Real Doctor Reacts To MASH TV Show

[@kmatayka]

I was an Army medic for 15 years, and honestly the appeal of the show isn’t the medical accuracy but rather the emotional accuracy that is depicted. The bonds that are made, the stress of the situation, the absolute need to save every single person you see. Losing someone in a combat zone is very different than losing someone in a hospital, or on a EMT call. Also as medics when we are treating life threatening injuries in combat our goal is to save a life we say “infection can be treated in the rear.” Things aren’t clean in combat.

[@kristinmartin2899]

That chicken episode 😭

[@PainRack]

@@kristinmartin2899 damn it. Why did you mention the last episode. I didn't need another mental breakdowns.......

[@Bozbaby103]

Exactly

[@Lynnmoon91]

@@kristinmartin2899 The trauma Hawkeye got from that. >.< That episode is a hard one...

[@enlightendbel]

Be honest, the appeal in no small part is that everyone wants to look as good in a dress as Klinger does.

[@OkieOtaku]

Remember, this takes place during the Korean War (1950-1953). HIPAA wasn't a thing until the 90's. A MASH is also a *field* hospital, it's designed for short term care. It's supposed to be there to help get an injured soldier stable for transport to an actual hospital for proper long term care. Designed to be set up and torn down on a moments notice too, never the most clean. Regulations have come a long way in the nearly 70 years since the wars end.

[@TheMadAfrican1]

Yeah. He REALLY dropped the ball on this one. And I'm slightly biased cause I like the show and I was in the military (although never in a field hospital), but I've seen and heard many an army surgeon praise this show for its continued relevancy and realism. It would have been interesting if he'd dredged up some old 50s textbooks and compared what they were doing with what he does now, or had a military historian on the show, perhaps? But to compare 50s medical techniques to modern medicine? Also, to miss the point that Frank is a BAD DOCTOR. He's supposed to be a total useless twit who is only there cause of his connections.

[@realtsavo]

@@TheMadAfrican1 Entirely agree. I like Doctor Mike, but he critically failed on this one.

[@blakedubois2777]

My grandpa was a medic in ww2 and he said this was very very accurate for the time, he even said it was hard to watch because it was so close to how it was

[@TheMadAfrican1]

Pretty sure Dr. Mike is a bit too young to know how medicine was practiced on the field in the 50s. Also, I love how he doesn't get that Frank is a bad doctor. He's supposed to be one. He's only there because of his connections, not his medical certifications.

[@neufiedude360]

​@@TheMadAfrican1 lol I loved and hated frank he was a great character to pick on

[@johnwick5901]

I mean, 60 million people have died in ww2. Now we know one of the reasons, I guess.

[@PatsySegars]

During war you pretty much have to do what you can with what you have.

[@Sbannmarie298]

That is so awesome to hear.

[@WickedSunflower]

The consulting physicians for this show consisted mostly of actual surgeons that worked in MASH units in the Korean War. They said that the show was adapted pretty accurately with the dark humor, sexual exploits, injuries they saw and treated, and the general atmosphere both in OR and the camp at large. A lot has changed since the early 50s. My dad, born with a cleft lip and palate in 1952, would be taken for surgeries and no one discussed with him what was happening, they would strap his arms to boards before surgery and leave him that way for days after. Seems barbaric now, but it was accepted practice then. MASH gives us the opportunity to see a different side of medical practice, outside the shiny-clean clinic and spotlessly sterile ORs of today. They couldn’t do ACTUAL compressions on an actor, and they didn’t have the hyper realistic dummies we have now, and even now compressions aren’t usually portrayed with 100% accuracy. I love your content but you really missed the mark on this one. A bit of research into the show, its creators and consultants, and standard of practice for the time period and setting would have given you more perspective and understanding, I think. Combat medicine is NOT the same as a clean stateside clinic or hospital.

[@TheFarmerfitz]

I agree. He made a miss diagnosis based on this video that is only short clipets from different episodes. 😂😂

[@gayahithwen]

I'd really love for you to get some older doctors on to talk about what medicine was back in the day. Probably you'll be hard pressed to find doctors who served in the Korean war (70 years ago now), but even a bit of an older perspective would be interesting. Also also, Alan Alda is still alive, and passionate about science communication. If you did a react video with him, I can pretty much guarantee the internet would implode on you.

[@betty3166]

I WOULD absolutely love to see this

[@emilyhale3531]

This would be amazing!

[@victoriadillard7270]

The show had several actual doctors consulted for the entire series. Some of them are still alive. Admittedly they were not as concerned with technique as feeling. It was a comedy yes but about war. Getting everything right wasn’t the point. Showing how those situations impacted people was more what MASH focused on.

[@aSwedishGirl]

I would probably die xD

[@MinaRoy]

Dude, 10000% yes. I'm sure you can get connected with Alan Alda. He hosts a podcast series called Clear and Vivid.

[@gauvinarena4257]

The incompetence of Major Burns was a fact written into the show and often “fact checked” by Hawkeye. No actions of frank Burns should be used to judge medical accuracy of the show in general especially when it is often judged as inaccurate by the other characters

[@wildshadowstar]

Yes, like the second or third episode had the commanding officer (Blake) had Hawkeye named as chief surgeon over Burns, even though Hawkeye was of a lower rank.

[@CurlyAndCurvy]

Larry Linville was so good at portraying Frank that, if I saw him in any other role, I'd have a hard time not yelling at him through the TV screen!

[@RJ_Cormac]

But in reality a bad medical professional will learn the hard way after many mistakes or quit/discharged. This show was longer than the actual war, no logical way he didn't learn as the years passed.

[@ian2081]

Came here to say just this

[@UltimateGamerCC]

@@RJ_Cormac unless you're counting for the POWs, the war was longer for them than anyone else...

[@joshuawatson1902]

The writers of the show have said that many of the most insane and unlikely seeming stories they told in the show were actually taken from real stories of real doctors who served in MASH units. Life is stranger than fiction. These doctors didn’t have the benefit of modern medical knowledge, and they certainly didn’t have all the time, tools, and equipment they needed to do things ideally (that’s kind of the point of the show). It certainly is a product of its time, and parts haven’t aged well. It also was and still is an important commentary on war and the human suffering it causes. I remember hearing a Korean War veteran say that MASH was super important to him, because it helped him process the trauma he witnessed and was part of.

[@jstar1054]

Agreed it is also one of the first shows to not completely villianize the opposing side. This show did a great job showing everyone as complex humans and not caricatures.....except maybe Major Burns.

[@susannahmcquinney7247]

I love M.A.S.H. but growing up in the military... stories have a way of taking on a life of their own....

[@RavenTheVelociraptor]

And it's just super satisfying to have Dr Mike really get on the character's faults Hawkeye is inappropriate And Frank is a hot dog surgeon

[@aSwedishGirl]

"Father, who goes to hell?" "uuh, sinners, I believe.." "Exactly. There's no innocents in Hell, but war is shock full of them"

[@kristynkazumi]

My grandfather (a WWII, Korean, & Vietnam war vet) LOVED M.A.S.H. He was a man of few words and definitely had undiagnosed PTSD but I’m sure it helped him.

[@danielwendlick784]

The whole episode with the aorta was co-written by the show's medical advisor, who had been a combat surgeon in Korea.

[@reinforcedpenisstem]

Yes. MASH was unusually concerned with details in this sense.

[@spriken]

The other thing is the aorta is very long and goes all the way down! In fact if you are hemorrhaging after giving birth they compress the aorta against the spine to stop the bleeding(Hurts like hell too!). So without knowing where on the aorta they are compressing you can't really say what he's cutting off blood to.

[@nightwing4077]

Plus, they're dealing with medical practices during the 1950s. there's a scene in season 4 where B.J. is doing CPR and everybody is surprised what he's doing because it was a brand new technique at the time.

[@TrenchCrusade]

​@Nightwing4077 I don't remember the CPR, but there is an episode where Honeycut uses a field made defibrillator, and people are shocked that the defibrillator (ignoring the field made part and focusing on the machine itself) worked

[@kittykat8110]

The first season they didn't have a lot of doctor influence. But the later seasons they actually got input from real doctors. But it's still a comedy.

[@Miglow]

Interesting trivia. The writers didn't want a laugh track for the show, but the broadcasting studio insisted. The compromise was no laugh track in the operating room. When it aired in the UK the BBC did not have the laugh track. Incidentally some DVDs of the show let you change the audio track.

[@kittykat8110]

@@Miglow yep I knew that. I have the box set. 🥰

[@Miglow]

@@kittykat8110 nice! It is interesting that despite being a comedy the show runners still took the subject matter seriously.

[@timm9631]

@@Miglow correct, but this was also considered the first true "dramedy".

[@dedf15]

Dr Mike thought he was being ironic when he said he considered this show "almost a comedy"...

[@Bad_Wolf_Media]

A couple of items of note: The show as created in the early 70s, and it's about a combat field-hospital in the Korean War in the 1950s, so....yeah, things are going to be WAY different in pretty much every regard. The scene at about 4:50, one important thing there is that those were NOT doctors treating him. It was the Chaplin and a radio specialist. There's a very good chance they wouldn't even know how to check for a pulse, to be honest.

[@taybaybay5553]

Found myself getting defensive of this and had to tell myself it's just a review he probably wasn't into the show.

[@AndaraBledin]

My two fave characters on the show, but, yeah, they weren't going to know what they were doing.

[@milkdudder]

Also, Frank is a bad doctor. That's part of his character.

[@jimbelter2]

And Radar is actually the company clerk, the personnel guy of the unit. He knew how to get things done behind the scenes of the hospital operation

[@lsmc8909]

Yes and the characters didn’t want to be there....

