The third season set contained 24 half hour episodes (all around 25-26 minutes each, uncut which is a lot more footage than you'll see in syndication) on three dvds. The biggest news of this season was that McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers, two of the central characters of the show until then, left and were replaced by Harry Morgan and Mike Farrell, both of which were later considered superior in their performances. Morgan did make a guest appearance in the 3rd season opener as "General Steele" and the producers thought his character's hardline attitude could be reworked a bit (the General was blatantly racist) to provide a bit more contrast to the ultra-liberal Alan Alda character when he joined in season four.

Picture: The picture was presented in the original full frame format with choices in subtitles. It looked good for such an old series but the source material was far from perfect. It did look good compared to the worn prints you'll see on cable on local television though. The transfer itself was decent but some artifacts were noticed and other minor problems became evident from time to time.

Sound: The sound was in mono with a choice of English, Spanish or French. There was also an English track that excluded the laugh track from the show. It was clear enough that no major problems were noticed but obviously limited by the original source material.

Extras: None at all.

Final Thoughts: I'm not a tree hugging, left of Ted Kennedy, liberal but I enjoyed the show when it was first aired as well as the first disc of the dvd set from the third season (that's all I got). If you're a fan of the show, the episodes are presented in the original order and as clear as you'll ever find. The price for the sets are pretty reasonable too. As a social commentary, the show was always a bit too preachy for me but it might find a new audience with the current probability of war on the horizon too. If you're a big fan of the show, spend the modest amount and buy the sets as they are released. If not, pass them up in favor of the heavily edited (for commercials) syndicated versions. You do get a lot of show for your dollar though. This is one you either love or hate with little middle ground so I'll rate it for moderate fans of the show.