ABOUT THE WAR

"There is very little that is not wasteful and dismal about war. The only clear, deep, good is the special kind of bond welded between people who, having mutually shared a crisis, whether it be a shelling or a machine-gun attack, emerge knowing that those involved behaved well. There is much pretence in our everyday life, and, with a skilful manner, much can be concealed.

"But with a shell whistling at you there is not much time to pretend and a person's qualities are starkly revealed. You believe that you can trust what you have seen. It is a feeling that makes old soldiers, old sailors, old airmen, and even old war correspondents, humanly close in a way shut off to people who have not shared the same thing."

- Marguerite Higgins

Killed and Missing

South Korea
217,000 military
1,000,000 civilian

North Korea
406,000 military
600,000 civilian

United States
Total killed: 36,574
Total wounded in action: 103,284

"A MASH, Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, was designed to get experienced personnel closer to the front, so that the wounded could be treated sooner and with greater success. Casualties were first treated at the point of injury through buddy aid, then routed through Battalion Aid Stations for emergency stabilizing surgery, and finally routed to the MASH for the most extensive treatment. This proved to be highly successful; during the Korean War, a seriously wounded soldier who made it to a MASH unit alive had a greater than 97% chance of survival once he received treatment."

ABOUT THE SHOW

M*A*S*H was a TV show based on a movie by the same name which was in turn based off a book inspired by real events. It aired from 1972-1983, and starred the exploits of the medical staff of the 4077th MASH unit during the Korean War. Though it took place during the Korean War, it aired partly during the Vietnam War, and had to carefully tread a line between anti war comedy and perception as a protest.

M*A*S*H led innovations in sitcom and television in general thanks to its long tenure on tv (the show lasted nearly 4 times longer than the war it portrayed) and critical acclaim (the show and its actors won many awards throughout its run). The finale of the show was a two hour tv movie, and is still the most watched TV show episode of all time.

Impact and critical acclaim for M*A*S*H cannot be understated.

Shows with multiple plot lines per episode were uncommon before M*A*S*H. Thanks to the extreme popularity, they were allowed to explore things other shows couldn't.

"The groundbreaking “The Interview” (filmed in black and white) featured the actors improvising their characters’ responses to a fictional war correspondent’s questions; “Point of View” was shot entirely from the perspective of a wounded soldier who cannot speak; and the surrealistic, disturbing “Dreams” delved into the anxieties and fears of the characters as they slept between operating-room shifts. " - New York Times, 2018

In 2002, M*A*S*H was ranked number 25 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it as the fifth-best written TV series ever and TV Guide ranked it as the eighth-greatest show of all time. In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked it as the sixteenth-greatest TV show.

It was nominated for over 100 Emmys during its run, and won 15. The show won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series (Musical or Comedy) in 1981. Alan Alda (Hawkeye Pierce) won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series (Musical or Comedy) six times: in 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982, and 1983. McLean Stevenson (Henry Blake) won the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series in 1974.

The show was honored with a Peabody Award in 1975 "for the depth of its humor and the manner in which comedy is used to lift the spirit and, as well, to offer a profound statement on the nature of war." M*A*S*H was cited as "an example of television of high purpose that reveals in universal terms a time and place with such affecting clarity."

The series received 28 Writers Guild of America Award nominations – 26 for Episodic Comedy and two for Episodic Drama. Seven episodes won for Episodic Comedy in 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1981.

Writers for the show received several Humanitas Prize nominations, with Larry Gelbart winning in 1976, Alan Alda winning in 1980, and the team of David Pollock and Elias Davis winning twice in 1982 and 1983. The Humanitas Prize is given as an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. M*A*S*H have the most wins for a single tv program with 4.

When the finale aired, 3 out of 4 people who turned the TV on that night tuned in to M*A*S*H. Even to this day, it is the most watched television episode of all the, and one of the most highly acclaimed.