Release Date: November 7, 2006 (20th Century Fox)
Color/1982-93
MSRP: $39.98
Number of Discs: 3
Number of Episodes: 16
Running Time: Approx 490 Minutes
Audio: English/Spanish/French: Mono
Subtitles: English, Spanish; Closed-Captioned
Special Features: None
Introduction:
That’s all folks! The 11th and final season of
M*A*S*H is upon us. I’m going to be a bit forward
with you, the readers, in that I’m going to spend an
unusually high amount of time on the final episode in
terms of the context of this review. It’s not to say
the other 15 episodes (what a short season) weren’t
important -- far from it. But the final episode is so
important, that, well…yeah.
The show lasted 11 years -- almost four times the
length of the war in which it’s set. The show, at
one point, was seen as a commentary on Vietnam. By
the end of the show’s run, we were halfway between
Vietnam and Desert Storm. What started as a
pure-breed comedy in 1972 was one of TV’s first, and
possibly finest, drama-comedy hybrids (a “dramedy”) by
the end, and had taken a somewhat more serious tone,
while still retaining a lot of the same humor as
before. Of the 1972, not many original cast members
remained - only two whom appeared in the first episode
that first year were still around at the end: Alan
Alda and Loretta Swit. William Christopher, of
course, debuted as Father Mulcahy in the third
episode, while Jamie Farr as the unforgettable Max
Klinger debuted later that year.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.
On February 28, 1983; 1 day short of exactly 3.5 years
before my birth, M*A*S*H ended its run with the show
that is to this very date (November 13, 2006) the most
watched single program in television history. (And,
with cable having fractured the broadcast audience
permanently, it’s quite possible the show’s record
will never be defeated). On that night, 77% of all
television viewership watched the two-and-a-half-hour
TV movie “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” the final
chapter in the 11 year show about the 3 year Korean
War. Interestingly enough, this is the only episode
in the entire series run to display the show’s title
IN the episode. The show starts with Hawkeye in a
mental institution, writing a letter to his father.
As Hawkeye’s repressed memories come to light, we
discover that the event that drove him to the breaking
point was the mother of a small infant choking her
infant to death to stop its crying, to prevent
discovery by the North Koreans. Honestly, seeing
something that tragic would make just about anyone in
a normal state of mind nearly break let alone
someone who’s been in Korea for all this time.
Meanwhile, at the 4077, a tank crushes the latrine,
while Charles befriends a group of ragtag Chinese
musicians and teaches them to play Mozart's "Quintet
for Clarinet and Strings, K. 581." He’s also
attempting to best a competitor back in Boston for an
administrative position at Mercy General. Margaret
pulls some strings, which works to Charles’ benefit,
but naturally he’s not that happy. B.J. gets his
discharge papers. North Korea sees the tank at the
4077 and starts bombing the camp. Father Mulcahy goes
out to try to save a group of POWs, but it knocked
cold by a bomb. When he comes to, he learns his
hearing is beginning to deteriorate. At this
point, real life interjected itself into the episode.
A wildfire in the show’s shooting location destroyed
the outdoor set, meaning a new location had to be used
in the episode until it was safe to return to what was
left--hence, the fire in the episode forcing a bug
out. In a POW trade with the Koreans, Charles loses
his musicians. A short time later however, one
returns, this time needing urgent medical care and
barely alive; the rest are dead due to an attack.
This causes classical music to become
unbearable-to-listen-to for Charles -- despite it being
his one solace during the war. This seems like a
minor plot point, but it’s a big character development
issue for Charles. Finally, a truce/cease-fire is
signed, and the war….is over. Bit by bit, the 4077
disbands, and everyone goes home some with a
temporary detour to another MASH unit.
The last scene is one of my favorite moments in
television. It’s down to just BJ and Hawkeye.
Hawkeye’s chopper is about to leave, while BJ is about
to ride off on his motorcycle. BJ can’t bring himself
to say goodbye…they try their best, and then Hawkeye
gets in the helicopter. As the helicopter pulls up,
Hawkeye and the camera sees that BJ has spelled
out “Goodbye” in stones. (This served as a
dual-message from the show creators as well). And
that is….that.
