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One M*A*S*H Scene Was So Funny It Had To Be Filmed Almost 20 Times The old saw that holds “drama is easy, comedy is hard” typically refers to the fact that it is extremely difficult to actually be funny. Obviously, engaging an audience on stage or through a theater/television screen is a challenge regardless of the genre, but there’s a particular skill to getting a laugh (i.e. timing) that some people simply don’t possess. And some actors are so skilled at this craft that their co-stars occasionally have a hard time keeping it together in the moment. There are loads of stories out there about actors who were just so effortlessly funny that cast and crew members had a hard time holding it together while shooting a scene. It should come as no surprise that Robin Williams was especially adept at this. Directors aren’t always as amused as everyone else, as it’s their job to make sure they get at least one usable take and move on to the next shot. This is how you make days and keep from going over budget. But some things simply can’t be helped, as Larry Gelbart, Gary Burghoff, Harry Morgan and McLean Stevenson learned during the third season of “M*A*S*H.” An lightly amusing scene turned into a howler for Gary Burghoff According to Ed Solomonson and Mark O’Neill’s “T.V.’s M*A*S*H: The Ultimate Guide Book,” shooting the third-season episode “The General Flipped at Dawn” hit a snag when Burghoff kept bursting into laughter during a scene where Morgan, as Major Barford Hamilton Steele (he wouldn’t join the cast as Colonel Sherman T. Potter until the following season), chastised him. Burghoff recalled the scene being “unbearably funny” to perform, even though the actual moment is hardly a gut-buster. In the book, Gelbart recalled that they shot the scene at the Fox Ranch in Malibu Hills, a location used repeatedly for the “Planet of the Apes” franchise. Per Gelbart, “The situation (with General Steele) was based on a real one that [writer] Everett Greenbaum witnessed during his days as a Navy pilot in WW2.” So why, if the single piece of dialogue in question was not a killer punchline, did Burghoff keep losing it? The blame for this rests squarely on the shoulders of McLean Stevenson. How Burghoff’s chemistry with Morgan might’ve saved M*A*S*H Here’s how Burghoff related the filming of the scene to Solomonson and O’Neill: “Harry, as Steele, is inspecting the troops and I can see him coming. Harry asks me a question and then yells, ‘NO TALKING IN RANKS!’ I knew it was coming and I’d start to go. I think we did it like 18 times.” How did Stevenson factor into Burghoff’s uncontrollable laughter? And did this bother Morgan, who evidently wasn’t laughing at all? Per Burghoff: “See, behind Harry was McLean. And I’d see that silly expression on McLean’s face. But Morgan was secure, as an actor, so he’d be ok if you’d go (break up). I think that was the decisive moment when Gelbart and Reynolds saw the incredible chemistry with Morgan. I think you probably see me biting my lip in one of those long shots when Harry Morgan is inspecting us.” When Morgan made his debut as Potter the following season, this chemistry was crucial to the survival of the show. Stevenson’s Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake was an audience favorite, and the tragic death of his character, announced at the very end of the third season finale, devastated fans to such a degree that they complained to CBS (which infuriated the network’s execs). It was a tall order for Morgan to replace such a beloved character, but he did so brilliantly. Indeed, his portrayal of Potter won him a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series in 1980. So Burghoff blowing somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 takes proved to be a good omen for the continued success of “M*A*S*H.”

Choosing your baby‘s name is a major decision. Whether traditional or quirky and unique, picking the perfect moniker can be a bit of a challenge – and at the end of the day, not everyone may love your choice.

Many new mums and dads decide to name their newborn after a family member, or take inspiration from their name. And that’s exactly what happened to one woman who thought she had found a way to honour both grandmothers – only for her own grandma to flip out.

Taking to Reddit, the woman explained that she has a two-month-old baby girl and – in keeping with family tradition – they were preparing to host a little party to celebrate her arrival. It’s also the time that they receive personalised gifts from their loved ones.

“We don’t announce the baby’s name until after the birth to make it a surprise,” she explained. “At the little party we give the parents a bunch of little gifts that have the new baby’s name on them. My grandmother always quilts a beautiful baby blanket and embroiders the baby’s name. She’s done this for all my sisters and cousins. The issue is the name my husband and I chose for our daughter.”

The grandmother has her own unique history with her name. She was born Lucille but at the age of eight, started telling everyone she wanted to be called Barbara – and she even went so far as to change her name legally. When asked why, she simply said it was because she liked Barbara better.

Meanwhile, her husband’s grandmother was a big I Love Lucy fan – the pair would watch it together before her death when he was 19. And so, the couple thought they would honour both women by naming their daughter Lucy. Following the birth, the proud new parents Facetimed the whole family to introduce the baby and announce her name. “A few of my relatives laughed and said it was cute but my grandma was dead silent.

When I asked her what was wrong she demanded to know why I chose Lucy. I was shocked and confused,” the woman revealed. “I began to try and explain but she suddenly hung up. This greatly dampened the mood. My grandma wouldn’t answer any calls from me afterwards. I asked my oldest sister and she said that my grandma was apparently offended and thought we were mocking her. She said she’s not coming to the party in a few weeks to meet my daughter in person and that she’s not giving the baby quilt to us unless we apologise and change our daughter’s name. I don’t know why it’s escalated so much. My grandma has always been kind. I have no idea what to do.”

The upset new mum then reached out to the Reddit community for advice. “There’s trauma there that grandma isn’t sharing. But that’s her issue, not yours. NTA,” someone wrote in response. A second said: “I’m sorry, but no, if grandma had that big of a problem with her name, she should have said YEARS ago, that no one is allowed to use it.”

