M*A*S*H

Pilot - S1-E1

Factual error: In the Swamp, Frank is complaining about everything, and goes to grab the still. The stove it's sitting on is a Coleman model 413E camping stove, a unit not seen until 1954, and the series takes place in 1950.

Movie Nut

Sometimes You Hear the Bullet - S1-E17

Factual error: We see Pvt. Wendel trying to hot-wire a jeep to escape. He wouldn't have to hot-wire it, because vehicles assigned to a combat zone were equipped with an ignition switch, not an ignition lock, for the simple reason that keys get lost or mislaid all the time and in an emergency, having to track down keys for vehicles would be extremely detrimental to an unit's combat effectiveness.

Doc

The Army-Navy Game - S1-E20

Factual error: The announcer says that it will be the 53rd Army-Navy game, but the game has been played every year since 1890, with no games in the years 1894-98, 1909, 1917-18, and 1928-29, so this game would be number 51. Additionally, at the end of the episode we find out the result was Navy 42 - Army 36. While Navy won all three games during the Korean conflict, none of those games ended with such a score. The score in the 1950 game was 14-2.

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.

More mistakes in M*A*S*H
More quotes from M*A*S*H
More trivia for M*A*S*H

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.

More questions & answers from M*A*S*H

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.