M*A*S*H TV Season 3

The Final Season for McLean Stevenson & Wayne Rogers
The success of the 1970 film "MASH", which was directed by Robert Altman, inspired the production of one of the most successful and longest running TV series of all time: "M*A*S*H". While most of the main characters from the original film were portrayed in the TV series, only one of the film's actors reprised his role for the TV series: Gary Burghoff. Like the film, the show was about the men and women working in a fictitious U.S. Army "Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" (or MASH unit) known as the 4077th during the Korean War in the early 1950's. For the first three seasons, the U.S. Army personnel stationed at the 4077th included Lt. Col. Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson, 1929-1996), Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville, 1939-2000), Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit), Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce (Alan Alda), Capt. "Trapper John" McIntyre (Wayne Rogers), Father Francis Mulcahy (William Christopher, except for the first season pilot episode), Cpl. Walter "Radar"...

Another classic season
Some consider the third season the show's very best, full of humor but also more boldly playing with serious topics. The actors are really at home in their characters by this point, and the audience knows them inside and out, too. They no longer need to play gags over-the-top to work because we know them so well. And because we know they so well, the serious turns hit home.

Reams have been written about M.A.S.H.; offering accolades would just be repeating what has been said before. Among the most popular sitcoms ever made, the show still stands the test of time despite being a "period" show. The jokes still work, the characters are still charming and feel like old friends, and the show still more enjoyable than most of the shows that have come and gone since.

Like the other sets, this DVD collection is bare bones (though not poorly produced). We get the episodes spread out over several discs in a sturdy triple-case and a small booklet with info on each episode. That's it. No...

The first two were done very well
I bought the first two M.A.S.H. seasons when they were released, and I was impressed by the quality of the video and audio transfer. The video was crisp and the sound was excellent. It is clear that they have gone back to the original masters, transferred them to digital and cleaned them up. It's kind of funny that with the advances in technology, the Mash episodes look better now than they did then. They also broke the laugh track out so you can turn it off. This isn't a big deal to me, but my wife likes it.

So the downside is that it is light on the extras such as commentary or, but I rarely bother with them anyway, so it's not a big deal for me. What I really want is what they have delivered: a great looking, great sounding copy of all those great old M.A.S.H. episodes.

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