I am excited to set this one down, this dream I had about the time when I found out that episodes of the television show M*A*S*H contained secret scribbled notes from Radar O'Reilly, that could (only) be read if you paused and zoomed in during the part where the camera pans across a map of Korea during the opening sequence.
This is totally fictional, of course. The opening sequences of M*A*S*H never contained a map of Korea, and even if it had, the TV show had been broadcast before home video recorders (especially ones that could zoom in on paused frames) were more than an expensive curiosity. VHS tapes weren't even invented until 1976, four years after the show's first season, so including that sort of unwatchable "easter egg" at the time would have been senseless and even cruel.
But never mind that. The early episode I was watching began and the pan across Korea started. I paused and zoomed in on Radar's writing, which contained a short French phrase, some coordinates and the word "Innocent!"
Which made sense; the episode was the one about a Frenchman on the run, a deserting military observer who stumbled across the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit and sought sanctuary. Hawkeye and Trapper John were of course happy to hide him, especially as it meant they got to gaslight Major Burns in the process. A hilarious episode, and an innovative television technique... if only they had been real.
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September 23, 2023
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Last updated September 23, 2023
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