It's Korea, in 1950. North and South Korea are at war. China is fighting alongside North Korea, and the US, UK, and most of the rest of the first world nations are fighting alongside South Korea. In the midst of the death, misery, and destruction, just three miles from the front is a MASH unit. That is Mobile Army Surgical Hospital to you and me. It is the 4077th and the wounded and dead just keep on coming, from both sides of the conflict.

*********************PA ANNOUNCEMENT*********************

Attention: Captain Alvin Mercer leaves for a honeymoon in Tokyo at 0900 hours. Any nurse wishing to be the bride, please contact the Captain. No experience necessary.

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The fourth season is a season of changes. With the departure of Henry Blake as commanding officer, the scene was set for the arrival of the new commander, a career Army officer by the name of Col Sherman T. Potter. It is also a time for other personnel changes, as half of the madcap duo from The Swamp is rotated back to the states, having served his conscription. he is replaced by another poor sod who had to answer a rather strongly worded and not to be turned down invite to serve in the war. Our friends here at the 4077th learn that while the faces change, the war stays the same, and they all continue to try to grin while bearing it.

*********************PA ANNOUNCEMENT*********************

Hear ye, hear ye,. Its oh seven hundred and all is hell. Incoming wounded, folks.

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This boxset has three single sided discs. The discs are in shades of Army brown and olive drab and unlike the previous boxsets, do not have cast photos upon them, instead having some very nice
etching style illustrations of motifs from the series. Each disc contains eight episodes. They are:

Disc one

Welcome to Korea
original airdate: 09/12/1975

Frank is hog heaven. he has command of the 4077th at last, His only thorn is Hawkeye. Coming back from a bit of R and R from Tokyo, Hawkeye returns to find Trapper has rota'd back stateside, and he has missed him leaving the camp. He gets Radar to take him by jeep to try to catch the plane before it leaves, and arrives just in time to see it take off, having left Trapper's replacement, a young doctor named B. J. Hunnicutt. Hunnicutt is bemused by his own arrival, and gets an introduction to Korea that he never forgot.

Change of Command
original airdate 09/19/1975

Frank is shattered to learn his temporary command is indeed temporary, as Col. Sherman T. Potter arrives tot take over command. At first chagrined that a lifer is gaining command, BJ and Hawkeye are somewhat relieved when the old calvaryman lets them know that while he won't stand for insubordination, he is not so bad, as he recounts, "had a still on Guam in World War II. One night it blew up. That's how I got my Purple Heart."

It Happened One Night
original airdate 09/26/1975

Extra heavy artillery fire is making itself a right nuisance for the camp, knocking out the power, shaking up the tents, and disturbing the patients, as well as the staff. Add in bitterly cold weather, and a paranoid Frank who discovers Hot Lips has kept all his love notes, and you have one seriously long, funny night.

The Late Captain Pierce
original airdate 10/03/1975

A right royal snafu in paperwork leads the Army to mistakenly list Hawkeye as dead. His father gets the dreaded telegram, and Hawkeye gets no pay and suffers other inconveniences. The communication lines are cut, and he can't get through to his dad and the Army requires a literal mountain of paperwork to prove he is alive.

Hey Doc
original airdate 10/10/1975

It's the old black market barter to get things done that need doing: two bottles of Scotch for secret foot surgery, and a tank to scare off snipers for an unauthorised shot of penicillin. Add in a patient that needs a thrid doctor's signature on his profile to get the help he needs, and a reluctant Frank, who is tempted by a bottle of Scotch, and a tank. A tank he tells Hot Lips that he knows how to drive. Watch him try to impress her by cruising 4077th style.

The Bus
original airdate 10/17/1975

Poor Radar. Driving Frank, BJ, Hawkeye and Col. potter back from a medical conference, he manages to not only get lost, but to damage the bus on the terrible roads. The bus stalls, and no one has any clue how to fix it. Then a North Korean soldier comes out of the woods...

Dear Mildred
original airdate 10/24/1975

it's Potter's 27th wedding anniversary, and despite it being a "normal" occurrence, he is sure missing his wife. he writes a letter home, while the members of the 4077th scramble to find him a suitable gift to cheer him up. Just what do you get am old calvaryman?

The Kids
original airdate 10/31/1975

The 4077th finds itself swamped this time with not only the usual flood of battle casualties, but refugees from a nearby orphanage, and a Korean woman about to have a baby.

*********************PA ANNOUNCEMENT*********************

All personnel must begin sleeping together tonight. Check bulletin board to determine the sex of your tent.
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Disc two

Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?
original airdate 11/07/1975

bemused when confronted by a wounded bomber pilot who seems to genuinely believe he is Jesus Christ, the doctors send for psychiatrist Sidney Freedman. Sidney and the doctors then run afoul of Intelligence's Col Flagg, who has ideas of his own on what to do wit the man.

Dear Peggy
original airdate 11/11/1975

Having now ben at the 4077th long enough to fear he is losing his sanity, BJ sits down to write his wife a letter. he tells her all about Klinger and his goofy escape attempts, Franks' gross incompetence in the OR, and more. It's a nice little episode that lets us get glimpses of the day to dayness of being in the camp, rather than focus on just one thing and dwell on it.