[@Freyalise50]

As someone who seen a lot of mash, the celebration truly is that he survived. You see repeatedly over the series Hawkeye get devastated when he loses a patient, doing everything he can to save a patient, and seemingly being so stubborn that his own refusal for them to die keeps them alive. These characters are truly happy that the man survived.

[@MattTramel]

Yeah, that seemed like a cheap shot just to edify his poorly contextualized "aged poorly" thesis.

[@CelticStar87]

Hawkeye was by far the most empathetic and sympathetic character on the show. Yes, part of that has to do with him being the main character, but all of the others - except maybe Frank - had their sympathetic moments as well. Hawkeye was a civilian doctor drafted into the Army and made chief surgeon of a medical unit doing meatball surgery all the while only being a few miles from the frontline. Hawkeye usually did whatever he could with whatever he had in order to a patient (and regardless of which side they were on). There was an episode where he barely slept or ate because a patient of his wasn’t getting better when he should have been. He managed to save the patient but that episode really showed how much he cared. Yes, some aspects of the show did not age well, but the impacts of war are what makes this a great show. It showed how it affected the medical staff, the soldiers, and the locals. It showed humanity in some dark times.

[@Chris_Cross]

Yeah, as much as I like Mike generally, he talked out of his backside for most of this video

[@Nikki-oe7gr]

Yeah, like 90% of this video infuriated me, but the snotty comment at the end about them being more happy they did it than the patient survived really ticked me off. So ignorant of him. I've been reading the comments and so far haven't found one person telling him he did a good job with this video. All of the comments I've seen are about how he botched it. Perhaps he should've spent less time whitening his teeth and more time on some basic research.

[@peterjackson4763]

I think there was a contrast between Hawkeye being elated his patient survived and BJ being unhappy that his did not.

[@MiracleFound]

Doctor Mike! They didn't have SCD's back then. People went in the hospital days before surgery for preparation back then and stayed for weeks afterwards in bed! This show was actually pretty accurate, right down to the doctors behavior.

[@edwardwright8127]

I have to contradict a doctor, but I taught CPR back in the 70’s-80’s. The precordial thump definitely was what we taught at the time for witnessed cardiac arrests. (I don’t know about the Korean War. That was before my time.)

[@heatherkuhn6559]

Must have been the early 70's. By the time I saw a training film in either late 1976 or early 1977, it had already been removed from the protocol. It was in the film though, so the instructor basically told us, "See that bit? We don't do it anymore." What drives me nuts is shows set far more recently where someone hits the patient on the chest before starting chest compressions. Not only was the precordial thump removed from the protocol by 1977, but it's never done correctly on-screen.

[@tophers3756]

@@heatherkuhn6559 the site takes place during the 1950s

[@heatherkuhn6559]

@@tophers3756 MASH (a show, not a site) takes place during the 50s. I was complaining about shows set in the 80s or later.

[@davidcookmfs6950]

Chest compressions are an anachronism in the show, as chest compressions as a method of cardio resuscitation was accidentally discovered by engineer William Bennett Kouwenhoven at Johns Hopkins University in 1958 when studying defibrillation in dogs.

[@lamaahruloma4270]

@@davidcookmfs6950 The show is ful of such things. I can't write what I know about surgery and medicine during the korean war, because it would be deleted, but I was expecting some notice of the things impossible in 50's - like absence of ATC L04, but the criticism in the video missed historical aspect and perspective. It's bit unusual. I hoped to hear about defibrilators in Mash vs. Reality and such things.

[@mjgenualdi22]

I remember the “ground breaking” episode where the doctors realize the the wood flooring in the OR was making the soldiers/patients sick. We were not all that sophisticated in the 1950’s (when this was suppose to take place).

[@Cookiebreedchannel]

True and at certain things that time period was still pretty much stone age

[@xXscreamingkoalaXx]

you say "not sophisticated" I say "stupid as fuck."

[@GrandpasPlace]

I was going to point out that this takes place during the Korean war which was 1950 to 1953 and it is a forward mobel surgical hospital. Not far from the front lines. Their job was to treat what they could and stabilize the the rest for the (2+ hour) flight back to the hospital in Tokyo.

[@Cuuniyevo]

@@xXscreamingkoalaXx It's not stupidity; it's ignorance. Modern medical science is built upon the mistakes and lessons of the past.

[@_APV_]

Why did wood floor make patients sick? Something about being unable to sterilize it?

[@incognitogirl6201]

"Where are the rules? Where are the regulations?" ... Well Hawkeye would likely say something along the lines of "they got left back in america" Edit: just for clarification, this is a comment on Hawkeyes personality, not on location or anything else.

[@kevinmencer3782]

"I don't know, I kinda lost them back there the first time I got shot at. Why don't you walk up to the front lines and ask the bad guys if they found them?" -Hawkeye, probably.

[@JudasFm]

I usually love your react videos and I really love MASH, but this one was unfair. You can't judge mid-20th century medicine in a war zone by the standards of 21st century medical knowledge in a peaceful country. I hope you'll do another MASH video when you've had time to watch the series and can comment from a more realistic perspective.

[@DILFDylF]

He's saying things that would be wrong for TODAY. He's not saying they made the show wrong.

[@BlueShadow777]

⁠​⁠@@DILFDylF No! He’s unfairly negatively criticising the show from a ridiculously modern viewpoint AND he IS suggesting they made the show wrong (eg. the chest compressions). Get it right!

[@boomerix]

Doctor Mike reacting to medical malpractice in an 80's military tv show (set in the 50's) is quite funny. It's even funnier thinking about how horrified Doctor Mike would be if he knew the content of my "first aid" training for battlefield situations I received back when I was in the military. "Just shove his guts back into his abdomen" is a quote that I will never forget.......

[@caitlinwilliams8893]

Mash first aired in 1972, and ended in 1983.

[@rachaelmccann8796]

Tbh, just shoving the guts back in was basically the point of the MASH units anyway. Stabilize the patient just enough to get them transferred to a proper hospital.

[@ArtjomKoslow]

I mean... The Guts will rearrage themselfs. Even if you put the whole Thing in upside down it will work out on it´s own.

[@Julia-lk8jn]

I agree, the difference between (just off the) battlefield surgery and surgery in a nice, clean hospital are probably just as large as those between the fifties and what we have today. What I imagine is basically "stop them leaking all over the place, get them into a shape where we can transport him without stuff falling off / out, _next_ !"

[@Chris_Cross]

Lol that's brilliant

[@lisemzarate4029]

YES!!! Keep in mind, this show was filmed in the 70's about Army field doctors in Korea in the 50's. We all know the medical info is spotty at best, but this group of actors made us feel it anyway. Awesome show anyway 🥰

[@christina113704]

It was the emotion more than the accuracy. Like the things Hawkeye did to function, especially after the chicken episode. 😔

[@crazysnake1096]

Something to remember is that MASH is set in the 1950’s on a battlefield. Conditions couldn’t be as sterile as they would be in a traditional hospital, people died of infection all the time. They also didn’t have the techniques that are common place today. Medicine has had 60 years to get better.

[@racefabwrench]

It was called meatball surgery for a reason. This show was set in the Korean War between 1950 to 1953. They didn’t have the luxuries of the medical training of today. Nearly every operation was off the cuff under extreme pressure and chaotic situations. In a lot of cases a MASH unit was merely to stabilize a patient so they could be moved to a better equipped faculty, usually Japan. And on top of all that it was meant to be a comedy/satirical series not a medical documentary. So the harsh criticism is rather unwarranted.

[@ashlynbrummett5276]

My grandmother passed away in 2009. She was a surgical tech through the 80’s and 90’s and LOVED Mash! Wish I could get her reaction to your video!

[@sarahlorenz4]

My grandmother also died in 2009... Coincidence? Most likely yes.

[@BrentonM]

Would have been nice to see this judged based on the accuracy of the time period in which it's set (early 1950's) rather than by today's standards, and perhaps spoken to someone who's knowledgeable about the history of field medicine. Would have been interesting to know what was accurate to the time and how medicine has changed since then, as well as the differences and challenges between field medicine and hospital/clinic based medicine.

[@MattTramel]

Yes. This review was sorely lacking in meaningful context.

[@ArtjomKoslow]

I´ve spoken to a lot of WW2 Veterans. Hey, it´s only 1 Decade off so it may count. They set up Field Hospitals in Barns, Schools and even Earth Bunkers. Performing Surgery under inhumane Conditions for both Doctor and Patient. You can apply that to even the Yugoslavian Wars in the 90s. One of the Field Doctors who amputeted Limbs with a Chainsaw to safe Time is now Head Doctor of the Surgery in Sarajevo. His Expierences in the War are very helpful in heavy Cases as they still get People in who stepped on Mines etc.

[@robbicu]

I agree with this statement 100%. Keep in mind that MASH had a former army surgeon on staff with the writers and would review the medical procedures with the actors before each episode was filmed. As for the inappropriate statements, well, that was just part of the humor of the time when it was filmed. As Dr. Варшавский mentioned, it isn't appropriate now, and likely wouldn't have been in 1951 either.

[@Wonkavator83]

I agree 100%

[@WidmilHolsteins]

For sure, it makes me a little sad to see this show judged by medical knowledge that they did have. And the inappropriate comments are part of what makes the show entertaining and possibly more realistic. These surgeons haven’t seen their families for months or years, there is bound to be some unbecoming remarks or actions.

[@patrickbuick5459]

Normally, I love his critiques, but it seems he forgets that a lot of stuff was way different in the 50s and is critiquing based on current medical practices. That war was some 70 years ago now. I still remember being taught precordial thump in CPR classes when young. Reading more current literature (2010), the thump is still valid, but not particularly effective, nor recommended anymore. Yes, a lot was processed food from a male bovine for sure, but a lot was more or less historically accurate for a comedy, which is what it was written to be. In some ways, we have advanced a lot, in others, not so much.

