Intro
For those who just can’t get enough of the much-loved series on perpetual re-run, now comes the 3-disc set of the first season.
Anyone needing a summary of the premise is clearly not part of the set’s target market. But in case you need a reminder, the setting is a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War, and the series revisits the characters introduced by the movie of the same name. Wacky hijinks interweave with the horrors of war. The show is at its tightest when the dialogue i… most acidic, and is definitely a program that, like The Simpsons, could have dispensed with the laugh track entirely. On the disc provided for review (disc 1), there are 8 episodes. I’m assuming that the same holds true for the others.
Audio
The sound is in the original mono. Nothing very extraordinary here, but then that was true of the source. The sound is crisp and clear, however, with no distortion. In other words, it sounds just like I remember it. But home theatre systems are hardly going to put to full use here.
Video
The picture, like the sound, is fine. There are a few speckles on the print, and there is some grain, but no more than would have been there on the source. The format, it need hardly be said, is 1.33:1. The colors are good, the contrasts are sharp, and the blacks strong. The prints are not showing any real signs of age.
Features
Silent menus and not a single extra…. very disappointing.
Closing Thoughts
Frankly, a TV show with no extras hardly justifies the DVD format except for archival and space-saving purposes. But if that’s good enough for you, go for it.
Special Features List
- None