Of Moose and Men
original airdate 11/21/1975

Hawkeye comes a cropper with a super GI officer who outranks him, BJ tries to help a patient who gets the dreaded "Dear John" letter, and Frank is off on yet another of his mad cap schemes, this time hunting for saboteurs. It's too good an opportunity to miss...

Soldier of the Month
original airdate 11/28/1975

The enlisted personnel try to win a soldier of the month contest being held in the camp, by hook or by crook. Frank falls ill with a fever, and while delirious insists Maj. Houlihan take his last will and testament. he leaves all his wealth and worldly goods to his wife, and leaves Hot Lips nothing but his uniforms. A woman scorned puts it rather mildly....

The Gun
original airdate 12/02/1975

Oh dear, it's the tank all over again! A wounded colonel comes in. Amongst his possessions is an 1884 pearl handled Colt.45 pistol. It is quite valuable and rather rare, as well as a lovely shiny thing to behold (for a gun), so Radar is tasked with keeping it under lock and key. Wishing to impress Houlihan, frank pilfers the key and pretends the weapon is his. Panic ensues when Potter learns it is missing and sets a trap to catch the thief after BJ and Hawkeye tip him off with a hunch.

Mail Call Again
original airdate 12/09/1975

The camp is overjoyed that the post has got through again. Well, some of them are anyway. Potter is over the moon to discover he is about to be a grandpa, and rushes off to try to get a call through to the States. Frank on the other hand, is in a right dither. It seems Mommy, aka his wife, is more than a little angry about what she has heard about his doings in Korea, and is filing for divorce.

The Price of Tomato Juice
original airdate 13/16/1975

After a wistful, but throw away comment by Col potter at breakfast about the last time he had tomato juice, Radar goes flat out to get some shipped to the 4077th. Apparently it is like gold dust, so he ends up enlisting the help of BJ and Hawkeye to do some pretty extreme bargaining.

Dear Ma
original airdate 12/23/1975

Radar writes a letter to his Mum back home on the farm in Iowa, telling her about the monthly foot inspection. In the meantime, a starving North Korean soldier comes into the mess tent to get food and causes Frank to panic as he assumes the camp is about to be overrun by the enemy. Col Potter literally finds himself knowing Frank is a pain in the backside.

*********************PA ANNOUNCEMENT*********************

There will be a special screening in the mess tent of an animated VD cartoon,
"Hansel and Regret-all."
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Disc three

Der Tag
original airdate 01/06/1976

Col. Potter has a word with BJ and Hawkeye and asks them to be nicer to Frank in an effort to boost his self esteem and keep him from being such a nuisance. They agree, and invite him along as a mate for drinks. It all goes horribly wrong when they discover he cannot hold his booze, and has passed out in an ambulance headed for the front.

Hawkeye
original airdate 01/13/1976

Hawkeye overturns a jeep and gets a rather nasty concussion. He manages to get refuge from a friendly korean family, and he tries to get across that he needs them to get a message to his unit. While he waits and hopes, he tries desperately to stay awake by talking to the uncomprehending family.

Some 38th Parallel
original airdate 01/20/1976

Trying to impress the brass by adding to the camp coffers by selling the camp's rubbish, Frank earns the ire of the locals. Hawkeye meets a colonel who also raises his dander; the man sends his men out into enemy territory to bring back the dead, making far more dead and badly wounded soldiers for the effort. hawkeye decides to help Frank out by buying some garbage....

The Novocaine Mutiny
original airdate 01/27/1976

Col. Potter is on leave, and Frank is left in charge. Power mad Frank thinks up charges for "infractions" and gets Hawkeye up for a court-martial for mutiny.

Smilin' Jack
original airdate 02/03/1976

The 4077th end up with a conundrum. They get a helicopter medivac pilot who doesn't want to quit despite being very ill, all to try to beat a record by another pilot for Chopper Pilot of the year, and a soldier who has been wounded twice and wants to quit, but can't, and must return to the front.

The More I See You
original airdate 02/10/1976

We learn a little insight on our roving eyed doctor Hawkeye Pierce when one of the new nurses shipping into the unit turns out to be someone he knew quite while back in the days of medical school. Some people may leave or be left, but are never truly gone.

Deluge
original airdate 02/17/1976

It is one of THOSE days. Supplies are running desperately low and the wounded pour in in ever increasing waves. Add in a downpour of a rainstorm and a fire in OR caused by a very embarrassed and contrite Klinger, and you get a finely crafted ensemble episode

The Interview

Filmed documentary style in the era's signature black and white, this episode marked the final contribution to the series of writer and producer Larry Gelbart, and is also hailed as one of television's greatest ever episodes.… A television correspondent comes to korea to interview MASH units near the front lines. What he gets is not the overly patriotic twaddle he was expecting, but instead an honest earful of what life is like in korea for them and those whose lives pass through their hospital.

*********************PA ANNOUNCEMENT*********************

Will the owner of a red pickup truck with the Illinois license plate LU6 751 please fly back to Chicago and remove it from in front of the Y?