[@mr.worldwide4758]

I think he knows that and is critiquing it from a modern standpoint. I mean in the thumbnail it literally says “aged poorly” so he’s kind of laughing at how they used to do stuff back then.

[@stanedwards8391]

About 30 years ago I was taught in ACLS that if a cardiac arrest was witnessed, and no defibrillators were immediately available, a precordial thump was a valid thing to do prior to starting chest compressions. A number of things changed (algorithms) in ACLS in the last 30 years. They didn’t have standardized algorithms, like ACLS, in the early 1950’s. They weren’t even doing any kind of heart surgery, and medical students were taught that if you touched the heart it would stop beating. Heart massage, when needed to assist the heart, during thoracic surgery became a thing later in the 50’s and would have been avant-garde in a MASH unit in Korea. There’s an episode where Hawkeye does it when a patient goes into cardiac arrest during surgery. It was the first time he, or anyone else had done or seen it.

[@StellaJean1000]

You are exactly right. Mike did not bother to understand what the show was about. He comes off as childish. It's embarrassing.

[@janlerl7076]

agreed on that

[@ursa1990]

Omg right. This was from before he was born.

[@bgm769-g2k]

CPR hadn't come into its own until AFTER the Korean War, so I think it's okay to give the show a pass because if the show is being historically accurate, there was no standard technique for it. Even in one of the earlier seasons, Hawkeye said that he was going to try a "new technique" he had only read about in his medical journals of "messaging the heart".

[@brotherbrooklyn3759]

This is very entertaining. But we also have to remember that even though MASH was film from 72 to 83, it was set in an even older time- 1950 - 1953.

[@DragonBornish]

AFAIK the CPR technique didn't exist in 1953 where the show is set, so it's pretty realistic for Hawkeye not to know how to do it correctly.

[@timothygould6301]

Exactly

[@freeflbird3]

And yet, they effectively do CPR on the show. The nurse has a mask with an oxygen bag, pumping oxygen every 3 beats, and Hawkeye is beating the guy's chest. Not 100% the same, but close enough to be recognizable

[@Technotoadnotafrog]

You know a show is old when CPR hadn't been invented yet.

[@DragonBornish]

@@Technotoadnotafrog the show was broadcasted in the 70's and 80's but is set during the Korean war in 1950-53

[@zombi-sexual5733]

When the show was broadcast in the 70s CPR was still pretty new. Its doubtful a bunch of Hollywood writers and actors knew about it either.

[@SamsquanchShenanigans]

It’s hard to critique a medical show that was filmed 50+ years ago that was based on a time period 70+ years ago. They were only 3 miles from the front where they performed “meatball surgery” where they say over and over again across the seasons that their work doesn’t need to be pretty, it just needs to keep the patient alive until they can get them to a major hospital like in Tokyo which is almost 600 miles away from where they are fighting. I think the show would have been a lot more boring and would have needed to be a lot more than 24 mins long if they were going to film how dr Mike wanted them to. In 70 years you’ll have another doctor saying what dr Mike is telling Hawkeye to do is wrong as well. Medicine is a forever changing field.

[@sheliazimmerman5359]

Lol

[@piratepetesz]

But isn't one of the main purposes of this youtube channel when it's doing a reaction video to look at things from a modern medical perspective and point out the inaccuracies?

[@derdenni6780]

Stop writing this comment don't you see that threr are like 50 comment like yours stop coping

[@paigeherrin29]

@@derdenni6780 well, please make sure to go to all 50 of those comments and tell the O.P. that.

[@Barec76]

It's not hard to critique a ruptured aorta that would have killed someone in minutes then have the guy miraculously alive and with no repercussions

[@ce3586]

Okay, you can't judge M*A*S*H on today's standards. It's not about when it was filmed, it's about when it was SET. It was set in the 1950s in the Korean War. Defibrillators didn't even exist yet when Korea was happening. A LOT of medical advancements have

[@RobKandell]

Defibrillators were invented in one of the episodes.

[@TrenchCrusade]

​@Rob Kandell the defibrillator was brought up in an episode, but that was Honeycut making one after reading about an EARLY (like when they started being introduced) use of one in a medical journal.

[@DILFDylF]

Judging shows on current medical standards is EXACTLY what Dr. Mike does. What are you talking about?

[@blubeetle3]

Anyone else see a problem with a modern doctor commenting on the medicine of a 50 year-old television show depicting a war that happened 70 years ago? Unless Doctor Mike did his research into what early 1950's medical procedures were like (and especially 1950's field hospital medical procedures), he should take more care of his judgments.

[@maryhouse759]

He's too young to be critiquing MASH. Doesn't realize modern medicine developed from older medicine.

[@raesmith2164]

@@maryhouse759 I'm 18 and I know that. I think what he did was take the same approach as he did with all his other reaction videos and his brain kinda just went on autopilot. It was just another quick reaction video that he could churn out which the audience would enjoy.

[@maryhouse759]

@@raesmith2164 Well, I think he got roasted with this one. Lol.

[@maryrichardson1318]

@@maryhouse759 And a lot of modern medicine was actually developed/invented on battle fields by the military.

[@tuecerprime]

As one of my favorite shows ever, I'm curious how accurate the medicine was for the time period it was depicting. I feel like Doctor Mike didn't pick up on the point that Frank is supposed to be absolutely terrible at everything medical.

[@Chipotleadvisory]

Well Frank was also bad at everything military too the only thing he knew how to do was throw his rank around at the enlisted

[@fitzdraco]

CPR wasn't developed until 1960, long after the Korean war ended.

[@OkieOtaku]

@@fitzdraco I wouldn't really call it that "long" after, as the start of the 60's was only 7 years after the war. Compared to the nearly 70 years from today

[@rosannapomicter7295]

@tuecer prime ... Agreed.

[@RavenTheVelociraptor]

heheheh yeah

[@liquidmorkiteaddict9669]

“Chest compressions” *smashes his chest with his fist* “Noooo” You know Mike’s heart broke a bit there, in that “noooo”

[@AxxLAfriku]

Please stop giving me mean comments. My mother reads the comments I get and she cries a lot because of it. Please be nice, dear mir

[@peanutbutterman411]

@@AxxLAfriku if you spam people gonna get mad

[@sushibinstwt_]

@@AxxLAfriku stop.

[@Zekeee17]

I think the patients heart also physically broke

[@RhamanaChan]

Mike's heart broke, much like the patient's sternum.

[@emilyrosine7801]

Ideas for more MASH videos with Dr Mike: Invite a military doctor who has served near combat zones, who can tell us what surgery and medicine are like when you’re in the field in dangerous situations. Invite a military or medical historian who can tell us what it would have been like in a real 1950s MASH in Korea and what the show exaggerated for the drama. Love your channel, Dr Mike! Thanks!

[@rudicaV]

"Another day of bed rest". Frank Burns is consistently portrayed as a martinet and a lazy, only marginally competent doctor. That was completely in line with his character.

[@moviemantony7136]

Yes. I was just thinking that.

[@Foolish188]

I remember in the 80s when they first realized that it was important to get surgical patients up and walking around as soon as possible.

[@jeffreymontgomery7516]

There was an episode when Hawkeye wanted the patient to get out of bed and move ... Kid dragged himself out in the end, because he got that push. Good episode.

[@tonyk421]

@@jeffreymontgomery7516, yeah the kid has battle paralysis he just froze. season 3 episode 13 Mad Dogs and servicemen

[@psychorabbitt]

He wasn't even marginally competent.

[@jamesdang3603]

From Wikipedia on CPR history: “It was not until the middle of the 20th century that the wider medical community started to recognize and promote artificial ventilation in the form of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation combined with chest compressions as a key part of resuscitation following cardiac arrest. The combination was first seen in a 1962 training video called "The Pulse of Life" created by James Jude, Guy Knickerbocker, and Peter Safar. “ So that was in 1962. After the Korean War ended.

[@jessicawood2972]

That was also back when only doctors were allowed to do it

[@patrickbuick5459]

Dang, I think they showed us that video when I did training.

[@OkieOtaku]

9 years after the war ended in fact. That's a sizable time difference

[@TheBlankJoker]

Technically after the cease fire was called. We are still technically at war.

[@harrybetteridge7532]

At one point in time they literally blow smoke up drown people rectums to revive them.

[@ShortHax]

I’m not a doctor but I liked how the characters were chest compression experts first, not caring about politics and differences when it came to saving lives

[@jeffdavis8590]

The show was made in the 1970s when realism in scripts wasn't as much of a concern. And that goes for more than just medical practices. Check out some old cop and military shows sometime. You'll see the old adage don't let the truth get in the way of a good story everywhere.

[@GrubbyZebra]

@@jeffdavis8590 not to mention the whole point of the show was as a treatise on the futility of war. The only reason for the medical setting was it provided a good wrapper for the movie's (and show's) message to be delivered in.

[@stevesmith1810]

Lol the entire purpose of the show was anti war/political, but sure champ

[@lexdraws1729]

Unlike now where they are trying to make it so doctors can refuse trans patients medical care lol

[@Miglow]

Yeah because none of the characters in the show fit certain political stereotypes at all. *cough* Burns *cough* Winchester *cough*

[@ArtemisMoon12]

I remember an episode where the Lebanese character had a bad reaction to the malaria meds/vaccine (I forget which) the unit was given. The entire staff thinks he is faking sick because of his history of trying to get out the army, until they realize he is actually sick. The episode actually had a note at the end about how, during the Korean War, they discovered this particular medicine disproportionately had negative side effects for those of middle eastern/African descent. It was one of many examples of the show being a period drama that wasn’t always interested in the nitty gritty facts, but was interested in what these discoveries would look like in the day to day. I’m not one to say “it was a different time”, but if you judge a piece of media by today’s standards of medicine, you’re missing the point. It was a period piece even in the 70s, showing things as outdated and slapdash was kind of the point.

