The Nurses

Episode aired Oct 19, 1976
TV-PGTV-PG
25m

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

512

YOUR RATING

Mary Jo Catlett, Linda Kelsey, Carol Locatell, and Pat Sturges in M*A*S*H (1972)

Comedy Drama War

The nurses go behind Margaret's back so that a fellow nurse confined to her tent can spend the night with her soldier husband who is paying her a surprise visit.The nurses go behind Margaret's back so that a fellow nurse confined to her tent can spend the night with her soldier husband who is paying her a surprise visit.The nurses go behind Margaret's back so that a fellow nurse confined to her tent can spend the night with her soldier husband who is paying her a surprise visit.

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

512

YOUR RATING

See more at IMDbPro

Director
- Joan Darling
Writers
- Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
- Larry Gelbart(developed for television by)
- Richard Hooker(based on a novel by)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

7User reviews

See production, box office & company info

Photos6

Alan Alda and Gary Burghoff in M*A*S*H (1972)

Alan Alda, Gary Burghoff, and Mike Farrell in M*A*S*H (1972)

Mary Jo Catlett, Linda Kelsey, Carol Locatell, Pat Sturges, and Loretta Swit in M*A*S*H (1972)

Trivia
One of Loretta Swit's favorites due to Maj Houlihan's interaction with her staff.

Goofs
It makes no sense for B.J. and Hawkeye to quarantine Margaret's tent when there was a VIP tent that was almost always empty and could have easily worked for a rendezvous.

Quotes
Margaret: [chastising the nurses, as she holds back tears] Did you ever show me any kind of friendship? Ask my help with a personal problem? Include me in one of your little bull sessions? Can you imagine what it feels like to walk by this tent and hear you laughing and know... I'm not welcome? Did you ever once ever offer me a lousy cup of coffee?
Nurse: [Stunned at this show of emotion] We didn't think you'd accept.
Margaret: Well, you were wrong.

Connections
Featured in The 29th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1977)

User reviews7

Review

Top review

9/10

Feels like a spin off pilot

This is a terrific episode, but it's unusual in that it focuses on a group of nurses who we've never seen before. The fact that these characters are so strongly written, well defined and played by a good cast suggests to me that this episode might have been a spin off pilot for Margaret's character and the nurses. In addition, none of the usual nurses are seen. Based on the quality of the episode, a series based on these characters might have actually worked.

The main plot concerns Margaret's relationship with her nurses in general. The B-story focuses on Hawk and BJ helping one of the nurses to spend the night with her new soldier husband. There's even a C-story about another nurse becoming emotionally burned out.

The episode was written by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, so it's not surprising it contains strong female characters. And even if it wasn't meant to be spin off pilot, it still works as a great episode from a great series.

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