Among other things, this episode was also an ancestor
to the very reason we’re here at the moment. In
1983, this episode was released on VHS, and sold well.
This paved the way for other TV show releases on VHS
and later, DVD. Also, despite 77% of the country
having watched the episode, large areas of California,
particularly the San Francisco Bay Area, didn’t get to
see the show originally, as they were experiencing
power outages due to unusually strong winter weather
in the area. The famous 77% figure would most likely
be even higher were it not for this.
So, now that I’ve spent almost two pages talking about
one episode, what else happened? Well, the final
season was interesting. For starters, including the
finale and counting it as one episode, this season
features a mere sixteen shows -- though if you count
the finale in terms of half-hours (five), that does
increase the number to 20, consistent with the
previous couple of seasons. Still, the official
number is merely sixteen -- this is roughly equivalent
to the “seasons” cable give shows *now*; and M*A*S*H
did it in 1982/1983. Admittedly, I think the final
season -- excepting the last episode -- was somewhat
weak. While the season certainly wasn’t a slouch, it
wasn’t a home-run hitter. The first episode I really
liked was “The Joker is Wild.” BJ finally gets fed
up of hearing of Trapper’s reputation as a prankster,
and bets Hawkeye he can pull one over on everyone
present. “Run for the Money” is probably one of the
final classic “regular episodes”. An Olympic runner
is assigned to the 4077th for a race; however, he
fails to show. This leaves Father Mulcahy as the
camp’s best bet to win a high-stakes footrace against
the 8063rd. This is a very fine episode of the show
indeed. “As Time Goes By,” the penultimate episode
(IE: The next-to-last episode), is certainly quite
good itself, if albeit a flag-bearer for the “We’re
going off the air soon!” ship. Margaret and Hawkeye
work on a time capsule to commemorate their time in
Korea. BJ and Rizzo play with a grenade (a fake
one), and Klinger becomes smitten with a certain
pretty little young Korean (Setting up the final
episode’s master irony, in which Klinger stays in
Korea with Soon-Li).
In terms of guest stars this season: Just the Ten of
Us fans should be on the lookout in episode 1 for
Deborah Harmon. In “Trick or Treatment,” the show’s
only Halloween-themed episode, George Wendt (Norm!)
guests, as well as “comedian” (For lack of a better
term and want of a more neutral term) Andrew Dice
Clay. Keeping my fingers busy at the keyboard is one
Jeffrey Tambor (…so…many….credits) in the third
episode, “Foreign Affairs.” Acclaimed filmed director
Robert Townsend appears as a patient in “Bombshells.”
Since I talk about SNL cast a lot in this section, I
thought I’d continue the trend: Robert Townsend was
supposed to become a cast member for the show in 1980;
however, his position in the cast was instead given to
one….Eddie Murphy.
Packaging:
So, you should know exactly what to expect here.
It’s not like the wonderful packaging for the complete
series version of the set put out at the same time.
On the one hand, I applaud FOX for sticking with the
style for four years and eleven seasons, on the other
hand, in this instance, the packaging used (the big
black box) has seen a sharp decline in use since the
first sets were being put out, and the bigger and
bulkier boxes are a bit of a packaging relic.
Anyway, the entire cast is gathered in front of the
multi-direction sign (Boston/Seoul/etc), with the show
logo in green at the top, and the mountains behind
them. Back cover features two stills from the finale
(BJ on the motorcycle, Goodbye) on the right side,
with a faded-out shot of the camp at the bottom, and
some descriptive text on the left. The goal, I
believe, in this season’s packaging, was to make it
perfectly clear this is the final season and features
the legendary final episode something they make
quite evident. Inside the Big Black Box is a little
booklet complete with episode details (the booklet
front cover is the same as the box front cover).
Disc 1 is your standard-issue olive green, and
features a two-toned (black/green) shot of Hawkeye.
