'M*A*S*H' - Major Sidney Freedman Quiz

Answer: Milton

In the episode "Radar's Report" that first aired on September 29, 1973, Sidney's first name is "Milton". Dr. Freedman is summoned to the 4077 to assess Klinger's mental state. The doctor finds him to be sane, but tells Klinger that he is willing to say in his report that Klinger is a transvestite and a homosexual. This would get Klinger out of the Army but the stigma would stay with him for life. "From now on, you go through life on high heels," Freedman tells Klinger. Klinger refuses, saying "I ain't any of those things! I'm just crazy!" And so much for Klinger's discharge!

In subsequent episodes, Freedman's first name is Sidney, not Milton, and no explanation is ever given for the change.

Answer: Jesus

Captain Chandler is played by character actor Alan Fudge. Chandler had suffered an extreme psychological shock, resulting in a complete break with reality. He gently insists that he is Jesus Christ, not Chandler.

Hawkeye and B.J. summon Sidney Freedman to the 4077 to try and help Captain Chandler, but Frank and Margaret think Chandler's faking to get a discharge. They bring in Colonel Flagg, the over-the-top 'intelligence officer', to expose the fakery.

This episode, along with some others having a more serious focus, has no laugh track.

Answer: Sidney never signed his Officer's Loyalty Oath

When they hear that Sidney is in danger of being thrown out of the service for not signing the oath, BJ and Hawkeye respond in typical BJ and Hawkeye fashion:
Hawkeye: "Very smart, Sidney."
BJ: "Where do we go to not sign?"

Later in the episode, when Sidney has had enough of Flagg and wants to get back to his patient, Sidney tells him "I'd like to go on talking to you, Flagg, but with your schizophrenia, I'd have to charge you double time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've already kept Jesus waiting five minutes."

Answer: "Medical conference" is a euphemism for "poker game"

Usually when Sidney attends a "conference", it also happens that he is needed for a real psychological emergency. In the episode "O.R.", the game is cancelled due to the large number of arriving wounded. Sidney helps out in the operating theater, and later helps Hawkeye deal with the loss of one of his patients.

It is the first episode in which Sidney delivers his odd advice to the doctors and nurses, later repeated in "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen".

Answer: Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.

First in the episode titled "O.R.", and again in "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen", Sidney tells his 4077 friends, "Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice."

The other answers are all quotes from the series, but only one other is from Sidney: "Sex is why we gamble, sex is why we drink, sex is why we give birth." He says this during the poker game in the episode titled "Deal Me Out".

Answer: Sigmund Freud

In the episode "Dear Sigmund" which first aired on November 9, 1976, Sidney is again at the 4077. The camp is plagued with anonymous pranks, and the identity of the prankster is a hotly debated issue. Sidney writes a self-therapy letter to Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, describing the various people and events at the camp.

I'm not telling who the prankster turns out to be, and neither does Sidney!

Answer: Sgt. Yee was suicidal

Chinese-American soldier Sgt. Michael Yee hadn't had a problem serving in Europe in World War II, but in Korea he becomes suicidal. Sidney tells Hawkeye, "This is the first time he's fought an Asian enemy. He has to kill Chinese to be a good American, and he has to kill himself to be a good Chinese." Hawkeye refers to Sgt. Yee as "A man without two countries".

Freedman is able to help Yee by using a post-hypnotic suggestion to stop his suicidal thoughts.

Answer: Hypnotherapy

In the episode "The Billfold Syndrome", experienced ambulance driver Sgt. Jerry Nielsen (played by Kevin Geer) can't remember who he is. Hawkeye summons Sidney, who identifies the disorder as the Billfold Syndrome, when a person looks at their own ID in a billfold and does not recognize their own picture or information.

Freedman uses hypnosis to help Sgt. Nielson recover his memory, with the aid of Hawkeye and B.J., who provide sound effects and the voices of soldiers during the hypnosis session. Nielson held himself responsible for the welfare of his younger brother, and when the brother died in combat, guilt pushed Nielson into a state of amnesia.

Sidney brings him out of his hypnotic state, and for a single instant when Nielson's eyes first open, his face has a neutral expression. Then he remembers and he collapses, sobbing, on Sidney's shoulder. A tear-jerker of a scene, well-played by Kevin Geer.

Answer: Yes

When Gary Burghoff's character, Radar O'Reilly, left the show, it was proposed that Sidney Freedman become a regular denizen of the 4077. But Allan Arbus wanted to keep his options open, and felt that such a full-time commitment to the series would leave him little time for anything else.

Answer: Hawkeye

In this final 'M*A*S*H' episode, Hawkeye snaps under the strain of a traumatic event and is committed to a mental hospital. Sidney helps him recover the horrific memory of a Korean mother who had to kill her own baby to stop it from crying and revealing their position to hostile North Korean soldiers.

Hawkeye's mind had replaced the memory of the baby with that of a chicken, and why would anyone go crazy over the death of a chicken? Sidney helps him remember the event, and Hawkeye returns to the 4077 for the final days of the war.