"M*A*S*H" star Harry Morgan dies at 96

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

This is absolutely correct. He did a guest star spot as an inspection-crazy general named General Steele. When inspecting the troops, Klinger came straight at him in a cocktail dress. Gen Steele looked at him and said "Not now, Marjorie, I'm inspecting the troops!"

That guest spot showed everyone how funny he could be, and had a big bearing on choosing Col. Blake's replacement.

BTW:

Frank Burns was a FAR better character than Winchester. Larry Linville was unbelievably good as playing Burns. It's hard to be a convincing weasel. Linvelle was an amazing guy, and died way too young.

Honeycutt and Trapper, about equal. Both good character actors.

Radar better than Klinger. Both funny guys, Radar did drama better.

Blake better than Potter, but just barely.

I remember seeing a rerun of Steele and finding it mind-bending. Barney Miller was another show that brought back single-episode actors in different roles. I think they had a couple of criminals who ended up returning as cops - Dietrich, and I think either Ron Carey or Inspector Luger. Not worth looking up today.

I'll respectfully disagree on Burns vs. Winchester, though I suspect your view is more common. I always found Burns to be a little shallow for my liking. Winchester had depth and could thrust and parry back against Hawkeye. Burns was just a big dartboard. That said, I agree that Linville played the role well. I didn't know that he'd passed away, either.