M*A*S*H - Season Nine (Collector's Edition)

Season 9 is the first time when we see Corporal Klinger do his duties for the departed O'Reilly back at the beginning of season 8. Anyway the episodes on the DVD with the summary are as follows.Note: episode guide courtesy of tvtome.com195. The Best of EnemiesFirst aired: 11/17/1980On his way to some R&R in Tokyo, Hawkeye is forced by a North Korean soldier to perform an emergency roadside operation on his buddy.196. LettersFirst aired: 11/24/1980Members of the 4077th share their impressions of war in response to letters from fourth graders in Hawkeye's hometown. Margaret writes about how there are some patients she will never forget, whilst the Colonel tells of his days as 'Hoops' Potter. Hawkeye: "Dear Ronnie, it's a shame to let the love you have for your brother turn to hate for others. Hate makes war, and war is what killed Keith. I understand how you feel. Sometimes I hate myself for being here. But sometimes in the midst of all this insanity, the smallest thing can make my being here seems worthwhile. Maybe the best answer I have for you is that you look for good wherever you can find it."197. Cementing RelationshipsFirst aired: 12/1/1980A jilted Italian soldier, Corpsman Ignazio De Simone, is smitten by Margaret; and Klinger pours a cement floor in the operating room to fight the spread of germs. Charles: "My good man, I have better things to do than listen to someone make no sense in two languages."198. Father's DayFirst aired: 12/8/1980Margaret has trouble pretending she's a chip off the old block when her dad, blood and guts "Howitzer" Al Houlihan, arrives for a visit.199. Death Takes a HolidayFirst aired: 12/15/1980Meanwhile, Winchester fulfills a family Christmas tradition but has trouble maintaining the anonymity required to keep it a truly charitable act. Even Klinger lends a hand. Be sure to stay till the end, there are some great moments in this one.200. A War for all SeasonsFirst aired: 12/29/1980On New Year's Eve, the staff looks back on the highlights of 1951: The doctors invent an artificial kidney machine; Mulcahy plants a garden; Margaret takes up knitting; and Klinger and Winchester bet on which baseball team will win the pennant.201. Your Retention PleaseFirst aired: 1/5/1981Klinger is so depressed by news that his ex-wife plans to remarry, he reenlists for an additional six-year hitch. Meanwhile, a male nurse has a gripe against the army.202. Tell it To the MarinesFirst aired: 1/12/1981Winchester takes command during Potter's absence; and B.J. and Hawkeye try to convince the Marines to grant a hardship discharge to an immigrant soldier, Private Jost Van Liter.203. Taking the FifthFirst aired: 1/19/1981Hawkeye uses a bottle of vintage wine to lure unsuspecting nurses into his den; and Potter tries to secure a different sort of anesthetic when the army threatens to ban a painkiller.204. Operation FriendshipFirst aired: 1/26/1981Klinger saves Winchester's life when an explosion rocks the operating room; and B.J. is reluctant to reveal the extent of his injuries after the blast. Hawkeye: Charles is fine, but Klinger has damage to over fifty percent of his body. His nose is broken.205. No SweatFirst aired: 2/2/1981Margaret develops a case of prickly heat, Charles does his tax returns, and Klinger takes the P.A. apart - just some of the events, which occur during another unendurably, hot night at the 4077th.206. Depressing NewsFirst aired: 2/9/1981Klinger's army newspaper reports on Hawkeye's monument to military stupidity; a giant tower made from a half million erroneously shipped tongue depressors.207. No Laughing MatterFirst aired: 2/16/1981Hawkeye wagers that he can go a full day without a wisecrack, and Winchester finally confronts the major who exiled him to the 4077th. Charles: "I will not, even for a return to that pearl of the Orient, Tokyo, lie to protect you while destroying a friend's career."208. Oh, How We DancedFirst aired: 2/23/1981Winchester is sent to inspect sanitary conditions on the frontlines, while the rest of the camp plans a surprise anniversary party for B.J.209. Bottoms UpFirst aired: 3/2/1981One of Margaret's nurses tries to hide her severe drinking problem, and Hawkeye is scorned after a practical joke he plays on Winchester backfires.210. The Red/White BluesFirst aired: 3/9/1981Colonel Potter nearly blows his stack when his well-intentioned colleagues mollycoddle him in order to lower his blood pressure.211. Bless You, HawkeyeFirst aired: 3/16/1981When Hawkeye can't stop a sneezing fit that has no apparent cause, psychiatrist Sidney Freedman digs into the surgeon's past for a clue to this unusual malady.212. Blood BrothersFirst aired: 4/6/1981Hawkeye is overcome by the devotion of a terminally ill G.I., who has leukemia, for his critically wounded buddy, but he has trouble coming to terms with the fact that he can't cure the man. Meanwhile, Father Mulcahy is worried about the impending visit of a Cardinal.213. The Foresight SagaFirst aired: 4/13/1981The 4077th is given a gift of fresh-grown vegetables by a grateful Korean; and Potter questions the veracity of an upbeat letter from Radar.214. The Life You SaveFirst aired: 5/4/1981After Charles is nearly felled by a sniper's bullet, he develops a philosophical obsession with death. Meanwhile, the officers have all been assigned new responsibilities.

