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M*A*S*H Season Sets - Page 2

post #31 of 70
2/4/04 at 8:10pm
Thread Starter 
what would you like to see for the artwork of S11? It shouldn't give away the last scene from the last show... Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
the "goodbye" written out in stone picture
. Opinions?
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post #32 of 70
2/5/04 at 7:52am
Chris, I'm glad you brought that up. It would be easy for them to do...figuring it would make the perfect cover art.

I hope that stay away from that, and all of the other departure scenes. Each character left by a different method, and those methods should be a surprise to the first time viewer of this episode. A good cover shot doesn't need to blow the ending of the show.
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post #33 of 70
2/5/04 at 9:25am
Since before it was originally aired in '83, GFA has always been hyped as a "TV Movie." Therefore, I bet they will release it as a separate Special Edition DVD. That by itself could be a great 3-disc set, with GFA (maybe with commentaries?) on disc 1 and interviews and making-of shows on discs 2 and 3.

That early 1980's "Making MASH" doc from PBS is still by far the best behind-the-scenes show ever about this series. I do hope it is rereleased sometime!

As far as the GFA cover art - They'll probaby have some cheesy cut-and-paste job with all the main characters smiling and looking happy as hell to be in Korea...
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post #34 of 70
2/5/04 at 9:45am
Thread Starter 
I disagree Coressel. If they release the eleventh season without the final episode, it does not warrant a title of "The Complete Final Season." And it would ludicrous to be called "The Incomplete Final Season." I think they should release it this way. Episodes 236-242 on Disc One. Episodes 243-250 on Disc Two. GF&A on Disc Three with Commentary and special features. Such as bloopers from all seasons. Entertainment Tonight's GF&A news coverage in 1983. ET in TVLand's M*A*S*H. The PBS Special. The 30th Anniversary which includes rare guest appearances by Allan Arbus (Sidney Freedman). The Special that was narrated by Shelley Long. And any other goodies FOX can scrounge up.

I'm still waiting on E! True Hollywood Story to cover M*A*S*H
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post #35 of 70
2/5/04 at 12:58pm
Quote:
If they release the eleventh season without the final episode, it does not warrant a title of "The Complete Final Season." And it would ludicrous to be called "The Incomplete Final Season."


That's very true. I'm just saying that they probably won't do it that way, since GFA has always been marketed as it's own special thing. Considering how most marketing executives think, the grand overblown finale, being one of the most-watched TV events in history, more than likely will get it's own DVD set.

I'd also like to see all the stuff you mention... However, I could live without seeing whatever Mary Hart was wearing that year...
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post #36 of 70
2/5/04 at 1:44pm
I remember way back in '84, when I had just gotten my first VCR, there was a cheapjack video rental place in town, and I clearly remember seeing on the store shelves GF&A released as a separate VHS release from Fox Home Video. Without the commercials it came out just about at an even two hours.

The next time I saw it, it was in local syndication on Fox-affiliated stations, and they cut a portion of a scene where Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Hawkeye says to Sidney Freedman, "You son of a bitch, why did you make me remember?"
during the pivotal moment of Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Hawkeye remembering that he had made a Korean woman kill her own baby
. That moment crystallizes Hawkeye's rationale from that point on in the finale.

I wouldn't be surprised if Fox releases GF&A in a separate DVD release with extras, but then again, there's enough argument to warrant it being included in the final season set but on a separate disc.
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post #37 of 70
2/7/04 at 1:24pm
I have DVDs of M*A*S*H from the 1970 movie all the way up to TV Season Five. I'm very much looking forward to the release of Season Six! :b
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post #38 of 70
2/7/04 at 2:33pm
Quote:
I have DVDs of M*A*S*H from the 1970 movie all the way up to TV Season Five. I'm very much looking forward to the release of Season Six!

You and me both, I'm a big Winchester fan and so I'll be glad to be getting the seasons where he's involved. Oh, and let me also welcome you to the HTF!
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post #39 of 70
2/7/04 at 5:41pm
Thread Starter 
Two more months.. Two more months until the sixth season... I can hardly wait.
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post #40 of 70
2/8/04 at 2:53am
Yes that's actually where all the fun begins. That's the real perfect MASH for me. Burns is just too annoying and one dimensional. It's like they want to force us, "you have to hate this guy!". I prefer all the 3 major role changes to their original counterpart much better.

