MAS*H

Premise

MASH was adapted from the popular 1970 eponymous film to tv in the fall of 1972. Originally intended to be a farce in a similar vein of the movie, MASH soon evolved into a entity that brought viewers a vision of the horrors of war, despite rarely showing actual scenes of violence. "MASH" refers to a mobile army hospital set up near battlefields in the Korean War that provided emergency surgery to wounded American soldiers, North Korean enemies, and South Korean civilians. The protagonist, Hawkeye Pierce, played by Alan Alda, is the chief surgeon of the MASH unit and along with Trapper John and later BJ Hunnicutt, played by Mike Farell, the resident pranksters of the unit. While their antics annoy the antagonistic Frank Burns and later the snooty Charles Winchester, it becomes evident that Hawkeye's pranks serve as an escape from the living hell each member of the unit suffer daily.

Each episode of MASH, as mandated by Alan Alda's contract, has a scene where the doctors enact surgery on casualties; a common arc throughout the series is that the doctors are over-worked, often doing risky surgery for 16- hour shifts with little time to rest in between. Despite that, the 4077 MASH unit hold the distinction of having a 97% survival rate, the highest in Korea. While it employs a laugh-track, MASH took the bold steps of choosing not to use it during many of the scenes involving surgeries and for some shows, abandoning it all together.

Relationships in MASH play an important role in the show; due to its backdrop. All the characters display deep bonds with each other, the unity they must create in order to survive the stresses of war. Traditional archetypes don't hold much weight; the antagonists of MASH, Frank Burns and Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, evolve into fully realized, 3-D characters whom the viewers can emphathize with. The true antagonists are the military officials whose ill-advised and dangerous tactics are fully displayed, developing MASH's strong anti-war theme. Shot in the midst of anger at the Vietnam War, it is this message of "War is Hell" and the display of the human cost of doing war that made MASH into one of the most successful and lauded comedies in television history.

Production

MASH was shot in California in a studio an hour away from civilization. The sets themselves were not well-built, causing many members of the cast discomfort; there was not a function bathroom anywhere on the set and required people to go to the main studio by jeep to use the restroom.

MASH premiered to frail ratings. Much of the first season was spent under the threat of cancellation; in fact, its rumored that MASH survived its first season because the CBS studio head's wife was enthralled with MASH and wanted it to stay on air. It was the episode "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" that would mark a turn-around for MASH. Most of the first season was spent trying to mimic the humor presented in the movie, yet it was the MASH unit's first patient death, and that patient being Hawkeye's friend from home, that would resonate with viewers. This blend of humor with the dark reality of war would begin to propel MASH to its success as well as set the show's tone for the future.

Loretta Swit	Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan	251 eps.
Alan Alda	Captain "Hawkeye" Pierce	251 eps.
Jamie Farr	Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger	215 eps.
William Christopher	Father Francis Mulcahy	213 eps.
Gary Burghoff	Corporal “Radar” O’Reilly	181 eps.
Harry Morgan	Col. Sherman T. Potter	180 eps.
Mike Farrell	Captain B.J. Hunnicut	179 eps.
Kellye Nakahara	Lieutenant Kellye Yamato	165 eps.
David Ogden Stiers	Major Charles Winchester	131 eps.
Larry Linville	Major Franklin Marion Burns	121 eps.

1	Pilot	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	09/17/1972
2	To Market, to Market	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	09/24/1972
3	Requiem for a Lightweight	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	10/01/1972
4	Chief Surgeon Who?	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	10/08/1972
5	The Moose	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	10/15/1972
6	Yankee Doodle Doctor	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	10/22/1972
7	Bananas, Crackers and Nuts	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	11/05/1972
8	Cowboy	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	11/12/1972
9	Henry, Please Come Home	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	11/19/1972
10	I Hate a Mystery	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	11/26/1972
11	Germ Warfare	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	12/10/1972
12	Dear Dad	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	12/17/1972
13	Edwina	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	12/24/1972
14	Love Story	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	01/07/1973
15	Tuttle	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	01/14/1973
16	The Ringbanger	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	01/21/1973
17	Sometimes You Hear the Bullet	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	01/28/1973
18	Dear Dad, Again	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	02/04/1973
19	The Longjohn Flap	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	02/18/1973
20	The Army-Navy Game	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	02/25/1973
21	Sticky Wicket	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	03/04/1973
22	Major Fred C. Dobbs	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	03/11/1973
23	Ceasefire	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	03/18/1973
24	Showtime	0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	03/25/1973

Name	MAS*H
Status	Ended
Date of 1st Airing	Sept. 17, 1972
Date of Last Airing	Feb. 28, 1983
Show Type
Original Air Day	Monday
Original Air Time
Show Length	30
Network(s)	CBS
Language(s)	Add a new language English
Genre(s)	Add a new genre Comedy Drama War
Theme(s)	Add a new theme medical
Alias(es)

	Jumped the Shark
	New Soldier Freaks Out
	"We're Not so Different"
	Retirony

M*A*S*H

Premise

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MAS*H