Tuttle (M*A*S*H)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Tuttle
Series = M*A*S*H


Caption =
Season = 1
Episode = 15
Airdate = January 14, 1973
Production = J315
Writer = Bruce Shelley

David Ketchum
Director = William Wiard
Guests = Dennis Fimple

Mary-Robin Redd

James Sikking

Herb Voland
Episode list = List of "M*A*S*H" episodes
Prev = Love Story
Next = 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. Due to its bizarre storyline, it is one of the most well-known episodes of the show.

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.

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.

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, including the cheeky line "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."

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.

Trivia

*"Captain Tuttle" was listed in the credits as playing "himself." Consequently, he has [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1813789/ 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.
*Writer Larry Gelbart has remarked that there was a "conscious - and total" influence from the Soviet novella and film "Lieutenant Kije" on this episode.M*A*S*H navigation | 1="Love Story" | 2="The Ringbanger"

References