B. J. Hunnicutt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| M*A*S*H character | |
 Captain B.J. Hunnicutt, played by Mike Farrell |
|
| B.J. Hunnicutt | |
|---|---|
| Rank | Captain |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Brown |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Home city | Mill Valley, California, USA |
| Film portrayer | None |
| Television portrayer | Mike Farrell |
| Spanish voice dubber | the late Enrique Mederos |
| First appearance | "Welcome to Korea" |
| Last appearance | "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" |
Captain B.J. Hunnicutt (played by Mike Farrell) is a fictional character in the TV show M*A*S*H, which ran from 1972-1983 on CBS.
Captain Hunnicutt resided in Mill Valley, California before he was recruited to join the US Army to fight in the War. He was educated at Stanford University and was a member of the Tau Phi Epsilon fraternity. B.J. is married to Peg {nee' Hayden}(who writes scores of letters to him while he is in Korea). The couple has a daughter, named Erin. He is also a third generation doctor in his family.
Captain Hunnicutt first appeared on the show in 1975, after Trapper John McIntyre was allowed to return home from the 4077.
Contents |
[edit] Name
Unlike his tent-mates, referred to in the series occasionally as B.F. Pierce and C.E. Winchester, BJ's full name is just that, "BJ Hunnicutt". The entire subplot for Hawkeye of an entire episode is trying to find out what the B and the J stand for. Hawkeye went to such lengths as to contact friends and family of BJ. Each replying that they knew his name only as "BJ". Hawkeye, for one, did not accept this. In final response, Hawkeye asks, "What kind of parents would name their kid BJ?" to which BJ replied, "My mother... Bea Hunnicutt, and my father... Jay Hunnicutt."
[edit] Personality
In addition, he tended to be much less aggressive in his crusades than Hawkeye, usually preferring to be a quieter voice of reason to his friend. For instance, when Hawkeye tried to print a letter protesting an unfeeling Marine commander's treatment of a Dutch immigrant soldier in the military press, the letter was killed by the commander and Hawkeye was almost arrested for arguing with the commander about it. Hunnicutt, on the other hand, watched the drama from a distance until he calmly suggested that Hawkeye take his letter to the civilian press train in Seoul which is beyond the commander's control, thus frustrating the officer. Unlike Trapper, who was a class clown, B.J. was used more as a straight man to Hawkeye's antics. Two of B.J. hobbies are playing Practical Jokes and riding an "Indian Head" motorcycle. {the motorcycle is seen in 10/13; at the end it is broken by a drunken reporter. B.J. received another motorcycle in the series finale - it used to belong to a group of Chinese musicians who follow Winchester back to the 4077 (BJ rides off in it). At least two episodes show BJ playing chess with Hawkeye.
[edit] Relationship with wife and family
He often frustrated his bunkmate and best friend, Captain Hawkeye Pierce, with his traditional values and steadfast loyalty to his wife and his marriage. The enforced separation from his family was a habitual source of turmoil. In that regard, the missing of important family moments and the apparent neglect of his own domestic responsibilities were particularly upsetting to him while also taking insults to his familial loyalty very personally. In the fifth season episode "Hanky Panky" (2/1/77), B.J. unexpectedly has a one-night stand with nurse Carrie Donovan, putting him in great shame and anguish. "I'm a happily married man!" he lamented, "Not like Frank Burns is happy because his wife owns real estate." He almost told his wife but Hawkeye advised against it, and B.J. eventually straightened things out and made peace with Carrie. In 8/23 B.J. falls for a war correspondent-but again confesses that he loves his wife. In 5/22 Hawkeye and B.J. sing a duet in which they admit to operating on patients during the day and nurses throughout the night-such an anachronism would be a mistake for B.J.-it would be more in keeping with Hawkeye and Trapper John. Besides his wife and daugther, BJ's parents in law live in Quapaw Oklahoma; the father in law is a farmer who fought the Germans in World War I.
Another time B.J.'s love for his family began to affect him was in the episode "Period of Adjustment." After his wife and daughter meet Radar (who had been discharged in the previous episode) at the San Francisco airport, Peg writes to him saying that everything went well, which makes him happy. However, the one part of the letter that bothered him was the part where his wife said that Erin greeted Radar with a "Hi, Daddy" once he got off the plane. No one else thinks much of it at the time, but it's burning B.J. on the inside.
As the episode wears on, B.J.'s anger begins to show, and he tries to drink his problem away, thinking that his alcoholism will bring him back home to his family. Hawkeye confronts him in the Swamp during this time, telling him that he also is far away from his family, but B.J. counters by saying that his situation (being away from his child) is worse. After Hawkeye tells him that he can't drink his way home, B.J. loses it. He shatters their still, and sucker punches Hawkeye in the face as he leaves.