Potter’s age difference gives a contrast and he is like a father figure. He has also an edge that Blake didn’t have. He can become dead serious and give an order when it’s necessary.

Hunnicut is also a contrast to Pierce which is always more exciting. McIntyre was just a copy of Pierce. I mean who cares to see the same character twice!

And Winchester is of course my favorite. He is not a one dimensional character or someone there to hate or to make Pierce shine. I even remember an episode where Pierce loses his popularity when he makes practical jokes on Winchester. Winchester becomes the popular one. I loved that episode. Anyone knows what season/episode that was?
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post #41 of 70
2/8/04 at 6:29pm
Thread Starter 
Season Nine or Ten.
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post #42 of 70
2/8/04 at 7:31pm
Quote:
Two more months.. Two more months until the sixth season... I can hardly wait.

Well, I hate to extend your wait a bit, but Season 6 is actually rumored for June.
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post #43 of 70
2/9/04 at 6:53pm
Thread Starter 
Four months... now I have too wait four more months.
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post #44 of 70
2/9/04 at 7:32pm
Well, assuming the June date is correct, and assuming that Fox continues with a release every few months, then I'm afraid that we might only get seasons 6 and 7 in 2004, I was hoping to get 3 seasons this year and 3 the next, but if we only get 2 this year, we'll have to get 4 in 2005 not to drag it out in to 2006. Just a thought I had, I would like to have the complete run over with by the end of 2005.

They could always opt to speed up the release schedule like Warner has done with Friends, but that's a current show this isn't.
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post #45 of 70
2/10/04 at 6:40am
I was wondering what is the story behind McIntyre leaving. I mean was it at the last minute and a surprise? Why didn't they come up with a proper exit and didn't film anything?
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post #46 of 70
2/10/04 at 7:58am
Thread Starter 
Wayne Rogers left because he didn't like the way they were using Trapper in the show... and by Season Four they finally handed him a contract with things in it that he didn't like. So he told them he was leaving.
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post #47 of 70
2/10/04 at 9:24am
Quote:
Wayne Rogers left because he didn't like the way they were using Trapper in the show... and by Season Four they finally handed him a contract with things in it that he didn't like. So he told them he was leaving.

The way they wrote Trapper John out of the series was explained in the fourth season opener, in which Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Hawkeye had returned from R&R to find out from Radar that Trapper had gotten his discharge papers and had left only minutes before Hawkeye returned. When they get to the Army base to pick up BJ, Hawkeye learns that they missed Trapper again by only 10 minutes.
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post #48 of 70
2/10/04 at 10:52am
Yes I have watched the DVDs. I mean contrary to the Blake situation, when they finished season three, they knew that Blake is leaving but I’m not sure if they knew that Trapper is leaving also. Looks like a last minute thing.
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post #49 of 70
2/10/04 at 11:13am
I believe, but I'm not sure on this, that the departure of Wayne Rogers was in between seasons 3 and 4, and that's why they didn't plan some sort of send off for him in season 3. Of course, it could just be that they felt that the way they were going to say good bye to Henry was a big enough story on its own, no sense putting in Trapper as an after thought, I really don't know.
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post #50 of 70
2/11/04 at 6:47am
That's exactly right, Casey. Where McLean Stevenson's departure was planned (the final denouement still smacks a hard punch to the gut after 30 years), Wayne Rogers' departure occurred between the third and fourth seasons, which necessitated the writers scrambling to write Trapper out of the show at the start of the fourth season.
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post #51 of 70
2/11/04 at 12:22pm
I have just started season 5 right after season 4 and I’m on season premiere which is 50 minutes. First, the picture quality compared to all the episodes I have seen on season 4 is awful! What gives? Is it only this first episode or all the season 5?

Secondly, I have noticed that the season premiere of season 4 and 5 are 50 minutes. What other episodes are longer than 25 minutes?
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post #52 of 70
2/11/04 at 6:15pm
Thread Starter 
The premiere episode to Season Six, Season Ten and the final episode of the show.
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post #53 of 70
2/11/04 at 6:24pm
Any episode that shows up in sindication as a part 1 or a part 2 is combined in to the 50 minute episode as it originally aired.

