A classicMASHepisode found a way to drop the dreaded laugh track by cleverly exploiting a network loophole.MASHran for 11 seasons, and while it always carried an anti-war message, it evolved from a wacky sitcom to a borderline drama during its run. Since it debuted during the 1970s, it was a given it also had to have a laugh track. This went against the wishes of the showrunners, who felt it wasn’t in great taste to force canned laughter into a series about war and surgeons trying to save lives.
They eventually reached an agreement with CBS that the operation sequences didn’t have to add the track, but it had to be used elsewhere.MASHwould eventually drop the laugh track altogether, though it took many years - and its switch into dramedy - before that happened. It was pioneering in this sense, and while canned laughter still populates some modern sitcoms, it’s almost the exception now instead of the rule.
1970
1972-1983
1979-1986
1983-1985
WALTE*R(TV Pilot)
1984
The series became increasingly experimental as the seasons went by, resulting inMASH’sreal-time outing “Life Time"or its horror-tinged offering “Dreams.” An early example of this willingness to play with the rules wasMASHseason 3 episode “O.R.”, which takes place almost entirely inside a blood-splattered operating room. This involves the camp having to deal with a never-ending line of incoming wounded, and the emotional toll it takes on the surgeons.
MASH’s"O.R.” also dropped the canned laugh track completely, a decision that contributes to its oppressive atmosphereand tone. Audiences are dropped right in the middle of the operating room and witness scenes like Hawkeye (Alan Alda) performing a heart massage in a desperate move to keep a patient alive - who later dies regardless. There are little human touches spread throughout “O.R.” including a patient kissing Hawkeye’s hand in thanks for his life, or Henry (McLean Stevenson) declaring he wants to see out his time in Korea since he can save more lives there than he ever could at home.
WhenMASHfirst aired in the United Kingdom, the controversial laugh track was omitted.
MASH’s Showrunners Used The Network’s Laugh Track Rule Against Them
“O.R.” wasn’t the last time MASH would ditch the laughter
If it had been up toMASH’sshowrunners, the laugh track would have been dropping right from the beginning. Still, CBS stood by the agreement that it wouldn’t be used during any operation sequences, which is something that “O.R.” weaponizes.Since about 90% of the episode takes place in the operating room, “O.R.” became the firstMASHepisode without any laugh trackat all. A few sequences take placeoutsideof surgery, but it would have been even stranger to add canned laughter to a handful of scenes when the rest of the episode goes without it.
Even a light injection of a laugh track would have totally undermined “O.R.’s” intense tone.
Dropping the track isn’t a gimmick either, since it’s one of the more intense outings of the earlier seasonswithout it. There are still plenty of gags, but “O.R.’s” tone is still deathly serious, and tempers fray as more pressure is piled on the surgeons. Henry is even forced to refuse to operate on a badly wounded soldier since he doesn’t believe the man will survive anyway, and others could be saved in his place. Even a light injection of a laugh track would have undermined “O.R.’s” tone.
MASH’s “O.R.” Gave The Show’s Biggest Villain His Most Human Moment
“Ferret Face” is given some rare humanization on MASH’s “O.R.”
Hawkeye and Trapper (Wayne Rogers) regularly clashed with ranking surgeon Frank Burns (Larry Linville) during the early seasons, who was essentially the show’s human villain.MASHonly fully evolved when Frank left since he was such a cartoonishly unlikable figurethat he felt out of place with the show’s move toward drama. Linville also decided to leave because he didn’t think Frank could be redeemed. Still,MASH’s"O.R." features an unexpectedly tender moment with Frank that reveals there is a human being in there somewhere.
MASH Had To Lose 1 Original Character To Fully Evolve
MASH changed a lot during its first few seasons, but there was one major character who had to exit to complete its dramedy transformation.
After being so stressed out during surgery he almost kills a patient, Frank takes a break and ends up talking with Trapper. Frank asks why nobody likes him, and while Trapper claims he doesn’tdislikehim, he finds the Major “joyless.“Frank then opens up about coming from a strict family with an abusive father, and that informed the man he becamelater in life. He also makes a sincere plea to Trapper to be his friend and whole exhausted surgeon agrees, he signs off with “Now shut up, Frank, or I’ll kill you.”
It’s one of the rare moments Frank was allowed to be a person onMASH, and it’s a shame later seasons didn’t try to expand on this. In season 5, Frank is heartbroken when Margaret (Loretta Swit) ends their affair and the series again dabbles with letting “Ferret Face” act like more of a human being.This little “O.R.” moment proves there was room to develop Frank onMASH, but it appears even Linville didn’t believe that was possible, and left at the of the fifth season.
MAS*H
Cast
MAS*H is a drama-comedy series set during the Korean War, centering on the lives of the staff at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital as they navigate the challenges of wartime medical service with humor and resilience.
