The Odd Subtraction

I’ve watched every episode of M*A*S*H a million times. My family gathered around the TV for the show’s finale in 1983. Even though we all said “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” 37 years ago, it’s still easy to get sucked into watching an occasional rerun. Back in October I found MASH Matters, a podcast that dives deeper into old memories, and a few weeks ago I found every episode of MASH on archive.org with an odd subtraction– no laugh track. It’s a very different experience to watch those old shows without hearing canned laughter. Taking away the expected audience response actually adds something new, and sometimes jarring.