M*A*S*H Season Sets

I'm not sure why they haven't added more features to M*A*S*H, my hope is that they will do so for the final season, and the last episode movie, there's a wealth of stuff they could do, and the producer Larry Gelbert had at one time expressed an interest in doing stuff, but I can't remember where that was first noted, I read it in another HTF post.

I suspect that they're releasing M*A*S*H sands a lot of extras to keep the price low, as they weren't sure how much people would be willing to pay for the series, but Gord and David would be able to answer better than I.

I also thought that putting on 1 of those reunion specials as an extra on the finale would be a good touch. I have no idea that they'll go this direction, gbut if they gave me the seasons like they are now, and put some nice supliments on the finale I'd be happy with that.

Well, for point of information

M*A*S*H: 5 Star collection was released on 1/8/2002
M*A*S*H: Season 1 was also released 1/8/2002

Why do I remember this?

1/8 is my birthday, so you see I am now connected to M*A*S*H, though funnily enough I bought both of them a couple months after release.

Just one of those Buzzwords that marketing departments like to use I guess. Hell Disney has marketed releases as a Platnum Edition, Masterpiece Edition, and Special Edition.

Its funny I've gotten special editions of stuff that weren't really all that special, and I've gotten stuff that wasn't marketed as such that probably should've been.

and I do like the audio track that removes the laugh track, I can't stand the laugh track on M*A*S*H, it seems just so out of place.

Did they film any reunion episodes after the final?

Chris, I never said that it made sense...there's a lot of things like this that don't make sense, yet they happen...it boggles the mind.

Sam, I don't recall that any reunion episodes were filmed, but they did have some reunion specials which were made up of interviews with the cast and stuff like that, of course I really never got in to M*A*S*H until the DVDs came out so I am far from an expert.

MASH is probably my favourite comedy series ever but if they hadn't included the option to watch it without the laugh track I wouldn't have bought the sets.

I first watched the show on the UK channel Sky One and it didn't have a laugh track there. After trying to watch an episode from the DVDs with the laugh track on I'm even more happy that I'm able to remove it - the laugh track almost ruins the entire show.



They had a great special last year - they got all the surviving actors together - but it would have been a lot better if it had been more about the actors and less of a clip show.

I'm glad to find others who feel like I do about the giggle-track. It always cheapened the show for me, even when it was originally aired in the 70's!

It's a whole new experience seeing it without the fake laughter.

I do recall that Larry Gelbert had wanted to do stuff for these releases, but Fox declined because they wanted to keep the costs down.

In fact, I recall reading that right here at HTF. I suspect that Randy Salas was the source, but my memory is hazy.

While I've always regreted the lack of supplements on these, I have always appreciated having the episodes, so no matter to me. I'm very happy with the releases!

Having said that, I agree that something special should be done for "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen". On the other hand, I'm nervous that Fox will break that final episode out to a separate DVD release, rather than including it with the main season set.


Discuss.

'cause they were trying to reach new heights?

Jon

David, I've got the same feeling about that one, my reason for having that suspicion mainly deals with the fact that the finale was like 3 hours long or something, and would up the number of discs for the set to 4 or 5 in all likelyhood, especially if they did put on extras. But, this is the way I would accept that as a stand alone release, if Fox were to release season 11 and the finale on the same day, I would have less of a problem with it, even though I'd prefer them to be rolled together. A few months between season 11 and that last episode would really bum me out.

I also agree with you in that I am just happy to have the episodes, and here's a fun fact about me, I own all 5 seasons of M*A*S*H, and the original film, and I purchased all of them at different places, which is hard to pull off in SD without shopping online.

There were only 15 episodes in the final season of M*A*S*H, plus the three-hour finale, so Fox should be able to fit the entire thing onto three discs.

In the early eighties, PBS aired a behind-the-scenes documentary about the series called "Making M*A*S*H". It was narrated by Mary Tyler Moore, and I'd love to see it included somewhere on one of the DVDs.

Jim

Jim, you are correct, its funny that I never noticed that season 11 wasn't 24 episodes until you mentioned that for as many times as I've gone through the episode guides...in that case, they can still get it done on just 3 discs, which means I'd have an even harder time accepting it as a separate release. Oh well, at the rate we're getting these it won't be an issue until at least 2005-06.

The documentary on PBS was definitely narrated by MTM, because at the time, M*A*S*H and The Mary Tyler Moore Show were my two favourite sitcoms, so it was a big deal when I heard that she was involved.

I recall that CBC (which was showing M*A*S*H as part of its prime time schedule here in Canada) later aired a shorter version of the PBS documentary, edited down from 90 to 60 minutes. The narration on the shorter version was re-recorded by someone else, but I have no idea who it was. I think there was also some sort of reunion special on CBS in the early nineties. That may be the one that was narrated by Shelley Long.

M*A*S*H was the Friends of its day. There was talk of ending the series for a couple of years, but they kept coming back. Finally, they agreed to one last, short season, so that's why there are only 15 episodes instead of 24 in season 11.

