based on my surprise), Henry isn’t really unreasonable… he’s just doing his job.

Klane’s script has a bunch of problems, even though it does give Father Mulcahy his first good scene so far. It’s a sitcom script is all. There’s nothing else going on–any mental fatigue caused due to war is incidental… it’s so… blah.

It’s a particularly disappointing episode because the title character–the Cowboy–really is a cowboy. They call him Cowboy because of his cowboy hat and his six-shooter. It’s the kind of laugh-hostile joke I’d expect from a sitcom I don’t watch… certainly not “M*A*S*H.” Weekend at Bernie’s II makes a lot more sense now (and how did Henry never go golfing before, if Ho-John is such a good caddy… Henry somehow missed Hawkeye and Trapper golfing? It makes no sense).

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