[@dstack24]

It was Klinger. Another corpsman was affected because he was Jewish, and they accepted him being sick, but felt Klinger was faking it, because of his trying to get out of the army.

[@PBSkid08]

Klinger’s the only Lebanese character, how could you forget which one?

[@PatsySegars]

A lot of what we know about medicine came out of battlefields.

[@trebaneconapise7793]

Wouldn't that affect all the african-americans working at the unit?

[@Noblebird02]

I need to know more about the malaria medicine

[@rizahawkeyepierce1380]

I *think* they didn't do a ton of chest compressions in the show because it was set in the 50s, and CPR wasn't officially developed until 1960, so even if it was around before then it was super new. They did open-heart massage in a couple episodes as a last-ditch effort. Also, I'm pretty sure the "tail-ectomy" joke means they're going to rip him a new one. Edit: Also, thanks for speaking up when you hear those comments, Dr. Mike. When Hawkeye says things like that it's sort of funny because you know he doesn't mean any harm (and everyone in the camp is sleeping with each other anyway), but in real life that kind of thing is very uncomfortable and too many men ignore those comments.

[@freeflbird3]

They do chest compressions on screen a few times over the course of the show, and open heart massage in another episode

[@freeflbird3]

@apmichae87 this happens a few times. At one point, BJ "invents" the defibrilator, they're taught how to reconstruct nerves, arterial transplants, and a number of other techniques that happens all the time now

[@hhshkhmdnmohd970]

@apmichae87 hello how are you doing now

[@hhshkhmdnmohd970]

@@freeflbird3 hello how are you doing now

[@PittsburghSportsFan43]

@apmichae87 That was BJ, in the season 4 episode Dear Peggy. He basically does modern day CPR on a guy instead of cardiac massage. Hawkeye says "Good, I'd rather not open his chest."

[@hisxmark]

The "Precordial Blow" was pretty much standard procedure a few decades ago, when chest compressions were first implemented. There has been a lot changed in medicine in the last seventy years. And with Mulcahy's "surgery" there isn't really time to talk a non-physician through a differential diagnosis. Sometimes you just have to go with the best guess or just give up. This was (fictionally) war, and soldiers do not have the same rights as civilians. Moreover, it is evident that vitals are being monitored ("His pressure's going down!") even if it isn't mentioned. This is not about ideal performance under ideal conditions. This is seventy years ago and about desperate measures in desperate circumstances. (And no lawyers or insurance companies were involved.) In short, I'm pretty sure, Dr. Mike, that best practice more than a half-century ago, in a hospital just behind the front lines of a war zone has different standards than you are used to.

[@choreomaniac]

Very well put. This is mobile medicine in a war zone in 1951 performed by conscripts and then dramatized.

[@choreomaniac]

For example, the aortic transplant might only have a 1 percent chance of success but they would do it. Most patients would not make it. And these doctors pretty much ignored the rules. What are you gonna do to them? They are conscripts forced to live in a war zone. Prison would be safer.

[@queenannsrevenge100]

This is an excellent way to describe this, some of the other comments seem a little more hard-lined, but makes out the important points. Yes, I’m sure there are errors in the medical tech (it was a TV show, so of course it was) but there were likely many differences in practice over generations.

[@choreomaniac]

I watched this as a kid with my dad in the 80s. Even as a 7 year old, I knew the medicine was primitive because it was in the wilderness and from the 1950s. Frontier medicine. The biggest indicator was Charles who came from one of the best hospitals in Boston and constantly complained about the state of medicine at the MASH.

[@Ichneumonxx]

I think we have to give dr Mike a bit of a break, he's clearly acting it up for the views. One would have to be quite dumb to get enraged about a medical series from the ancient history. It's like getting furious because people used bloodletting as a cure in the Victorian era.

[@ashleyguffington5706]

Kinda wish Dr Mike had done more research on what medical practices were in the 50’s before this video. I love Dr Mike, but he’s talking about donor cards on driver’s licenses and about all of the medical equipment that should be used that wasn’t invented yet. I know he’s amazingly educated, but I feel that this video shows he lacks perspective on the history of medicine and how far we’ve come in the past half century. The comment on bed rest and needing a PT to get them up and moving, they were in a front line war zone in the 50’s.

[@hhshkhmdnmohd970]

Hello

[@martinajurickova5750]

The longer rest the later return to the frontline. I think there was an episode where they faked medical records just to send one guy home instead of back to the frontline.

[@rosemorris7912]

@@Quirkyalonester No, the doctor who wrote the books on which the movie and TV show were based served in the Korean Conflict. The political commentary/sentiment WERE about the VietNam War, however.

[@CelticStar87]

Not just not invented yet, but they had the bare essentials. They couldn’t even get the equipment they needed and in many episodes improvised lifesaving equipment because they new the patient would die without it and the only way to get it was to send to the hospital in Seoul. And transporting some of them was a death sentence. Dr. Mike really should have done a little more research on this show. The 4077 was a frontline triage… meatball surgery. They were the patchwork to either get the soldiers back on the frontline or stable enough to send either to Seoul or back home. Some of them were doctors first, especially Hawkeye, doing whatever they could to save the life regardless of sides.

[@thespoiledtexan3904]

Yes 🙌🏻

[@Wolverines77]

Hey Doc, this was 5 years after the end of WW2. They had next to zero sanitation outside of the tent, These hospitals were often only a mile from the battlefield. They often had more incoming patients on the actual verge of death and were being triaged outside in the elements. It was not uncommon for doctors to make life or death decisions based on 15 seconds of time to diagnose these patients, over half of them filled with shrapnel as well as a bullet or four. Please stop with the "This did not age well". This type of behavior happened all the time. While it is exaggerated because of the 30 minute time frame of the show, the more we can teach the younger generations just how awful life "really" was the more likely they are to actually to note to be able to think back in a constructive manner rather than thinking of a dumba$$ meme.

[@jeffscott3186]

The First Rule of MASH: Hawkeye is the greatest surgeon ever. He can do things that no one else can do. Second rule of MASH: Hawkeye does whatever the F he wants.

[@crystalfrederick9281]

Yesss he was absolutely the Hero of the show 💛

[@stereoroid]

Then along comes Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, M.D., and it’s back to school for Hawkeye.

[@paigeherrin29]

@@stereoroid pompous and arrogant, but clearly the more talented of the two. (Sorry Hawkeye, you’re still my favorite tho)

[@seanmccready9564]

First rule of MASH is don’t talk about MASH….duh

[@Foolish188]

I find it interesting how when they had to replace Col Blake, who didn't have a clue as how to lead, they replaced him with a regular Army Doctor/Adminstrator. They replaced the married, womanizing Trapper John with the married, faithful BJ, and the incompetent weasily Frank Burns with the super skilled pompous Charles Emerson Winchester the third.

[@starrystarrynight52]

yeah, this was set in the 50's. I can see the medicine being way behind from what we are now and not perfect. Dr. Burns was a bad doctor on the show, so his mess ups were written in on purpose. It was a bit sexist at times. But it was also very progressive in other ways. Take nurse Hoolihan for instance. She had a lot of character progression and I LOVED her by the end of the show, easily my favorite. A strong a capable character. But in other ways it aged badly. But it was also very raw, most of the characters were drafted in and hated having to serve in a war, and hated having to fix people just to send them out to battle again. Watch the whole show, Dr Mike, all 13 seasons it's worth it.

[@valerierodger7700]

A lot of the progression was driven by the actors, and Loretta Swit really pushed for Margaret to be a stronger person, not just a comedic figure. MASH is one of the first shows I remember watching when I was a child - every weekday evening, after the news. I never really thought about it at the time, but in hindsight I'm grateful to Loretta Swit for turning "Hot Lips" into an example of a strong woman who earned. respect

[@LORDRA1DEN]

Burns was awesome as the antihero. Charles was good, but Burns was better.

[@KyleNordstrom]

@@LORDRA1DEN I always liked Charles better. Burns was too much of a strawman for me to like as a villain. Burns came from early on in the show when most of the characters were two dimensional stereotypes. Charles being the best surgeon but still being obnoxious gave him far more depth.

[@LORDRA1DEN]

@@KyleNordstrom Frank was a lot more of a fun character. He didn't need depth. The show lost something when they got rid of him, and when Trapper left, and when Radar left. It's still a great show, but it'd have been like if the original Star Trek got rid of Sulu, Uhura, and Scotty.

[@AirmenIan]

You’ve also got to understand Hawkeye and trapper were drafted. They hated being there so they didn’t really care about procedure. They wanted to save lives.

[@DatCameraMON]

Definitely feels like Dr. Mike needs to give this a second chance.

[@robbicu]

Пожалуйста, доктор Миша Варшавский, посмотрите на это с другой стороны.

[@Clutching.My.Pearls]

Exactly, he's seeing this with young eyes.

[@johnyesjustjohn]

One fun line that I caught sometime during 2020, when Potter saw Klinger with his mask below his nose: “Your nose slipped out of its bra, Klinger!”

[@martinajurickova5750]

No bra's big enough to cover Klinger's nose 😁 and he was mighty proud of that, if i remember correctly

[@lucashutchens9811]

He's acting like it's an actual hospital, not a Frontline field surgery unit.

[@roadwolf2]

Exactly. Dr mike doesn’t realise that back then it was patch em up get em out to a proper place

[@amylaw3416]

Absolutely. War medicine in the Korean War 1950-1953 was COMPLETELY different. Has he ever been to a medical museum?