I really like the Interview from season 5, and movie night which is one of my favorites from the series.
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post #54 of 70
2/12/04 at 4:42am
I have heard people here criticizing the few last seasons for getting preachy. I think I may have not seen the last season. The very last M*A*S*H episode I saw was about a fake grenade and people being scared by getting blown up with it. Anyway I don’t understand because some of the earlier episodes are also preachy. In fact I just finished season 4 and the last 2 episodes are full-preachy back to back. It includes the supposedly fan favorite “Interview”. I’m not criticizing, I actually like it when a sitcom gets serious and dramatic from time to time. How would you describe the last seasons? Are they really that preachy as some say?
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post #55 of 70
2/12/04 at 4:44am
Quote:
I really like the Interview from season 5
It's the last episode of season 4. I just saw it!
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post #56 of 70
8/11/09 at 1:45pm
Just saw this quote in a book of interviews with comedy writers called "And Here's the Kicker" where the Ricky Gervais writer/partner/producer Stephen Merchant (BBC The Office, and Extras) is talking about laugh tracks and I thought I'd pass this brilliant observation on re: the laugh track usage in M*A*S*H:

"M*A*S*H was shown with a laugh track in the States, and it never ceases to amaze me. In England, it was shown without it, and it remains on my Top 10 list of all-time great shows, But I've since watched repeats where the laugh track is included, and I hate the program. I think it's appalling. I think Hawkeye is a snide, sniveling wiseass. It's a completely different show. With the laughter, that character sounds like he's playing to the gallery. It makes him hateful. Without it, he becomes this lone voice in an insane world."

Thank God they released these Season Set (and complete series) DVDs in the U.S. with the option to turn off that track, because I think he's entirely right on.

Edited by Hollywoodaholic - 8/12/2009 at 02:14 pm GMT
Edited by Hollywoodaholic - 8/12/2009 at 02:15 pm GMT
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post #57 of 70
8/11/09 at 2:23pm
I'm a big fan of the series and own the complete thing on DVD and have never noticed the laugh track (So it has never bothered me on tv or these DVD's).

Did that Making of M*A*S*H special spoken about earlier in this thread ever get included in any of the DVD's? I only recall seeing in my DVD's the one with Shelley Long and the 30th anniversary reunion special they did a few years ago, but I haven't came close to having watched every disc yet.


  •  
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post #58 of 70
8/11/09 at 3:14pm
The MASH special was finally released for fans. 20th Century Fox released the bonus features along with the Series finale in a special thinpack two-disk set.

The laugh track on each episode is automatically triggered when you play each DVD. Sometimes you can notice the laughs, others you can't. The laugh track isn't as pronounced as some of the other DVD shows.
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post #59 of 70
8/11/09 at 6:44pm

Are you sure? Without actually getting up and getting the three disc out of the complete collection to check that I own, which were the contents of that package that was later released as a standalone product for those that had been buying the seperate season releases, this special wasn't there I don't think?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0344019/

Also isn't mentioned in any of the news pieces at the TVShowsonDVD site.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/MASH/6895

However, it does seem like now that I've thought about it that I remember all three M*A*S*H specials I remember, being in the complete collection, so maybe its just an oversight.

 Edit - The third special included is "M*A*S*H: Television's Serious Sitcom", I didn't recognize the name at first in that link. It was produced by A&E a few years ago. I'm almost certain the early special with narration by Mary Tyler Moore isn't in these three DVD's.

Also meant to mention that I watched an episode a few hours ago after posting, with the laugh track disabled, and there were several silent pauses where laughter was intended that seemed more noticeable to me than the laughter ever was. Seemed odd, I think I'll keep watching them like I always have since I was never bothered by the laugh track. Nice that the option is there though to please everyone.


Edited by LeoAmes - 8/12/2009 at 02:17 am GMT
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post #60 of 70
8/11/09 at 6:56pm
Leo,

Trust me on this. Fox Home Video did not include any bonus items on the original M*A*S*H boxed sets. The only content the individual season sets contained were the episodes, that's it. After the Martini's Complete Series set was released, TV Shows on DVD.com announced that Fox would release those bonus features in a new release that would include the series finale episode. Check out the announcements here:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/MASH/6895
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/MASH/6984

You can order it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Farewell-Amen-Alan-Alda/dp/B000OT6V1E/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1250041804&sr=8-5
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