As we begin September, we are quickly approaching fall. In 1976, this meant it was almost primetime television premiere season, and M*A*S*H began its fifth season that year. That premiere episode was “Bug Out” (05×01), and it was the second season in a row that the season premiered with an hour episode. This episode is interesting for a few reasons because we see a full scale bug out of the 4077th, Jeff Maxwell is not Private Igor, there are two Rosies, and this is the first season premiere to feature both B.J. and Colonel Potter. Season five brought about a few changes for M*A*S*H, and would be the last season for one character and cast member. It all started with “Bug Out” on September 21, 1976, so let’s review the script and the final episode!
The Script
This is a revised final draft of the script dated July 6, 1976. This was likely the first episode filmed for the new season since it was filmed in early July. The episode was written by the writing team of Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum, who are crediting with writing 24 episodes of M*A*S*H from seasons three to six. In fact, they wrote the series premiere for seasons three, four, five, and six! That would have been no easy feat since their writing spans three major cast changes and three, hour long series premiere episodes.
Sadly, this script does not have any of the production documents, so we do not know what the production scheduled would have been like for an hour long episodes versus a typical episode. I would image it would take eight days instead of the standard four since you could think of the episode as two standard episodes (the episode is shown in two parts in syndication). There are some interesting markings on this script, however. The front cover is labeled “Salkowitz,” who was a character in the episode. It appears Salkowitz was played by Jeff Maxwell, but his role is uncredited. In the closing credits, Salkowitz isn’t listed despite having a few lines of dialogue after being addressed by Frank while digging the new latrine. The other note about characters is that the episode has two Rosies. In the Rosie’s Bar scene, Rosie is played by Frances Fong, but Eileen Saki makes her first appearance in the series as “Korean Woman.” She would later play Rosie in seasons seven through ten.
Since this episode is an hour long, the script is longer than usual. At 67 pages, is is just about double the length of a standard script. Throughout those pages, there aren’t any additional markings or notes made. There aren’t any revised pages either. However, on the back cover, there is a handwritten scorecard for a “Backgammon Tourney.” The players were “Dennis B.,” “Dennis F.,” and “CC.” I am not sure who any of these people could be. Dennis Troy appeared in a number of episodes, but the initials don’t match him. In any event, “Dennis B.” appears to be winning! I wonder who played backgammon on set and whether they only had time to get one round in.
The Final Episode
In the season five premiere episode, the rumor going around camp is that the 4077th is going to bug out. Everyone refuses to work, and Hawkeye is concerned about starting a delicate surgery on a soldier’s back because of the rumor. Col. Potter talks to General Hamilton who denies that they are going to bug out. Potter decides to address the rumor directly just as he gets the message that the 4077th is bugging out! We see the camp being torn down and Col. Potter and a chopper pilot scouting a new location, all while Frank is left in charge. Since the surgery had been started on the soldier’s back, Hawkeye, Margaret, and Radar stay behind as the rest of the camp moves to the new site. Once they get there, Col. Potter finds that the building on the new site is occupied. He arranges to trade the building for Klinger’s dresses. The next day, as soon as the wounded soldier is put on a chopper to evacuate, Hawkeye, Margaret, and Radar begin to leave just as everyone returns.
I have always liked this episode as it demonstrates how a MASH unit could be mobile, and it deals with some harsh realities of war. Sometimes wounded soldiers cannot be easily moved, and the logistics of moving a MASH unit would be a nightmare. The way the 4077th moves is not exactly how a real MASH unit would operate. Ordinarily, half the unit would move, then the second half would follow. A few other observations from this episode is that Richard Lee-Sung guests in this episode. This is one of his 11 credited appearances in M*A*S*H. He also made an appearance in AfterMASH! The other thing I realized was that this was the last episode of the Margaret/Frank relationship since the next episode is “Margaret’s Engagement” (05×02).
When I compared the script to the episode, there are not many major changes. This was a “Revised Final” draft, so I wouldn’t expect many changes at that point. There are a few minor changes of note. Col. Potter calls the chopper pilot “Barry,” but in the script, he is named “Buck.” There is another error when Potter tells Radar to have Hawkeye start the surgery on the wounded soldier. In the script, it is written as “heart surgery” but in the final episode (and in the previous scene), it is noted that he needed back surgery. Finally, when Hawkeye says, “I always wake up when a lady pumps her sphygmomanometer,” the word is also spelled out phonetically (sfig-mo-man-om-et-er) so Alan Alda would know how to correctly pronounce it.
There are some genuinely funny moments in this episode. The one that gets me every time is when Klinger chases the woman who is trying to run away with a few dresses. He tackles her! Once the trade has been agreed to, however, she takes the dresses, then waves them in Klinger’s face as she walks by. That was not written into the script, but it is a funny call back moment! As a season premiere, this episode works really well. New viewers get a good sense of each of the characters, and returning viewers got to see their favorite characters in a new, challenging situation. As for the script, my only wish was that it included the production documents as I would like to have known how many additional days it to film this episode considering there was a lot of filming on the outdoor set.
The M*A*S*H Historian 
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