Like many 20 and 30 somethings I have many memories of a specific TV show watched by parents and grandparents alike. As a child, it was hard for me to understand the draw of the show. Everything was dusty, drab green, it often featured loud helicopters and women’s hair was hideously feathered. What was this show that my parents sometimes fell asleep to and my retired Army grandfather loved?

M*A*S*H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital).

The iconic title card from the TV series.

Yes, this perennial favorited aired on CBS from 1972 to 1983, an impressive 11 season run with an equally impressive 253 episodes.

The concept of M*A*S*H did not begin with 1970s television, however, but with the Korean War itself. In 1951 Richard Hornberger joined the Army as a young surgeon to serve in newly created M.A.S.H. units. These mobile surgical units were not on the frontlines, but very close (sometimes dangerously so) so that wounded could receive the best treatment as soon as possible. In betweens hours of “meat ball surgery” where casulaties were high, there would be down times full of womanizing (via nurses), drinking, and other shared experiences.

RIchard Hornberger (aka Richard Hooker)

After the Korean War ended, Hornberger went to serve as a doctor at a Veterans Administration hospital, but as the years of the Vietnam War began to roll on, he reflected on his experiences in Korea and wrote (under the pen name Richard Hooker) MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors in 1968.

MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors

The novel was based on real, and some fictional experiences in Korea, but was also influenced by the politically charged climate of the Vietnam era. This can be seen further in the 1970 film adaptation directed by Robert Altman.

MASH, as a film, was a relative success, nominated for 5 Academy Awards and winning for Best Adapted Screenplay, and introduced the world to Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce and John “Trapper” McIntyre. A third character, “Duke” Forrest, is featured in the novel and film but did not translate into the television show.

Here is a brief synopsis of the film provided on Wikipedia: “In 1951, the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is assigned two replacements: Captains”Hawkeye” Pierce and”Duke” Forrest, who arrive in a stolen Jeep. They are insubordinate, womanizing, mischievous rule-breakers but they soon prove to be excellent combat surgeons. They immediately clash with their new tent mateFrank Burns, who is both a religious man and an inferior, stubborn, inept and incompetent surgeon who, when he causes mistakes, blames anyone that is aside him. Hawkeye and Duke pressureLt. Colonel Henry Blake, the unit CO, to have Burns removed from “their” tent. They also ask him to apply for a specialistthoracic surgeon to be assigned to the 4077th. Their wish is granted whenCaptain “Trapper” John McIntyre arrives at the 4077th.” (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MASH_(film))

Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye Pierce

Various hijinks ensue (mostly against the zealot Frank Burns), but the film is considered by many to be a dark comedy rather than slap-stick humor. For it’s time, the operating scenes were particularly bloody and would have resonated with audiences as not just the realities of Korea but also the realities of Vietnam.

MASH also dealt with issues of race, particularly in the character of Dr. Oliver “Speakchucker” Jones. Spearchucker, a racial slur for African Americans, is identified as a neurosergeon in both the film and TV show; however, he is phased out from the show after season 2 when it was verified that while the Army was desegregated in the Korean War, there were no black surgeons in M.A.S.H. units. Notably, Spearchucker is not used and phrase for his prowress in the operating room but rather his skill on the football field. In the film, former professional football player, Fred Williams, portrays “Spearchucker”.

Hawkeye and Speakchucker in the film M*A*S*H preparing for the football game.

Early on in it’s incarnations, MASH attempted to break societal norms and “rules” if not break them. The film contains several sexual jokes regarding Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan (specifically which lips are hot and if the curtains match the drapes) and such humor was undoubtedly what helped earned the film an R rating. For further indication of the satirical humor, check out the DVD cover where the “peace” sign (synonymous with anti-Vietnam protesters) is wearing an Army helmet and connected to bare female legs.

Indeed, in keeping with the satirical comedy, the theme song to the movie, and later TV show, was entitled “Suicide is Painless” written by Johnny Mandel. Here is a youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gO7uemm6Yo. And the lyrics:

Through early morning fog I see
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see…
[REFRAIN]:
That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please.
I try to find a way to make
All our little joys relate
Without that ever-present hate
But now I know that it’s too late, and…
[REFRAIN]
The game of life is hard to play
I’m gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I’ll someday lay
So this is all I have to say.
[REFRAIN]
The only way to win is cheat
And lay it down before I’m beat
And to another give my seat
For that’s the only painless feat.
[REFRAIN]
The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn’t hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger…watch it grin, but…
[REFRAIN]
A brave man once requested me
To answer questions that are key
Is it to be or not to be
And I replied ‘oh why ask me?’
[REFRAIN]
‘Cause suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please.
…and you can do the same thing if you please.