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The Cast

What a corker this series was. We had old familiar faces, and a few new ones. This was also the season we began to see the characters really settle into themselves, and develop deeper into full fledged personhood.

Alan Alda returned as Dr Benjamin Franklin Pierce. He is still the unwilling to be responsible for himself womaniser and chief surgeon of seasons past, but we also get to see the truth about the depths of his feelings that he keeps locked under those wisecracks. His joking demeanour and carefree ways shift dramatically in the first episodes when he learns his buddy Trapper John has left. He is in deep pain; his brother is gone, and there simply is no consolation.

Filling the personnel vacancy left by Trapper is new surgeon BJ Hunnicutt, played by Mike Farrell. Stepping into the shoes left behind as Hawkeye's new partner in crime was surely no mean feat. Yet we, and Hawkeye, learned in the very first episode that this likeable new doctor was a great guy. He was NOTHING like Trapper, except as we re were to discover along the way, a bit of practical joker, and definitely NOT a womaniser, but he ably provided a foil for the acid tongued wit of Hawkeye. Warm, and funny, though with a slightly ridiculous and very 70's moustache, he fit neatly into the ensemble without making a ripple.

Larry Linville's Frank Burns also gained depth this season, as we experienced more of his own insecurities and came to grips with just how much of a tortured soul he truly is. It doesn't mean we have to like the toad, but we can understand him. His personal mishaps are only eclipsed by his sheer incompetence as both a commanding officer and a surgeon. Larry Linville displayed great comic acting with a wide range of very natural seeming facial expressions that made what was happening truly funny without turning it to mere farce.

Portraying the new commanding officer, Col Sherman T. Potter, is the excellent Harry Morgan. We have seen Morgan on the series before, when he played a senile general. Potter, however, is far from senile, and Morgan gives him just the right air of authority and understanding to carry the role off with panache. he is regular Army, having risen from the enlisted ranks from cavalryman to officer after attending medical school, and has a very realistic and practical way of approaching the unusual situations he finds himself in with his staff and the loonies in command of the units about him.

Loretta Swit's Maj "Hot Lips" Houlihan is more than just a pretty face and comic foil for Maj Burns this series. Here we begin to see a truly three dimensional character, who is quite a passionate, though often angry and confused, woman. We see her maturing, and beginning to take notice of the reality of he relationship with major Burns, and where it will ultimately lead them both.

This season, we do not see quite so much of the gentle chaplain, Lt. Francis Mulcahy, played by William Christopher. He is still somewhat underused in many of the stories, and has yet to truly blossom and integrate into the camp's dynamics as a major player. Nonetheless, he imparts a gentle sereneness that belles the steely interior of the man, and when he does appear onscreen, it is memorable.

We also see more of the enlisted personnel this time. This is as it should be, all officers and no grunts would be a very inefficient place to be. Gary Burghoff's Cpl. Walter "Radar" O'Reilley begins the slide into extreme naivety that was to become trademark with his character. He started off in Series 1 as a shy, wet behind the ears kid, but by this series, is now a shy, naive and gentle young man who has an affinity with animals. Cpl Klinger is now also a fixture in the series by this point, and Jamie Farr's looks and muscular, hairy legs make for high comedy as he parades about in his dresses, and tries scheme after scheme to get discharged, to go AWOL, anything at all, as long as he is not THERE.

*********************PA ANNOUNCEMENT*********************

Attention all personnel. Due to conditions beyond our control, we regret to announce that lunch is now being served.
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The Boxset itself

One of things I really like about this boxset is the quality of presentation. The cases are sturdy plastic and it opens like a book. a leaflet is clipped inside the front "cover" and heavy duty push buttons hold the dvd tight onto each "page" while a moulded finger area is present so that one can remove the dvd without damaging the disc.

The discs are RCE region encoded, so if you get a Region 1 import, you may have trouble playing it on certain branded multiregion players. There is no distinct advantage in buying a non region 2 set, however, as no extras were included that would have been otherwise missed. The American canned laughter laugh track is able to be turned off, but be warned, this is a niggle that you will to take care each time you watch an episode. This is because you cannot simply select to PLAY ALL from the menu, rather, you have to select each episode from a chapter selection, or to play on after you watch the preceding episode.

The pictures are fairly clean and bright, though NOT remastered digitally, so they do not have that uberly crystal clarity. This was filmed on real film, and it shows, but it adds a sense of the bygone era being shown and is entirely fitting. The sound is also very clear, but is in mono due to the time it was made. This means that modern stereo equipment may need the sound turned u a bit to compensate fr just the one speaker making the noise.

*********************PA ANNOUNCEMENT*********************

Attention all personnel, attention. Tonight's movie is Kansas City Confidential. This will be of special interest to anyone who missed it when it was shown every night this month.
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My Verdict

Well, I have to say that this series proves yet again what an enduring, quality production this show truly was. A stellar cast, and cracking stories, helped move this along towards the immortality it has endured thus far in television history. A tongue in cheek, blackly humorous look at politics and war, it remains a deeply revealing look at the politics of the Vietnam era as well as biting commentary that is very relevant today. This is TV worth watching, and infinitely better than most of the prime time dreck on offer today.