[@greybeardmc]

In that last episode, you missed one of the most powerful lines. Hawkeye (doctor with hand on the aorta): "What took you so long?" BJ (doctor getting aorta from dying soldier): "The guy it came from was still using it." Would have loved to hear your thoughts on that line.

[@betenoire1145]

They forgot my best part, would you put that in ethical measurements. Cuz she's Chinese and Hawaiian. 🤣

[@rosemorris7912]

@@betenoire1145 small egg roll

[@michaelevans5207]

First off, love your videos. Next I have a medical background myself and I understand where you are coming from. However, we need to keep in mind this story takes place during the Korean war. A lot of what we are taught in medicine today that is second nature to us, wasn't practiced back then, or even recognized for that matter.

[@nabihanasar3577]

This is one of those shows that even though i have seen the episodes so many times, I can still watch them again, without a problem.

[@heathermiller5765]

Me too. Such a classic 😁

[@Roxsb]

Cardiac thump was still being taught when my mom was in school in the early 80’s. Also why do you think so many protocols are in place now? It’s due to the way medicine was practiced in the past. You really blew this video, as you shouldn’t have judge it in how things are done now.

[@DILFDylF]

Judging shows based on current medical standards is what Dr. Mike always does in his reaction videos. You really blew this comment, as you shouldn't judge his content based on how you want him to do things.

[@smorris281]

The precordial thump is actually still taught. Its only used however, if you whitness the arrest.

[@historyhub5389]

Considering this is wartime medicine in the early 50’s, I would imagine this is pretty accurate

[@stephaniehowe0973]

I think he didnt even Google that. You are talking filmed in the 70's. Set in the 50's. I agree w you

[@PittsburghSportsFan43]

They had a doctor advising them and multiple members of the cast had military backgrounds. Alan Alda, Jamie Farr, and I think Mike Farrell.

[@stephaniehowe0973]

@@PittsburghSportsFan43 You are right. My ADD makes me check. Alan & Jamie actually served in Korea

[@Debland1989]

I remember watching this with my dad, who was an army nurse, even with my kid memories of this show I can tell Dr. Mike is massively misjudgeing the show. From the comments it seems like everybody is in agreement. Poor guy didn't know the can-o-worms he was opening!

[@banditsspies6759]

Just curious, did you watch a whole episode or just clips? This show was made in a time where medical accuracy was not as important and the show was more about the ethical, moral, emotional, and psychological dilemmas they faced- people dedicated to saving lives forced into a situation they did not chose with horrible things happening around them. This particular reaction video feels like a missed opportunity.

[@toniedobson7917]

I was thinking the same thing. Did he watch full episodes or just clip's.

[@thedriedge24]

I agree. I think he was missing so much context in reacting to this video - not only in terms of understanding the show as a whole, but also its historical and wartime context. I think it would have been better had he been joined by someone who might have more experience and knowledge in those areas to balance out his reaction and give context. I was really interested to see Doctor Mike's reaction, but this was disappointing.

[@toniedobson7917]

@@thedriedge24 I agree

[@realtsavo]

The show WAS pretty medically accurate. There were several doctors, a number of them M*A*S*H doctors consulting.

[@dillochan]

"Chest compressions" shows that Dr. Mike didn't know that there was an episode in the first BJ season where BJ teaches "the new compression technique" he's learned because he's been in the US while the rest have been in front line Korea. Hawkeye was about to lose a patient and preparing to crack the chest to do manual heart manipulation (which was the technique), when BJ jumps in and offers chest compression technique to the serious interest and joy of the entire operating theater. I usually really like Dr. Mike, but this review of MASH is just poorly done. He reviews it like it was made today with today's medical references and practice, instead of what medicine was at the time. In fact, the show does several episodes where they either invent new surgical techniques that were real at the time and came from the front, or they are being shown new techniques that were happening at the time. Poor research and poor understanding of the history of medicine, Dr. Mike. Please do better.

[@ChildofVitalani]

I was going to comment on the characters inventing new techniques. The manual heart manipulation you mentioned was, iirc, a technique 'invented' by the MASH characters in the 4077th early in the series and which saved a soldier's life. I love the fact that they then surpassed themselves by replacing that with the chest compressions method BJ learned.

[@NickRoman]

Well, Doctor Mike is just showing that he's just a kitten still. -Not having any idea how people used to talk or act or that the show was supposed to be comedic. I know he just wants to tell us what he does know about how it is now, but anyway, when he says he's getting old, I think he's comparing himself to teenagers or college buddies. Maybe the best thing he's demonstrating is how limited humans are. We learn that there's a certain way of doing things, but our sense of right and wrong and correct is very limited to the blip of time that we've grown up in. I'm 46 and already the world seems really weird to me in some ways compared to how it used to be.

[@MattySOP]

lol “pleas do better”..you really this upset…

[@NatashaJMckenzie66]

i like his videos but some things he doesnt research well i remember another video where he was talking about vape oil and that anything could be in them which is true in amerca but in britain vape oil i tested to a higher standard to make sure its safe to use

[@Jealod24]

@@NickRoman there is understanding it’s a tv show from the 70’s that is trying to make a medical drama in 22 min about a horrific war, from two decades prior, and the men and women who were forced to work very close to actual fighting, all while trtt try bj no kk j😁😊🤸🏾 bf f

[@punkbunnee9558]

When Frank said "Give me what I need, not what I ask for", that was to prove that he shouldn't be working. He was really sick/drunk/hungover most likely, and trying to work anyway. A lot of things in this show were done to show how regulations were sort of bypassed at times on those tent medical units. Makes for hilarity, but there should be more times where they explain that they'd never do this if they weren't in that situation. Also, there was no HIPPA, and as you pointed out, no sexual harassment laws.

[@wolf310ii]

Frank wasnt sick/drunk/hungover, he was just Frank

[@rosemorris7912]

Frank was a tea totaler. He was just a lousy, incredibly insecure, fairly stupid doctor who lived to bully people.

[@reillymiyasaki9701]

I honestly have had surgeons tell me this so many times 😅

[@punkbunnee9558]

@@wolf310ii my reason being that I always thought his natural state was something akin to sick/drunk/hungover. But someone pointed out that he actually didn't drink like the others and I remember that too. So I don't know why I always assumed that. Probably because I was watching reruns as a kid

[@Julia-lk8jn]

I agree, when a doctor blames his own mistakes on the nurse? In a way, Frank seems to be there to justify Hawkeyes shenanigans - , as in: "look, either you drink, womanize, make lewd remarks about the nurses and in case, humiliate a woman in front of the entire camp, or you end up being an horrible insufferable ingrateful stuck-up twerp." I can understand that a doctor forced to work under such conditions can get morose and insufferable, but that doesn't mean that I might not be badly tempted to strangle him in his sleep if I had to share a tent with him for months on end.

[@avaltformalialwaysforward8132]

I have actually slept through a blood transfusion multiple times. Thing about the military you learn to sleep through anything, including explosions. A simple needle prick is easy.

[@pauledge1621]

I have nodded off while donating blood. Scared the tech pretty good.

[@JakkFrost1]

One of the key character traits of Hawkeye is that he had to be a medical savant, in order to justify him getting away with his shenanigans. "He's too good to lose", similar to House.

[@KyleNordstrom]

That's what made Charles such a good foil to Hawkeye IMO. He was undisputedly the best surgeon, which point Hawkeye in his place and both characters much more depth.

[@JakkFrost1]

@@KyleNordstrom yeah, Charles was the better by-the-book hospital surgeon, but even he was thrown for a loop by the demands of frontline meatball surgery. Pretty sure Hawkeye was still better than him in that field, if not by much.

[@destinygarrett2824]

I used to come home from school everyday and watch MASH before doing homework. It's one of my favorite shows to this day. The first person POV episode and the sad Christmas episode had very big impact on me and instilled my want to be a nurse.

[@CrystalSaysSo]

Same for me!!!

[@betsyadams9670]

Same. I watched this with my dad growing up.

[@joecope9935]

My favorite episode, though it was rarely aired, was the one where Hawkeye went blind. I actually wrapped bandages around my head to experience blindness for a day until my dad got tired of me bumping into everything and told me to knock it off.

[@mateocafe45]

Mash was during a different time. Moreover, it was a TV show. I would not expect them to have accurate medical practice across the board. Not to mention that it was in the Army. The armed forces aren't bound by the same ethics as civilian clinicians are. Particularly in a war zone.

[@Danganraptor]

In addition, it's a comedy.

[@dvybeyond]

All of this, and still MASH is above average accurate in terms of medicine, especially when taken into account this was 1/2 a century ago!

[@Luna-sp7be]

I would be so curious to see an evaluation of its medical accuracy with the time period and military situation taken into account. Like when he started talking about bed rest, for example, I felt frustrated wondering if bed rest would have been a bad recommendation during the Korean War (though, to be fair, it was probably a bad recommendation for that specific patient purely on the basis that Frank was the one making it!)

[@thorswulf2012]

@@dvybeyond add to the fact this was set in the 1950s, during the Korean war

[@betsyadams9670]

@@Luna-sp7be well considering they still recommended bedrest up through the 80’s I wouldn’t doubt it.

[@shimmyalot]

10:19 I'm gonna go ahead and say that the regulations were probably quite a bit different in the 1950's in the middle of a war zone in Korea in the middle of nowhere compared to today in the 2020's in a fully functioning hospital in the US.

[@NekoMouser]

I love M*A*S*H and love that you did this episode. There is so much more to mine from this show as they did so much over so long a run. I'd also love to see you have an actual "meatball" surgeon or combat medic on an episode someday to talk about the differences in the emergency medicine done near the front compared to the medicine done at the hospital later (or in a civilian setting). There's a great quote in one episode of this show where they describe their version of medicine this way: "We only care about getting the kid out of here alive enough for someone else to put on the fine touches. We work fast and we're not dainty, because a lot of these kids who can stand two hours on the table just can't stand one second more. We try to play par surgery on this course. Par is a live patient." I'd love to hear you interview someone who's actually worked in that situation.

