Review of M.A.S.H. Season 8

Introduction

Following on swiftly from the release of Season 7 earlier this year, here comes Season 8 of the series that follows the misadventures of the wise-cracking surgical staff of the 4077th MASH unit.

Too Many Cooks
Possibly the clumsiest soldier in the US Army turns up wounded at the 4077th. Klinger discovers that the boy can cook better than he can fight, and soon the Mess Tent is the hottest restaurant in Korea.

Are You Now Margaret?
A Congressional Aide arrives at the 4077th, much to Hot Lips delight at being close to the Washington elite. This soon changes when it emerges that the Aide is investigating her for communist activity.

Guerrilla My Dreams
A Korean military intelligence officer wants to take away a wounded enemy female patient for questioning, much to Hawkeye`s and Hunnicutt`s disgust. The two surgeons put a plan onto motion to sneak her away.

Goodbye Radar (pts 1 & 2)
The 4077th have a generator crisis as Radar meets a girl on the way back from R&R. Radar struggles to make the deal to bring electricity to the M.A.S.H, and then some bad news arrives from home.

Period of Adjustment
Linger is feeling the strain as everyone gets on his back and bemoaning the loss of Radar. Meanwhile Hunnicutt gets depressed after receiving a letter from home.

Nurse Doctor
Nurse Harris, a new arrival, is working with Father Mulcahey on her Doctor`s Aptitude exam when she gets a little too close for comfort. Her enthusiasm and questioning also puts Winchester`s back up.

Private Finances
Klinger rescues a young Korean laundry girl from making a fool of herself, but manages to upset her mother in the ensuing chaos. Meanwhile, a young casualty who dies has a money belt with $9,000 in it, and a chat with his regimental colleagues reveals that it wasn`t earned legally, leaving the surgical staff with a bit of a dilemma.

Mr & Mrs Who?
Winchester arrives back from R&R in Tokyo in a complete state and unable to remember what happened on the last night. A surprise female visitor brings an unwelcome answer. Meanwhile Korean haemorrhagic fever is causing big problems in the M.A.S.H unit.

The Yalu Brick Road
Thanksgiving dinner lays down the entire 4077th with salmonella. Winchester, Houllihan and Muclahy arrive back from a trip to find they are the only healthy ones and have to do the bedpans and laundry, to Winchesters complete disgust. Meanwhile Hawkeye and Hunnicutt crash whilst racing back with vaccine and meet a friendly North Korean with a rifle.

Life Time
A patient comes in with a severe chest wound that requires an aorta graft. The patient is put on the clock while Hawkeye tries to work some surgical magic, as the patient will end up paralysed if the operation lasts too long. Hunnicutt has to wait for another soldier to die to provide the graft.

Dear Uncle Albert
Hawkeye tells a joke to Hunnicutt, who doesn`t find it that funny. Next thing he knows, Hunnicutt has told the whole camp who find it riotously funny, which irks Hawkeye no end. Meanwhile Hot Lips has a problem with a broken foot locker and Winchester takes Klinger hunting in a minefield.

Captain`s Outrageous
Maulcahy faces a real test of character when the promotion list comes out and he`s not on it.again. Meanwhile a Mediterranean fracas at Rosie`s leaves the bartender in post-op and the surgical staff running the place in her absence.

Stars and Stripes
Hunnicutt and Winchester are invited to write a piece for a prestigious publication by the American College of Surgeons in recognition of some pioneering surgery they performed. Soon the two are clashing over who takes credit for the life-saving operation.

Yessir, That`s My Baby
The doctors are woken in the night by a crying baby, the offspring of a Korean national and a GI. The staff of the 4077th get very attached and come up against bureaucratic resistance to sending her back to the US.

Bottle Fatigue
A large bar tab ($38) inspires Hawkeye to spend a week in sobriety, the effects of which drive the rest of the camp nuts. Winchester also goes off the deep end when he discovers his little sister is engaged to an Italian.

Heal Thyself
Colonel Potter and Winchester come down with the mumps and are quarantined together, which makes for a noisy and irritable time for the pair. A replacement surgeon is drafted in from Tokyo and makes a big impression quickly, although he eventually cracks under the strain of ever-increasing casualties.

Old Soldiers
Colonel Potter receives an extremely early morning call which sends his to Tokyo, leaving Hawkeye in charge. A group of Korean children arrive with a member of the Red Cross, and complications arise as the doctors try to administer the youngsters with tetanus shots.

Morale Victory
Hawkeye and Hunnicutt are appointed Morale Officers by an exasperated Potter, peeved at their jokes. This move has an immediate impact on camp morale as it sinks to new depths. Winchester has to search his soul for inspiration when he discovers that one of his patients, who has lost use of his right hand, was a concert pianist in civilian life.

