Release Date: 02/18/2003
SubTitles: Espanol
Dubbed: English/French/Espanol
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 612 min
Distributor/Studio: 20th Century Fox

M*A*S*H: Season Three has the same virtues and flaws as the preceding and succeeding discs in Fox's DVD release cycle -- well-nigh perfect transfers of uncut episodes, each with five chapter breaks (corresponding to the broadcast segment breaks), eight shows to a disc, and each accessible individually (there is no "play all" option). The transfers are all spot-on perfect in the standard full-screen 1.33:1 television aspect ratio. This set is a little different from the others in one respect, having to do with the special attributes of that particular season. The third season of M*A*S*H was unique -- at least in three episodes -- for its peculiar use of music and the related presence of singer/songwriter Loudon Wainwright III in the role of Captain Calvin Spaulding for three episodes. Virtually every network series ends up getting cut in syndicated reruns in order to take advantage of the greater allowable time for commercials, and these cuts create problems while watching this set. Two of Wainwright's shows, Rainbow Bridge and There's Nothing Like a Nurse, as broadcast in syndication leave his work intact, as his scenes in the latter all involve stars Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers, as well as a song sung over a montage of the doctors' antics with the absent nurses; and in the former, his performance of "South Korea Blues" bridges the sections of the episode. Those shows demonstrate how special his contribution was in helping to expand the series' narrative structure, and point up what we're missing in the syndicated version of his third show, Big Mac. The latter is a revelation here, for the two scenes with Wainwright are usually cut out of syndicated version. (The episode involves an announced inspection of the MASH 4077th by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the preparations therein.) On the DVD, it's delightful to see Wainwright's Captain Spaulding singing a snide, derisive tribute to the five-star general and also providing the coda to the non-event of the general's visit. It restored a piercing satirical quality that is missing from the syndicated version of the episode. Those moments coupled with the overall quality of the season make this volume an especially attractive purchase.

~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

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John D. Hess - Screen Writer

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Laurence Marks - Screen Writer

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Jim Fritzell Everett Greenbaum - Screen Writer

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Larry Gelbart - Screen Writer

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Production:
Don Weis - Director
Laurence Marks - Screen Writer

M*A*S*H: House Arrest
Production:
Hy Averback - Director
Jim Fritzell Everett Greenbaum - Screen Writer

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Larry Gelbart Sid Dorfman - Screen Writer

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Hy Averback - Director
Jim Fritzell Everett Greenbaum - Screen Writer

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Hy Averback - Director
Mary Kay Place Linda Bloodworth - Screen Writer

M*A*S*H: O.R.
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Gene Reynolds - Director
Larry Gelbart Laurence Marks - Screen Writer

M*A*S*H: Officer of the Day
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Hy Averback - Director
Laurence Marks - Screen Writer

M*A*S*H: Payday
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M*A*S*H: Private Charles Lamb
Production:
Hy Averback - Director
Larry Gelbart Sid Dorfman - Screen Writer

M*A*S*H: Rainbow Bridge
Production:
Hy Averback - Director
Larry Gelbart Laurence Marks - Screen Writer

M*A*S*H: Springtime
Production:
Don Weis - Director
Mary Kay Place Linda Bloodworth - Screen Writer

M*A*S*H: The Consultant
Production:
Gene Reynolds - Director
Larry Gelbart Robert Klane - Screen Writer

M*A*S*H: The General Flipped at Dawn
Production:
Larry Gelbart - Director
Jim Fritzell Everett Greenbaum - Screen Writer

M*A*S*H: There is Nothing Like a Nurse
Production:
Hy Averback - Director
Larry Gelbart - Screen Writer

M*A*S*H: Abyssinia, Henry
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M*A*S*H: White Gold
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