M*A*S*H

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Other mistake: Across the show, several times doctors looking at an x-ray picture say things like, "Looks like he swallowed a whole junkyard" or "His belly is full of shrapnel." In fact, shrapnel, being metal fragments, should show up as clear white spots on the x-ray pictures, but none of that is visible in any of the x-rays shown throughout the show.

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Other mistake: Many times during the series, soldiers are around the OR carrying a loaded weapon (magazine attached for example), when there is a sign outside the entrance that says "all weapons must be cleared before entering the building" or similar.

stiiggy

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Suggested correction: With the rampant rule breaking seen in the show, why would this be a mistake?

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Other mistake: In all the opening sequence of each episode, a group of people are waiting on the pad to get the wounded off the choppers. If you look closely as the group goes to move, the character Mulcahy is there, but it's George Morgan, who played the role in the pilot episode. From the third episode on, it was played by William Christopher, so it's the wrong actor for all the other episodes.

Movie Nut

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.

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Trivia: Gary Burghoff's left hand was slightly deformed, and he often hid it behind his clipboard during filming.

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Dear Dad - S1-E12

Question: A number of times it is mentioned that the outfit is unarmed, yet several times, Frank has a rifle, or a pistol, and once Klinger had a grenade, and the guards and Klinger, while on sentry duty, has a rifle. Was this standard, or is this a mistake?

Answer: Even an Army field hospital would have SOME weapons for self-defense if the enemy attacked. What's meant is that it's not a combat outfit, and therefore wouldn't have enough weapons to actually attack anyone. (It's also mentioned a few times that the Officer of the Watch is supposed to carry a pistol at all times, but Hawkeye refuses to do it when he's in charge and Colonels Blake and Potter don't enforce the rule).

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: The Geneva Convention allows even doctors to carry a sidearm to be used in their self defense or the defense of their patients, however it is rare to do so.

stiiggy

Answer: As an old medical unit staffer, my experience is that med units have combat units assigned to defend them. Usually it was marines.

Answer: My old doctor (now deceased) served in Korea during the War. He was required to carry a sidearm anytime he was not in the hospital.

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