A lot of people like to complain about the later years of M*A*S*H, saying it got too "serious" and that Alan Alda was too full of himself and the show got this whole "anti-war" attitude behind it. The original movie was perceived to have that same attitude by many to this day. I don't think I could do the work the characters in this Army hospital did on a daily (and sometimes more often) basis and NOT hate the war. By season three, we'd lost Henry Blake to a plane crash, and Trapper went home. A couple seasons down the road, Frank Burns went AWOL and that was the end of him. During season eight, Radar went home to take care of the family farm. Those are all realities of war, folks. M*A*S*H was a reflection of that. The war was not a funny place to be. The fact that these people could crack wise when they were up to their elbows in wounded soldiers was merely a reflection of how the human spirit can allow us to do things we never expected to be able to do, even in the face of huge adversity. I never found Col. Potter, Capt. Hunnicutt or Major Winchester inferior to Blake, Trapper and Frank in the least. Different, yes, but definitely not any less funny or less vital to the series' development. ER, now in its 13th season (I think), carries on with just about no one from the first season. People come and people go. I thought Season Nine of M*A*S*H was every bit as valid and as vital as the very first season...maybe for different reasons...but the show worked from strength to strength. I felt Col. Potter was a much more believeable than Henry Blake, not to say Blake wasn't funny. He was. But Harry Morgan brought something else to M*A*S*H that I don't think anyone else could have. Even Charles Emerson Winchester, as different as you could ask for form Frank Burns realized this was a family, not just a team of surgeons stuck in Hell's kitchen, and lo and behold, had his moments of downright nobility. Those who stuck with the show through its entire run saw that. M*A*S*H Season Nine will be a welcome addition to my M*A*S*H collection. Every single season of M*A*S*H had classic episodes...not very many series can claim that. The show still fascinates me and makes me laugh 22 years after it departed first-run network TV. I have them all to this point, and I'll gladly buy the rest!

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It's a classic series with a long-lost, intelligent sense of humor not seen on TV these days. It was relevant then and still is now. It was a series with a social conscious. The DVD delivers quality better than I remember on the TV of old. Not much to say other than that. I'm still buying a season or so at a time until I collect them all.I will say that Amazon's DVD packaging is horrible these days. When I first started buying the series over a year ago, it came in a box. Now it comes in a padded envelope! That's nuts! I have returned many, many DVDs lately because they come crushed, the inner plastic holders broken, and the DVDs scratched.No matter what DVD you buy from them now, if it comes in an envelope - check it out immediately and return it if damaged. They pay the return postage and send you another one free of charge.

Great comedy series

M*A*S*H is and always will be my favorite TV show. I never watched an episode without laughing until I cried. After watching M*A*S*H in syndication for so long, you rediscover some of the funniest scenes ever. Who can forget Radar returning from a week in Tokyo accompanied by an MP because he got drunk and drank the ink in a tatoo parlor and swam eight lengths in in a bathouse tub in "Soldier of the Month".P.S. Radar went home in Season 8. Klinger married his Korean girlfriend at the end of "Good-bye, Farewell & Amen".