One M*A*S*H Scene Was So Funny It Had To Be Filmed Almost 20 Times
The old saw that holds "drama is easy, comedy is hard" typically refers to the fact that it is extremely difficult to actually be funny. Obviously, engaging an audience on stage or through a theater/television screen is a challenge regardless of the genre, but there's a particular skill to getting a laugh (i.e. timing) that some people simply don't possess.
And some actors are so skilled at this craft that their co-stars occasionally have a hard time keeping it together in the moment.
There are loads of stories out there about actors who were just so effortlessly funny that cast and crew members had a hard time holding it together while shooting a scene. It should come as no surprise that Robin Williams was especially adept at this. Directors aren't always as amused as everyone else, as it's their job to make sure they get at least one usable take and move on to the next shot. This is how you make days and keep from going over budget. But some things simply can't be helped, as Larry Gelbart, Gary Burghoff, Harry Morgan and McLean Stevenson learned during the third season of "M*A*S*H."
An lightly amusing scene turned into a howler for Gary Burghoff
According to Ed Solomonson and Mark O'Neill's "T.V.'s M*A*S*H: The Ultimate Guide Book," shooting the third-season episode "The General Flipped at Dawn" hit a snag when Burghoff kept bursting into laughter during a scene where Morgan, as Major Barford Hamilton Steele (he wouldn't join the cast as Colonel Sherman T. Potter until the following season), chastised him.
Burghoff recalled the scene being "unbearably funny" to perform, even though the actual moment is hardly a gut-buster. In the book, Gelbart recalled that they shot the scene at the Fox Ranch in Malibu Hills, a location used repeatedly for the "Planet of the Apes" franchise. Per Gelbart, "The situation (with General Steele) was based on a real one that [writer] Everett Greenbaum witnessed during his days as a Navy pilot in WW2."
So why, if the single piece of dialogue in question was not a killer punchline, did Burghoff keep losing it? The blame for this rests squarely on the shoulders of McLean Stevenson.
How Burghoff's chemistry with Morgan might've saved M*A*S*H
Here's how Burghoff related the filming of the scene to Solomonson and O'Neill:
"Harry, as Steele, is inspecting the troops and I can see him coming. Harry asks me a question and then yells, 'NO TALKING IN RANKS!' I knew it was coming and I'd start to go. I think we did it like 18 times."
How did Stevenson factor into Burghoff's uncontrollable laughter? And did this bother Morgan, who evidently wasn't laughing at all? Per Burghoff:
"See, behind Harry was McLean. And I'd see that silly expression on McLean's face. But Morgan was secure, as an actor, so he'd be ok if you'd go (break up). I think that was the decisive moment when Gelbart and Reynolds saw the incredible chemistry with Morgan. I think you probably see me biting my lip in one of those long shots when Harry Morgan is inspecting us."
When Morgan made his debut as Potter the following season, this chemistry was crucial to the survival of the show. Stevenson's Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake was an audience favorite, and the tragic death of his character, announced at the very end of the third season finale, devastated fans to such a degree that they complained to CBS (which infuriated the network's execs). It was a tall order for Morgan to replace such a beloved character, but he did so brilliantly. Indeed, his portrayal of Potter won him a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series in 1980.
So Burghoff blowing somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 takes proved to be a good omen for the continued success of "M*A*S*H."