Tuttle (M*A*S*H)

"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. Due to its bizarre storyline, it is one of the best-known episodes of the show. This episode was nominated for a Writers Guild Award.^[1]

Guest cast is Dennis Fimple as Sergeant "Sparky" Pryor, Mary-Robin Redd as Sister Theresa, Herb Voland as Brigadier General Crandell Clayton, and James Sikking as a finance officer.

Overview

Hawkeye and Trapper invent a fictional Captain Tuttle (based on Hawkeye's imaginary friend from childhood), 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 and awarding him a medal.

Captain Tuttle is a parody of Lieutenant Kijé, the subject of a novella by Soviet author Yury Tynyanov. Kijé, who existed only on paper, was a supposed soldier in the Czar's army. As with Captain Tuttle, the paperwork edifice begins to collapse when Lieutenant Kijé must make a personal appearance. The novella was made into a film, famous for its music by Sergei Prokofiev.

Notes

• This is the only episode of the series in which the normally unseen character of Sparky actually appears.
• In the closing credits, "Captain Tuttle" is credited for playing himself.^[2]

References