Disc 2 is…well…very brown. This disc features Potter
in the bottom-left. The final disc of the final DVD
set is a drab military-yellow, and
features…..*drumroll*…..Klinger. Everyone who had
Klinger as being on the last disc in your respective
organization’s pool, step forward. *crickets*.
That’s what I thought. Honestly, I don’t really get
why they didn’t put Hawkeye on the final disc. It
just makes too much sense. Maybe even flip the
order, and have Klinger on 1, Potter on 2, and Hawkeye
on 3.
For what it’s worth, episodes 1-8 are on the first
disc. Episodes 9-15 are on the second disc. The
finale is all by itself on disc 3.
Menu Design and Navigation:
You know what…I’ve wanted to say this for a couple
years now. This is NOT a dig at the FOX art
department at all, as the menus incorporate the
episode selection options, and the episode options,
etc., into the stills in a very creative way and I
have to give major points for that. But while that
might have been nice in 2002, this is 2006 (almost
2007). DVD technology, especially in regards to
menus, has changed *so* much, yet the menus are still
based on the way things were done four-plus years ago.
I would have really hoped for something a
little…nicer, something a little…flashier. But, oh
well…had to get that out. Anyway: The show logo with
broadcast order reminder is in the top left. The
episode titles are in the Stencil font along the wagon
portion of a truck. Play all is on the passenger’s
side door of the truck. The text is even shaped to
match the wrinkles and folds of the wagon cover. I
may complain about the static nature of the menu, but
I LOVE little touches like that. Each episode
features a still shot FROM that episode, with the Play
Episode, Chapter Selection, Language Selection, and
Home options integrated into the still in various ways
depending on the episode. As a memo to FOX, and to
other DVD producers: Fans love chapter/scene
selection, and love it when you put it in a release.
Please include this VERY valuable feature more often.
Language selection’s menu is a set of clothes and
helmet (the helmet bearing the Language Selection
text), with the options at the side. Chapter
selection features a still image from that chapter in
“Polaroid” form, with the scene name scribbled below
it.
Video and Audio Quality:
The first thing that hit me when I played the first
episode of the season is, right off the bat, the video
just looks better. Noticeably better. The second
thing is that, for a mono track, the audio sounds
surprisingly good. I have a hard time believing FOX
couldn’t have tried to get a stereo track out of this,
but there’s a good job done with what they have.
There are no defects, it’s just plain. As before, you
can choose to watch the episode with or without laugh
track (personally, I prefer to watch WITH in the early
years, WITHOUT later on). And I can’t get over the
fact that the video just looks BETTER. I’m trying to
find something wrong with the video to talk about
anything….and I just don’t have anything. Chapter
stops exist in-episode with the chapter selection
menus.
Disc 1:
Hey, Look Me Over: 24:52
Trick or Treatment: 24:47
Foreign Affairs: 24:53
The Joker is Wild: 24:52
Who Knew: 24:51
Bombshells: 24:53
Settling Debts: 24:31
The Moon is Not Blue: 24:10
Disc 2:
Run for the Money: 24:37
U.N., The Night and the Music: 24:52
Strange Bedfellows: 24:51
Say No More: 24:15
Friends and Enemies: 24:51
Give and Take: 24:41
As Time Goes By: 24:15
Disc 3:
Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen: 2:00:18.
Special Features:
Nada -- this is why you should consider buying the
complete series version. They took all the features
they’ve been withholding for four years, and put them
all in that one set. It’s a nice touch for *it*, but
it leaves those of us who’ve bought all 11 season DVD
sets holding a rather heavy burden -- have all the DVD
sets, or re-sell those and buy the complete series.
Final Comments:
And that’s it. It’s been great to get to re-watch
these seasons, though I wish they would have included
features in the actual DVD sets, instead of waiting to
force people to buy a completely different set anyway.
The complete series release, done
simultaneous with this one, also negates purchasing this set for anyone
other than those who have already purchased 1-10 but
don’t want to sell them off and buy the mega-release.
It’s been fun doing this set.
