Leslie Nielsen plays an amiable but dangerous commander of troops at the front. He is reckless and has suffered excessive casualties. He has been operated on after being shot in the thigh, but yearns to get back to the front. Wen the boys realize what a danger he is they begin to work to get him reassigned away from a combat post. They begin to gaslight him by implying that Frank Burns is gay and interested in him, Margaret and Henry are drinking buddies and involved, and that he has lost his sense of reality. They keep moving his quarters to different places. Things fall nicely into place as his own paranoia begins to manifest itself. This is a hilarious episode. Henry is particularly funny in a scene where Hawkeye and Trapper get him drunk. McLean Stevenson was really a fine comedic actor. It's too bad we lost him at such a young age.
5 Reviews
"I have to shoot some targets, and I didn't even know they were in season"
Psilio21 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
As a Norwegian I must admit I had never heard about Leslie Nielsen until I watched "Airplane!" (1981) as a kid. Decades later when I bought all the M*A*S*H DVDs I noticed he was a guest actor in this brilliant episode.
It has a lot of great jokes by Trapper and Hawkeye (and others) as usual, but also features Nielsen as a good 'serious' actor. He portrays an officer that will do anything to kill as many 'gooks' as possible, even when it's not necessary to win ground and with great losses to the soldiers he command. Without knowing for sure, I'm guessing this is something that happens from time to time with over-confident and ambitious officers all over the world.
Another reason for this episode to be among my favorites is McLean Stevenson's many funny lines and facial expressions when he's drunk out of his mind after being tricked into it by Hawkeye, Trapper and Radar to achieve their goal of trying get Nielsen's character discharged to save further unnecessary casualties under his command.
All in all a very good episode that was the standard for this excellent show, with both great and funny dialogue combined with portraying the seriousness of war; where- and whenever it happens.
It has a lot of great jokes by Trapper and Hawkeye (and others) as usual, but also features Nielsen as a good 'serious' actor. He portrays an officer that will do anything to kill as many 'gooks' as possible, even when it's not necessary to win ground and with great losses to the soldiers he command. Without knowing for sure, I'm guessing this is something that happens from time to time with over-confident and ambitious officers all over the world.
Another reason for this episode to be among my favorites is McLean Stevenson's many funny lines and facial expressions when he's drunk out of his mind after being tricked into it by Hawkeye, Trapper and Radar to achieve their goal of trying get Nielsen's character discharged to save further unnecessary casualties under his command.
All in all a very good episode that was the standard for this excellent show, with both great and funny dialogue combined with portraying the seriousness of war; where- and whenever it happens.
Leslie Nielsen Col. Buzz Brighton
safenoe9 March 2024
Warning: Spoilers
The Ringbanger, from the first season of M*A*S*H, has special guest star Leslie Nielsen as Colonel Buzz Brighton. The Ringbanger was released the year after The Poseidon Adventure was released, and in that movie Leslie Nielsen played the ill-fated captain. Anyway, it happens that Leslie was the brother of Erik Nielsen, a high profile Canadian politician in the ministry of Brian Mulroney, and in fact Erik was the deputy prime minister. Anyway, this episode presaged future M*A*S*H episodes where the surgeons were up against gung-ho commanders, with one episode where Hawkeye rips an appendix from one, and that was a controversial episode.
Apex of the Curve
ayceart12 August 2021
M*A*S*H was a movie first, with well-defined motivation, well-defined characters; cutting edge implication. This episode of the TV series, IMHO, most captures that "intent" and the "be damned" attitude of the original duo of Elliot Gould and Donald Southerland. I guess it takes two army surgeons at the front of the Korean War to bring the humor of reality to life. Stevenson and the whole cast make this TV excellence in the highest regard; it actually rivals the movie. If you love M*A*S*H...there is probably an 80% chance this is your favorite episode. None of the whiny preaching b.s. Of most of the series.
The one where a colonel is kept from battle
jarrodmcdonald-119 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Leslie Nielsen gets special guest star billing in this uneven offering. Again the writers are trying to milk laughs from mental illness and homosexuality. Nielsen plays Colonel Buzz Brighton, a man that has a bullet removed and is anxious to return to battle, except Hawkeye and Trapper conspire with Radar to prevent this from happening. They feel too many men are dying under Brighton's command, and that it would be best for everyone involved if he was deemed mentally unfit and sent stateside for a rest.
Of course, Hawkeye and Trapper are taking it upon themselves to play god and attempt to affect the course of the war. This is where the show's liberalism seeps into the narrative in full force. I am sure there were plenty of conservatives who felt the way Nielsen's character does, that some casualties are necessary to win a war. If a fit colonel was sent away from battle, then it could result in the North Koreans and its communist allies achieving victories. The script doesn't address that possibility at all.
Also, the way this script is written we have Henry acting like a buffoon, easily intoxicated by Hawkeye and tricked into signing release papers for Nielsen. It's as if Henry has no real intelligence or ability to lead, and he might as well turn the 4077th over to Hawkeye and Trapper.
Meanwhile, Frank and Margaret realize Colonel Brighton should not still be hanging around. But their efforts are stymied, when Hawkeye and Trapper play matchmaker and convince Margaret she might have a shot with Brighton. And Frank is the victim of a smear campaign, where it is suggested that he's gay and wants Brighton for himself, which causes Brighton to steer clear of him. Yeah, it's that type of 'humor' which makes a nonsensical episode.
At times I wasn't sure if writer Jerry Mayer was trying to mine comedy from having Nielsen's character being gaslit by Hawkeye and Trapper...or if the comedy was supposed to come from maneuvering around the red tape required to get someone sent home. The story goes in several directions, and none of it is really too satisfying.
Of course, Hawkeye and Trapper are taking it upon themselves to play god and attempt to affect the course of the war. This is where the show's liberalism seeps into the narrative in full force. I am sure there were plenty of conservatives who felt the way Nielsen's character does, that some casualties are necessary to win a war. If a fit colonel was sent away from battle, then it could result in the North Koreans and its communist allies achieving victories. The script doesn't address that possibility at all.
Also, the way this script is written we have Henry acting like a buffoon, easily intoxicated by Hawkeye and tricked into signing release papers for Nielsen. It's as if Henry has no real intelligence or ability to lead, and he might as well turn the 4077th over to Hawkeye and Trapper.
Meanwhile, Frank and Margaret realize Colonel Brighton should not still be hanging around. But their efforts are stymied, when Hawkeye and Trapper play matchmaker and convince Margaret she might have a shot with Brighton. And Frank is the victim of a smear campaign, where it is suggested that he's gay and wants Brighton for himself, which causes Brighton to steer clear of him. Yeah, it's that type of 'humor' which makes a nonsensical episode.
At times I wasn't sure if writer Jerry Mayer was trying to mine comedy from having Nielsen's character being gaslit by Hawkeye and Trapper...or if the comedy was supposed to come from maneuvering around the red tape required to get someone sent home. The story goes in several directions, and none of it is really too satisfying.
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