Mash

The 1970s TV show M*A*S*H became one of the most celebrated and influential TV pieces of all time. Loosely based on real-life accounts of medical hardships and the comedic responses to those hardships encountered by the M*A*S*H units of the Korean War, the series won over audiences with stellar comedic performances and earnest, sympathetic storylines.All told, the series ran from September of 1972 to February of 1983 on CBS. More than 250 episodes of the show were produced. The show ran nearly four times as long as the original Korean War and expressed discontent about the Vietnam War and war in general. Throughout this show's long history, characters came and went. Eventually, the show focused on Alan Alda's character, a medic named Hawkeye Pierce.While the first three or four seasons of M*A*S*H were sitcom-like and zany, the series gradually became more character driven--what's known today as a dramedy. After the tenth season of M*A*S*H, the lead actors got together and voted to finish off the series. However, Fox and CBS encouraged the actors to come for an abbreviated 11th season so that the show could end in style.The finale was a true television event, watched by millions of viewers around the country and the world. Interestingly, the writers surprised the cast during the live finale by announcing that one of the major characters from the earlier seasons had been killed in a plane crush. The actors were originally told that he had flown home safely. When the actors learned that Blake had been killed, they reacted with spontaneous heartfelt emotion.