MASH: Season Five

MASH: Season Five, 1976-1977. Hijinks in an army hospital.

Created by Richard Hooker (novel) & Larry Gelbart (developer). Directed by Gene Reynolds (8 episodes), Burt Metcalfe (5), Alan Alda (4), Alan Rafkin (2), William Jurgensen (2), Joan Darling (1), George Tyne (1), Harry Morgan (1) & Joshua Shelley (1). Written by Jim Fritzell (6 episodes), Everett Greenbaum (6), Gene Reynolds (6), Jay Folb (4), Ken Levine (3), David Isaacs (3), Burt Prelutsky (3), Allan Katz (2), Don Reo (2), Alan Alda (2), Gary Markowitz (1), Linda Bloodworth (1), Richard Cogan (1), Bill Idelson (1), Sid Dorfman (1), John D. Hess (1) & Reinhold Weege (1). Starring Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, Loretta Swit & Larry Linville.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). A little better than season four. Frank Burns has a less important role in most episodes, which is nice. And Colonel Potter has loosened up, so it makes a little more sense that all the shenanigans (and the increasingly dangerous Frank Burns) are tolerated. The tone of the show is pretty solidly locked in to match the movie by this point, with only a couple breaks from realism early in the season.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.8/4 (Good)