Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The good news is, that the photography and cast interviews in this book are fantastic. There are hundreds of color stills from the series, capturing the flavor of the show and some of it's most memorable moments. Plus, the background material and the the interviews have some real depth, going into detail about casting, how the actors developed their characters, praises and complaints, interesting retrospective thoughts, etc. That part is GREAT!
The bad news is, that the episode summaries leave much to be desired. As the author herself states, she was working primarily from scripts. That's a bad idea because, as every media buff knows, there are often last-minute changes and ad libs during filming that aren't in the scripts. Not to mention what happens during editing. The definitive version isn't what's written down on paper, it's what you finally see on the screen. The result is, that characters are misquoted in the book, and sometimes the "wrong" plotline is given preference. I realize it's a daunting task to watch 11 years of episodes over and over, but that's a must if you are going to write the "complete" book about a TV series. So, for making those plot summary mistakes, I'm docking the book one star.
Still, it is a very nice hardcover reference, and will certainly help you put your tape collection in order. (Although, now that the series is coming out on DVD, with all the episodes already in order on the discs, that won't be as much of a problem...) Even with it's deficiencies, it belongs in every MASH collection.
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Full of the people, scenes, and emotions that made M*A*S*H an eleven-year television sensation, this is an homage of wit and warmth. Each of the 251 episodes are reprised, complete with interviews of the people who made it and acted in it. More than 200 photos capture key scenes as well as intimate backstage moments.
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