Customer Reviews

M*A*S*H Seasons 1-7 (Collector's Editions)

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This review refers to M*A*S*H Seasons 1-7 Collector's Edition(DVD 20th Cent Fox)

It doesn't matter how often you have viewed these vintage episodes or how much time has passed since it's beginnings in 1972, M*A*S*H is a series that never gets old. It's a serio-comic look(based on the movie M*A*S*H) at the medical personel of a medical unit during the Korean War. The program was phenomenal, and may very well be the best TV has ever had to offer. The subjects was serious, and the atrocities of war were never taken lightly, but the writers used laughter as the best medicine, to honor those who were a part of it.

Meet the gang of the 4077th M*A*S*H("Best Care Anywhere"). Hawkeye and Trapper perform "meatball" surgery, save lives and patch up the wounded soldiers and still have time to make life miserable for the ever miserable Frank Burns. Col Henry Blake, Maj. Maragert Houlihan, "Radar" O'Reilly" will all have you laughing at their antics as well. Klinger makes only a few brief appearances at first, but eventually becomes very much a part of the story, as he bucks for a section 8 in woman's clothes..and what a wardrobe. Just to see him trying to go AWOL by flying out of the camp on homemade wings, in his pink peignoir and fuzzy slippers will have you laughing so hard, you'll cry. Col. Potter and BJ arrive in the 4th season. Season by season, you can watch the characters growing and bonding(of course Frank is a lost cause), even Margaret starts to warm up a little.

The one liners and gags are at times, non stop, and if you are a big fan, there are times you'll crack-up even before the punchline(with every view). When the guys drugged Frank and wrapped him up in gauze, I was already laughing before Hawkeye even said "eeewww, the mummy!" There are poignant moments as well. Col. Blake finally gets to go home, only to have his plane shot down, Hawkeye, Margaret, and Klinger learn to respect each other as they patch up some wounded at an aid station, and when Trapper tries to adopt a little Korean boy, after saving him in a mine field it may even bring a tear or two.

The men and women had to endure much. Working just three miles from the front, they were often being shelled. The weather extremes from very hot to very cold. Lack of medical supplies, fresh food, warm clothes are all looked at. Some of my favorite episodes are when the trades begin. Everyone making bargains, just to get a pair of long underwear or some other coveted item, and of course, everything usually goes wrong. Other favorites are the recurring appearance by the paranoid CIA agent, who drives everyone nuts. Great guest stars to look for are Terri Garr, Pat Morita, Ron Howard, Blythe Danner and Robert Alda, just to name a few. And let's not forget all the great P.A. announcements.."Hear Ye, Hear Ye. It's oh-seven-hundred and all is hell. Incoming wounded folks"

I could go on and on about all the great episodes, characters and storylines, but I suspect if you are here, you probably know them all by heart by now. So the questions is whether to buy the set of 7 seasons or purchase separatley? You've got to do a little surfing to get the best deal. Check individual seasons and see if they are lower than what these sets averages out to as a multi-pack. Keep in mind shipping charges; with each individual set - unless they fall into the "free shipping" catagory they will all have the shipping charge - buy them all together and you only pay that charge once(from outside sellers.)And don't forget there are still 4 more seasons that follow these.Any fan, who hasn't started collecting these yet would be thrilled to get them as a gift. Also there are other editions out there for the entire series, so check those prices as well - see which is the best way to go.

The DVDs are great. Each season has 3 discs. There are 8 episodes on each disc. The picture looks great for this vintage TV series. The DVDs give you the option of playing it with or without the laugh track. There are scene selection(about 8- 10 stops, not bad for a 25 minute program), captions, it may be viewed in Spanish or French and has subtitles in Spanish as well. This edition has no other special features(this would have been really nice), but each season comes with a booklet, some notes and lists each episode of each disc, including when it was aired, the writer and director. And of course...NO commercials!

This is a series that will provide hours and hours of first class writing, acting, and entertainment. It's beats most anything on all those 100's of channels we get now. Go for it and enjoy...Laurie

It is like seeing MASH for the first time because the commercial TV stations have cut out so much of the episodes to runs ads.

I love MASH. I own all 7 seasons and I can't wait untill seasons 8, 9, 10, and 11 come available, I'll buy them in a flash. I highly recommend.

The first seven of eleven seasons of M*A*S*H on DVD. Season eight will be released sometime this summer.

Go ahead, sit through tons of adventures of comedy and drama.

From a raffle to win a date with a nurse, to a boxing match with someone much bigger than you. From a theif at the camp, to stealing blood from Frank. From an imaginary solider to a friend of Hawk's becoming wounded. From a supposed ceasefire, to an airplane bomber with bad aim. From a kid in a minefield, to a sniper shooting. From a flu break-out, to a new officers' club.

With a crazy general, to a whole episode in the O.R. An ulcer for Trapper, to a outlawing for alcohol. With a special order of ribs, to a discharging of a lamb. An aid station visit for Hawk and Margaret, to a visit from Gen. MacArthur. With the exit of Trapper and Col. Blake, and the entrance of B.J. and Col. Potter.

With word to Hawkeye's dad that he's dead, to an episode with a broken-down bus. With Potter's horse, and a man who thinks he's Jesus Christ. The disappearance of a Colt .45, and a truce to be nicer to Frank (resulting in Frank being delivered to an aid station with a toe tag). With a chopper pilot going for 'pilot of the year', to an interview from a video journalist.

With Margaret getting engaged, to Radar getting a temporary promotion. A letter to Sigmund Freud, and Hawkeye not wanting to bear a gun. With Radar in a writing class, and a crossword puzzle to keep busy. B.J.'s feeling about betraying his wife, to Potter's favorite movie being mailed to the camp.

From Margaret's marriage, to Frank Burns' exit. With the welcome of Charles, and a fallen idol for Radar. From a shortage of lightbulbs to Radar's want for a tattoo. With a night that Hawk and Margaret will never forget, to a stand-off between Charles' french horn and his roommates' cleanliness.

A shortage in blood to a much-needed mail call. A drug dependency for Charles to commanding officer named Hawkeye. With Hawk's trip to the peace talks, and a mail-order bathtub, to a reporter from 'Stars and Stripes' wanting to do an article on Charles. With a North Korean spy, to Father Mulcahy gunning for a promotion. With Margaret's divorce going through, to Radar getting a date. The final appearance of CIA agent Col. Flagg, to a whole episode at Rosie's bar.

Does this bring you back? In season eight, we say good-bye to Radar, where some say that the show took a nosedive...

I remember around Christmas when the first four seasons were packaged together, no doubt as a marketing ploy for holiday shoppers. That was a decent idea, but now the first 7 seasons are being sold together? This is a little extreme. Of course, I'm sure there are fans out there who have been meaning to buy the series but never gotten around to it, and this is a good deal for them. But really, most hardcore fans I think would've picked up at least half the sets in the series by now, making this deal somewhat pointless. The casual buyer isn't going to purchase all 7 seasons in one shot, and those looking to give MASH as a birthday present or such will find 7 sets at one time a little....much?

The series itself is 5 stars - MASH is my favourite classic series, and the only classic show I actually collect on DVD (Simpsons isn't quite old-school classic yet). That FOX continues to draw sales on these sets despite their bare bones nature is a testament to how good this series is. I'm just baffled at the marketing person who actually thought selling 7 seasons in one go was a good idea.