Jim

So far they've done four documentaries that I know of about the series:

The first one I recall was "Memories of MASH", which was hosted and narrated by Shelley Long (who was in the episode where Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) ). It was a 90-minute special, and what I recall of it was that it had some foreign language versions of clips at the very end of the program. It was re-broadcast on the Hallmark Channel last year.

The second one was the "MASH 30th Anniversary Reunion", where all the surviving cast members got back together again. It had some outtakes involving Alan Alda and Gary Burghoff that I recall. That one aired on CBS and then later on the Fox network.

A third one is the one-hour A&E Biography on MASH. It showed some behind-the-scenes documentary footage on the filming of the episodes and filming on the final half-hour episode, the one where Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) . I remember it airing a few times and caught it during one of the A&E Biography TV week tributes.

The fourth one is a 60-minute special that aired on the E! Network. In some ways it's similar to the A&E Biography program but is more tabloid expose' in nature. Of the four specials, this is the only one I never did get around to recording for my home video collection.

I agree, they really need to pony up the extras with the remainder of the season box sets. We're now about halfway through the series and still no significant extras. That's not to say that viewing the episodes without the canned laugh track isn't significant, there are some good episodes that work well au naturel. And there are those episode moments that work well with the canned laugh track, such as the episode where Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) and when Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) - totally hilarious! But having the sets with audio commentaries, any deleted scenes or outtakes, even any of the above documentaries, would be nice.

IMDb lists the following M*A*S*H documentaries/reunion shows:

Making 'M*A*S*H' (1981)
Memories of M*A*S*H (1991)
M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Reunion (2002)
M*A*S*H: TV Tales (2002)

Jim

If you look at the production numbers for the episodes in the last three seasons, it becomes pretty obvious that they were preparing for a shortened final season well in advance.

In season 9 (1980-81), they filmed 24 episodes, but only aired 20 of them. In season 10 (1981-82), they once again filmed 24 episodes. That year, they aired the four episodes left over from the previous year, plus 18 of the 24 new ones, for a total of 22.

For the final season (1982-83), they filmed a mere ten episodes (although that number includes 'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen', which was two-and-a-half hours, not three as mentioned previously). So the 16 episodes in season 11 include the six left over from season 10, plus only ten new ones.

Jim

A good slice-and-dice on the numbers there, Jim. But no matter how you cut it, there are a large number of consumers who will want GF&A by itself, and not with any of the rest of the episodes.

My idea is that Fox release a "S11" set with everything on it, including GF&A. Separately, they can release GF&A by itself and at a bargain pricepoint for anyone who doesn't want the rest. Both should street on the same date.

If they really want to, they could even make the separate GF&A a "special edition" and load it up with all the supplements that have been missing from the individual season set releases (hopefully including the four items mentioned above). It would make it more interesting to both folks who've been buying the season sets and just want it for the extras, and it would add some spice to it for the GF&A-by-itself purchasers.


Thoughts?

Well, personally, I'd like to see a little something extra in every season set, but that hasn't happened so far, and I doubt that we're likely to see much of anything included with the remaining seasons, either. It'd certainly be a nice gesture if Fox saw fit to include something in the last few sets to make up for the smaller number of episodes they'll contain.

I think that releasing GF&A on its own would be a good idea. There are probably a lot of people who'd buy that, even if they weren't interested in the rest of season 11 (which was pretty dreadful, as I recall).

Ideally, I'd like to see GF&A included in the final season set, even if they also release it separately. Spicing up the separate release with bonus items would be nice, but I'd feel slightly cheated if I had to buy the extra disc just to get something that wasn't in any of the first 11 sets.

Jim

I think it will be sold separately, for just the reason David Lambert mentioned, there are going to be people that want to own that particular episode, but won't much want to own season 11, or hey even any of the other seasons at all, its a piece of TV history and that will move a few copies. I can also express with some confidence that Fox is well aware of this fact.
If it is sold separately, and not included in season 11 at all, then I suspect that season 11 will have a lower price point, given that it will only be 15 episodes which would be 2 discs the way they're doing this now.
This is the only scenario I wouldn't like. If they included it as part of season 11 without extras, and then also had a separate release with extras that would annoy me, because then I'd either have to do without the extras, or buy a copy of an episode I already own. I doubt they'd take this approach, but we'll find out eventually. If they do include the finale as part of season 11, then its back up to 3 discs, and they can sell it at the same price point they're selling at right now.

If ultimately, I have all 11 seasons plus original movie, plus final episode with the only extras being related to the movie, I'll still be happy to have this show on DVD. You see, 1 thing that these do offer that really isn't an extra but is still nice, is that these episodes are full length and not cut for sindication, which is fun, because sometimes I watch an episode and go "Oh, they cut that for sindication."

All this M*A*S*H talk makes me want season 6 and beyond I love Winchester, but it will be harder for me once Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Chris, I wasn't speaking about the general sales of the show slipping after he leaves, just that I personally don't care for those eps as much. I'll still buy those seasons of course, but I might not watch them as soon as I typically do for this release.

You are right though I think all these seasons will sell in roughly the same range, Fox has already discovered this to be the case of multiple season releases of TV shows.