Dear Sigmund

"Dear Sigmund"
MASH* episode
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 7 (104th overall)
Directed by	Alan Alda
Written by	Alan Alda
Production code	U-810
Original air date	September 18, 1976 (1976-09-18) (US)

"Dear Sigmund" is the 7th episode of the fifth season of the television series M*A*S*H. It first aired on CBS on September 18, 1976.

Plot

Psychiatrist Sidney Friedman (Allan Arbus) is having trouble working after one of his patients, who he thought he had helped, commits suicide. He believes "there's something special" about the 4077th, so he goes to a poker game there one night and decides to remain for several weeks, to work through his feelings.

During his time there, he writes a letter addressed to the deceased Sigmund Freud. In the letter, he describes the members of the 4077th and recalls stories about them; for instance, Klinger pretends to have been hit in the head by a helicopter blade and speaks only Arabic, and Radar processes the accidental death of an ambulance driver, including writing a letter to the dead man's parents. The main 'action' during the camp's downtime is when people are victimized by an unknown practical joker. B.J. Hunnicutt turns out to be the joker; at one point, he fills Frank Burns's air raid bunker with water and enlists Sidney's help by having him shout "Air raid!" to lure Frank into the trap.

Revitalized, Sidney ultimately departs the 4077th, realizing that happiness is "like springtime at MASH. If you can't see it or find it, you just go ahead and make it", and he's "coaxing a little bud to grow" inside himself. As he drives off, he finds himself the latest target of B.J.'s jokes.

Production

Alan Alda described "Dear Sigmund" as "one of [his] favorites". Gene Reynolds disliked the plot because "if you ask an actor to play depressed, it'll be depressing for the audience". Alda was "convinced that [Arbus] really was a psychiatrist" because of his good acting skills.^[1]

Alan Alda won two awards for the episode: the Directors Guild of America's Award for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series in 1976 and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series in 1977. Alda was also nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1977; William Jurgensen was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography. Samuel E. Beetley and Stanford Tischler were nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Film Editing in a Comedy Series and for an American Cinema Editors' "Eddie Award" in Editing.^[2]

References

↑ Alan Alda on writing the M*A*S*H episode "Dear Sigmund" and the performance of Allan Arbus as M... YouTube. August 26, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
↑ Wittebols, James H. (June 2003). Watching M*A*S*H, Watching America: A Social History of the 1972–1983 Television Series. McFarland & Company. p. 194. ISBN 0-7864-1701-3.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: "Dear Sigmund"

M*A*S*H at the Internet Movie Database
"Dear Sigmund" at the Internet Movie Database

Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series

1971–1989	John Rich for "All in the Family" (1971) Gene Reynolds for "Pilot" (MASH) (1972) Gene Reynolds for "Deal Me Out" (1973) Hy Averback for "Alcoholics Unanimous" (1974) Hy Averback for "Bombed" (1975) Alan Alda for "Dear Sigmund" (1976) Paul Bogart for "Edith's 50th Birthday" (1977) Paul Bogart for "California, Here We Are" (1978) Paul Bogart for "Too Good Edith" (1979) Noam Pitlik for "Fog" (1980) Alan Alda for "The Life You Save" (1981) Alan Alda for "Where There's a Will, There's a War" (1982) James Burrows for "Showdown: Part II" (1983) Jay Sandrich for "Pilot" (The Cosby Show) (1984) Jay Sandrich for "Pilot" (The Golden Girls) (1985) Terry Hughes for "Isn't It Romantic?" (1986) Will Mackenzie for "'A,' My Name is Alex" (1987) Steve Miner for "Pilot" (The Wonder Years*) (1988) Barnet Kellman for "Brown Like Me" (1989)

1990–2009	James Burrows for "Woody Interruptus" (1990) Peter Bonerz for "Uh Oh: Part II" (1991) Tom Cherones for "The Contest" (1992) James Burrows for "The Good Son" (1993) David Lee for "The Matchmaker" (1994) Gordon Hunt for "The Alan Brady Show" (1995) Andy Ackerman for "The Rye" (1996) Andy Ackerman for "The Betrayal" (1997) Thomas Schlamme for "Pilot" (Sports Night) (1998) Thomas Schlamme for "Small Town" (1999) James Burrows for "Lows in the Mid-Eighties" (2000) Todd Holland for "Bowling" (2001) Bryan Gordon for "Special Section" (2002) Tim Van Patten for "Boy Interrupted" (2003) Tim Van Patten for "An American Girl in Paris: Part Deux" (2004) Marc Buckland for "Pilot" (My Name Is Earl) (2005) Richard Shepard for "Pilot" (Ugly Betty) (2006) Barry Sonnenfeld for "Pie-lette" (2007) Paul Feig for "Dinner Party" (2008) Jason Winer for "Pilot" (Modern Family) (2009)

