Watching M*A*S*H, Watching America: A Social History of the 1972-1983 Television Series.(Book Review)

Watching M*A*S*H, Watching America: A Social History of the 1972-1983 Television Series. James H. Wittebols. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2003.

The question of whether the mass media drive or reflect popular culture is something of an eternal one. In this fine book, James H. Wittebols argues for the latter. Using M*A*S*H as an example, Wittebols asserts that "the television situation comedy generally lags behind changes in the real world" (1). To Wittebols, M*A*S*H is the perfect vehicle to explore the connection between television and the broader culture. The series had a long run over a turbulent period, and dealt with controversial subjects. Wittebols concludes that although M*A*S*H began as an explicitly antiwar black comedy, in step with the mood of the early 1970s, it came to reflect the mores of the "me decade," and eventually moved rightward with the conservative revival of the later 1970s and 1980s.

Wittebols begins with a brief history of the sitcom to demonstrate that television trails society. The earliest hit sitcoms, such as The Honeymooners, were urban based. Series such as Leave It to Beaver followed the migration to the suburbs. Shows of the 1960s reflected the world of the 1950s. Gomer Pyle, USMC aired at the height of the Vietnam War, but Wittebols points out that "no one ever 'shipped out' or returned in body bags" (12). The 1960s "changed television, rather than the other way around" (9), leading to edgier or more contemporary-themed programs, such as All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

The American reaction against the Vietnam War paved the way for M*A*S*H, an antiwar novel turned into a movie, and ultimately into a sitcom. To demonstrate the relationship of the series to contemporary society, Wittebols alternates between a discussion of the plotlines and a survey of the newspapers and magazines of the period. He considers the first few seasons as the most radical in terms of content, reflecting the spirit of the times and shaped by events such as the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and the Church Committee investigations of the CIA. The first three seasons displayed a constant attack on war and those who seek war. ...