History YMMV / MASH

* AmericansHateTingle: The show is very much not popular in UsefulNotes/SouthKorea, where it's derided for portraying their country as a primitive hellhole, mixing up Korea and Vietnam, and being generally culturally insensitive.

* SeasonalRot: Although exactly when it first set in is a matter of some dispute.

** Major Sidney Friedman, everybody's favorite shrink, was popular with viewers. Allan Arbus was offered a permanent role on the show, but he declined.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** Some younger viewers may wonder what the big deal is, but you can thank ''M*A*S*H'' for pretty much every {{Dramedy}} series that's come in its wake. It also pioneered the use of film-style pacing and large cast of characters in an American sitcom.
** Before ''M*A*S*H'', if an actor left a show and a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute came in, it wasn't the norm for the change to become an in-universe plot point. In an era when there were no DVD box sets but there were reruns, TV episodes were created so that they could be watched in any order and old characters were never mentioned again after their actors left. Because, you know, that might shock and confuse people. ''M*A*S*H'' is an early (and, by today's standards, primitive) example of long-running continuity in a television show.

** Creator/RobertAltman wanted the dumbest song possible to be written and placed in the movie, so his teenage son Michael answered the call by writing "Suicide Is Painless". Which ended up being a classic theme song, earning over a million dollars in royalties, getting many cover versions, and being named the American Film Institute's 66th best movie song ever in 2004.

** The episode where Hawkeye, B.J., and Col. Potter arrive at camp driving drunk in celebration of making a general look ridiculous may have been a standard comedy business in the late 1970s, but now a typical viewer, well aware of the dangers of drinking and driving, would be alarmed that they could have killed someone, or themselves.

* BetterOnDVD: The general consensus. While there isn't much continuity to screw up, some stations tend to cut up episodes for time, or not air certain episodes for some reason or another. The DVD also gives the viewer the option of watching it without the LaughTrack.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Some of the jokes seem like they were written by someone who was high and couldn't stop laughing. For instance, "Bug Out Part 2", Radar runs through the frame of a dismantled tent, then runs back through it and runs out the door. Although this could be a bit of FridgeBrilliance, showing how thoroughly indoctrinated Radar was to army life that he even made sure to use proper exits and entrances when it wasn't necessary.

** Hawkeye's main fear in "Hawk's Nightmare" is that people will realize he’s genuinely crazy and pity him. That’s exactly what happens in "Goodbye Farewell and Amen.

*** "Showtime" has a running gag about a camp dentist named Kaplan, who's gotten his discharge orders and is waiting to be shipped home but paranoid about some accident befalling him before he's able to leave Korea (which sure enough happens, when he steps on the gas instead of the brake while driving out of camp, wrecking his jeep and breaking his leg, ironically because he didn't trust the driver). It's all PlayedForLaughs, and he does make it out alive, but it definitely takes on a different flavor once you've seen "Abyssinia, Henry".

*** The first-season episode "Showtime" has a running gag about a camp dentist named Kaplan, who's gotten his discharge orders and is waiting to be shipped home but paranoid about some accident befalling him before he's able to leave Korea (which sure enough happens, when he steps on the gas instead of the brake while driving out of camp, wrecking his jeep and breaking his leg, ironically because he didn't trust the driver). It's all PlayedForLaughs, and he does make it out alive, but it definitely takes on a different flavor once you've seen "Abyssinia, Henry".

* FanPreferredCouple: B.J. Hunnicut is HappilyMarried to Peg in the show. However, while that does have its fans, most fans prefer to pair him with his best friend Hawkeye Pierce. This is not only because of the massive amount of HoYay between B.J. and Hawkeye and the chemistry between their actors, but because the audience never actually gets to meet Peg due to the show taking place during the Korean War and her being at home the entire time. Most of the fanfics for the show are B.J./Hawkeye, and it easily outranks B.J./Peg on almost every site. (For what it's worth though, [[OneTrueThreesome Peg/BJ/Hawkeye]] also has its share of fans.)

'''Hawkeye:''' ''[mincing]'' Yes, are you?

* HoYay: [[http://iconillusion.livejournal.com/99871.html Hawkeye and Trapper]], big-time.
** "Five O'Clock Charlie" has Frank's training of some Korean locals to defend themselves interrupted by Trapper, Hawkeye and Radar making fun of him with their own:
--->'''Trapper:''' (''imitating a CO'') Count off!\\
'''Radar:''' (''after moments of silence, to Hawkeye'') Are you "one"?\\
'''Hawkeye:''' (''mincing'') Yes, are you?
** In "Welcome to Korea", Hawkeye returns from R&R to discover that Trapper got discharged and went home while he was gone. While Trapper didn't leave a written note, he did have a "message" for Radar to give Hawkeye: a big kiss on the cheek.

--->'''Hawkeye''': Besides my life, Frank wants my virginity.
--->'''B.J.''': We all do.
--->'''Hawkeye''': [sounding genuinely surprised] If only if I’d known…

-->'''Henry''': You fix that [Margaret’s report on him], sweetheart, and I’ll give you a bath.
-->'''Hawkeye''': That part of our relationship is over, Henry.
** Then there's Klinger, who regularly wrote love letters to generals and tried to kiss or molest any high-ranking officer who visited the camp...all in the name of ObfuscatingInsanity, of course.
** Hawkeye and Klinger develop an OddFriendship over ambiguous sanity and sexuality, and twice in season five they’re in arm and arm acting like a couple. Hawkeye’s also the only other character who considers crossdressing for both fun and to get out of the army.
** It's not too hard to make something of Radar's hero-worship of Hawkeye, or Hawkeye's evident fondness of him. Radar is extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable about undressing in front of Hawkeye in "Officer Of The Day" when he's done it around other people with little issue, and if you add in the pregnant silences and Hawkeye's insistence on staring at him, the scene does take on a certain vibe.

** Literally Tommy from Sometimes You Hear The Bullet is introduced by saying he loves Hawkeye, grabs him like he’s aiming for a kiss, calls him beautiful and then kisses Henry. No wonder that nearly every slashy fic in existence has Tommy an old boyfriend of Hawkeye’s.
** Hawkeye and Mulcahy flirt a lot, and when (in “Run For The Money”) Mulcahy asks what’s in it for him, Hawkeye gets close enough to kiss and asks what he wants. It then cuts to the next scene.
** Lyle in Springtime has a blatant crush on Hawkeye, liking to do things for him, being overly protective, and giving him a smack on the ass that sends him flying.

** When the series ended, a [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/mash-oral-history-untold-stories-one-tvs-important-shows-1086322/ studio exec visited the set]] and warned the cast not to do an "end of war" episode, claiming it would kill the show in syndication. Nearly forty years in syndication later... Granted, the finale ''does'' only air rarely, but that's down to its length more than its content.

** He’s talking about her in a sexual context, but Hawkeye says in the early Dear Dad episode that if they got Margaret away from Frank she’d be better. Which is exactly what happens per her CharacterDevelopment.