"Diagnosis Murder" Drill for Death (TV Episode 1998) Poster

(TV Series)

(1998)

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10/10
Art History & MASH Reunion
Johnny_West18 July 2022
I was never a big fan of the MASH movie or the TV series, but I always liked the many talented actors on both. In this episode we are treated to Elliott Gould and Sally Kellerman from the movie, Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr ,and William Christopher from the TV series. I always thought that Sally Kellerman and Loretta Swit could have played sisters, they had a similar look, and put a lot of energy into their characters.

The story seems to be about Christopher Norris trying to take Loretta Swit's job as head nurse, and the subsequent murder of Norris and later Art Amador (Art Lover, played by William Christopher). Elliot Gould does a great job as a rich guy who collects Martin Beckman art.

As the story unfolds, it seems that Martin Beckman art is important to several characters. When Beckman died, the value of his art soared into the millions of dollars. So what would happen to the value of that art if it turned out the artist had faked his death and was still alive?

Lots of great performances here. Everyone really put energy into their roles, and the story was entertaining, because it hopped between two possible motives for murder, and two different sets of suspects.
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10/10
MASH, M*A*S*H, and Trapper John, M.D. fans delight:)
safenoe16 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I'm a big fan of Diagnosis Murder, and Drill for Death is a veritable feast for fans of MASH, M*A*S*H and Trapper John, M.D.!!! We see the casting of Elliott Gould and Sally Kellerman from MASH; Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr and William Christopher from M*A*S*H, and Christopher Norris from Trapper John, M.D. (which legally is a spin- off from MASH, not M*A*S*H). Actually Jamie and Christopher were also in AfterMASH, so technically Drill for Death reunites actors from four MASH universe series.

Unfortunately in this episode Loretta, Jamie and William don't share screen time together, but there is a scene where Loretta and Jamie share screen time, but they don't exchange lines with each other.

Sally, Loretta and Christopher play characters on the nursing staff of General Community, Elliott and William play patients, and Jamie plays the director of state emergency services. Christopher Norris plays a nurse administrator who is very, very ambitious and wants everyone's job above her title. This happens in the midst of an emergency drill, which is compounded by two real emergencies.

A subplot is Jesse Travis and his romance with Nurse Hilliard (Kim Little) and their plans to rush off to spend the weekend in Carmel. Unfortunately this doesn't happen, because Nurse Hilliard is exhausted at the end of a busy day and falls asleep in the staff lounge. This kind of reminds me of a M*A*S*H episode where Hawkeye was desperate to head off for a hot weekend with a hot nurse, but he falls asleep when Klinger is ready to drive him to the airport.

Season 5 really abounds with reunion or special casting type episodes: Malibu Fire (ep 3), Must Kill TV (ep 9), Discards (ep 10), and Food Fight (ep 23).

If Diagnosis Murder was really bold, they could have had a special episode featuring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, in an episode where Steve Sloan wakes up to find a bloodied ice pick beneath his bed after a hot one night stand. Michael and Sharon could have played up their Basic Instinct roles.
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