Season Four episode "Hawkeye"

[Dr. Thong]

I've always wondered why they did an all-Hawkeye episode in season four.

While I love Alan Alda as Hawkeye, I really missed the other characters.

Yes, Alan Alda was the lead, but I found a whole show devoted to his talking-to-stay-alive thing kind of much.

I don't know why the producers did this, but I have a theory that maybe they went over budget that season and were contractually obligated to provide a certain number of episodes.

By doing a Hawkeye-only show, they only had to pay Alan Alda plus the day players who portrayed the Korean family.

Anybody here in SO land know what the origins of the episode were?

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

I don't know specifically. It followed Archie Bunker's episode trapped in the basement and Maude's episode with the psychiatrist, so by the time MASH picked it up a stream of consciousness episode was an established storyline.

You could be right. I hadn't considered that. The '70s was a time when "sitcoms" were experimenting with different storytelling techniques and M*A*S*H was certainly at the forefront of that kind of thing.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

I don't know specifically. It followed Archie Bunker's episode trapped in the basement and Maude's episode with the psychiatrist, so by the time MASH picked it up a stream of consciousness episode was an established storyline.

It always seemed to be an early manifestation of Alan Alda's ego, and turning the show into what eventually seemed sometimes like it should have been called "The Alan Alda Show".

[Heenan Fan]

It was what they call "a bottle episode." They have to produce x amount of shows per season on a specific budget. If they believe they will not come in under budget, a bottle episode is produced. Bottle episode = a very low budget produced show.

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by Heenan Fan

It was what they call "a bottle episode." They have to produce x amount of shows per season on a specific budget. If they believe they will not come in under budget, a bottle episode is produced. Bottle episode = a very low budget produced show.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I figured.

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

I've always wondered why they did an all-Hawkeye episode in season four.

While I love Alan Alda as Hawkeye, I really missed the other characters.

Yes, Alan Alda was the lead, but I found a whole show devoted to his talking-to-stay-alive thing kind of much.

I don't know why the producers did this, but I have a theory that maybe they went over budget that season and were contractually obligated to provide a certain number of episodes.

By doing a Hawkeye-only show, they only had to pay Alan Alda plus the day players who portrayed the Korean family.

Anybody here in SO land know what the origins of the episode were?