MASH (Season 5) DVD Review

Based on a Richard Hooker novel of the same name, MASH was released in 1970 as a full-length feature film by 20th Century Fox before experiencing widespread success as a groundbreaking television sitcom in the Fall of 1972. The show's brilliant integration of drama and comedy made it one of the most celebrated shows in TV history, culminating in an eleven year prime time series stint. The 1983 series finale of MASH made history as the program with the single largest audience in television history, beating out several SuperBowls and the fabled Who Shot J.R. episode of Dallas. With the proliferation of new television mediums, it's a record likely to never be broken

The sitcom is set in South Korea during American involvement in the Korea War (with M*A*S*H standing for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital). Buffered from the front lines by a mountain range and a minefield, the men and women of MASH were tasked with patching up wounded American soldiers. Unique to its genre, th e cast of MASH was unusually large. Surgeons Dr. Benjamin Pierce (Alan Alda) and Dr. Trapper John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers) play the roles of excellent doctors who enjoy women and booze, while Dr. Frank Burns (Larry Linville) and Nurse Practitioner Margaret Hot Lips Houlihan (Loretta Swit) play foil to the two men's shenanigans (due to a contract dispute, Rogers' character was later replaced by Dr. B.J. Hunnicutt - played by Mike Farrell). The character of Frank Burns was also later replaced by Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester (David Ogden Stiers)

Corporal Max Klinger (Jamie Farr) provides comic relief with his early attempts to procure a discharge by dressing in women's clothing, and Father Francis Mulcahy (William Christopher) adds flavor to a diverse cast of characters. Also rounding out the cast are Lt. Col. Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson), Corporal Walter Radar O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff), and Col. Sherman Potter (Harry Morgan)

The MASH (Season 5) DVD features a num ber of hilarious episodes including the season premiere Bug Out in which the entire MASH unit is forced to move out of their camp as the front advances against them. Hawkeye, Hot Lips, and Radar are left behind with an injured patient, but the Chinese attack is eventually counter-acted, and the MASH unit is able to move back to its original camp Other notable episodes from Season 5 include The Nurses in which Nurse Baker's husband arrives in camp (prompting Hawkeye and B.J. to put them in Hot Lips' tent under order of 'quarantine'), and The Colonel's Horse in which Klinger is finally granted the discharge he's hoped for, but then loses it because he gets excited

Below is a list of episodes included on the MASH (Season 5) DVD:

Episode 97 (Bug Out) Air Date: 09-21-1976
Episode 98 (Margaret's Engagement) Air Date: 09-28-1976
Episode 99 (Out of Sight, Out of Mind) Air Date: 10-05-1976
Episode 100 (Lt. Radar O'Reilly) Air Date: 10-12-1976
Episode 101 ( The Nurses) Air Date: 10-19-1976
Episode 102 (The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan) Air Date: 10-26-1976
Episode 103 (Dear Sigmund) Air Date: 11-09-1976
Episode 104 (Mulcahy's War) Air Date: 11-16-1976
Episode 105 (The Korean Surgeon) Air Date: 11-23-1976
Episode 106 (Hawkeye Get Your Gun) Air Date: 11-30-1976
Episode 107 (The Colonel's Horse) Air Date: 12-07-1976
Episode 108 (Exorcism) Air Date: 12-14-1976
Episode 109 (Hawk's Nightmare) Air Date: 12-21-1976
Episode 110 (The Most Unforgettable Characters) Air Date: 01-04-1977
Episode 111 (38 Across) Air Date: 01-11-1977
Episode 112 (Ping Pong) Air Date: 01-18-1977
Episode 113 (End Run) Air Date: 01-25-1977
Episode 114 (Hanky Panky) Air Date: 02-01-1977
Episode 115 (Hepatitis) Air Date: 02-08-1977
Episode 116 (The General's Practitioner) Air Date: 02-15-1977
Episode 117 (Movie Tonight) Air Date: 02-22-1977
Episode 118 (Souvenirs) Air Date: 03-01-1977
Episode 119 (Post Op) Air Date: 03-08-1977
Episode 120 (Margaret's Marriage) Air Date: 03-15-1977

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the MASH (Season 5) DVD.

Author:: Britt Gillette
Keywords:: mash season 5 dvd review
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