Trivia / M*A*S*H S1 E4: Chief Surgeon Who?

• Adaptation Displacement:
  • While few people today remember that the series, and the original movie, were based on a novel, even fewer remember that one of the plot points in this episode (Hawkeye being called out by a higher-ranking officer for playing poker while a patient stabilizes) is based on a chapter from said novel.
  • Even fewer remember that in the novel and film, Trapper was the abdominal specialist and chief surgeon.
• Creator Backlash: Wayne Rogers was incensed when this episode was introduced for the very reasons listed above; giving Trapper's identities as the chief surgeon and thoracic specialist to Hawkeye. Rogers felt, somewhat correctly, that the show was turning Trapper into Hawkeye's second banana, and his frustration with the lack of development Trapper got led to him leaving the show at the end of Season 3.
• First Appearance: Jamie Farr as Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger.

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