M.A.S.H. SEASON 3
Even though I wasn't around for the original airing of M*A*S*H, I have to admit - I love this show, always have, and probably always will. It reminds me of late summer nights and sitting in my dad's lap as a child. And so when I got the chance to review the season 3 boxed set, you bet I jumped at it. And boy, what a pleasure it was. For those uninitiated with the show, it delves into themes of heroic men and women concerned with saving lives in the midst of death and destruction in 1950's Korea. Humor pervades but there are touching moments when the fragility of the temporal human life is displayed. The show was popular by the third season it ran, thus the censorship was less by this season, and some of the topics were a little more serious than they had been previously. Situations such as Captain "Hawkeye" Pierce's refusing to carry a gun, a superior officer wanting a prisoner of war to be operated on so they will be alive when they kill them later, and the towering sacrifices that come along with war are all seen in just the first few episodes. What made this series so great was the human traits that the characters represented: Hawkeye and Captain "Trapper" McIntyre are the slightly rebellious heroes, the socially awkward Major Franklin Burns, Corporal " Radar," the loveable helper and brunt of many jokes, controlling nurse Major Houlihan, the innocent Chaplain and the always "fashionable" Corporal Klinger (this means he wears dresses every episode). There is not much overt obscenity/ nudity or violence to speak of (none), but lots of veiled innuendos and references to more mature subjects abound in this boxed set. [Fox Video / Bonnie Plott]
Ratings:
Obscenities: 00
Graphic Violence: 00
Nude Scenes: 00
% Spiritual Relevancy: 85
This DVD review was not printed in ISSUE 103 of HM Magazine, and is thus an "online exclusive" of sorts.
DVD rating key:
Obscenities (fka: BL (Blue Language)) # of “blue” / cuss words.
Ideal rating = 0
Graphic Violence (fka: BG (Blood ‘n’ Guts)) # of scenes with graphic violence.
Acceptable rating = <50
SC (Spiritual Conversations) An arbitrary rating based on the ease of starting a conversation on spiritual things.
Ideal rating = 50+
Nude Scenes (fka: NP (Naked People)) # of nude scenes.
Ideal: 0 (A rating of less than 1 signifies questionable scenes)
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