M*A*S*H

September 17, 1972

The TV show M*A*S*H premieres. It was almost canceled due to poor initial ratings. However, it grew in popularity and the series finale was the most watched single U.S. TV episode in history up to that point, seen by 125 million viewers. The Hawkeye Pierce character was based on the experiences of Hiester Richard Hornberger, Jr. while serving as an army surgeon during the Korean War (1950-1953), which he wrote about in his book Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (1968). The lyrics to the theme song, “Suicide is Painless” was written by Robert Altman‘s 14-year-old son. Reportedly, Altman was paid $70,000 for directing the original movie version of M*A*S*H. The lyrics, which were used in both the movie and TV show and took less than 5 minutes to write, earned his son over $1,000,000.