[@greybeardmc]

That wonderful quote is actually from the pilot episode.

[@tkrause1116]

I could not have said it better myself. Thank you!

[@subduedpotato7216]

@@greybeardmc I thought that was from the time when Winchester was 'on loan' from Tokyo and balked at the necessity of speed over finesse. Maybe it was a similar line. Great show though

[@greybeardmc]

@@subduedpotato7216 No, I literally watched the pilot last night and remember the line clearly. Before Winchester adapted, he would say, "I do one thing, I do it well, then I move on." (meanwhile, Hawkeye and BJ have done three patients while he's only done one).

[@lokithecat7225]

At least get the oldest ex-surgeon that you can find, who isn't senile, and ask them about Medical Accuracy, to do a "Medicine back in the day".

[@Alan.Endicott]

Three thoughts: First, the Korean War was in the 50s. Watching this show through a 21st century lens is a mistake. Second, the show had physicians and veterans as advisors to scriptwriters to ensure realism. Third, sitcoms have about 22 minutes to tell a story, so a lot of what you think was missing was probably a function of time constraints.

[@foos.998]

Dr. Mike, you’ve gotta take into account the era (Korean War) that this show takes place. Also, Alan Alda can do no wrong in my eyes :)

[@chnalvr]

Yes! Let's also take into account that this show was written with absurd comedy infused throughout the story lines. Yes, this was meant to be absurd, not medically informative, educational or accurate. I doubt any of us watching it in the 70s took this show so seriously, at least from a medical point of view.

[@michelleknutson4946]

Also the first season they didn’t do well but later on brought doctors in to make the medical scenes more realistic

[@misslind992]

Very true. Alda is amazing.

[@ssa6227]

@@chnalvr Ya why people want accuracy in everything. It's just a damn show and as a funny show it was great. It's goal was to make people laugh it did it very well, it's goal was to showcase hard work the doctors did during the war with very difficult conditions. It did it. Why you want the actors to perform perfect surgeries? It's a show.

[@copperblaze22]

I would love for a doctor to give me an extra day of bed rest instead of pushing me back out into the field to risk death or harm again.

[@LORDRA1DEN]

First of all, this is one of the best shows ever created. Hand down, right up there with the original Star Trek series. Second, you're worried about chest compression techniques from the 50s. Obviously they're not up to speed with how people do it now. Third, do you realize that while you seem worried that a soldier with an extra day of bed rest might get DVT, or something like that, that getting them up and moving around would wind up clearing them to go back in the field to probably get killed? Fourth, yes, they were crass, but this was before everyone got PC about everything. There was pushback on the show, but you'd have to watch the entire series to see it. They supported Gay rights, they were against racism: they covered a lot of subjects. They weren't harassing the nurses, they were flirting, and it was reciprocated. Hawkeye probably slept with every nurse on the show, including Margaret. As for the solider that can't breathe, you're saying what FATHER Mulcahy should do. He's a priest, not a doctor. He has literally zero medical training, and he's there with the company clerk, also zero medical training. And it's kind of clear the guy has a pulse since he's gasping for air. And then you said it again: turn the volume up. You can hear him moaning and gasping for air. As far as I know you can't do that with no pulse. As for the tests and other stuff, again, you have a priest and a clerk in the field with no medical training. They have about 3 minutes to save the guy's life. They do this, or they let him die in pain. I think you need to binge watch the entire series. You're not being fair to a show created in the early 70s about what happened in the early 50s.

[@Creamsiclekid]

Not here to tear up your comment or be rude in anyway but I did just want to point out that breathing is not always indication of a pulse. Just so people know and understand for the future. As an EMT we are trained to recognize what are called agonal breaths/breathing. This is the diaphragm and trachea using every last bit of cellular energy to try and collapse and move air into the lungs. The heart is in cardiac failure, so there is almost no blood/energy for the lungs/diaphragm to use. So it is using whatever it can. This is why the “breaths” often sound like moaning/gasping. And will eventually turning into gurgling. Which is why we know have the standard practice of checking for a pulse when we hear such low level of breathing. So Dr. Mikes assessment that the patient might be experiencing heart failure and becoming a code is true. A thus a tracheotomy would unfortunately not be the most helpful for this given situation. But I don’t have any knowledge as to wether the medical field was aware of agonal breathing at the time of the 1950’s. My guess is probably not, which actually shows how MASH can/is representing a really real and unfortunate component of emergency medicine. A lot of people died, were given the incorrect care, or unfortunately suffered because we didn’t have all the knowledge we needed/wanted. Still can happen at times unfortunately even today. Emergency medicine, and combat care, is constantly evolving, and is often being learned in extreme situations, and often through in the moment failure or success.

[@LORDRA1DEN]

@@Creamsiclekid Traching them would be a lot better than letting them die. They were too far away from the base camp to get back in time and neither had any medical training.

[@Creamsiclekid]

Oh, I’m not calling it question those guys, or their motivations at all. Trying to save their comrade the best they could is completely understandable and heroic. I just wanted to point out that low breathing isn’t always an indication of heart activity so that way everyone can be informed. Yeah, no. I have nothing negative to say about those guys motivations or effort. If help was available, it would always be better to get more experienced hands. But that wasn’t and isn’t always the case and they cared and did what they could. No one could nor should ask for anything more.

[@LORDRA1DEN]

@@Creamsiclekid Doctor Mike kind of screwed up his assessment of what was going on in the show. Like he's looking at it from the perspective of what would you do in the OR when he should've been looking at it like two non-medical soldiers in that situation in the field too far from base to get help. And he also screws up other things in his assessment of the video like not realizing when the Korean War took place and what was available at the time. Lastly, the "sexual harassment" comments, I mean it was the 50s, that was normal back then. Even in the 70s when they made the show it was somewhat normal. Tome, MASH is one of the best medical drama/comedies ever made.

[@shawnbeaton94]

@@Creamsiclekid some good points Levi, also there is a reason Dr's are said to practice medicine, also the chest compressions without concern for the airway is still relatively new, I retired about 5 years ago and medics were still diving for the intubation equipment alot earlier in the code process.

[@drowningincats3921]

I think we all have to keep in mind, this was made with Korean War era medicine, procedures, and knowledge. It’s not going to meet a modern medical standard, even if it was 100% correct for the era.

[@hhshkhmdnmohd970]

Hello

[@hhshkhmdnmohd970]

How are you doing now

[@lokithecat7225]

Feels like a bad idea, trying to apply "Current" Medical practices, to a 40 Year old movie, which was set 70 Years ago. Medicine has advanced quite a lot in 70 Years, and that doesn't even account for "Meatball Surgery" conditions of these MASH units.

[@brennasnyder]

mash turns 50 next year

[@QueenKatania_4077]

As happy as I am to see you finally react to MASH, I would have liked to see you take into account the show's intended time period and setting to base the medical actions off of, rather than compare it to modern day medicine. It seems a little unfair to the show when you do so, especially when it had such a successful run. They did in fact have medical advisors for this show(just keep an eye on the credits to find them), so I imagine some of the medical information and actions was accurate *for the show's time and place*. It also felt like you really skimmed over a lot of the show and barely scratched the surface. I feel like you should give this one another chance while keeping in mind the show's setting.

[@KatieGray1]

I keep reminding myself that he is full of modern medical knowledge so that is his scope of medical reference. He would have had to study medicine in the 50s prior to watching this and that doesn't seem like a good use of time.

[@debbiejones7269]

Comparing it to modern hospital medicine, too. Meatball surgery was a very different animal.

[@QueenKatania_4077]

@@debbiejones7269 that's TRUE! Meatball surgery is definitely different from medical care received in a hospital

[@shawnkerr]

I would also like to add this MASH unit was at the front line. Minimizing the supply chain and maximized distractions.

[@nyazillagojira7079]

Indeed. I would like to see Doc explain. "LOOK HOW FAR WE HAVE COME" in just a short time. THAT is what i expected from the Internet Favorite Doc. BEWOOP.!

[@EmilWestrum]

I was a medic in the Norwegian Army from 2009 - 2014. MASH is eerily relevant.... makes me cry and laugh, Hawkeye is awesome!

[@AliceObscura]

A lot of this is historically accurate for the time: 1950's medicine was very different from modern medicine. Thankfully, because of science and best practices, we've advanced our understanding of medicine a great deal.

[@kellyalves756]

I was thinking, especially in terms of whatever transplant protocol they may or ( more likely) may not have had. Plus, I’m pretty sure it would have boiled down to “ the Army owns you, soldier”’in those days.

[@AliceObscura]

@@kellyalves756 indeed. Also, precordial thumps were considered a valid first step before initiating CPR. We've since found them to be largely ineffective, but at the time that was a norm.

[@kellyalves756]

@@AliceObscura I seem to remember reading that somewhere.

[@kzadbhat555]

Beyond this being a TV show, there's also the point that this took place in a US Army hospital during the Korean War. Percussive chest compressions were still taught (okay the compressions after we rather wussy), and soldiers actually have little in the way of medical autonomy and privacy guarantees. Although admittedly in reality they won't take blood from a solider in his sleep, they'll just say "you're giving us blood" and be done with it.

[@Chasmodius]

Maybe a private, but not an officer or actual doctor, as in this case! It's a funny scene though, particularly because we all hate Frank.

[@SirWussiePants]

Yes! The strike to the chest was procedure for quite a long time. I think it was only within my lifetime that they stopped doing that (1970s or, at least 1960s). Would Mike complain if a civil war doctor gave morphine to a patient? I love Mike, but you have to view this in context!

