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M*A*S*H - Season One (Collector's Edition)

M*A*S*H - Season One (Collector's Edition)

List Price: $39.98
Your Price: $31.98
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: M*A*S*H--Season One
Review: I think that Season One is great. The only thing is, if you have watched some of the ones when B.J. & Charles come into play, and have watched some where the charecters are more united, you think that Season One (at least the 1st couple episodes on the tape) is...kind of silly, compared to, oh, Season Four or Five.
But some episodes on the tape are really meaningful, like "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" and "Dear Dad". They show how war can turn anything into something awful. And some--they're just hilarious, like when Trapper and Hawkeye pull something on Frank.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The historic first season of TV's greatest show
Review: If you pinned me down and forced me to name the greatest show in the history of television, my answer would have to be M*A*S*H. No show comes close in terms of comedy, yet at the same time few shows can rival the emotional depth, complexity, and power this show evoked over the course of its historic run. This first season of the show relied principally on comedy for its sustenance, but the roots of this most humanistic and profound of shows are clearly laid in some critical episodes of winter 1973. I was not quite two years old when M*A*S*H premiered on September 17, 1972, and while I have seen many of the early episodes in syndication, I was basically watching these first twenty-four episodes for the first time. As a youngster, I didn't like Frank Burns at all, and that kept me from truly enjoying episodes such as these, but now I see that Frank was a very important character who helped make this show such a success. Colonel Henry Blake is another great character I am now learning to appreciate anew, and Trapper John - well, what can you say? Trapper was the best, and the timing and rapport between Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers rivals that of Harvey Korman and Tim Conway on The Carol Burnett Show. The show was never as funny as it was in its early years, and the ability to have these shows in their uncut, original glory is enough to make me thank the gods of entertainment for the invention of the DVD.

One can't possibly speak to every episode's individual quality in the context of a review, but there are many classic, unforgettable moments contained in these first season episodes. The show really hit the ground running, in a way that let you come to know the main characters by the end of the pilot episode. There are a few issues and growing pains experienced, but not many. The character of Spearchucker Jones, the African-American doctor who shared the Swamp early on, was a mystery to me, but I have come to learn that his character (the equivalent of Chuck Cunningham on Happy Days) is a carry-over from the original M*A*S*H motion picture. Father Mulcahy was played by George Morgan in the pilot, with William Christopher taking over the role immediately thereafter. Corporal Klinger's initial episodes are quite noteworthy; in episode 4, he briefly appears as a guard dressed in women's garb, but his next appearance in episode 12 finds him getting into a fight with Major Burns and having to be talked out of murdering him. Even Radar is not the innocent young man he would come to be in later seasons, as he quite often serves as a willing partner in crime to Hawkeye and Trapper.

As for the best episodes, I have to start with episode 8, I Hate a Mystery. Not only does it introduce us to Radar's teddy bear, it provides some of the longest laugh tracks in television history. Episode 12, Dear Dad, features the first episode built around Hawkeye's letters home to his father and ends with Santa Claus shimmying down from a helicopter to render aid to a wounded man pinned down in a bunker. Episode 17, Sometimes You Hear the Bullet, is clearly the best episode of the season; not only that, it serves as a powerful preview to the sense of humanity that would characterize the show over the course of its eleven-year run. Hawkeye cries for the first time since coming to Korea when an old friend of his dies on the operating table. Colonel Blake speaks to two of the first things he learned in command school - rule number one is that in a war, some men die, and rule number two is that doctors can't change rule number one. This episode is also memorable for Ron Howard's appearance as an underage enlistee and for Frank's application for a Purple Heart after he throws his back out dancing with Hot Lips. Episode 18, Dear Dad ... Again is another terrific episode. Not only does Frank get drunk and loud, Hawkeye bets that no one will even notice if he were to walk into the mess tent naked.

There are just too many great memories for me to mention here. Suffice it to say that this is a must-have for M*A*S*H fans and affords us a terrific means for making the show and its timeless themes a mainstay in the formative years of current and future generations. I would have loved to see any kinds of special features included, but the episodes of M*A*S*H speak for themselves. This is entertainment at its very best.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Attention all viewers...welcome to the 4077th
Review: MASH is definitely one of the best shows ever produced. After channel-surfing through the wasteland of formula trash and reality shows that makes up TV these days, I'm sure most people will agree with me. Not content to pigeonhole itself into any one genre, MASH works because it feels real. The humour (and delivery of it) feels spontaneous, witty, and irreverent. The drama is believable, and sometimes even tear-jerking without being sappy (at least in the early seasons). And the show takes risks with the topics it covers - I'm sure a series like MASH would be censored to death today by the suits. It's these elements that got me hooked on the show, and that make me continue to watch it over today's television.