After he and Klinger (who also is angry with Radar, with whom he has been unfavorably compared since he took over as company clerk) go on a drunken rampage, ending in Col. Potter's office, Hawkeye finds a broken B.J. on the floor, and after a while, B.J. breaks down and cries, upset that his daughter called someone else "Daddy" and that he could not get that moment back. Eventually, though, he recovered, and all was well in the Swamp again.
[edit] As a doctor
Hunnicutt is an excellent doctor with strong morals and is always looking to do the right thing. This was displayed in "Preventive Medicine" (2/19/79) where Hawkeye and B.J. spike the drink of a bloodthirsty commander to make him medically unfit to lead an unnecessary battle. Hawkeye unexpectedly ups the ante by claiming he has appendicitis and must be operated upon, a trick he and Trapper John once used to put Colonel Sam Flagg temporarily out of commission. This time however, B.J. objects to this needless surgery as human mutilation and a violation of his oath so he refuses to cooperate after a heated argument with the adamant Hawkeye. When Hawkeye proceeds with the surgery, he returns to the Swamp in confusion, saying he 'took it out and put it in a scrapbook', and then asking himself 'why he doesn't feel good about it'.
[edit] As a soldier
In "Bombshells", B.J. is in a helicopter and forced to cut a rope leading down to a wounded soldier he and the pilot were trying to rescue from enemy soldiers (effectively abandoning him to capture or death). He receives a bronze star for bravery for the act, but announces to Hawkeye that he cannot go on thumbing his nose at authority any more, and that the act he had committed turned him into a soldier.
[edit] Later episodes
At the start of the seventh season (1978-79), Hunnicutt grew a mustache, which he would wear for the remainder of the series (and would be occasionally picked on for wearing, with it being characterized as "cheesy"). He is also portrayed as a motorcycle enthusiast in at least two episodes, including the final episode "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" (2/28/83). His final line in that episode (and the series) is not spoken. Hawkeye was upset at B.J. for refusing to say 'goodbye' to him; B.J. did not like saying goodbye and sensed that both men knew they would not see each other after the war, given the distance between their homes. One of the final scenes of the episode is Hawkeye getting into a helicopter to fly out of the camp site on the first leg of his journey home, and seeing B.J. sitting on his motorcycle before the chopper lifts off. B.J. promises Hawkeye that he'll see him back in the states, but just in case, he left him a note. Hawkeye fails to hear him over the noise of the chopper. After B.J. rides off, Hawkeye's chopper takes off. As he's leaving, a smiling Hawkeye notices B.J.'s note--the word GOODBYE spelled out in white rocks on the ground.
[edit] Trivia
- Prior to his joining M*A*S*H, Mike Farrell's then-wife, actress Judy Farrell, appeared on the show in the early seasons playing various nurses. When he joined the show, he had B.J.'s daughter Erin named after his own daughter with Judy.
- BJ was referred to in passing in the TV hospital drama St. Elsewhere as a one-time drinking buddy of Dr. Craig while he was in Korea. The series writers were fond of inserting such inside jokes from time to time.
- During production of M*A*S*H, Mike Farrell met doctor Patch Adams, who served as a technical consultant on the show. Farrell later produced the biopic Patch Adams, which starred Robin Williams.
- Actress Catherine Bergstrom played Peg/Peggy Hunnicutt in Oh, How We Danced and Dreams
- BJ's only injury was a slight flesh wound in the leg {5/7} caused when Burns accidentally shoots his gun at BJ. All the other MASH Characters suffer more serious injuries; illness; operations: {Blake {appendix}; Burns {hernia, hemorrhagic fever}; Pierce {concussion, temporary blindness and a nervous break down{twice}}; Trapper John {ulcer}; Hot Lips Houlihan {appendix and food poisoning}; Radar {Tonsils removed}; Radar and Potter {wounded}; Mulcahy {hepatitis and deafness}; Klinger {mumps, temporary deafness and food poisoning}; Winchester {mumps and food poisoning}.
[edit] Plot holes
- Stanford University medical school {formerly Cooper Medical School} did not become part of Stanford until 1959!
[edit] External links
- Finest-Kind.net - M*A*S*H website with character profile
- Best Care Anywhere - M*A*S*H website with character profile
| M*A*S*H | |
|---|---|
| Film: | MASH |
| TV series: | M*A*S*H | Trapper John, M.D. | AfterMASH | W*A*L*T*E*R |
| Characters: |
Hawkeye Pierce | Trapper John McIntyre | Duke Forrest | B.J. Hunnicutt | Henry Blake | Sherman T. Potter | Frank Burns | Margaret Houlihan | Charles Winchester | Radar O'Reilly | Father Mulcahy | Maxwell Klinger | Igor Straminsky | Luther Rizzo | Sidney Freedman | Col. Flagg | Spearchucker Jones | Ugly John | Walter Koskiusko Waldowski | Ho-Jon | Lieutenant Dish | Donald Penobscot |
| Episodes: | Season 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Books: | M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors | M*A*S*H Goes to Maine |
| Related material: | Guest stars | Differences between book, film and TV versions of M*A*S*H | Suicide Is Painless |
