MASH and HD (1 Viewer)

[Harry-N]

I believe I've heard that the laugh track is present, but not having seen them, can't say for sure.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I did a quick search of this thread, and if there was definitive answer, I didn't see it. Are the HD versions on Hulu laugh track free? Having now seen the show on DVD without the godawful laugh track, I can never go back to watching them with the laugh track. So the beautiful widescreen HD masters would all be for naught, if the network imposed laugh track is back.

Redditors say...

Laugh track.

Sorry.

 

[MatthewA]

The laugh track is more distracting here than on any three-camera show. The DVDs were right to include an option without it even though that's how it aired on CBS for 11 years.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I can’t be the first to make this observation, but whenever I see the opening credits end with “written and directed by Alan Alda” I feel like that’s a pretty good sign that we’re in for what they used to call “a very special episode”.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I can’t be the first to make this observation, but whenever I see the opening credits end with “written and directed by Alan Alda” I feel like that’s a pretty good sign that we’re in for what they used to call “a very special episode”.

And you wind up reacting like this...

 

[MatthewA]

I can’t be the first to make this observation, but whenever I see the opening credits end with “written and directed by Alan Alda” I feel like that’s a pretty good sign that we’re in for what they used to call “a very special episode”.

And that's why Futurama's robot parody iHawk was so on-target.

 

[darkrock17]

And that's why Futurama's robot parody iHawk was so on-target.

That's Alan for you, he'd have you laughing for 22 minutes straight then have you stunned in complete silence for the last 3 minutes.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Ha, I had just mentioned that about the "very special episode" and then the next one I watched was indeed an Alan Alda-written-and-directed one.

Many of them seem to end with the "sad MASH" reprise instead of the "70s lounge" version.

 

[darkrock17]

Ha, I had just mentioned that about the "very special episode" and then the next one I watched was indeed an Alan Alda-written-and-directed one.

Many of them seem to end with the "sad MASH" reprise instead of the "70s lounge" version.

I don't remember MASH ever not ending with the bouncy ending theme, except for the finale.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The actual end title credit roll has had the "bouncy ending theme" but there have been some where the 15 seconds or so of music that plays at the end of the episode (when it freezes from its final joke and throws up a producer credit) have been a slower, sadder sounding variation.

 

[darkrock17]

The actual end title credit roll has had the "bouncy ending theme" but there have been some where the 15 seconds or so of music that plays at the end of the episode (when it freezes from its final joke and throws up a producer credit) have been a slower, sadder sounding variation.

I must of not been paying attention to those last 15 seconds. Usually those 15 seconds or so is Hawk, BJ, Hot Lips, etc laughing at something or someone.

 

[MatthewA]

Now this just sucks. After finding out my grandmother, my last surviving grandparent, has just died, I now must be the bearer of more bad news:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alan-alda-reveals-parkinsons-diagnosis-today-2018-07-31/

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Matthew, I'm sorry for your loss.

I found the news about Alda to be less depressing than advertised - in large part due to Alda's own feelings on the subject. I appreciate that he was willing to go public with what's understandably private news because he wanted to give hope and reassurance that the diagnosis doesn't have to be the end of your life or the end of your happiness. 82 years old, and he's still taking us to school.

 

[darkrock17]

I laughed so hard reading this tweet he posted, That line is so Hawkeye.

 

[JohnMor]

Matthew, I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Sorry for your loss, Matthew! Losing a loved one is always so hard.

 

[crowe-t]

What's the deal with MASH on the MeTV HD channel? It doesn't appear as sharp as I'd expect. Is MeTV just up-converting the SD channel to HD?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

So I just noticed that the newer HD versions are also available on Hulu.

I've been rewatching the show on disc, so I thought it might be fun to switch over the HD version to check it out. I picked whichever my next episode was (can't remember exactly which one).

On the plus side, these are clearly new transfers made from an element in better condition than the transfers used on the DVDs. The show looks nearly pristine and without any of the video noise introduced by the older transfers.