Intrigued by the characters, but perhaps wanting to tone down the overt sexuality and other risque, MASH was developed into the TV series M*A*S*H by Larry Gelbart and began airing on CBS in 1972, still during the Vietnam War. Why would Americans tune in week to week to see the horrors of war when their own still faced death in South East Asia? Simple. The characters, the comedy, and the delivery.

The cast of M*A*S*H from season 2, 1973-1974.

Hawkeye, Trapper, Frank, Hot Lips, and LTC Blake were all back. They brought familiar faces such as Radar O’Reilly (Gary Burghoff was the only cast member to play in both the film and TV show) and new faces such as Max Klinger, the crossdresser from Toledo, Ohio, desperately trying to get kicked out of the Army on a “Section 8” (insanity discharge). Incidently, Klinger dressed as Scarlet O’Hara may still be one of the most iconic images from the entire series.

Gone With The Wind FABULOUS.

Within the first few seasons, the television show made clear that, while less explicit, it would follow in the footsteps of it’s cinematic predecessor and be a “black comedy”. As the Vietnam War ending, M*A*S*H continued to struggle with ideas of wartime problems  and the aftermath of the casualities of war. A theme throughout the show was that the surgeons, Hawkeye, Trapper, and later BJ, were “drafted” (an occurence known all to well in Vietnam) and they did not voluntarily come to war; therefore, there was a constant discord between Hawkeye’s beliefs, the “regular Army” way, and questions of human nature.

The show’s characters further explored what kind of people willingly went to war, who was unwillingly sent, and how it changed their characters. One of the most beloved characters was Radar O’Reilly, a childish young man from Iowa who carried around a stuffed bear for 9 years.

Radar’s iconic bear was later gifted to Big Bird on an episode of “Sesame Street”, hence the bear’s name: Radar.

The use of alcohol as a coping mechanism was often a comedic, and tragic, element to the show and character development. It seemed impossible to function in war without the liquid courage of grain alcohol.

Here’s looking at you, Henry.

While the show was often billed as a sitcom, and had some extremely funny elements, death was never far away. The season 3 finale brought the shocking death of main character LTC Henry Blake who was killed when his plane crashed on the way back to the states – proving that you can never fully escape the horrors of war.

The death of LTC Blake in season 3 finale “Abyssinia Henry” has become one of the greatest TV episodes of all time.

After 3 seasons, M*A*SH itself exceeded the length of the Korean War (1950-1953); but the show was only just finding it’s footing. Season 4 saw several character changes that both lightened and darkened the show. Trapper John left mysteriously after Henry Blake and was replaced by San Franciscan BJ Hunnicut, Blake himself was then replaced by COL Sherman T. Potter (the T is for Tecumseh, you history buffs) a “regular Army” full bird colonel who, while he respects the Army and is a career soldier, is suprinsingly sympathetic and accepting of (most) of Hawkeye’s disobedience and rebellion.

A later cast of M*A*S*H, approx season 9.

After several seasons not only had the show eclipsed the length of the Korean War, but the US also left Vietnam circa 1975. Yet the work for the crew of the 4077th M*A*S*H was far from over. While the show lasted over 3 times as long as the Korea Police Action, it serves a reminder as how time can be warped in the haze of war. How boys turn to men and young men turn to old men.

Eventually, the gags became over done and knocking on death’s door became too constant. By season 10 the show was running out of steam, and perhaps, as America was running full speed into the 1980s it too may have been eager to put the horrors of war behind them. Season 11th became the show’s final season with 15 episodes and a 2 and a half our series finale “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” and had at least 125 MILLION viewers.

Throughout it’s tenure, M*A*S*H tackled some of the hardest dilemmas in American society: women’s rights, race, cultural differences, peace movements, and most candidly, the idea that war is hell. Did it do it perfectly? Of course not. Did it do it ICONICALLY? Most definitely. There is no doubt that M*A*S*H will go down in the annals of American history not only as an iconic television show, but a voice and outlet for differing views and human expression along with tough questions in the difficult Vietnam/post-Vietnam era.

Also, Alda Alda is forever tops.

Some surviving cast members circa 2009.