In the age of Law & Order and its spinoffs (not to mention 24 and its high body counts), television audiences are used to watching changes in casts as actors either leave their series for movies or other shows, or they get involved in on-set or off-the-job trouble and have to be released from their contracts. Most of the time, if a show is well-written and are grounded in some sort of reality where one expects personnel turnover, it can survive, even thrive despite the loss of a popular actor.

When M*A*S*H's third season ended with the double-whammy of the departure of both McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers, however, it wasn't a given that the series could survive the loss of two major cast members. Other shows, particularly Bewitched, had coped with such earth-shaking changes by re-casting, thus we have a world in which Darrin Stephens was played by two very different actors (Dick York and Dick Sargent), and the audience had to suspend their disbelief. This, obviously, works well for a fantasy-themed sitcom about a beautiful witch living in 20th Century America, but it wouldn't wash with a comedy-drama set in the Korean War.

Fortunately, producers Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds were savvy enough to realize that this setting - an army mobile hospital on the front lines in Korea - lent itself perfectly to believable turnover in personnel. In war, soldiers and officers do get transferred or rotate home on "points," and sadly, sometimes they get either seriously wounded or even killed. Thus the producers and writers were given a chance to reinvigorate M*A*S*H by creating two new characters - Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell) and Col. Sherman T. Potter (Harry Morgan).

Klinger: Colonel Potter, sir; Corporal Klinger. I'm Section Eight, Head to toe. I'm wearing a Warner bra. I like to play with dolls. My last wish is to be buried in my mother's wedding gown. I'm nuts. I should be out.
Col. Potter: Horse-hockey.

One of the wisest moves Gelbart and Reynolds made was to make the new members of the 4077th as different as possible from Henry Blake and Trapper John. Where, for instance, Henry was a draftee like the rest of his doctors, Col. Potter was a Regular Army officer, veteran of the Cavalry in World War I and who had, before World War II, gone to med school and joined the Army Medical Corps. Loyal to the Army but not blind to its flaws, Potter is a decent commander who inspires loyalty and respect by showing leniency and understanding to the men and women in the 4077th.

The writers also decided to avoid making Farrell's character of B.J. as a mere appendage of Alan Alda's Hawkeye Pierce. Realizing that maybe Trapper John had been not as well-developed a character as he could have been, great pains were taken to flesh out the second lead's role. Thus we had a surprisingly decent, affable, yet mischievous Californian whose love for his wife Peg and daughter Erin are matched only by his friendship with Hawkeye and his hatred of war in general.

The fourth season also saw the addition of Jamie Farr (Klinger) to the full-time cast, and William Cristopher (Father Mulcahy) was seen in many more episodes, including "Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?" and "Dear Peggy." His sterling performance in this season paved the way for Cristopher's addition to the cast during the 1976-1977 season.

M*A*S*H's fourth season's batch of 24 episodes boasts many outstanding episodes in which all the cast members had a chance to really shine. Farrell's introduction in "Welcome to Korea," for instance, is a fine example of how a new character should be introduced to an already established show. Watching B.J. Hunnicutt going from the "neat as a pin" in Class A uniform to the dirty, drunk-as-a-skunk "newbie" calling the 4077th's temporary commander, Maj. Frank Burns, "ferret face" upon his arrival at the unit is priceless.

Maj. Frank Burns: I don't believe you did it. Officers don't steal.
Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce: Right.
Capt. B.J. Hunnicut: We don't go to the toilet either.
Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce: We just explode when we're 50.
[Radar looks up, concerned]

Other outstanding episodes highlighted in this three-disk set are "Hawkeye," in which Alan Alda plays the injured chief surgeon as he takes refuge with a Korean family after he has a jeep accident; "Dear Ma," one of those "letters home" episodes in which Radar describes life at the 4077th; "The Price of Tomato Juice," one of those "Rube Goldberg" stories that centers on a well-intentioned Radar attempting to procure some tomato juice for the new C.O.; and the bittersweet "The More I See You," featuring a fine performance by Blythe Danner as one of Hawkeye's greatest loves, now assigned as a nurse in the 4077th...and a married woman. To watch Hawkeye falling in love with her all over again is a remarkable yet sobering experience, particularly for viewers who have been in similar situations.

Capping the 24-episode fourth season is one of my favorite episodes of all 11 seasons: "The Interview." Here, real-life war correspondent Clete Roberts visits the 4077th and interviews the doctors, medics, and nurses for a TV broadcast back home. Shot in black-and-white, "The Interview" is more drama than comedy, yet all the actors, including the much underrated Larry Linville, stay "on character" during the questioning.




DVD Features:
Available Subtitles: English, Spanish
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)

M*A*S*H Season Four: Episode List

1: Welcome to Korea
2: Change of Command
3: It Happened One Night
4: The Late Captain Pierce
5: Hey, Doc
6: The Bus
7: Dear Mildred
8: The Kids
9: Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?
10: Dear Peggy
11: Of Moose and Men
12: Soldier of the Month
13: The Gun
14: Mail Call, Again
15: The Price of Tomato Juice
16: Dear Ma
17: Der Tag
18: Hawkeye
19: Some 38th Parallels
20: The Novocaine Mutiny
21: Smilin' Jack
22: The More I See You
23: Deluge
24: The Interview


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older