M.A.S.H. - Series 5

Starring: Alan Alda, Mike Farrell Dvd Release: 17th January, 2005 Number Of Discs: 3 Format: Full Screen, PAL, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: French

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Inspired by the film of the same name, M*A*S*H was an American television series about a team of medical professionals & support staff stationed at MASH 4077 in Korea during the Korean War. The series originally aired on CBS from September 17, 1972 to February 28, 1983, but can still be seen in syndication. The series spanned 251 episodes & lasted longer than the war which served as its setting. Behind the scenes, those most involved with the show were Larry Gelbart, Gene Reynolds & Burt Metcalfe. Much like the movie, it combined elements of comedy with a darker antiwar message. Many of the stories in the early seasons were based on real-life tales told by hundreds of real-life M*A*S*H surgeons, interviewed by the production team. Some said the series seemed to be more about the Vietnam War, given the attitudes of the characters, than the Korean War. The shows producers have said that the movie was really about war in general. Originally intended as an ensemble show, M*A*S*H became increasingly centered around Alan Alda s character, Hawkeye Pierce.

MASHs fifth season would probably get my vote as the finest of them all. Seasons 2, 3, 4 & 6 run it very close, but pound for pound the episodes in Season 5 are stronger than any other, with only one stinker blotting the creators collective copybooks.

No doubt MASH devotees will be getting this DVD anyway but casual purchasers should buy it for no other reason than it contains Dear Sigmund, the greatest ever MASH episode. The arrival of Sidney Freedman in camp always indicated high quality - see Deal Me Out in 2, War of Nerves in 6 & The Billfold Syndrome in 7 for other great Freedman episodes - but Dear Sigmund beats them all.

This is also the hapless Frank Burns final year at the 4077th. By this stage hed become even more of an isolated buffoon than before, so it was probably right for the excellent Larry Linville to move on. There are some priceless Frank moments in this season, particularly in The Korean Surgeon & Hepatitis.

Season 5 boasts three classic Margaret episodes too, featuring her engagement, a supposed abduction & her marriage .

Other marvellous Season 5 episodes include Hawkeye Get Your Gun, 38 Across, Hanky Panky, Bug Out, The Most Unforgettable Characters, The Generals Practitioner & Movie Tonight. MASH Season 5 is highly recommended for all lovers of classic TV comedy.

Alan Alda is an American actor, writer, director & sometime political activist. He is most famous for his role of Hawkeye Pierce in the television series M*A*S*H & for being the host of the TV show Scientific American Frontiers. Aldas father, Robert Alda, was a successful actor & his mother Joan Brown was crowned Miss New York in a beauty pagent. He contracted polio when he was seven years old, which kept him bedridden for two years as he received treatments. He received his bachelors degree from Fordham University in 1956. During his junior year, he studied in Europe where he acted in a play in Rome & performed with his father on television in Amsterdam. After graduation, he joined the Army Reserve & served for a sixth-month tour of duty as a gunnery officer in Korea. A year after graduation, he married Arlene Weiss, with whom he would have three daughters. Alda began his career in the 1950s as a member of the Compass Players comedy revue. In the eleven years of M*A*S*H, he won five Emmy Awards, wrote twenty episodes & directed thirty episodes. Posters Of Alan Alda

Editors Choice: The West Wing, Canadian Bacon, Betsys Wedding, California Suite, The Glass House, Mash, And The Band Played On, View DVDology

Mike Farrell is an American actor, best known for his role as Captain B,J. Hunnicutt from 1975 until 1983 on the television series M*A*S*H. More recently, Farrell starred on the television series Providence. Farrell lends his minor celebrity status to political causes, some national or international & some local to the Los Angeles region, including the grocery workers union strikes in 2003-2004, long-term efforts to end homelessness & hunger & opposition to capital punishment.

Editors Choice: Mash, Prime Suspect, View DVDology

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