In 1972, as the Vietnam War wore on, a military-themed sitcom debuted on CBS. M*A*S*H was based on the 1970 film of the same name, which was based on the 1968 novel "MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors." The show featured an ensemble cast of characters who drank and flirted and played pranks on each other when they weren't tending to casualties and otherwise experiencing the daily horrors of war. Was M*A*S*H a comedy? A drama? A satire? Turns out it didn't really matter, as the popular show went on for 11 seasons, racking up awards and airing a finale in 1983 that remains to this day the most-watched episode of television in history.
