McHale's Navy: Season 4

It's been a great many years since I've watch McHale's Navy (more than I care to remember, lol..). Having purchased all four seasons (and I just finished season four, in writing this), I found them entertaining and definitely worth having and in glorious black and white.I think I enjoyed the first three seasons much more than I did the last (season four), where McHale and company (including Fuji), were relocated to Voltafiore, Italy... I suppose I simply enjoyed the interaction with the crew members in those seasons considerably more than this last season.For whatever the reason, I simply didn't warm up to the roles of Henry Beckman (as an Army Colonel) or Jay Novello (as the town mayor) in season four and would have been content had everyone simply remained on Taratupa Island... Guess I simply didn't care much for moving everyone to Italy.I went with only four stars on this season but would definitely give a high five for the other three. Overall I'm happy with having purchased all four seasons. No problems whatsoever with playback, video or audio quality. Shout did a great job.

While I'm saddened that this will be the last set released of this classic show I'm also glad that we got the entire series, and that it was handled well by Shout! Factory. No editing, no missing episodes, no replaced musical scores, no altering of the original format to ruin the buyer's experience. Just a classic TV show presented here as it originally aired over 40 years ago - the way DVD sets should be done!This was always my favorite show as a kid growing up and seeing it again after all these years has been alot of fun. It holds up well too. Good nostalgic memories, good laughs, and good clean fun for the whole family. Young and old alike can sit down together and enjoy this show.As others on here have stated the only disappointment for me was the two McHale's Navy feature films were not a part of this final set as a bonus feature. I too had hoped they would be. When the entire series is released in one boxed set it would be nice if they could include them as well. Just to make it all complete.On a more personal note it's nice that Ernest Borgnine, now in his 90's and the oldest living recipient of The Oscar award, has lived to see his show successfully released and preserved for future generations to enjoy. God bless him and Tim Conway and the rest of the crew who've entertained us and made us laugh all these years.

"McHale's Navy must be saved!" was the battle cry that emanated from ABC executives in 1965. ABC was perennially the doormat of network television in the sixties. They had few successful shows & McHale's Navy was one of them. Plummeting ratings for the show (a natural occurrence) had executives in a pensive mood; they had Ernest Borgnine, an Academy Award winner, % they wanted to keep him. So the producers of McHale's Navy decided that changes were necessary in order to bolster ratings.They decided they would move the entire PT squadron from Taratupa in the Pacific to Voltafiore, Italy. This would allow Borgnine to use his Italian speaking skills also. Even Fuji moved with them as a stowaway which was very lamely explained. Since everyone loved to see Binghamton get it in the end more connivers were added to the cast so that Wally would get it from all ends. Added to the cast were Mayor Mario Lugatto (Jay Novello) & Col. Harrigan (Henry Beckman) who would cause more grief for Binghamton, one from the local population & the other from the U.S.Army. The problem with these additions was that the crew of the PT 73 became less featured & that had to hurt. By mid-season Jay Novello was gone. The producers did retain most, if not all, the writers that penned the scripts. Hollingsworth Morse was brought back to direct all 30 episodes of season 4.Alas, McHale's Navy could not be saved. How many different ways can you run a con on the same bumbling C.O.? Even Borgnine was given an alter ego for two episodes in which he portrayed his "twin" Italian cousin, Giuseppe. It was all to no avail as McHale's Navy sailed away into the sunset of canceled television series. But the good news is, we fans, now have all four seasons of a classic, funny series. Shout Factory has done an excellent job in restoring these episodes so that they can be enjoyed once again by we old fans & show them off to a younger generation who will never experience a more innocent time than we did nor television cluttered with the graphic violence & innuendos (the "s" word).

I have been waiting for this fourth, and final, season of McHale's Navy for quite a while. The collection doe3s not disappoint in the least. Whoever produced these had access to pristine copies of the film this was shot on, and that comes through in the transfers. Clean, good contract and brightness balance and clear details even in distant objects.I also like that they use thin profile cases so this is only a little more than an inch thick.AS tot he stories, the move from Tarratupa to Italy wasn't one of the best things they might have done, but the change or scenery gave the show more life. The Italian accents from a few actors can been a bit over the top, but it is all just in good fun.

Enjoyed the season very much

I wanted to get this for my collection, but I think I remembered now why they were probably cancelled! I remember I even complained about the show as a kid that it was getting too ridiculous! Although I enjoyed the movies they made later...think the writing and change of venue from the Pacific to Italian campaigns were wrong too! Seems like they were grasping at straws to liven up the series! So that's the only reason I took it a step down from 5 stars to 4 stars!

well my dad asked me to get these for him and i watched them as well really funny cant remember watching these when i was young

The box set contains three plastic digi-packs of the last 30 black and white episodes of McHale's Navy's final season on 5 DVD's (starring Ernest Borgnine as Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale, Tim Conway as Ensign Charles Parker, Joe Flynn as Captain Wally Binghamton, Jay Novello as Mario Lugatto playing the role of the scheming Mayor of the fictitious Italian town of Voltafiore and Henry Beckman playing the role of Army Colonel Douglas Harrigan). The gang of the PT-73 are transferred to Italy to take on the German army and are stationed near the little town of Volafiore where Captain Binghamton is assigned as the military governor of the town where his office and living quarters are located inside the town's City Hall building. The first several episodes as well as most of the final season spends most of the time on land in and near the the town of Volafiore and very little time on the PT-73 boat. However the comedic antics never stop as Binghamton still attempts to use his cunning ways to get rid of McHale and his gang of eight-balls out for good either to arrest them on a trumped up false charge and thrown into jail or to have them permanently kicked out of the Navy. However, in this final season there is more corruption not only with the PT-73 gang but between Mayor Lugatto and Captain Binghamton and Army Colonel Harrigan; especially when a stolen bathtub is involved in the episode "The Bathtub Thief". For those who are McHale Navy fans and have not had a chance to watch this final season of the series, Fuji (the Japanese Prisoner of War or POW) also joins McHale's gang later after the first few episodes into the final season as he sneaks on to the PT-73 as a stowaway passenger just as the boat is physically transferred to Italy. Ernest Borgnine also appears in a few episodes as his identical Italian cousin Giuseppe who only speaks Italian and is easily mistaken by Binghamton as Quinton McHale. This DVD box set is a must have for McHale Navy fans who enjoy watching this 1960's American sitcom.

Many fans considered relocating the cast of McHale's Navy from the south Pacific to Italy a terrible mistake, and the sitcom came to an end at the end of season 4. Nevertheless, I thought the show was just as hilarious as it had been during the previous seasons. McHale and his men still sought to enjoy themselves, including making a profit with brewing alcohol and selling war souvenirs, while fighting against the enemy, this time the Germans. The show still included Captain Binghampton's ever famous line, "I could just scream." Although the change of scenery from Taratupa to Voltafiore came as a surprise, I thought it was still as amuzing and funny as ever. If you enjoyed the previous three seasons, I cannot see why season 4 would not appeal to you.

descent price good communication, loved the dvd show

One of the funniest series back in the day. You wont be disappointed.