Script Spotlight 43: “Change of Command”

As I continue my monthly rewatch of M*A*S*H in 2025, I decided to sync my script review posts with the season I am watching each month. For April, I am rewatching season four, so I chose an episode from season four. Since I reviewed the script for “Abyssinia, Henry” (03×24) last month, I found it fitting that I should review the script for “Change of Command” (04×02) this month. After we said a sad, heartfelt goodbye to Col. Blake at the end of the season three, we were introduced to Colonel Sherman Potter in season four. He would command the 4077th for the next eight seasons, so his introduction had to be done right. Over the years, I have read many articles, books, and reviews of the shows that call Col. Potter “Col. Blake’s replacement.” However, I would argue that Frank Burns was Blake’s replacement, and then Col. Potter replaced Burns. I believe this was done deliberately to give the audience a break before a new commanding officer of the 4077th was introduced. Before I dive deeper into that theory, let’s review the script and episode “Change of Command.”

The Script

The script does not have any production documents such as Call Sheets or the Shooting Schedule. It does have two sets of revised pages, however. There is a set of revised pages dated July 1, 1975 (pink) and a set of revised pages dated July 2, 1975 (green). There are not too many revised pages in this script since it is already a revised draft. The episode was written by a writing team that had already written a number of M*A*S*H episodes before “Change of Command.” The first two episodes of season four were very important since they were introducing the two new characters in season four: Captain B.J. Hunnicutt in “Welcome to Korea” (04×01) and Colonel Sherman Potter in this episode, so using veteran writers of the series made sense.

When I started collecting scripts in 2007, there was a short list of “must haves” for the collection. “Change of Command” was high on the list because it introduced a new character that would help define how the series would progress over the final eight seasons of the series. The introduction of Col. Potter was important because he would have been viewed as the replacement for Col. Blake, whose death had just rocked the M*A*S*H community at the end of the prior season. Introducing a new character into an established series is not easy, but M*A*S*H was successfully able to add two new characters in season four. This script, along with “Welcome to Korea” (04×01), are two important scripts in my collection that I rank near the top with “The Pilot” (01×01) and “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” (11×16).

The Final Episode

The 4077th is adjusting to their new situation living under the command of Major Frank Burns. Hawkeye and B.J. are making the Swamp feel more like home by adding a bar when Radar interrupts to tell them that they are getting a new commanding officer. Radar is scared to tell Frank, so Hawkeye and B.J. go with him. Frank takes the news better than expected…until he gets into Margaret’s tent and throws a tantrum, then goes AWOL. Col. Sherman Potter arrives at the camp (while Radar is sunbathing), and he wants to meet the officers. He is not impressed with Hawkeye or B.J.’s service records, but they are stuck there together. Hawkeye is concerned when he learns that Potter hasn’t been in an operating room in two years, so when they are called to the O.R., he has Margaret keep an eye on him. He does well! And after the session, B.J. and Hawkeye introduce him to the Swamp and the still. In the end, Frank returns and introduces himself to Col. Potter.

The writers of season four didn’t have an easy task. They had to introduce two characters at once, but they also kept the audience believing that Frank would be the commanding officer. I always thought it was strange that the end of “Welcome to Korea” (04×01) ruined the surprise that the 4077th would be getting a new commanding officer. They could have kept it a surprise since he wasn’t introduced in the first episode. Fox and CBS had already announced the casting, but keeping the audience waiting another week was an interesting move. Introducing Potter and B.J. separately was a brilliant move because it allowed each character to be properly introduced. Even in an hour episode, introducing two characters is a tall task. Keeping the character introductions separate would not overwhelm the audience. I really like Potter’s introduction. It is different from B.J.’s in that the main characters are skeptical of Potter at first. This would have matched the audience’s uncertainty as well, so that great bit of writing allowed the audience to cool to soften towards Col. Potter along with the characters.

Since this script is a revised final draft with several revised pages, there were not too many changes between the script and the episode. There were two minor changes worth mentioning, however. On page 18, there was an “introduction” speech from Col. Potter before he reviewed each of the officers’ files. In the scene, Potter is meant to sound more stern than Col. Blake, but I feel like that the speech took it a little too far, so I am glad it was cut. I also found it interesting that on page 23, the line Hawkeye was supposed to deliver about not wearing Klinger’s dress at the same time as him was broken up between Hawkeye and B.J. In my season three wrap-up, I mentioned that I felt like season three was when the show started to become overly Hawkeye centric. I like how they separated the line to give B.J. the joke instead of Hawkeye because it showed their developing relationship and similar sense of humor.

The first two episodes of season four likely had the producers, writers, and cast of M*A*S*H sweating. They replaced not one, but two characters in two episodes. B.J.’s introduction was more rocky in “Welcome to Korea,” and we instantly saw him in some of the most difficult situations possible (even though “Change of Command” is the first time we do see B.J. in the O.R.). For Col. Potter, his entrance came at the expense of Frank, not Henry. I believe the writers showed Frank as the commanding officer for at least one episode so the audience would be comfortable with Potter as the new commanding officer. Col. Potter was not Henry’s replacement, but he was Frank’s replacement, and that helped soften the blow. It’s still not easy. Mike Farrell and Harry Morgan replaced two beloved actors in the cast and two beloved characters on the show, and that was a lot of pressure. But they both performed perfectly. The producers and writers of M*A*S*H introduced the character and gave them room to grow with episodes such as “Dear Mildred” (04×07) and “Dear Peggy” (04×10), when we would hear the inner monologue of each of the new characters. They handled the cast changes well, and that is part of what made the series successful.