While MASH was still finding its groove in season 1, there is still a consistently high level of comedy here. It may be a little wackier and out there compared to the later seasons, but in that sense it's actually more in spirit with the original books and movie (note the blurred, hazy look in some of the episodes - just like the movie). Season 1 also offers a different perspective on the characters, too. Besides Radar being more street-smart, Frank Burns doesn't whine and cry as much, and Henry Blake seems a bit more attentive to things. Hawkeye, of course, is at his womanizing best (the nurses in these episodes were hotter, too - check out Karen Phillip in the pilot).

At first I was hesitant about buying these sets, simply because they're pretty bare bones and I wasn't sure of Fox's release schedule. But after buying them to bring my friend up to speed with the network airings, I'm really satisfied. Audio and video are decent, and its great to turn that laugh track off. While extras would've been nice, it would've meant a 4th disc, and more $$ for each set (most sets put 6 episodes per disc - MASH packs 8). As it is, each set is affordable, the episodes stand on their own without extras, and the episodes are uncut - the extended opening to the pilot is a definite treat for fans.

Season 5 will be released in December, a testament to Fox's commitment in releasing this series. If you haven't picked up these sets yet, there's no better time to start.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great show
Review: when I was a kid my uncle would watch this show all the time I hated it but as I grew older I realized that this is one of the funniest shows to ever grace tv and I can see why people loved it so much

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MASH Without Laughter Is Even Funnier
Review: The choice - which is beautiful - of not having the laugh track is the best feature of these DVDs - you can hear everthing, including the horrible job of vocal overdubs that are, on such shows as "Requiem For A Lightweight", almost obnoxiously bad. The production quality of the vocal overdubs is the only flaw of these shows. Aside from that one gripe, this whole collection makes you realise what the TV ding dongs, to this day, cut out for the reruns. To be able to sit and enjoy these shows uncut without commercials is, in one way, a great paradise for the mind. "Germ Warfare" is, until I get the next three seasons, the funniest episode of MASH I've ever seen.

Tommy MacLuckie

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Uncut...Uninterrupted...UNBEATABLE!
Review: This is the main reason I finally caved in a bought a DVD player! The last great comedic series of the twentieth century as it should be seen: without commercials, and not an inch of footage chopped to give airtime to hawk this product, or to promote that mediocre show. Only the finest show ever to air in the last 40 years, fresh as ever.

The high points of this collection: The general's mounting frustration as he searches for Colonel Blake in "Chief Surgeon Who?", Colonel Blake's expression after getting blasted in the latrine in "Cowboy", and the antics of Hawkeye and Trapper as the dodge inquiring minds in "Tuttle".

The only beef with this collection is that there are no extras. I'll wager they'll save them for the collection of the last season when it comes out on DVD. But don't look down upon this collection...die hard M*A*S*Hers as well as fans of classic TV will love this collection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally, MASH has come to DVD
Review: If you've seen the movie, you're most likely to enjoy the series that is still one of the most beloved comedies on tv. Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers bring the Marx Brothers to the 4077th in "Yankee Doodle Doctor" Radar gets an officer for a girlfriend, much to Hot Lips' disapproval, in "Love Story". And McLean Stevenson talks Hawkeye through while operating on a bomb in "The Army Navy Game"; the military sure can take sports seriously. Watch these men and women, and Hot Lips and Burns, operate under bombshell explosions while maintaining some shred of sanity in multiple insane situations.

Go for it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Lots of Fun....
Review: I purchased this CD for my husband who is a M.A.S.H Fan. We enjoy watching the episodes that we missed and the ones we were so fond of. Also visited the TONY PACHEO's restaurant in Ohio which is featured in an episode. GREAT FOOD!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: M*A*S*H Season One
Review: Excellent, very well done. Picture quality and no commercials. I have seen all the episodes over and over many times and never get tired of the humor Mash has done.

I give the DVD a 10+

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE START OF GREATNESS
Review: I WISH TV WAS STILL LIKE THIS!!!! GUYS AND GIRLS HAVING A GOOD TIME, DRINKN AND MAKING GOOD JOKES!!!!!"LETS GET SOME BREAKFEST." "YOU HAVE TO HAVE A MARTINI FIRST, YOU CANT EAT ON AN EMPTY STOMACH!" JUST A SAMPLE OF THE BRILLIANCE. WHAT COULD BE BETTER MEDICINE, WAR, AND COMEDY!!!


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