User blog:ARTaylor/45 Years of M*A*S*H

Yesterday marked the forty-fifth anniversary of the premiere of M*A*S*H. The series was based on the 1970 feature film, even having some actors return to reprise their role, which itself was based on the book MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors about surgeons during the Korean War. The series also similarly follows a group of surgeons in the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit during the Korean War. The series was notable at the time for being one of the first to combine sitcom style comedy with the realistic tragedies of war, essentially being the first dramedy. The series was used as an allegory for the controversial Vietnam War, going on at the time the series started.

The series was a massive success, lasting eleven seasons for two-hundred fifty-one episodes. The series finale, which saw the end of the war, became the most-watched and highest-rated single episode of television in United States history. While the episode was eventually beaten by shear number of viewers, it will likely always have the record for greatest percentage of American viewers. Today, numerous outlets have labeled the series one of the greatest ever made.

The series was followed by the highly derided spinoff AfterMASH, the slightly more successful follow-up Trapper John, M.D., and the unaired spinoff pilot W*A*L*T*E*R.

The series featured appearances by Earl Boen as Major Robert Hatch, Michael Bell as Willie Stratton, James Cromwell as Leo Bardonaro, Mark L. Taylor as O'Malley, Rodney Saulsberry as Oldham, and Xander Berkeley as a marine.