Robert Altman's film was brought to the small screen in 1972, and forever changed the face of television. Successfully combining both drama and comedy into a half-hour format, the show took place in the volatile setting of a military hospital just outside Seoul during the Korean War. With an extensive ensemble cast and finely-drawn characters, the show functioned as political satire and sitcom, while achieving a level of very humane drama rarely seen on TV, with ever-evolving characters who learn from their mistakes and are rarely if ever reduced to "types." In this season, Radar is sent home and the hospital is in chaos without him. Klinger takes over his job, assuming more responsibility with often disastrous results as he tries to adjust to his new position. BJ is tempted to have an... Less

Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

With the release of Robert Altman's MASH in 1970 a new form of comedy was born one that would help to forever change the face of cinema. Altman's audacious film reflected the American counterculture's growing distrust of religion and government in the late 1960s and early 1970s resulting in one of the biggest box office smashes of its time. Introducing the techniques he would employ throughout his storied career-- overlapping dialogue a constantly moving camera with a heavy amount of zooming and a bold combination of frank subject matter with cynical humor--Altman immediately vaulted himself to Hollywood's upper ranks. Based on the novel by Richard Hooker MASH follows a group of Mobile Army Surgical Hospital officers as they perform surgery and pass the time just miles from the front... Less

It's set during the Korean War, in a mobile army surgical hospital. But no one seeing M*A*S*H in 1970 confused the film for anything but a caustic comment on the Vietnam War; this is one of the counterculture movies that exploded into the mainstream at the end of the '60s. Director Robert Altman had labored for years in television and sporadic feature work when this smash-hit comedy made his name (and allowed him to create an astonishing string of offbeat pictures, culminating in the masterpiece Nashville). Altman's style of cruel humor, overlapping dialogue, and densely textured visuals brought the material to life in an all-new kind of war movie (or, more precisely, antiwar movie). Audiences had never seen anything like it: vaudeville routines played against spurting blood, fueled with... Less

This classic American war comedy received an Oscar® nomination for Best Picture and spawned one of the most popular shows ever to run on television. It focuses on three army surgeons (Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould and Tom Skerritt) who develop a lunatic lifestyle in order to handle the everyday horrors they encounter in the Korean War. Sally Kellerman, Gary Burghoff and Robert Duvall co-star in this disarming mix of slapstick, merciless fun and tragedy.

By the show’s third year ratings were high enough to give the writers and creators more leverage with the network and thus a bit less trouble with the censors. In addition, the show’s writers were more experienced with the TV format and had more in-depth knowledge of the characters. By this time they could also gauge how much serious material the audience would accept mixed in with their comedy. But most importantly, between the second and third seasons Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds visited Korea, a trip that they say affected the stories in the third season.

As the fifth season opens, the Chinese are getting too close for comfort and the 4077 has been ordered to bug-out. Unfortunately, Hawkeye, B.J. and Margaret are in the middle of critical surgery and have to keep going even as the bombing starts. The rest of the 4077 find themselves in an equally dangerous situation upon discovering that the new location that HQ has chosen for them is actually in occupied territory. Luckily the Chinese are driven back and the 4077 get to bug back to their old location. But the real bomb, as far as Frank Burns is concerned, is when Margaret returns from a medical conference in Tokyo engaged to Lieutenant Colonel Donald Penobscott. "How’d Burns take it?" a concerned Colonel Potter asked. "Hard," Hawkeye replied. "He was clucking like a chicken last... Less

M*A*S*H's fifth tour of duty finds the 4077th operating at peak efficiency. Harry Morgan, as Colonel Sherman Potter, and Mike Farrell as BJ Hunnicutt, pumped new blood into series, and in this, their sophomore year, became integral parts of the ensemble. Gary Burghoff joined the Emmy elite for his role as company clerk Radar O'Reilly. William Christopher was also promoted, finally earning his opening-credit stripes for his role as Father Mulcahy. This season was also pivotal for Loretta Switt's Major Margaret Houlihan. "The Nurses," one of Switt's finest half-hours, humanized her rigid, by-the-book character. Margaret's engagement provided the season with its dramatic arc, and set the stage for the departure of Larry Linville's Major Burns, who by this time had wrung all the music he... Less

As the sixth season opens, Margaret’s marriage has finally driven Frank Burns over the edge. Unfortunately, his subsequent replacement, Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, soon drives B.J. and Hawkeye over the edge as well. From his fur-trimmed coat to his shiny French horn, he almost makes B.J. and Hawkeye wish Frank were still there. Almost. But as Winchester slowly finds his place within the OR, things get back to normal – or as normal as they ever get. Radar goes off in search of the perfect tattoo. Black marketeers steal all the unit’s penicillin. Hawkeye and B.J. refuse to shower unless Charles stops blowing his horn. And Hawkeye and Margaret find comfort in each other’s arms...if only for one night.

This is the feature-length finale which finds Hawkeye and the rest of the gang going their own way after the Korean War.

Rating: Unrated