A third person added: “She wanted to change her name at age 8. Something happened back then, bullied at school, SA, something like that. Maybe a female member of the family could go, perhaps one of OP’s parents or siblings and one of OP’s husband’s family members, and explain why the baby was named this. Find some way, other than changing the baby’s name, that they can move forward.” And a fourth added: “NTA. But there is more to that story. Trauma. People lie to avoid discussing trauma. She probably played it off as a joke why she changed her name, and no one knows the whole story.”

Do you agree? Let us know in the comments.

“Take a road trip with at least two excitable chimpanzees with everfull bladders, endless appetites and terrible taste in music to find out if having kids is right for you”

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An Italian waiter has gone viral after a video of him refusing to serve a customer her cappuccino until after she finished eating her pasta was posted on social media.

The clip was posted by Nadia Caterina Munno, a cook, author and influencer known as The Pasta Queen on Instagram earlier this week.

It shows her and her friend Cat Sullivan dining at a restaurant in Milan, when Sullivan asked the waiter for a cappuccino while still eating her pasta.

The man serving the pair appeared shocked at her request. In Italy, it is common to only drink cappuccinos before 11am, and espressos after dinner. It is also frowned upon to pair cappuccinos with pasta dishes.

The waiter asked Sullivan: “With pasta? After pasta. Are you sure?”

When she answered in the affirmative, he walked away and remarked: “This hurts so bad.”

The clip then shows Sullivan sipping on her wine with her empty plate in front of her. The waiter then arrived to clear her plate and place her cappuccino in front of her.

Sullivan thanked him, but added: “But I just finished my pasta?”

“I am sorry we are slow… we made sure to delay as much as possible so you wouldn’t eat your pasta with cappuccino,” the waiter confessed with a smile, with both Sullivan and Munno bursting into laughter.

Later, Munno revealed that the request was a prank on the waiter, adding: “I can’t believe that I am even involved in this prank.”

She captioned the humorous video: “In Milan with my friend Cat and a traumatised waiter.”

Some found the waiter’s strict adherence to Italy’s unspoken food rules hilarious, but others were less than pleased with his customer service.

“I feel so uncultured right now, because I would actually be annoyed. If I’m a paying guest, give me what I want, within reason of course,” one person wrote.

Another said: “The customer is always right. Mr waiter [sic] has no business telling her what not to drink with her pasta.”

However, several people defended the waiter, with one person explaining: “Losing a customer is not the end of the world in Italy. The waiter’s job is to give the customer the best experience of how the chef wants his food to be experienced.

“So if you don’t like it, you can leave and the world does not revolve around you.”

Others chimed in with their own experiences of ordering food in Italy that is deemed outside of the norm.

“My boyfriend wanted to order pasta Bolognese in Venice and the waiter denied the order,” one commenter wrote.

A second shared: “I once had a very nice gelateria employee in Rome refuse to give me the first flavours I ordered because they wouldn’t go well together.”

At 99, billionaire Charlie Munger shared his No. 1 tip for living a long, happy life: ‘Avoid crazy at all costs’ Charlie Munger, who died at age 99 last week, attributed his success and longevity at least partially to a single piece of advice: “Avoid crazy at all costs.” That’s what he told CNBC’s Becky Quick last month, in an interview meant to air on his 100th birthday in January. Munger was known as the longtime business partner and friend of fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, whom he worked with for nearly 45 years. The partnership proved successful for both: Munger’s net worth was most recently estimated at $2.3 billion, according to Forbes. The 93-year-old Buffett boasts an estimated net worth of $120 billion, making him the seventh-wealthiest person in the world. When pressed for his keys to a long and successful life, Munger at first demurred, saying “I don’t know the secret.” Then, he added that he’d avoided major catastrophes in his life because he was “so cautious,” always avoiding obvious risks in his personal life and career. “Crazy is way more common than you think,” said Munger. “It’s easy to slip into crazy. Just avoid it, avoid it, avoid it.” What exactly constituted “crazy,” in Munger’s estimation? “My partner Charlie says there is only three ways a smart person can go broke: liquor, ladies and leverage,” Buffett told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in 2018. By leverage, Buffett was referring to the strategy of borrowing money to invest in stocks or buy another business. Berkshire Hathaway — Buffett’s investment holding company, where Munger served for decades as vice chairman — would “easily be worth twice what it is now” if the pair had used the strategy, rather than simply reinvesting its past earnings, Munger told Quick. But it would have been risky — and while Munger and Buffett could absorb significant losses without a sweat, Berkshire’s smaller shareholders weren’t so lucky, said Munger. The duo intentionally decided to protect their cohorts by running Berkshire in a “very cautious” fashion, favoring long-term investments over short-term gambles, he added. As far as other definitions of “crazy,” Munger clarified his general stance on personal vices: If it can “take that many fine people into deep trouble,” stay away from it. That included smoking and drinking to the point of alcoholism, he said — noting a prevalence of alcoholics and “near alcoholics” in his own family. “My game in life was always to avoid all standard ways of failing,” said Munger. “You teach me the wrong way to play poker and I will avoid it. You teach me the wrong way to do something else, I will avoid it. And, of course, I’ve avoided a lot, because I’m so cautious.” Two minor vices he could never give up, he acknowledged: peanut brittle and Diet Coke. “I’m sure Diet Coke shortens my life a little,” he said. “But I don’t give a damn.” DON’T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life?  Sign up for our new newsletter! Get CNBC’s free Warren Buffett Guide to Investing , which distills the billionaire’s No. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do’s and don’ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook.