The SmarK DVD Rant for Mash: Season 3

It’s kind of weird having fond memories of a show that came onto the air before I was even born, but once I was old enough to start watching TV, this is one of the shows that became a weekly tradition with me until the finale in 1983. Without the wonders of syndication until later in the 80s, it was odd to stumble upon older episodes with Henry Blake instead of Sherman Potter and a more comedic slant to them.

M*A*S*H, indeed, is one of the stranger cases in TV history, a show so long-lived and yet so different from start to finish. It began much like the original movie did – a comedy with dramatic overtones. It finished as an entirely different show – a drama with comedic overtones. Of course, whereas the movie was an obvious metaphor for Vietnam disguised as Korea, the show was much more obviously the Korean War, thanks to the endless references to Korea and Seoul and the timeframe. These days, I much prefer the earlier seasons to the more Alan Alda-heavy later seasons, but any show that can pump out as much classic material as this one can over 11 years deserves praise all around.

The Film:

This set covers the third season of the show, when I think it truly hit its stride as a comedy, but at the same time started to show signs that the focus would be changing. This was, as noted by the liner notes, due to a trip by the show’s producers to Korea to meet real soldiers and POWs from the Korean War, which started giving the show a more dark and introspective bent. Unfortunately, the end of this season also marked the event that changed the tone of the show for good and the moment where I feel the show truly hit its zenith and then began a slow (but gradual) decent into mediocrity. It was still a great show into the fourth season and beyond, but it was a far different one, which I’ll get to in a moment.

Season 3 contains all 24 episodes from the 74-75 season in original broadcast order, which is much appreciated after years of trying to piece together the order of things from reruns and syndication. They are…

Disc One:

The General Flipped At Dawn. A classic episode featuring Harry Morgan’s first appearance on the show as an insane general who values efficiency above all else…and so decides to have the 4077th moved CLOSER to the front in order to speed up processing time. Frank is elated, Hawkeye and Trapper less so. The way they get rid of him is, shall we say, less than politically correct when viewed these days.

Rainbow Bridge. The Chinese call the 4077th with an offer to allow a small group of doctors bring out some injured POWs, as long as they don’t bring any weapons. Frank comes along, and can’t even hold up THAT end of the bargain without screwing it up. The payoff line is worth the wait, however.

Officer of the Day. The awesome Edward Winter returns as paranoid CIA agent Colonel Flagg, this time with a Korean prisoner in tow. He demands that the injured man be brought back to good health again so that he can be transferred to Tokyo and executed. As usual, the battle of wits between Flagg and Hawkeye is hysterically funny.

Iron Guts Kelly. Another loony-toons general, the legendary Iron Guts Kelly, visits the 4077th on business…and hooks up with Hot Lips, to no one’s shock. However, when he drops dead from the effort, things get complicated.

O.R. An odd episode, taking place entirely in (you guessed it), the operating room, sees the doctors going slowly nuts from a non-stop parade of wounded, leaving them sniping at each other and second-guessing their own decisions. This was the only episode without a laugh track from this time period.

Springtime. All about love, as Klinger marries his girlfriend in Toledo by phone (which I believe was conveniently ignored later in the series) and Radar learns about love via a geeky nurse.

Check-Up. Trapper seems to have a way home when he’s diagnosed with an ulcer, but alas, the army isn’t that easy to get rid of.

Life With Father. Henry gets a letter from his wife that has him feeling both guilty and suspicious of her motives, and Father Mulcahy gets a letter from his sister (who’s also a sister), leaving him with a crisis of faith.

Disc Two:

Alcoholics Unanimous. This one floats closer to the “dark comedy” intentions of the show, as Frank gets control of the camp for a week and declares prohibition, leaving Hawkeye and Trapper to break into the supply tent for any scraps of booze they can find. Once Hawkeye and Trap realize that, in fact, they may be alcoholics and yet still plunge into drunkenness anyway, the true spirit of the show comes out.

There Is Nothing Like a Nurse. The threat of an enemy air raid leads HQ to send all the nurses and patients to another hospital, leaving the doctors to go insane with sexual tension. The actual threat ends up being much less dangerous than originally thought, but that never stopped Frank from digging foxholes, just in case.

Adam’s Rib. Another classic Hawkeye episode, as repetitive meals cause him to go over the edge and demand a change in the menu. When nothing is forthcoming, he gets a hankering for ribs and does the only sensible thing – orders in…from Chicago!

A Full Rich Day. Another in the series of “Dear Dad” episodes centering around Hawkeye, this one sees a wounded Luxomberger mysteriously disappearing from the triage bus, and a crazed marine holding the OR at gunpoint until his sergeant is operated on first.

Mad Dogs and Servicemen. Radar, animal nut, collects one dog too many and gets bitten on the hand, thus causing a rabies scare and a frantic search for the pooch. Meanwhile, Hawkeye uses tough love on a solider who may or many not be faking paralysis.

Private Charles Lamb. A Greek feast at the 4077th in honor of the soldiers from Greece serving with the UN has everyone’s spirits up…until Radar discovers what’s going to happen to the cute lamb that’s been shipped in for the occasion.

Bombed. Artillery nearly destroys the camp (and it’s not even the enemy’s!), and traps Hot Lips and Trapper in the supply room as a result. However, Frank goes nuts trying to figure out if anything happened between them, and says something he didn’t mean to as a result.

Bulletin Board. Yes, it’s another Alan Alda episode, as everyone gets a breather from the war and has a cookout for the orphans.

Disc Three.

The Consultant. Hawkeye and Trapper, ducking a series of lectures in Tokyo, run into a famous doctor (played by Alan’s father Robert Alda) and invite him to the camp to see what REAL wartime surgery involves. He does so, but ends up too drunk to perform his famous surgical technique. One guess who saves the day with his brilliant doctoring. Even here the “Hawkeye is the god of surgeons” stuff was starting to get laid on a little thick.

House Arrest. A classic episode that sees Hawkeye FINALLY punch Frank’s lights out, drawing a court martial. However, until it can be convened, he’s forced to sit in the Swamp and have his meals brought to him while he sleeps all day. He’s obviously broken up about this. Frank then gets his comeuppance in the form of a horny female colonel. A riot from start to finish.

Aid Station. One of the heavier early eps sees Hawkeye, Hot Lips and Klinger traveling to a bombed-out aid station and serving as temporary doctors to patch up wounded until replacements can arrive. Very depressing stuff.

Love and Marriage. Recurring character Mr. Kwan finally gets an episode, as he wants to skip out of camp for a few days to watch his wife give birth, and goes to Hawkeye for help. Frank, however, is more apt to endorse the clean-cut American kid, Private McShane. One guess which one turns out to be legit and which turns out to be running a prostitution scam out of the local bar.

Big Mac. General MacArthur is due for a visit to the 4077th, and everyone is nuts with excitement (except Hawkeye and Trapper), but Klinger sees it as the golden opportunity to get his Section 8 discharge, and designs a special outfit just for the occasion…

Payday. Hawkeye, acting as paymaster, gripes to Radar that the army should reimburse HIM $3000 for money lost from his private practice. Radar fills out the correct forms and things go downhill from there for everyone involved.

White Gold. Another appearance by Colonel Flagg, this time to foil a penicillin theft ring. However, the CIA apparently has different ideas about who the good guys and bad guys are. Some of the funniest Flagg straight lines ever are delivered in this one, particularly “The CIA has no sense of humor. Leave the funny stuff to the Kremlin.” And his constantly changing identities are in full display here, as when “Jewish Rabbi Captain Goldberg” is introduced and you know it can only be one guy.

Abyssinia, Henry. The episode that changed everything, as it marks the final appearances of Wayne Rogers as Trapper John (he quit the show in the off-season and was written out off-screen) and McLean Stevenson as Henry Blake. Blake gets his discharge and the episode is one long party in his honor, but once things get down to normal again, Radar stumbles in with shocking news, and in fact the writers didn’t tell the actors what that news would be until the scene was shot. Radar’s tearful salute to Blake as he leaves for the last time is one of the greatest moments in the show’s history. And really, the dynamic between Radar and Potter was never as special as the one between Radar and Blake.

Call me a purist, but I really think that the show peaked in the third season and wasn’t the same from the fourth one onwards. The quick wit and dark humor of Trapper John was replaced by the wimpy and whiny BJ, and Henry Blake, who cheated on his wife and drank like a fish, was replaced by the homespun-wisdom-spouting Sherman Potter, who was more of a father-figure to the camp than “one of the boys”, like Blake was.

With Henry Blake, the show was more true to the spirit of the movies – there was rampant drinking, debauchery, and general lewdness. All that got significantly toned down in the fourth season, however, and as Alan Alda started to gain power, the show became more of an anti-war preach session for 30 minutes a week.

Besides, the Korean War only lasted for three years in real life anyway, so as far as I’m concerned, the show ended after season 3.

The Video:

Well, on one hand it was originally shot on film rather than videotape, making restoration and preservation easier than videotaped shows, but on the other the source material IS 30 years old. So what you get is beautifully restored colors and contrast, with dust and scratches out the wazoo. This is as good as it’s gonna look, however, without massive money being pumped into fixing it. It’s better than syndication, and that’s good enough for me and most.

The Audio:

Dolby Digital Mono, with or without the laugh track. The first two seasons featured a very muted non-laugh soundtrack, but this time around it’s been boosted quite nicely and sounds just as good as the shitty canned-laughter version. And stuff like Loudon Wainwright III’s cameo appearances as a singing captain sound very impressive compared to the lousy audio of the rerun versions. Again, for 30 year old source material, you have nothing to complain about here.

The Extras:

Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Nils. Rien.

Ratings:

The Film: *****

The Video: **

The Audio: **

The Extras: DUD

The Bottom Line: It’s M*A*S*H, baby, looking as good as it’s gonna look and it’s all the primo episodes in one collection. People who only saw the later stuff with Hawkeye whining to Sid Freedman about his feelings probably don’t realize what kind of anarchic dark comedy this show used to be, and how brilliantly anti-establishment it was in the days before they started believing their own press. Funny (REALLY funny!), touching and with just enough message not to be obnoxious, this is classic TV at it’s most classic.

Final Score: 7.0