Tuttle (M*A*S*H)

"Tuttle" is an episode from the television series M*A*S*H. It was the 15th episode broadcast and aired on January 14, 1973. It was written by Bruce Shelly 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

To get some additional supplies for the local orphanage, Hawkeye and Trapper invent a fictional Captain Tuttle (based on Hawkeye's imaginary friend from childhood). The deception slowly grows until everyone at the 4077th believes Tuttle to be a real person, and the situation worsens when General Clayton decides to award Tuttle a medal. Hawkeye and Trapper end their problems by faking Tuttle's death and claiming that he had asked for all of his back pay to be donated to the orphanage. As the episode ends, they joke with each other about where they got a pair of dog tags they used for the faked death - from the equally fictional Major Murdock.

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