White Gold (M*A*S*H) White Gold (M*A*S*H) "White Gold" is the 23rd episode of Season 3 of the CBS-TV series "M*A*S*H". The Army's supplies of penicillin are low, and thefts are high. For its medicinal value in treating infections, and because it gets top dollar on the black market, the drug has earned the nickname "white gold". A trio of soldiers dressed in spy gear is caught breaking into the 4077th's emergency ration. One is captured, who refuses to talk, and offers only a dog tag marked "Perkins" as identification. Radar O'Reilly traces the tag and learns it belonged to another soldier killed in
M*A*S*H (TV series) days of real time. Many of the stories in the early seasons are based on tales told by real MASH surgeons who were interviewed by the production team. Like the movie, the series was as much an allegory about the Vietnam War (still in progress when the show began) as it was about the Korean War. The episodes "Abyssinia, Henry" and "The Interview" were ranked number 20 and number 80, respectively, on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time in 1997. In 2002, "M*A*S*H" was ranked number 25 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In