What's the joke about Les having a bandage/bandaid on a different part of body in most episodes, if not every episode? Sometimes it's on his ear, another episode it's on his arm, another, the side of the neck, another the other side of his neck, forehead, other ear, hand and so on. I remember my mother pointing it out in the early 80's.
shareDidn't he have a big dog that often attacked him or scratched him? Also, it may be that the producers felt he was the type of character to always have some type of problem or issue. Thus, cutting himself or hurting himself accidentally in the morning before work may have been an issue as well.
shareActually, before they started filming the pilot he hit his forehead on a piece of equipment, and they couldn't get the bleeding to stop. He had to wear a bandage during filming. They decided that it would be a fun running gag to have a visible bandage on him in every episode after that.
"Hogs have futures, I don't."
Dr. Johnny Fever
Gary Burghoff used to do that all the time on M*A*S*H* when he was playing Radar, too.
I found it incredibly irritating and still do rewatching both that and WKRP. It always struck me as something of an actor's underhanded trick to draw the audience's attention slightly more.
Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me.
In Radar's case he had a deformed hand, so he used it to draw attention away form it. The next time you watch a MASH episode with him in it, look for it. He's holding a clipboard or his teddy bear in his bad hand.
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