Ten

Unlike old soldiers, M*A*S*H showed little signs of fading away in its penultimate season. Alan Alda and Loretta Switt were officially saluted with Emmys for their exemplary work this season, and Henry Morgan and David Ogden Stiers received well-deserved nominations. But the overlooked Jamie Farr enjoyed some of his finest half-hours, including "Follies of the Living--Concerns of the Dead" (written and directed by Alda), an episode out of the Twilight Zone in which a fever-wracked Klinger communicates with the spirit of a soldier who has just died and roams the 4077th. Stiers further distinguishes himself in "Sons and Bowlers," in which Winchester lends compassionate support to Hawkeye, who anxiously awaits word of his father's operation, and in a moving scene, opens up about his strained relationship with his own father. Stiers also directed the powerful "Identity Crisis," featuring Joe Pantoliano as a soldier who desperately switches dog tags with a deceased buddy. Another season benchmark is the Emmy-nominated "Where There's a Will, There's a War," in which Hawkeye, trapped on the front lines under heavy fire, composes his will and reflects on what to leave his friends. M*A*S*H took some hits for perceived preachy self-righteousness in its final years. "Give 'Em Hell Hawkeye," in which Hawkeye writes a protest letter to Harry Truman, and "Blood and Guts," in which Hawkeye gives a sensationalistic war correspondent his comeuppance, are this season's worst offenders. While at times it seems like M*A*SH is marching in place ("Communication Breakdown," in which B.J. goes into a tailspin when he learns his wife has gotten a job stateside, echoes season 8's "Period of Adjustment"), it does so with its usual crack precision that made it one of television's most decorated and beloved series. --Donald Liebenson