M*A*S*H

M*A*S*H (1972)

15 mistakes in Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

(28 votes)

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Other mistake: How did Hawkeye Pierce, a surgeon, know how to drive a tank? It is nothing like driving a car and takes skills, training and experience that a surgeon simply would not have. He wouldn't even be able to start the engine.

M*A*S*H mistake picture

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Continuity mistake: Early in the episode a tank is driven into the MASH compound by a wounded soldier (demolishing the latrine in the process). The tank is an M24 Chaffee dating from the mid 1940s - it is squat and angular in shape. Later on in the episode after the tank has been hidden under a tent Hawkeye decides to drive the tank into the camp dump (demolishing the new latrine on the way). The tank has changed into an M4 Sherman - it is a lot higher and more rounded in shape.

david barlow

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Factual error: In "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", the shot of the helicopter pilot's hands show him wearing Nomex flight gloves. These were not used until 1967 in Vietnam. Black leather flying gloves were used during the Korean war.

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Continuity mistake: When the injured tank driver appears in the open hatch while Margaret's yelling at him, he does not have a bushy mustache, but in the next shot in the OR we hear Margaret telling Potter about the tank driver while they're operating on him, and when the camera pulls in closer we see that he has a big bushy mustache. (00:10:50)

Super Grover

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Continuity mistake: While everyone's gathered for their last evening together, taking turns telling what their life will be like when they get home, there are three closeups of Kellye in which we see that her caduceus insignia pin is on her right lapel and her First Lieutenant bar is on her left lapel, though it should be the opposite way, and her closeups are not flipped. The pins are on the proper side in other shots of Kellye during the episode.

Super Grover

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Visible crew/equipment: While Klinger is on the phone trying to set up BJ's transportation home, just as Winchester walks into the office pointing out the company clerk the shadow of the moving boom can be seen on the wall, and it's also visible when Winchester takes the mailbag and dumps the contents. (00:42:50)

Super Grover

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Continuity mistake: After Klinger presses Potter about getting rid of the tank Potter tells Klinger to act like a sergeant, and in the shot from Potter's office Klinger walks out with both of his helmet straps hanging loose, but when it cuts to him walking into the outer office one of the straps is suddenly gone. (00:33:45)

Super Grover

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Continuity mistake: When Father Mulcahy releases the locked up POWs, in the following explosion Father Mulcahy is knocked to the ground and his eyeglasses are still on his face properly, but in the next shot when BJ rushes to his side the eyeglasses are on the ground behind Mulcahy's head, and BJ did not remove them.

Super Grover

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Other mistake: When Hawkeye drives the damaged tank out of the camp, the front MG is missing. There's not a mark on the armor surrounding the MG port that might suggest it was destroyed in battle. Why would a tank in combat just be missing one of its MGs?

Doc

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Continuity mistake: B.J. is holding a Korean child who is subbing in for his own daughter when Margaret hands B.J. a piece of cake. Just as it looks as if he is about to feed the cake to the girl, the scene cuts to a full facial shot of Hot Lips, then cuts back to B.J. The cake has disappeared. There wasn't enough time to eat it all, and neither the child nor B.J. is eating. B.J. has no icing on his fingers; it has just disappeared. (01:16:50)

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Deliberate mistake: BJ mentions to Charles that if they don't sign the armistice it will be the second time in 2 years and then he will miss his daughter Erin's second birthday. This is BJs 7th season and when he arrived at the beginning of season 4, Erin was already born, making it absurd that seven years later she could still be one year old. Because the real war lasted 3 years and the show 11, there are obviously some errors like this that can't be avoided but this was blatantly egregious.

Mprete

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: That is assuming that every season the show ran is supposed to cover one year, and that all seasons are supposed to be consecutive, which hypothesis is not solidly supported in the show at all.

Doc

Frank Burns: You disgust me!
Hawkeye: You're right, Frank... I discussed you with everyone I know and we all find you disgusting.

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More trivia for M*A*S*H

That's Show Biz - S10-E1

Question: Talking with stripper Candy Doyle, Potter remarks that he still remembers how she used to spin her tassels and that he is reminded of this every time he sees a C 42 revving up. On the net I do find references to a C40A, a C47 and others, but no reference to an aircraft of the time called a C 42. What would he have been referring to?

Answer: The C-42 was a military variant of the Douglas DC-2. Very few C-42's were built, so it's questionable that Potter would specifically have seen that particular model, but, given his military background, it's not entirely unreasonable that he might use the military designation even when the aircraft in question is actually a civilian DC-2.

Tailkinker

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