Lend A Hand
Dr Borelli arrives to teach the surgeons a new technique but his attitude drives Hawkeye nuts. The surgeon attempts to escape when an emergency call requires a trip into the field, but Borelli insists on accompanying him.

Goodbye Cruel World
A wounded hero tries to kill himself when Hawkeye tells him that he`s going home rather than back to the frontline. Klinger is offended by the reaction to some homely touches in the company clerk`s area by Potter.

Dreams
During a hectic two day bout of surgery, the exhausted staff of the 4077th grab the chance for a few minutes shuteye when they can. Each one has a rather surreal dream in a strange episode that hints at the surgical staff`s darkest fears.

War Co-Respondent
A famous war correspondent arrives at the 4077th and falls for BJ, much to Hawkeye`s chagrin.

Back Pay
Hawkeye is enraged when he discovers that doctors stateside are profiting from the war and submits a bill to the US Army for his services. Winchester is ordered to demonstrate surgical technique to some visiting Korean doctors who he looks down upon, and refuses to let them help him when he injures his back.

April Fools
The surgical staff are engaged in a bout of pre-April 1st tomfoolery that escalates between the participants to Potters annoyance. An uptight Colonel is due in to take a look at the surgical team and Potter is afraid that the sticklers attitude spells trouble. Unfortunately the gang can`t resist a prank just as he arrives, which leads to an outbreak of hostility when he charges them all with insubordination.

Video

Picture presented in old broadcast 4:3 aspect ratio. Some of the stock footage, particularly in the opening credits, is a little grainy. There is also some telling difference between location and set filming, some of it within the same scene.

Nothing really different from Season 7.

Audio

Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack, which does the job. There is an odd choice of English soundtracks available as well, one with laughter track and one without. It seems that the original US transmission of this series went out with a laughter track which BBC2 felt wasn`t required for UK transmission. The non-laughter track is set as standard, which is just as well as the laughter track just doesn`t sit very well in my opinion. There is an urban legend that one night BBC2 forgot to remove the laughter track and this led to an unprecedented number of complaints.

Nothing really different from Season 7.

Features

Nothing, unfortunately.

Conclusion

MASH is one of those classic series that will live in the memories of viewers for years to come. A mix of comedy and drama, the series never attempts to shy away from the horrors of war. This is not so much the bloody reality, although for a show set in a surgical hospital that`s never too far away, but rather the psychological pressures and the futility of war. The black humour shown by the main protagonists is almost unique to those who serve their country in any capacity, and will be familiar to any ex-service personnel.

I have no idea who thought it a good idea to put a laughter track on this show, as it doesn`t work. The comedy is funny, but it`s more than often mixed with brutal scenes of war and so a laughter track just ruins the atmosphere of the programme. Clearly BBC2 got their treatment of this spot on by removing the track, and I would be surprised if anyone truly prefers watching this with the laughter track on.

Although Alan Alda is clearly the star of this show, the other members of the cast are never put in the shade and each makes a telling contribution to every episode, Winchester really comes into his own in this season, an endearing snob with a pompous arrogance but also capable of evoking sympathy and laughter (both at and with) in equal amounts. With the departure of Gary Burghoff`s Radar early on, Klinger comes out of the closet and becomes a wise cracking company clerk without any appearance of female attire; the series does miss the endearing naivety of Radar, but it is a welcome sight to see Klinger in a more central role rather than on the periphery.

For all it`s intentions as a great comedy (at which it succeeds at a canter), MASH also deals with some quite serious issues during any given season. Season 8 is no exception. Amongst the topics covered seriously this season are the McCarthy anti-Red investigations, the loneliness of forces personnel separated from their loved ones, the rejection of babies fathered by US soldiers by the US Government, combat shock and the attitude of soldiers to adultery.

One of the strongest episodes in this run is Heal Thyself which is a magnificent albeit emotional look at how combat medical experience can affect a man. The arrival of experienced surgeon Dr Steve Newsome (played brilliantly by Edward Herrman) who quickly becomes a bit of a legend for serving in the fabled combat area of Pusan seems to be a godsend, with a popular personality to match his surgical skills. Hawkeye in particular welcomes the arrival of this experienced man and ends up dismayed at the eventual breakdown of the surgeon. As they leave the broken shell of Newsome, Hunnicutt observes that he was strong as any of them to which Hawkeye replies "That`s what scares me."

MASH is ultimately a mix of comedy and pathos, and this goes some way to understanding the long-standing appeal of the series. A must for any serious viewers of quality TV.