‘M*A*S*H’ Star Mike Farrell Returns to TV in ‘9-1-1’ Episode
What To Know
- Mike Farrell, famed for his role as B.J. Hunnicutt on M*A*S*H, guest stars in an episode of 9-1-1.
- In the episode, Farrell plays Bill, whose son Andrew panics when his elderly father goes missing.
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 10 “Handle With Care.”]
9-1-1 is welcoming a special guest star from the 4077th this season, with Mike Farrell appearing. Farrell is best known for playing the iconic B.J. Hunnicutt on the long-running and influential M*A*S*H, a role that cemented his place in television history.
In the Season 9 Episode 10 “Handle With Care,” Farrell guest stars as Bill, an 87-year-old man whose son, Andrew, calls 9-1-1 when he’s worried that his father has wandered off. The cameras he has to keep an eye on his father have cut out, and Bill’s ancient flip phone and Life Alert device were left behind, causing panic in Andrew.
Worried about his elderly father, Andrew wants to pack Bill off to assisted living where he can get 24/7 care.
It doesn’t take long for Field Sergeant Athena (Angela Bassett) to find the receipt for a plane ticket (first class) for a mysterious Cheryl, whose flight is set to land within the hour. As an overprotective Andrew had confiscated his keys, Bill was forced to take a riding mower to pick up his gal pal at the airport. And pick up flowers.
Disney/Christopher Willard
Athena catches up with the lovestruck Bill and brings him home, as it is somewhat illegal to drive a lawnmower in traffic.
Once Cheryl arrives, proving to Andrew that his father was not catfished after all, the father and son reach an understanding. Andrew removes the nanny cams he installed around his dad’s house, though the decision is as much for his own peace of mind as it is for Bill’s. He simply does not need a front row seat to whatever his father might get up to with his new lady friend.
Fox Television / courtesy Everett Collection
The episode also marks Farrell’s first return to television as an actor since a pair of appearances on NCIS in 2019. In the years prior, Farrell appeared across a wide range of series, including American Crime Story, Supernatural, and Ghost Whisperer, but he will always be remembered as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt, the steady moral center of M*A*S*H whose humor, compassion, and quiet integrity, as well as his friendship with Alan Alda‘s Captain Hawkeye Pierce, left an indelible mark on television history.
— Additional reporting from Meredith Jacobs
TV Insider