[@brianneslamin554]

A mobile unit at that!

[@ramen4life112]

If in the Korean War they had access to today's medicine, things would have been different. They were being bombed and I would say today's medical units in battle have to do less than optimal medical service also

[@crypticmirror]

@@SirWussiePants They still taught it for first responders as late as the early nineties in the UK. That is when I was taught it.

[@PushyPushyPhoenix]

Seem to recall there was an episode with a doctor trying to do things "properly" and wound up failing them all - he was taking too long and using too much of the supplies. Which is the point of what they did, as many other commenters have pointed out: make sure the patient lives long enough to get the care they need, or at least not die before they can get help. 😷🍍

[@Markle2k]

Charles Emerson Winchester “the THIRD!” “GET ME OUT OF HERE!” The untold backstory was that Charles Emerson Winchester Jr. wanted his son to lose his sense of privilege and never lifted a finger to bring him home before he had served his countrymen in harm’s way.

[@Foolish188]

@@Markle2k Yes, Hawkeye's Father, and Winchester's Father are two of the best characters on the show, never seen. Loved the Christmas Episode where Winchester tried to replicate a tradition his Father had started of secretly giving hand made chocolates to poor children. He gave the chocolates to a man running an orphanage and then got upset when he found out that the chocolates had been sold on the black market. On confronting the man, he was told that he traded the chocolates for cabbages and rice that would feed the orphans for a month. And then the man pointed out that Winchester, even though he had grown up rich and privileged, had dedicated his life to Medicine. And said I think your Father had been giving you a great gift. Breaks my Heart when I watch that episode.

[@amandajones661]

@@Foolish188 I LOVED that episode!!!

[@HelloNotMe9999]

2:26 "He checked the patient for a millisecond..." And yet that's still more physical examination than I have gotten from any of the 7 doctors I have had across all annual checkups I've had in the past 5 years combined. 99.99999% of the time they just walk in, look at some paperwork for about 3 minutes, order a prescription for something neither need nor want, and then walk out. This is SOP (standard operating procedure) for the VA. It took me 15 years of continuous complaints (beginning while I was still on active duty) about knee pain and 14 x-rays (all normal) before they finally agreed to do an MRI. 2 days later, I got a call from the doc saying I have a torn ligament and needed surgery to repair it. Still want to have a conversation about government run, single payer healthcare? Trust me, folks, you really don't want it. Sounds great on paper. Works about as well as a warm fart.

[@unfoldingspace8]

To be fair, when you mention checking for a pulse, I know there is one episode (I think at the beginning of it), from one of the earlier seasons, where Frank (the incompetent one, or the one who had his blood stolen) checks the pulse of one and says he’s dead, but where Hawkeye (the competent one) stops him and checks his pulse closer to his heart, because, as it turns out, the guy has hypothermia and has started to shut down and therefore has no pulse at his wrist.

[@rizahawkeyepierce1380]

Just watched that last night! The episode is "Bulletin Board"

[@AzrealUO]

Hawkeye kibitzes from behind the table as he's working on another patient, and It was actually Trapper who checked the pulse and then goes on to explain what Hypothermia is to Frank.

[@derdenni6780]

Stop writing these comments about 50 people have already written this kind of comment why don't you just give a like to the other comments

[@johnpatz8395]

@@derdenni6780 or perhaps you could just stop reading comments when you realize it’s already been discussed by someone else. Not everyone reads a ton of comments to see if someone has already made the point before you.

[@byuftbl]

Hawkeye to Doctor Mike “I’m not a real doctor dammit I only play one on tv. Hell if I know how to do chest compressions” 🤣🤣🤣

[@patriciaschonrock2929]

I can easily see the character saying that

[@necrophiliacin_lace628]

They had medical advisors on the set, to make sure they got that stuff right... you would think they would have caught the chest compressions thing.

[@PainRack]

@@necrophiliacin_lace628 think that was after the 1st season. The show was very ahead for it's time, for example, when the chief nurse stopped an OR because the surgeon had touched his mask.

[@jailmail1]

@@necrophiliacin_lace628 modern chest compressions were not developed in the 50s

[@MaggieParker09]

@@necrophiliacin_lace628 just read in another comment, that the CPR we know wasn’t invented until the 1960s. The Korean War was in the early 50s. I don’t have any knowledge of how CPR looked before the stuff we know and di today. But probably that’s accurate for the period?

[@Kb23723]

MASH is one of the greatest shows ever! Would watch this with my father every evening. Still watch every so often to remember good times with him...

[@alittlebean.1284]

aww sorry for ur loss :( Heres a hug :)

[@bubbles01529]

I'm 29 and watch it 4 times since my 20's. I love it and i'm not a doctor

[@meghan-not-thee-stallion97]

There was a doctor on the writing staff that had been an army surgeon during the Korean War. Most of this is period-accurate.

[@Bozbaby103]

Different time. Medicine, it's practices and it's ethics, have come a long way, much is now obsolete, meaning forgotten. Much of what you're seeing is supposed to come from the Korean War...your (great)grandparents' time. Plus MASH's were experimental. They worked for their intended purpose and pushed doctors to do things they normally wouldn't. Wish you'd take this into account when doing these reviews. Love you, hon, enjoy your videos, but it is frustrating when you use today's knowledge and procedures to review things not based on modern medicine.

[@nostalgiaprincess]

i wish my brain was capable of making this kind of post. it’s exactly how i feel, but my post sounds like a child wrote it 😆.

[@Bozbaby103]

@@nostalgiaprincess Mine usually do, too. Once in a blue moon I can be articulate.

[@spiritxdancer]

I think Dr. Mike is more focused on educating us on medicine today, and reviews are just a jumping off point.

[@heathercole9851]

I agree! It's funny to see him react, but it would be better if he acknowledged that it was a seriously different time that they made into a comedy. Different methods, plus comedy, equals very different from today's medical world.

[@christiandauz3742]

Imagine how different things would be if Modern Medicine care and Healthcare technology was available back then

[@JakkFrost1]

Also, you're constantly quoting the "horses, not zebras" line, but isn't there a similar triage based aphorism about treating the immediate problem now, and worrying about the _less_ immediate problem afterwards? I mean, infection is a concern, of course, but in meatball surgery, you'd worry about the heart first, _then_ deal with any infection you might have caused.

[@ArtjomKoslow]

Normally you have a Color Code: Black is already passed, red is severe and need Attention now, yellow can wait but needs Oversight and green is for when it fits you.

[@JakkFrost1]

@@ArtjomKoslow as an aphorism, that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

[@PittsburghSportsFan43]

That's kind of the point of triage. Assessing the severity of the wounds and the most severe go first.

[@JakkFrost1]

@@PittsburghSportsFan43 something everyone knows. What's your point?

[@heatherkuhn6559]

@@PittsburghSportsFan43 It's more who will benefit most from treatment. Even if the patient's still alive, if you have no chance of keeping them that way, they get coded black.

[@jacilynbrainard7481]

Dr. Mike should NOT have come for M.A.S.H.!! 😂 Clearly underestimated the show’s fan base (and didn’t exactly give it a fair shake).

[@kerrynicholls6683]

I am angry at Dr mike. I grew up watching this show and I love it and I don’t care how wrong it is. M.A.S.H is a classic, I love 💕 it. Also still love Alan Alda, Great comedian great actor.

[@meike_6354]

Honestly !! 😂😂 my dad and I always watch it together because we both love that show 😂😂

[@kerrynicholls6683]

@@meike_6354 OMG SAME. Love 💓 from Australia

[@y-yyy]

if you don't care about how how wrong it is why are you angry about someone pointing out how wrong it is? lol

[@jakeisthedoctor2308]

@@kerrynicholls6683 But it isn’t that inaccurate either, back then we had nothing compared to today. So a lot of the procedures were normal for the time

[@PittsburghSportsFan43]

MASH was a show from the 70s set in the 50s. There was quite a bit of sexism, especially in the early years, but it got a lot better later on, even compared to some shows from the later 80s and 90s. Frank was an idiot. And he just got worse over time. I can't believe some people say he was a good doctor in the beginning. That "Give me what I want and not what I ask for" scene is from the Pilot! With the arterial graft patient, Kelly (the dark haired nurse) was keeping an eye on his vitals when BJ came in with the graft. At 5:05, that was the CAMP PRIEST AND COMPANY CLERK! NOT DOCTORS. And your last assessment was wrong. In every single episode of the show it was clear that they cared immensely about their patients.

[@faery2848]

I would love for you to do a collaboration with a military doctor just to see you comparing on how it is in the field vs in the hospital. I would find it fascinating how you would improvise in certain situations along with learning how you were taught. I find your channel very informative, and I love how you speak to your audience. You make it engaging as well informative. I also don’t feel as though you are ‘dumbing it down’ but rather talking to me as just a person.

[@hhshkhmdnmohd970]

Hello

[@kstricl]

Fun Fact: The 8063rd MASH unit often referenced was a real unit that many of the stories shown on MASH came from. Things have definitely improved since the early 50's - medically and acting wise.

[@dwilborn1257]

Doctor Mike, you can't critique a TV show from the 70s portraying medical practices from the 50s with modern wisdom! That's insane!

[@TheOnlyToblin]

But fun :)

[@calamityaj7318]

I like Dr. Mike but he’s extremely bad faith, where as most Surgeons/Anesthesiologists I’ve come across try to be as good faith, and find where the shows are medically accurate, or accurate in spirit, but ham things up because at the end of the day it’s television.

