Product Details

• Actors: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Loretta Swit, Larry Linville
• Directors: Alan Alda, Alan Rafkin, Burt Metcalfe, Don Weis, Gene Reynolds
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 3
• Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
• VHS Release Date: December 9, 2003
• Run Time: 637 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000C8AVO
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,603 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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• This is item 5 in The M*A*S*H (English, Français) Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

M*A*S*H's fifth tour of duty finds the 4077th operating at peak efficiency. Harry Morgan, as Colonel Sherman Potter, and Mike Farrell as BJ Hunnicutt, pumped new blood into series, and in this, their sophomore year, became integral parts of the ensemble. Gary Burghoff joined the Emmy elite for his role as company clerk Radar O'Reilly. William Christopher was also promoted, finally earning his opening-credit stripes for his role as Father Mulcahy. This season was also pivotal for Loretta Switt's Major Margaret Houlihan. "The Nurses," one of Switt's finest half-hours, humanized her rigid, by-the-book character. Margaret's engagement provided the season with its dramatic arc, and set the stage for the departure of Larry Linville's Major Burns, who by this time had wrung all the music he could from his one-note character. In addition to "The Nurses," another episode that looms large in the show's legend is the Emmy-winning "Dear Sigmund," in which weary and depressed psychiatrist Sidney Friedman sought refuge at the 4077th. This episode further fleshed out BJ, and established him as the camp's practical joker. The episode "Hanky Panky," in which a compassionate BJ consoles a nurse whose marriage has fallen apart, ranks as one of his best.

Alan Alda's Hawkeye suffers physical and psychological crises in two of his most effective episodes, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind," in which he is temporarily blinded, and "Hawk's Nightmare," in which the war haunts his dreams. We also see the first warning signs of sanctimony that would infect the show in later seasons. Tell us, Hawkeye--and he does, in "The General's Practitioner"--why war is worse than hell. Whereas Hawkeye and Trapper in earlier seasons were partners in crime, Hawkeye and BJ become tireless (and sometimes tiresome) crusaders to right all wrongs in their "little corner" of the world, as witness their shutdown of a heartless junk dealer in "Souvenirs." One cure is "Movie Tonight," an ensemble episode in which camp members bond during a much-interrupted screening of My Darling Clementine. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Significant season, September 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: M*A*S*H - Season Five (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

Most shows after a few seasons being to lose their impetus, but MASH proved to be one of those shows that proved the complete opposite, and especially with the fifth season.

By now Harry Morgan as Colonel Sherman T. Potter and Mike Farrell as Captain B.J Hunnicutt were now fully settled in to the full cast as this was their second season. This series would prove significant for two cast members, this was to be Larry Linville's last season as Major Frank Burns and William Christopher's first season as a full cast member as Father Francis J. Mulcahy. I find this strange that they waited until this season to make him so, as he had been there since the first season.

My favouite epsiodes from this season includes the one-hour show to open the season "Bug Out" in which the camp had to move en-masse while Hawkeye, BJ and Margaret had to operate on a patient with spinal injuries. "The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan" in which it is rumoured that Hotlips had been abducted and the appearance of the loony CIA man Colonel Flagg wanting to invade North Korea as a result. "Dear Sigmund" of more in the next paragraph. "Mulchay's War" in which was the first episode where Father Mulcahy played the significant part of him doubting his effectiveness in the camp, and "Movie Tonight" where they watch a bad copy of My Darling Clementine and the entertainment that takes place when projectionist Klinger has to repair it.

The episode that is one of the very best episodes in all 251 episodes is "Dear Sigmund", significant in that the main character and narrator in this episode is Dr Sydney Freedman played by Allan Arbus. Suffering from depression after the suicide of a patient and writing as a form of self-therapy to Sigmund Freud, he watches how the 4077th observes how they cope with the pressures of war, and the paves the way in the future when the originator of a series of practical jokes reveals himself near the end.

This episode written and directed by Alan Alda shows him by this stage becoming a huge part behind the scenes on the show, but in this episode does not show him taking center stage, which anyone who knows the history of the show, knows that is typical of Alan alda realising that is a ensemble show. It was also of no surprise that "Dear Sigmund" won him the 1977 Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series, 1977 Director's Guild Award, and 1977 Writer's Guild Award. An episode and season well worth recommending.

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another season, August 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: M*A*S*H - Season Five (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

This was the final season for one of the actors, Larry Linville, who played Major Frank Burns. Linville claimed that he went as far as he could in making this character look like an azz. Unlike the first four seasons (and the movie, too), Frank doesn't get to sleep around with Major Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan in this season. Two episodes into this season, Margaret gets engaged, and in the final episode of the season: Margaret gets married, with Frank acting as best man for the groom.

This was the second season for two of the actors: Mike Farrell (who played BJ Hunnicut) and Harry Morgan (who played Col. Potter). It being their second season on the show, it was easier for them to find their characters' humor and their seriousness, when needed. It really added some more to the show. In season four, they were just starting out.

This season featured some rather interesting episodes. One where Radar gets some phony promotion orders, promoting him to Lietenient. The phony papers were made by Hawkeye and BJ to give Radar a taste of "what it feels like to be an officer". The psychiatrist, Dr. Freedman, makes two appearances in this season. In the first, he comes to the 4077th to relieve some of his own stress, as opposed to some patients'. He joins in on a practical joke with BJ. In the other episode, he comes to aid Hawkeye, when he experiences some sleepwalking and nightmares. Also the CIA fruitcake, named Col. Flagg, returns to the 4077th when Major Houlihan turns up missing; at a time, where North Koreans are spotted sneaking around. A crossword puzzle becomes a great pass-time, in one episode. Also, the priest, Father Mulchay, has some good moments in this season. One where he goes to the front line, persuaded to when a wounded solider at the 4077th starts talking about the front line, and Mulchay's hero: a priest who calls himself 'Boom Boom'.

Many good episodes, and many good laughs make season five of MASH a great one. It is Major Burns' last season. In the next season, season six, we are introduced to Major Burns' replacement. A rich guy from Boston named Charles Emerson Winchester III, one of the most smug characters you'll see.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last! They finally included a "play all" option!, December 31, 2003

By	Rabbi Yonassan Gershom (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: M*A*S*H - Season Five (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

I am collecting the M*A*S*H series DVDs as they come out (I've got seasons 1-5 so far) and am happy to see that, with the release of Season Five, there is finally a "play all" option. Why it took so long for the production people to get around to including this, I'll never know. But it certainly is nice to be able to watch such favorite episodes as "Dear Sigmund", "Movie Tonight," etc. without having to reach for the remote each time.

This is the last season to feature Frank Burns. Season Six will open with the arrival of Charles Emerson Winchester, one of my favorite M*A*S*H characters. Frank Burns is funny, but, once Margaret gets engaged to Donald Penobscott, the Burns character becomes over-strained and tiresome. Perhaps that's why, even though I dearly love all of M*A*S*H, this season seems to go into a slump about halfway through. Looking forward to Season Six...