The Proposed Hot Lips M*A*S*H Plot Loretta Swit Immediately Shot Down
In a 2015 interview with Studio 10, Swit explained that while she put up with certain puerile plot-lines and indignities in the name of comedy, she would never let those things come before Margaret’s duty as head nurse:
“I kept demanding that she never lose her integrity as a head nurse. When we talked about character work to the writers or the producers, ‘She’s the best damn nurse in Korea, and I’ll never settle for anything less than that.’ I can be funny, but I can still have integrity. It was an episode I had to fight for because they wanted me to transfer a nurse because she was too attractive and too distracting, and I said, ‘I can’t do that. I can’t sacrifice a good nurse just because she’s attractive.’ First of all, the nurses in Korea were all volunteers, so they weren’t easy to get. So I’m gonna give up a good nurse? No. There’s no — So that was a bit of a tug, you know?”
Margaret has a tough time with her nurses sometimes because she’s rather demanding and expects the best from everyone all the time (herself included), but she also cares about each of them and she cares even more about the patients in their care. As much of a hot mess as she can be, she’s undeniably the best damn American nurse in Korea.