Unfortunately, that's about the only positive thing I can say. The 16x9 framing feels wrong; it's not that I object to extra space on the sides but it's also cropped on the bottom and top, and it just feels too tight. There are some screengrabs I've seen that didn't look bad, and there are individual framings that aren't terrible, but the video in motion feels cramped and constricted. And the Hulu versions only have the audio with the laugh track; I prefer watching the episodes without the laugh track.

So, for the foreseeable future, the DVD version will remain my preferred option.

If they were ever to put these out on Blu-ray on a disc that had these new HD transfers but in 4x3, and with both audio options, I'd be all over that.

 

[PMF]

Interesting to read about the option for silencing the laugh track.
I dislike canned laughter; although I am absolutely fine with the laughter of a live audience kept intact. Such laughter is far more organic, spontaneous and true. Brilliant was that Woody Allen bit in "Annie Hall", where Alvy was in the booth of a television studio, while Max was mixing various ranges of laughter for a show that probably wasn't altogether funny as wished.

Moons ago, I wanted all of the M*A*S*H episodes. At the time, they were cost prohibitive for my situation; although still fairly priced for what was given. Time passed and I decided to await the BDs; for everything else was seemingly on its way to being made available. Of course, this has never happened. And now, as it is, I've arrived at that place in my life where it seems that I've got a good couple of years worth of films to still be viewed; that is, if I were to watch them all on each and every single night until the year of 2020. In other words, the commitment to watching any television series on top of what I've already purchased is a decision to be made further down the road. Indeed, M*A*S*H missed out and was replaced by other purchases due to the lack of its own BD availability.

Nonetheless, with that said, I feel that M*A*S*H remains quite worthy of a Blu Ray upgrade. But would it be cost prohibitive? Only others here know better. I can only wonder, based on the interrupted BD upgrades of "I Love Lucy". Those first two season were remarkable. Many squawked at the price; and I suspect that this is what halted further efforts; but few considered the painstaking hours of excellence and monies it took to produce those two sets. Want the rest of "I Love Lucy"? Then you'll have to go back to the DVD's. Didn't the same thing occur with "The Andy Griffith Show", as well?

Hopefully, if Fox begins a BD upgrade of M*A*S*H, they will have the monies to complete their work entire. M*A*S*H is on the short list of a television series deserving of great care.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

CBS has had a difficult timing selling their classic shows on BD, because they are charging an enormously high price for it, and because they were trickling them out one season at a time.

Now, for something like Star Trek: The Next Generation, I was willing to pay about $80 per season for seven seasons, and was able to put up with the three years that it took for it all to come out.

For I Love Lucy, CBS put out one season at a price that was twice the cost of the complete series on DVD. I think that killed sales right then and there. I eagerly bought the first season of I Love Lucy on BD. I watched them all with my wife. We had a tremendously good time. We didn't want to stop with the show. Since there was no news about future volumes coming out, we bought the complete series DVD set for a ridiculously low price (less than half of what the Season One BD set cost), and we finished the entire series on DVD before CBS even released Season 2 on Blu-ray. Because of that, we didn't have an urgent need to purchase season two on its release date. Sales have stalled, and it appears that they will not finish the show on BD. If they had put it out all at once instead of one season at a time, I would have bought that. I think a lot of customers are in the same boat - they're not willing to make piecemeal investments over an extended period for a TV show when they can buy the DVD version or watch the streaming version in their entirety right now.

Fox was a little smarter with their X-Files HD upgrade - they released a complete series set, and individual season sets, at the same time. The price was much more in line with what season sets go for. I have no idea what their sales numbers were.

In general, I'm skeptical that these HD versions of MASH will come out on disc; Fox seems to have moved away from BD for their TV properties. I suppose there's a possibility that they could license it out, but it seems pretty clear that they're not granting any new licenses until after the Disney merger is complete. So at the least, I don't think we'll get any movement at all on this for the next couple years. And it may be that in two years time, there just won't be a market for an expensive box set of an old TV show on a physical media format.