This series was a life-changer! Not only a new genre, not only a paradigm shift in comedic writing and situation exploitation, but a complete and utter life-changer. The world can never go back to its pre-M'A'S'H state (unmashed - or just plain boiled) ( and the cast will never be that young again ). Alan Alda was, of course, the fabric (or canvas) that held this whole presentation together (but every other player was at least a superb tent-pole). We grew up with you. We thank you. -btw - the one thing that made this outfit the iconic bunch they are - the story lines were somtimes very real, very down-home and even tragic once in a while. Feeling; contrast; character, not like almost all other repetitive, sit-com fodder, reworking the same old lines, same old faces and same old expressions (although rare). Alda wove his magic in many ways here, besides acting, he directed and consulted.