[@DanTheRomanianofStatenIsland]

This show aged beautifully. Watch it religiously

[@yveslafrance2806]

That was upsetting. I’ve watched this video two days ago, and had to cool down before commenting. M.A.S.H. was a TV show from the 70s about a medical team in Korea in the early 50s. Of course the medical knowledge was different, but this was about the relationships in the team and with trauma patients. You chose to look at an episode that was demonstrating how committed the team was to saving lives under impossible conditions. All you could find to say was to criticize their chest compression technique. How can someone miss the point so completely. For them, just one day without losing a patient was cause for celebration. Next time, review Schindler’s List so we could learn that malnourished people shouldn’t be eating their food too fast… You’re a big proponent of mental health. With a bit of research you could have found the episode where Winchester helps a soldier who’s being bullied because of his stuttering. Do you know how many shows in the 70s talked about bullying? None. NONE. But M.A.S.H. did. Or you could have gone through Hawkeye’s nervous breakdown in the 11th season. Or the death of their commanding officer Of course their behavior was often deplorable, especially concerning Frank and Margaret (the two villains, until the writers realized war, misery and suffering were enemies enough). They drank too much, flaunted regulations and had a dark sense of humor. At the same time, they were amazingly sympathetic to marginalized people, and money never was of much interest to them. A nice study in humanity.

[@kingcat01]

Thank you

[@GreenQueen69420]

I grew up watching this show (it was something my parents enjoyed and always played for background noise, but I'd pay attention because I can't have background noise or I will focus on it), and honestly yeah, it would be nice if he could explore this show more. There's more to this show than it's medical accuracy, and even then, the medical accuracy then is different than ours fifty years later.

[@quinnroberts8451]

"Had to cool down" lmao it's not that serious 💀

[@lothara.schmal5092]

Bro, he’s not doing a review of the show, tf you on abt, he’s educating people abt modern medicine, the characters ain’t real, don’t get offended for them tf

[@lothara.schmal5092]

@@quinnroberts8451 fr

[@ctcboater]

Criticizing 1950s technique on the basis of 21st Century (contemporary) medical technique, while technically correct, misses the point of depicting Korean War reality. Not to mention, the show was filmed in the '70s and was not meant to be a strict "hospital" show.

[@barbaramatthews4735]

It was supposed to be about the Korean War, but the Vietnam War was still fresh and had a big influence on it.

[@meri_teri_82]

Medicine has come a long way in 70 years Doc. Many of these surgeons were civilians who were drafted. As far as those doctors (characters) being happy, it was about saving "George". There was an episode where "Hawkeye" is trying to resuscitate a soldier and he mutters something like "you're not going to win". When another doctor asks "who's/what's he talking about?", someone else answers "death". These were civilians that were overwhelmed. As for patients rights? There were very few. Even less in the military. 😏

[@jakeand9020]

Even into the nineties military personnel had very little in the way of medical privacy and even less in options. Not sure how much that's changed, but I highly doubt they have the option to not be a donor beyond certain religious exemptions. They certainly didn't in the fifties

[@winterhear]

It was Colonel from HQ that wanted hawkeye for some three star general in cozy place and he was asking col. Potter :D damn i've seen mash more time i am unable to count it anymore :) (not want to be a nitpick , just reminded me the episode)

[@meri_teri_82]

@@winterhear as I'm reading your reply, the memory becomes clearer. Thank you!

[@tonyk421]

@@winterhear, I put MASH on every night for sleep sound, and watch for real once a year for 15 years now.

[@meri_teri_82]

@Dr. Mike why don't you get a real job instead of trying to dupe unsuspecting souls? Never mind that you've chosen one of the most ethical humans on the planet to impersonate! Go chase yourself 🤬.

[@LORDRA1DEN]

P.S. I met Alan Alda for a book signing for his book "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself" in NYC about 10 years ago. I still have the book autographed by him. He's probably one of the best human beings (that are actors) you will ever meet. Right up there with Michael J. Fox.

[@vulpinesoul]

Alot of the situations and things in M*A*S*H were taken directly from situation from the Korean War.... Desperately different from what you'd get from hosptials and a very different rule set from what you'd expect from a modern hosptial today. There's documentries on it that are avaialble on where stories came from and where some of the ideas sprang from. None of the stories sprang wholecloth from reality but saying "this can't happen" is just incorrect because the fact was it did.

[@cp368productions2]

Remember Mike, this is set in 1950. And Major Burns was written as a completely incompetent surgeon.

[@NephriteQueen]

I agree, context is important.

[@ylleksexy09]

I agree, I wish she had watched at least the first season to get a just of Frank Burns, and how he actually did not pass his boards the first time LOL, I think more research should’ve been done into this episode because as someone who literally watches the show to this day, it’s kind of disheartening, he should definitely go check out Alan all this podcast clear and visit, he covers a lot of this

[@ylleksexy09]

Alan aldas *

[@zemorph42]

@@ylleksexy09 Is Alan still alive? He was my favorite part of the show!

[@cp368productions2]

@@zemorph42 yes he is still alive

[@Whisper88888888]

Okay... I'm glad you finally did an episode on MASH, but you missed the mark on a lot of things. You should have definitely done your research on the history of the show the time period it was released in, and it's effects on communities & health education. Because it was so long running and touched on so many deep issues - particularly mental health, it is a show that was/is extremely impactful. The way you glossed over and demeaned it as a whole was disrespectful and uneducated.

[@slaveteri]

i've been watching your content in chronological order and i'm hoping you have another review for M*A*S*H where you focus on what medicine was like in the 50s instead of expecting it to be the same almost 75yrs later.

[@Centurion-st5pe]

The cardiac thump was a technique used back in the day. Typically used to correct erratic heat rhythm.

[@beatlequeen06]

Say what you will about some parts of this show being outdated, Dr. Mike, this is one of the best loved shows of all time to this day. Members of the cast have said in interviews that people who fought in the Korean War, or served in a MASH unit, have come up to them and thanked them for shining a light on what they did during those years. The Korean War is often somewhat of a "forgotten" war because it didn't have the country-uniting feeling of World War II, or the country dividing that went on during the Vietnam War. There are some wonderful scenes in this show with splendid acting from its perfect cast. There's a reason this show won so many Emmy Awards, Writer's Guild Awards, and Director's Guild Awards; it's not just a straight sitcom with nonstop jokes in a medical unit. There are some genuinely sad and shocking moments that you wouldn't see in a show like Hogan's Heroes or F Troop, which were wartime sitcoms without any major serious moments. Is any medical show 100% accurate? No, because as works of fiction, they're allowed to take a few liberties with what's medically right and wrong in favour of time, entertainment, or what have you. This show may have ended before I was born (I'm about 2 years older than you are), but I adore it.

[@imalonelyman]

I'm with you on this. I feel like Dr. Mike focused on the med scenes only. The show is a great past time show, there is a lot more to it than just the scenes he focused on.

[@trayolphia5756]

8:38 I think you may have missed the concept they were going for here…he was not pinching the aorta shut like a clamp…he was trying to cover/plug the rupture so that the amount of blood splicing out of the circulatory system was drastically reduced in order to prevent the patient from bleeding out, the whole time he was also receiving blood transfusions…And whilst the blood pressure and the amount of blood flowing was definitely interfered and hindered…it was not completely cut off…

[@Elizabeth-vd6sd]

I don’t think he watched the entire episode… I’m doubting he’s ever seen mash before because he acts like Frank is a real doctor

[@ShatteredAce]

I see the other comments from when this video first came out pointing out the fact that this is spoken through a modern understanding of medicine. I think the disparity makes this video much more fascinating, because in war, you need to deal with what you have. And it makes sense that in the 50's our knowledge of medicine was lacking compared to now. It's great to see inaccuracies being pointed out so much because it shows how far our knowledge has come. I hope in 70 years, people are saying how outdated our practices now are. That's a sign of progress!

[@trishwsmom4289]

Worth researching the show and what it was based on. MASH units were set up close to the front lines and saved lots of lives. This show was from the 70s and was based on book about a MASH unit during the Korean War at the very beginning of the 50s. Also, it was mostly a comedy even as it dealt with serious issues. PS….the audience was not meant to expect the Chaplin and the company clerk to know what they were doing….lol

[@Tericlay]

Dr. Mike: This was taking place during the Korean War. MASH units had to try some crazy things to try to save lives. They didn't have the medical knowledge that we have now. They were desperate to try anything that might save a life. You have to approach the show with all that in mind. I'd love to see your reaction to more episodes while taking this into account.

[@iylannaslife]

Yeah, the fact that most of the docs were just put of uni and some, like Hawkeye, we're just family doctors with minimal surgical experience. Lots of “lets just try it and hope”

[@Lumivive]

"Get me what I want, not what I asked for" gave me flashbacks of doing any sort of home project with my dad. 😬🙄

[@ibitdalv3238]

And the light was never in the right place 😂

[@seppyq3672]

are you my sibling? lol

[@ibitdalv3238]

@@seppyq3672 We're all siblings in this one

[@lollylolly8186]

Mine had me hold the very end of an eight foot piece of lumber and then yell at me when it dropped after he cut it!! 😂 I hated helping him with his “woodworking”, it’s in quotations because it was suspect at best. I never figured out why me and where did my brothers always disappear to?

[@Lumivive]

@@ibitdalv3238 I'll second that. My fellow brothers and sisters of fathers with ambitions to be handymen that were obligated to spend time with the kids but really wanted to work with a telepath. Unite! 🙌💖💙💚

[@Nothingness00000-o]

Firstly, I grew up with MASH. Not my fav show of that era, but I enjoyed it-still rerunning on tv today. This show is set in the 50s, in the middle of a war, filmed in the 70s--early 80s. I like this show for its positive moral messages, it's humour, not its dubious surgeries. In the middle of a war, where they have not all appreciate medical equipment, these places were a quick patch up, to keep patients alive and moved on to a proper hospital. So I believe there would have been some unorthodox medical treatments/surgeries at that time.