M*A*S*H co-creator, writer, and executive producer Larry Gelbart revealed how he made the 4077th so real. And it all starts with American veterans.
In a 1998 interview for the Television Academy Foundation archives, Gelbart explained, “Gene Reynolds and I, and Burt Metcalfe, who started as associate producer and wound up as eventually executive producer of the series, we talked to countless surgeons, nurses, chopper pilots, patients, orderlies.”
While M*A*S*H was set in the fictional 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War, Gelbart, Reynolds, and Metcalfe spoke with countless veterans of both the Korean and Vietnam Wars to get the stories they created just right.
‘M*A*S*H’ Photo: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty ImagesMichael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
Gelbart continued, “A bunch of us were constantly talking to people who shared one or the other experience and combined big, thick loose-leaf binders filled with their memories, their observations, their experiences of the wars…we used an awful lot of stuff.”
How did real-life veterans’ experience impact the M*A*S*H TV show scripts? Gelbart explained, giving one of his favorite examples, “There was one line in an episode, the most poignant line to me in all of the M*A*S*H’s was the one that Bill Christopher was given in the role of Father Mulcahy in which he talks about the doctors warming their hands over the open wounds. That came from a doctor. You can’t write that kind of a line.”
He added, “Other remembrances led to whole episodes or scenes. We couldn’t have done it without it.”
‘M*A*S*H’ Photo: CBS Photo Archive / Getty ImagesCBS Photo Archive / Getty Images
Even though the lived experiences of wartime vets were what brought M*A*S*H to life, the co-creators also wanted to better understand what a real MASH unit was like. To do that, they took a trip to Korea.
“Gene and I, after the second season, went to Korea. Visited what had been the real-life counterpart of the fictional 4077, and spent a couple of weeks with the people there, and brought back some 22 hours of audio tape, again with those impressions that were invaluable to us,” he revealed.
The iconic half-hour sitcom that Gelbart co-created wasn’t the first incarnation of M*A*S*H. A 1968 book (MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors) and the 1970 film (starring Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould) were the basis for the television show. Despite the big-screen version’s popularity, only one of the original cast members (Gary Burghoff) reprised his role in the series.
Over 11 seasons, M*A*S*H, which aired from 1972 to 1983, and its cast/crew racked up a whopping 109 Primetime Emmy nominations, 14 Emmy Awards, 22 Golden Globe nominations, and eight Golden Globe Awards.
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