M*A*S*HCast – Season 2, Episode 22: George
Special Guest Star: Shawn Myers
Air Date: February 16, 1974
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Thank you for another excellent episode, gentlemen. I wish I could remember what my reaction was to seeing “George” for the first time in syndication, because that may well have been the first time I was introduced to homosexuality, as something that even existed. At least, I can’t think anywhere else I would have encountered it before that. More than likely, it all went over my head. Even if that was the case, I still wish I could recall what young me made of everything that he saw and heard in this episode.
I was curious about Richard Ely’s career after listening to your show. There was a conversation in a youtube thread where one person reported he died at the age of 30 in 1988. However another person replied “He didn’t die in 1988 and he was older than 30 in 1988. I was friends with him in NYC. He eventually moved back to California. He didn’t want to act anymore. But unfortunately I lost contact with him after that as I stayed in NYC.”.
Take that for what you will, not everyone likes the life of an actor.
Great episode though, aren’t they all? Mostly. . .
Someone who was 30 in 1988 would have been 16 in 1974, so that part was false.
He was in a short-lived series in the early 1970s. But he is the only member of the cast who doesn’t have his own Wikipedia page.
He seemed to have a brief singing career but I couldn’t find much about it other than a picture of an album. I did find some mention he had died, but nothing that was super reliable.
A good episode, very daring for 1974. Yes, MTM Show gave Rhoda a gay brother, but this guy was in the military.
I always thought his admitting he was gay was a little odd. It sounded like he did it with a guy once and didn’t have a steady boyfriend. But again, this was 1974.
Margaret’s reaction was probably normal for the time. She grew up in the Army, so she likely thought of being gay as icky. She was also still on Frank’s team at the time, so the writers weren’t going to make her be a supporter of George, even though she wasn’t trying to kick him out.
This episode is so good, and Shawn was a great guest host. I honestly appreciate having your point of view on how the show handled this story, rather than it being “straight-splained.” Well done.
I had no idea that the F&W Network had levels of seniority for their homosexuality correspondents – How can one apply to become a cub reporter?
There were similarities between this episode, and the episode of Cheers where the implications of the bar becoming a gay bar (or, perhaps more accurately, a gay-friendly bar) were a driving theme in the plot. If anything, it sounds as though the stakes were higher, and the examination of the issue more thoughtful in this episode of M*A*S*H.
A nice discussion gentlemen. TV can certainly be a powerful tool for representing minority groups and – by extension – supporting viewers who might otherwise have few other outlets for their feelings. Hats off to M*A*S*H for devoting an episode to homosexuality at a time where more folks had attitudes closer to Frank Burns’s.