DVD Release Date: December 6, 2005 (Fox Home Entertainment)
Color/1980-81
MSRP: $39.98
Number of discs: 3
Number of episodes: 20
Total runtime: 502 minutes
Special Features Runtime: n/a
Audio Tracks: English/English without Laugh
Track/Spanish/French (Mono)
Subtitles: English/Spanish/French; Closed Captioned
Special Features: None
Introduction:
Sign Up for a Tour of Duty with the 4077!
Korea, 1950--They were the 4077 MASH (Mobile Army
Surgical Hospital) unit stationed three miles from the
front. After months of living a stone’s throw away
from the daily bombings and dealing with the resulting
nonstop casualties, the docs and nurses still managed
to live up to their motto of delivering the “Best Care
Anywhere.” The only things that kept the continued
stress of war from turning these docs into casualties
themselves were their own surgically sharp wits, love
of laughter, and the knowledge that they were often
the only hope for the incoming wounded. M*A*S*H stars
Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, David Odgen Stiers, Jamie
Farr, Harry Morgan, William Christopher and Loretta
Swit. TV legend Larry Gelbart is the executive
producer, along side series star Alan Alda.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Episodes started to get a bit thinner in terms of
quality by the ninth season, but there were still
definitely highlights. Death Takes a Holiday, and The
Life You Save are both in Season Nine, as is The Best
of Enemies and a few other classic episodes.
Meanwhile, in the guest stars department, Joel Brooks
(My Sister Sam) is in episode 3, Cementing
Relationships. In show 18, a young Patrick Swayze
guest stars as the Pt. Sturges character.
Packaging:
The packaging is similar to that of recent seasons.
On the cover for season nine is Alan Alda, Harry
Morgan, and David Ogden Stiers. The back cover has
two pictures, one of Hawkeye, Klinger, and Winchester,
while the second picture has Margaret, the Father, and
another woman.
Disc art is simple--very VERY simple. Disc 1,
containing the first seven episodes, is green with a
green-tinted image of Alan Alda. Disc 2, containing
episodes 8-14, has a brown-tinted image of Harry
Morgan. The third disc, yellow-hued, has a picture
of Mike Farrell, and has episodes 15-20.
Menu Design and Navigation:
Menus are well done…The main menu is an Army
pitch-tent in front of the “M*A*S*H Mountains,”
Season 9 is in broadcast order, as the menu makes sure
to let you know. The episode titles are written on
the side of the tent. The selected option is denoted
by a bullet hole next to the episode title. Each
episode has its own episode information screen, which
essentially works out to a still from the episode with
the menu options worked in. Scene selection consists
of small photos from each episode. Language selection
is a close-up shot of a helmet against a tent.
Video and Audio Quality:
Video’s superb. Obviously being a show from 1980,
it’s in 4:3 aspect ratio. There are only marginal
flaws with the video. Occasionally there is a bit
of grain, and some scenes don’t seem as
well-remastered as others. Chapter stops are placed
at every scene. Audio is great considering it’s a
mono. No noticeable flaws on audio. The ability to
watch episodes without a laugh track is a great
feature other series should try this. Most episodes
are over 24 minutes in length. 4 Episodes run under 24 minutes:
#1 - 23:45, #2 - 23:40, #6 - 23:49, #11 - 23:11. It's hard
to say if these episodes are edited or if they just originally
ran short.
Special Features:
There are no special features included.
Final Comments:
What’s so bad about special features, anyway? I know
its season nine, but surely FOX could fish up
something. Commentaries would be nice most of the
cast is still alive and well, it shouldn’t be that
hard. Overall though, another great MASH release.
Nine is definitely not the place to start watching the
series you might want to pick up an earlier set for
that but there is no reason for anyone else to not
buy the set.
