MASH question: Klinger

When did he stop wearing women’s clothes? Well, not “when” but more like “why.” I have seen several episodes on each side but I have never seen what the turning point was.

I always got the impression that it wasn’t a matter of when he stopped, but when he started. I haven’t seen all the episodes, but I did watch a lot this summer, and IIRC, Klinger was “normal” when his character was first introduced. (IE, before hisnam was part of the opening credits.) Afterhe became a reular, tha’s when he started dressing like a woman.

And I do know how to spell, I was watching TV as I typed that. Please fill in the blanks yourself. Thank you. :slight_smile:

I think it was in one of the late seasons, after or very soon before Radar left. And yes, he STOPPED. It was far more of a running gag in the earlier seasons, and it just kind of melted into the background.

Netbrian, who’s parents have corrupted him.

Actually, Pep, he was never normal, really - it’s just that his schtick didn’t settle on the drag right away.

As to when and why he stopped - Radar left, he was put into the Company Clerk role, and he had to get serious - ie - they couldn’t leave him as a one-trick pony when they increased his role.

I disagree about him being a one-trick pony before Radar left. The character really did have some depth, outside of his desperation to leave. Though he was mostly comic relief, it was never played repetively or too the extreme.

I love him getting sworn in as president. =p

AFAIK, Klinger’s first appearance was wearing woman’s clothes. It was a one-time joke that they decided to keep. Later, they dropped it, possibly because it went as far as it could go.

There was an episode a one point where Klinger was about to be discharged because of his dress(es), but he refused to sign the papers, since they said he was a sex pervert (or words to that effect). That may have been around when he stopped wearing the women’s clothes.

I thought he gave the clothes away to some prostitutes.

That was one of the episodes with Alan Arbus as Dr. Freedman, who had Klinger’s number perfectly, and told him that he could get out but be labelled as a sexual deviant and spend “the rest of his life in high heels”. Klinger said “no way, I’m just crazy”. It was when Linville was still in the series - Frank and Hotlips called in Freedman. It may have been the first Freedman episode, but anyway, Klinger continued to dress in drag afterwards.

I think they mainly got rid of having the character do all the various dodges to get out when he took over as company clerk after Radar departed.

Do any dedicated fans of “AfterMASH” remember if Klinger’s wartime shenanigans were ever mentioned once he & the gang returned stateside?

This is the correct answer. After Radar left, Klinger traded his female wardrope to some prostitutes because the group needed a new campground. Klinger was promoted and never wore the clothes again.

He always wore drag when he was first introduced. He used to wear a simple skirt, then it evolved to more complicated clothing.

I remember the pilot episode, in which Klinger appeared in drag (he was pulling sentry duty at the time). His commanding officer ordered him to put his dresses away.

We see him again at the end of the episode, still pulling guard duty, but at least he obeyed orders. He was naked.

I was under the impression that Klinger stopped dressing in drag when he found out his wife (fiance?) was having an affair back in Toledo. He decided then that he didn’t want out of the army. I could have just hallucinated that though. I definitly remeber him giving all of his dresses to the prostitutes but I can’t remember whether or not he wore dresses after that. Part of the problem is that I usually see the episodes out of chronological order.

I’m almost positve Radar was in the episode when Klinger gave away his dresses. The entire company had bugged out, leaving Hawkeye, Houlihan and Radar behind to tend to a patient who couldn’t be moved.
Klinger had his dresses on a rolling rack, and all of Radar’s animals were being pulled behind the rack. He did give up the dresses in exchange for the new camp area, but then they went back to the original site.
He gave up wearing the dresses when Radar left, because Potter promoted him to take over the company clerk job.

“Hey, Hal, get in here and take a look at this turd! It looks like Klinger from MAS*H!”

– Mauricio (Jason Alexander), Shallow Hal

There was one episode when Klinger gave away all of his dresses because they had heard that a ceasefire was going to be called. Everybody cheered and partied and prepared to return home, except BJ, so when the ceasefire wasn’t called, he was the only one prepared for the disappointment.

Klinger gave away or sold “The Klinger Collection” on at least three occasions. One, when there was a cease-fire expected, he sold most of his dresses to the nurses. This episode had Trapper, not BJ. Two, he drove Hot Lips and Hawkeye to an aid station and told Radar to give away his dresses if he didn’t come back. Radar gave them away, much to Klinger’s annoyance. “I can’t wear this every day! People will talk!” Third, when the unit bugged out, Klinger sacrificed his dresses to the ladies of the evening in exchange for a building (which the unit didn’t end up using as they returned to their previous site). Radar was in this two-part episode; Hawkeye, Margaret and he stayed at the old site with a patient who couldn’t be moved.

He did not always appear in drag in the early episodes. In at least one, he wore his uniform but with a “lucky scarf” given him by his mother. Frank ordered him to take it off and Klinger almost blew him up with a grenade (Father Mulcahy talked him out of it). The dresses were largely abandoned after his wife filed for divorce (“This is phony! <rip> And this is phony! <rip> And this! <rip rip>”). He did appear in drag at least once after that, when he thought a visiting general could get him discharged and he dressed as Cleopatra. I think the very last time we saw Klinger with (but not in) one of his dresses was when he donated his Scarlet O’Hara dress to Hawkeye’s time capsule.

Otto<—tasteful, without being gaudy

Downer time:

I read the other day that the actor who played Col. Flagg died. He was 63.

Klinger was not in the pilot episode. He did not appear until the fourth epsidode(Chief Surgeon Who?).
He does not appear for very long and only wears a brown skirt. He is the night-watch guard. They do say his name and make a couple Klingeresque jokes, however.

The pilot is the episode where Hawkeye and Trapper have a raffle to win a weekend in Tokyo with a nurse(Father Mulcahy wins). Not only that, but someone else plays Father Mulcahy for just that episode.

Check the episode guide here.

http://www.mash4077.co.uk/guides.html

Didn’t Klinger continue to wear dangly earrings, even after he gave up the dresses? Maybe I’m mis-remembering…