Script Spotlight 51: “The Incubator”

After wrapping up my 2025 rewatch of M*A*S*H last month, I had to go back to an alternate method of finding scripts to review each month. For the last eleven months, I have reviewed a script in the season I watched as part of the rewatch. December is a holiday month, but I have already written about all of the M*A*S*H Christmas, New Years, and Boxing Day episodes. I had to find a new method of finding episodes. I noticed that this post was scheduled for December 1, and it is rare that any of these posts go live on the first of the month. I wondered then if any of the M*A*S*H episodes aired in December 1, and there was one. The episode is “The Incubator” (02×12), and I have a script for it! After spending the last eight months with the later seasons of the cast, let’s revisit the early days of M*A*S*H in this episode from season two!

The Script

Speaking of Cooper, this script belonged to him! Cooper had all of his scripts from M*A*S*H bound into three volumes, and the script for “The Incubator” is in volume three. I have previously written about other scripts that belonged to Cooper (“The Sniper” (02×10), “Hot Lips and Empty Arms” (02×14), and “The Choson People” (02×19)), and like those, there are a lot of details in each script. This script contains the Call Sheets for each day of filming; however, the full Shooting Schedule is missing for this script. Other scripts in his collection do have that bound with the scripts. The script also contains two sets of revised pages dated October 19, 1973 (blue) and October 22, 1973 (pink). What appears most throughout the script are Cooper’s notations. He underlined important details of each scene, marked subtle line changes, added notes about camera angles, etc. The backs of some pages also have the length of scenes in minutes and seconds as he calculated how close they were getting to the 26 minutes of allowed television time. Cooper was very detailed, and by many accounts (including his own), very controlling. He saw himself as the boss of the set, and his scripts illustrate how into the weeds he was.

Cooper, and the M*A*S*H cast, have both written about and discussed the tension behind the scenes between the cast and the director. I have also written about Cooper’s attitude towards M*A*S*H as expressed in his autobiography. While I don’t doubt that there was a tension due to Cooper’s directing style, I can’t help but admire the work that they were able to achieve despite that tension. When watching any of the thirteen episodes Cooper directed, there is no hint of the drama that unfolded behind the cameras. Perhaps that is due to exaggeration on the part of Cooper, but either way, it illustrates the professionalism of the M*A*S*H cast and the crew to not only complete the thirteen episodes, but generate some fan favorite episodes. As I mentioned earlier, Cooper won an Emmy Award in 1974 for the episode “Carry On, Hawkeye” (02×11). His scripts are well preserved and notated which offers some unique insights into the life of a director on the set of M*A*S*H.

The Final Episode

Hawkeye and Trapper wake up in the Swamp after a wild party. After seeing the aftermath, they decide to do something about their drinking and slow down. As they go on duty, one of their patients has an infection, and it is going to take 72 hours to get lab results from Tokyo. Hawkeye and Trapper talk to Henry because they think that the 4077th needs an incubator. They get Radar to submit a request, and Captain Salon arrives at the unit. He tells them “no” because the 4077th already has everything it is entitled to (even though Col. Blake just got a barbecue). Hawkeye and Trapper don’t take no for answer, and they have Radar look for incubators. They locate a unit with three of them! They go and speak with Major Morris, who has no interest in giving up one of the incubators. They ask to see his commanding officer, and Col. Lambert offers to sell them one. Frustrated, they keep going up the chain and end up at a press conference with General Mitchell. They ask him why MASH units aren’t equipped with incubators, and he gives a jargon filled answer. They cause chaos at the press conference, and they return to the 4077th where they are lectured by Col. Blake. After leaving Blake’s office, Radar surprises them with an incubator that he traded the barbecue for!

After spending the last eight months with the later seasons of M*A*S*H, it was great to see Henry, Trapper, and Radar again! There are some things that stood out to me, however. The laugh track is much more prevalent in the early episodes. By the later seasons, it is used far less frequently. It was pretty distracting at first because I wasn’t used to hearing it. I also noticed that Margaret doesn’t appear in this episode. It is possible that Loretta Swit had other commitments. As I followed along in the script, there were several changes between the script and final episode worth noting. Before Hawkeye and Trapper wake up, the script has a PA announcement that woke them (page 1). The scene in the Swamp between Hawkeye, Trapper, and Frank was originally a few lines longer (page 6). When Henry tells Hawkeye and Trapper to dress up for their visit with the Major, the scene included a few additional lines (pages 20 – 21). The scene with Col. Lambert was a little longer in the script (page 27). And the script has a completely different tag in which Frank, Hawkeye, Trapper, and Owens use the incubator for cultures (pages 35 – 36).

I watched this episode a few days after finishing season eleven, and M*A*S*H truly does feel like two different shows when going from “As Time Goes By” (11×15) to “The Incubator.” While the characters and the tone are different, it is still M*A*S*H at its core. This is a great early episode, and it is part of one my favorite seasons of the series. The episode clearly illustrates the absurdity of bureaucracy and the military industrial complex. What is really interesting about this episode is that there is no B-story. That was more common in the earlier episodes of M*A*S*H than the later episodes. Between the script and episode itself, we see the complexity that went in to making 26 minutes of television in 1973. The series had found a strong audience in 1973, and episodes like “The Incubator” are a great example of why the show grew in its second season. I like aspects of all eleven seasons of M*A*S*H, but there is something comforting about returning to the early episodes of the series. “The Incubator” is critical of the absurdity of war while finding the comedy in it. It is respectful in its criticism, and that is what made M*A*S*H a fan favorite.