I admittedly had some reservations about starting M*A*S*H. For starters, a few weeks ago I watched the MASH movie before starting the show, and absolutely hated it. Second, I’m not the biggest fan of the war genre, so I didn’t know if I’d like it as much as others. And finally, the show is almost 50 years old at this point, and when you put that much time between a show and an audience, it’s probable that there might be some disconnect. However, I’ve always heard how great this show is, so despite my reservations, I gave it a shot.

For those unaware what M*A*S*H is, the word MASH is actually an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Essentially, this is a show about an army hospital during the Korean war. We follow a group of surgeons, nurses, and their commanding officers as they operate on wounded soldiers during the war. This might not sound like a funny premise for a comedy, but the whole comedic element comes in the fact that this group of characters always gets into a bunch of antics in between surgeries in order to keep themselves sane during an otherwise insane time.

Don’t get me wrong, there definitely are moments that haven’t aged well, but this is understandable. I was more surprised at how well most of the comedy still hits. TV has changed a lot since M*A*S*H first premiered, and so I was worried about how the show would stack up to some of the modern comedies we’ve grown to love today. However, M*A*S*H still surprisingly holds its own, which I think is a testament to how great the show is.

I think the biggest reason why this show still works is because of its characters. M*A*S*H has a truly terrific cast, and so just like most sitcoms I found myself wanting to come back each episode to see what they would do next. My favorites are definitely the main character Hawkeye, the leader of the hospital Henry Blake, and the corporal that serves under Blake, Radar. Everyone has really fun moments, but these three make the show exceptionally fun.

The other thing that I think M*A*S*H excels at is coming up with great plots for their episodes. There are 24 episodes in this first season, and so there are definitely some stinkers in here. But for the most part, I loved a lot of the episodes. What I found really impressive, though (and pretty bold if we’re being honest), is that the show really isn’t afraid to “go there” when it needs to. At the end of the day, past all of the antics everyone is getting in, this is still a series taking place during a war, and the series definitely has some episodes that explores how terrible war can be. My favorite episode of the whole season is “Sometimes You Hear the Bullet,” which involves Hawkeye having to deal with the loss of a friend after he gets shot on the battlefield. M*A*S*H is definitely a comedy most of the time, but there are plenty of moments where the show gets really sad, or has something meaningful to say.

After watching the MASH movie, I remember thinking that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to watch 11 seasons of a TV show if that’s how it was going to be. But I’m happy to say that the M*A*S*H show is totally different from the movie, and now after watching the first season, I’m more than happy to watch the next 10. I’ll have to wait and see if the show manages to retain the same level of quality, but for now it’s a show that I recommend even to this day.

4/5