Tuttle (M*A*S*H)
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| M*A*S*H episode | |
|---|---|
| “Tuttle” | |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 15 |
| Guest star(s) | Dennis Fimple Mary-Robin Redd |
| Writer(s) | Bruce Shelley David Ketchum |
| Director | William Wiard |
| Production no. | J315 |
| Original airdate | January 14, 1973 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| Love Story | The Ringbanger |
"Tuttle" is an episode from the television series M*A*S*H. It was the fifteenth episode broadcast and aired on January 14, 1973. It was written by Bruce Shelley and David Ketchum and directed by William Wiard.
Guest cast is Dennis Fimple as Sergeant Pryor, Mary-Robin Redd as Sister Theresa, Herb Voland as General Clayton and James Sikking as a finance officer.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Hawkeye and Trapper invent a fictional Captain Tuttle, but one thing leads to another and soon everyone at the camp believes Captain Tuttle is real. This creates problems when General Clayton decides to honor Tuttle by placing his picture in the newspaper.
[edit] Detailed story
The episode opens with Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper McIntyre giving away supplies to Sister Theresa, a nun who runs the local orphanage. When she attempts to thank them, they claim they're just following orders and, when pressed, Pierce says these orders originated from Captain Tuttle.
Tuttle was Pierce's imaginary friend in childhood, whom he used as something of a scapegoat. When Radar O'Reilly, who's in on the fact Tuttle doesn't actually exist, explains to Henry Blake how Tuttle already signed the supply form, Blake realizes Tuttle has never pulled any O.D. duty and makes him Officer of the Day.
Naturally, when Frank Burns discovers he isn't Officer of the Day he decides to find out everything he can about his stand-in. Radar manages to stall Frank so Hawkeye and Trapper can forge a dossier on Tuttle.
After this, things get out of hand. Pierce and McIntyre, "realizing" Tuttle hasn't been paid in fourteen months, have all his finances transferred to Sister Theresa's orphanage. General Clayton was so impressed with this act that he proceeds to personally award Tuttle by placing his picture in the newspaper.
When Clayton arrives, Pierce explains how Tuttle accidentally jumped off a helicopter without a parachute. Pierce delivers Tuttle's eulogy, saying "There's a little bit of Tuttle left in all of us--in fact, you might say that all of us together made up Tuttle."
When Radar asks Pierce and McIntyre where they came up with Tuttle's dog tags and parachute, McIntyre claimed they were from Major Murdock. When asked who Major Murdock was, McIntyre replied he was Tuttle's replacement, to which Pierce chimed in, "Oh yeah, I had breakfast with him this morning."
[edit] Plot hole
- It is never explained what happened when Colonel Blake called Tuttle to his office. When Tuttle doesn't show up, Frank goes out to find him, before encountering Major Houlihan and having a small argument with her. It then cuts to Hawkeye and Trapper in Blake's office at night, where they "discover" Tuttle hasn't been paid in fourteen months.
[edit] Notes
- "Captain Tuttle" was listed in the credits as playing "himself." Consequently, he has an entry in the Internet Movie Database.
- This is the only episode in which the viewers actually see Sparky and learn his real name, Sergeant Pryor.
| Preceded by: "Love Story" |
M*A*S*H episodes | Followed by: "The Ringbanger" |
| M*A*S*H | |
|---|---|
| Film: | MASH |
| TV series: | M*A*S*H | Trapper John, M.D. | AfterMASH | W*A*L*T*E*R |
| Characters: |
Hawkeye Pierce | Trapper John McIntyre | Duke Forrest | B.J. Hunnicutt | Henry Blake | Sherman T. Potter | Frank Burns | Margaret Houlihan | Charles Winchester | Radar O'Reilly | Father Mulcahy | Maxwell Klinger | Igor Straminsky | Luther Rizzo | Sidney Freedman | Col. Flagg | Spearchucker Jones | Ugly John | Walter Koskiusko Waldowski | Ho-Jon | Nurse Bigelow | Lieutenant Dish | Donald Penobscot |
| Episodes: | Season 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Books: | M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors | M*A*S*H Goes to Maine |
| Related material: | Guest stars | Differences between book, film and TV versions of M*A*S*H | Suicide Is Painless |