2010–2029	Michael Spiller for "Halloween" (2010) Robert B. Weide for "Palestinian Chicken" (2011) Lena Dunham for "Pilot" (Girls) (2012) Beth McCarthy-Miller for "Hogcock!" / "Last Lunch" (2013) Jill Soloway for "Best New Girl" (2014) Chris Addison for "Election Night" (2015)

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

Peter Tewksbury (1959)
Ralph Levy / Bud Yorkin (1960)
Sheldon Leonard (1961)
Nat Hiken (1962)
John Rich (1963)
Jerry Paris (1964)
William Asher (1966)
James Frawley for "Royal Flush" (1967)
Bruce Bilson for "Maxwell Smart, Private Eye" (1968)
Greg Garrison for "October 17, 1968" (1969)
Dwight Hemion for "The Sound of Burt Bacharach" (1970)
Jay Sandrich for "Toulouse-Lautrec is One of My Favorite Artists" (1971)
John Rich for "Sammy's Visit" (1972)
Jay Sandrich for "It's Whether You Win or Lose" (1973)
Jackie Cooper for "Carry on, Hawkeye" (1974)
Gene Reynolds for "O.R." (1975)
Gene Reynolds for "Welcome to Korea" (1976)
Alan Alda for "Dear Sigmund" (1977)
Paul Bogart for "Edith's 50th Birthday" (1978)
Noam Pitlik for "The Harris Incident" (1979)
James Burrows for "Louie and the Nice Girl" (1980)
James Burrows for "Elaine's Strange Triangle" (1981)
Alan Rafkin for "Barbara's Crisis" (1982)
James Burrows for "Showdown", Part 2 (1983)
Bill Persky for "A Very Loud Family" (1984)
Jay Sandrich for "The Younger Woman" (1985)
Jay Sandrich for "Denise's Friend" (1986)
Terry Hughes for "Isn't it Romantic" (1987)
Gregory Hoblit for "Pilot" (1988)
Peter Baldwin for "Our Miss White" (1989)
Michael Dinner for "Good-bye" (1990)
James Burrows for "Woody Interruptus" (1991)
Barnet Kellman for "Birth 101" (1992)
Betty Thomas for "For Peter's Sake" (1993)
James Burrows for "The Good Son" (1994)
David Lee for "The Matchmaker" (1995)
Michael Lembeck for "The One After the Superbowl" (1996)
David Lee for "To Kill a Talking Bird" (1997)
Todd Holland for "Flip" (1998)
Thomas Schlamme for "Pilot" (Sports Night) (1999)
Todd Holland for "Pilot" (Malcolm in the Middle) (2000)
Todd Holland for "Bowling" (2001)
Michael Patrick King for "The Real Me" (2002)
Robert B. Weide for "Krazee-Eyez Killa" (2003)
Anthony and Joe Russo for "Pilot" (Arrested Development) (2004)
Charles McDougall for "Pilot" (Desperate Housewives) (2005)
Marc Buckland for "Pilot" (My Name Is Earl) (2006)
Richard Shepard for "Pilot" (Ugly Betty) (2007)
Barry Sonnenfeld for "Pie-lette" (2008)
Jeffrey Blitz for "Stress Relief" (2009)
Ryan Murphy for "Pilot" (Glee) (2010)
Michael Spiller for "Halloween" (2011)
Steven Levitan for "Baby on Board" (2012)
Gail Mancuso for "Arrested" (2013)
Gail Mancuso for "Las Vegas" (2014)
Jill Soloway for "Best New Girl" (2015)
Jill Soloway for "Man on the Land" (2016)

Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Comedy (1970–1979)

Richard DeRoy for "The Valediction" (1970) Martin Cohan for "Thoroughly Unmilitant Mary" (1971) Larry Gelbart for "Chief Surgeon Who?" (1972) Robert Schiller & Robert Weiskopf for "Walter's Problem" (1973) Larry Gelbart & Laurence Marks for "O.R." (1974) James Fritzell & Larry Gelbart & Everett Greenbaum for "Welcome to Korea" (1975) Alan Alda for "Dear Sigmund" (1976) Larry Rhine & Mel Tolkin for "Archie Gets the Business" (1977) Gary David Goldberg for "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (1978) Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox for "Are You Now, Margaret?" / Ken Estin for "The Reluctant Fighter" (1979)

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