M*A*S*H ran from 1972 to 1983, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest TV series of all time. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital units were real, but the show’s 4077th was fictional. It was loosely based on the experiences of US Army surgeon Hiester Richard Hornberger Jr during the Korean War, who wrote the book MASH in 1968, spawning a film and a TV show.
The 2.5 hour final episode of M*A*S*H, set to the war’s ceasefire, remains the most watched series episode in US TV history as of 2026, and for 27 years was the most watched TV production ever (not counting the Apollo 11 moon landing, which was categorized as a news story). The ad spots sold for more money than Superbowl spots.
This is the intro theme from the TV show (youtube).
Dr. Hornberger died in 1997 at age 73 from leukemia. This is Hornberger during the Korean War, serving in the real life 8055th MASH unit.
The main characters from the show are still household names 43 years after the end of the series.
Gary Burghoff (Radar O’Reilly) was disliked by the cast and crew after getting a reputation for being extremely difficult on set. On the Andy Griffith Show, it was Francis Bavier, who played Aunt Bea, who was the difficult one.
My only little tidbit about Radar that I knew was his hand. One of his hands is messed up. That’s why he was seen primarily with objects in his hands, like clipboards or the teddy bear.
Interesting. I’ve seen many of the episodes but never even noticed. Wikipedia:
And on his drumming,