M*A*S*H - Martinis and Medicine Complete Collection [DVD]

Since seeing this on the Wednesday before Turkey Day, packaged and priced lower than any other set, I was breathless when I read it had the movie. I immediately went to the last show in my mind, hearing and invisioning the helicopter taking off. Then to RADAR calling out the arrival of the same and I felt cruelly soothed in comfort. I have been hearing the theme song and helicoptoers for 3 days. I want this set and can not afford it due to a committment of no buying due to Christmas in Disneyland! If I buy it, I know I will not be able to resist my urge to watch the last episode first, then the movie, then the 11 seasons in order. Yet this is not mash, one season at a time, aticipatied, wanted and to grow with. With the end at the end. I could name off each and every character with no visual to look at to my 8 and 11 year old and yet trying to answer their question, I could not ever, begin, in any way to describe MASH. I know how you feel, the ones who feel burned by the slow release. My first episode of my beloved of all time "I Love Lucy" started at $150, dropped to $100 and then rereleased at half that with each consecutive season narrower in box size (more episodes per disk) and less expensive. Yet like a real TV show, I got to re-experience the wait, the building of excitement as I got my hands on Season II then III etc. It is not a ploy, I am a marketer. At the the time of release of the first season, no one believed the American Consumer would want nor pay for a huge bulk of disks. The cost, 11 seasons, oh, $750. You can be angry or relish in the fact that you have the set, have what I covet and now I must buy the set or can not see buying it at all, and then, my uncontrollable self will be at the last show first. Your way is better. You are angry at Fox Media? Then send your disks back, as, in the commercial, it says MASH so many dollars, the experience of now, priceless. The fact my two kids walk around with in my daughter's case with a I Love Lucy Purse and Wallet while imitating the Harpo Marx scene with her friends and brother as a challenge, and in my Son's case, parrating to me the expression, when I error, "You have some e'splaining to do" is worth every penny. They learned who John Wayne is, Harpo, Hedda Hooper, William Holden, Rock Hudson and more. They learned as I did, it is OK to be a feisty red hed, (gray in my case at 48) . They learned my discussion re Fred of it is not Ok to refer to your wife as...... Finally, they both learned that the so often proclaimed words with the stomping of her right foot by Lucy, of "But OHHHHH Ricky..... eventually always led to what we know, the women run the show no matter how loud the man barks... "LUCY<<<<< so do me a favor and go listen to the theme song and a helicopter and veiw an epidisode where Hawkeye and Pierce make fun of Frank! I cant buy the whole set and yet my mind says 11 seasons mutiplyed by 30 dollars and I only see one hundred dollars difference. Lots of money. So I put back the kids Guitar Hero on the shelve (eighty dollars) and I am going to do it as should be, slowly, one by one. Count your blessings. Thanks Fox. For the topper, my kids were watching I love Lucy instead of today's selection of nonsense. IF any one saw it thru you, do you realize, you, yes you, helped to remind someone of the ausurdity of war via the tube. Better than the Simpsons or Southpark?

I purchased the Martinis and Medicine Collection (a beautiful boxed set) from Amazon.com recently. M*A*S*H is an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. The M*A*S*H 4077th is based on actual units serving the needs of wounded soldiers in the Korean War. M*A*S*H began as an academy award winning film. released in 1970.This TV series is the funniest, and most inspiring, TV series I have ever watched. Looking back, I realize that I never really appreciated M*A*S*H. In those days there were many situation comedies on TV and I tried all of them. Now I see what new programming is playing on the boob tube and I don't enjoy the new shows as much as the older ones.I was a child during the Korean War and heard news of the war on the radio. Men and women went to serve over in Korea. Young men were drafted into the armed forces back then, from 1950 to 1952. Ladies volunteered to serve as nurses in the military hospitals.Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, one of the surgeons in the unit, is the wittiest character in the show. Alan Alda, who plays Hawkeye, has written and directed some of the episodes. He is one of the characters who has lasted for the whole series. The show would have lost its terrific appeal if Alda had left. He is simply terrific in his role, as the camp ladies' man (dating every nurse), best surgeon, most dedicated to saving lives, entertainment director, and a laid back con artist.Hawkeye sleeps in a tent with three other surgeons. One of them, Captain "Trapper" John McIntire (Wayne Rogers), is Hawkeye's sidekick and co-conspirator. Eventually he is replaced by Captain C.J. Hunnicut, who also becomes Hawkeye's sidekick. Their main adversary is Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville), a self righteous do-gooder and stickler for army regulations, and his sweetheart, Major Margaret "Hotlips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit), who always supports her man against Pierce and his sidekick. Frank is constantly trying to get rid of Hawkeye and Hawkeye constantly has to find a way to sabotage his adversary's plans. Keeping neutral is the unit's commanding officer, Lt. Colonel Henry Blake (Maclean Stevenson), a guy with a soft heart. Henry appears sympathetic to Hawkeye, not only because Hawkeye is the best surgeon, but that he knows how to con even his C.O., although Blake sometimes takes charge of the situation. But Pierce always manages to get the advantage. During the series Blake leaves and Colonel Sherman Potter (Harry Morgan),takes command. Potter also sympathizes with Hawkeye. Burns leaves and his position is taken by Major Charles Winchester, a proper Bostonian. When Hawkeye and Charles get together, Pierce is so light-hearted and Winchester is so serious that it's hilarious.Rounding up the cast are chaplain Father Mulcahey (William Chistopher), a cheerful fellow who manages to keep the morale of the unit on the upside with his light-hearted sense of humor, and Corporal "Radar" O'Riley, a young naive army clerk who assists the C.O. with the endless stream of paperwork. Of course Radar listens to Hawkeye and participates in his schemes. Then there is Corporal Klinger (Jamie Farr), who early on tries to get out of the army by cross dressing (wearing makeup, earrings, dresses and high heels). He never succeeds, but he appears in drag when you least expect him to in a new outfit and asks for approval. When Pierce and his sidekick nonchalantly tell Klinger he looks gorgeous. I have to laugh.All in all, this collection is worth acquiring. The special features included in the set add a final touch to this very special edition.I highly recommend M*A*S*H - The Martinis and Medicine Collection to any serious fan of 1970's hit comedy.

I bought this knowing that it would not work on my Japanese dvd player. Its Ok watching this on the computer but it would be much more relaxing to be able to watch on TV. The frustrations of living overseas and wanting to watch dvds a re real.