A closer look
Canned laughter playing over the grim realities of a Korean War medical tent felt more like a war crime to the creators of America's favorite military comedy. Series developer Larry Gelbart fiercely fought the network's mandate to include a sitcom laugh track in 'M*A*S*H', compromising only by keeping it out of the operating room scenes. However, when the BBC acquired the localization rights for the UK, they broadcast the show exactly as Gelbart intended: with the laugh track completely stripped out. This resulted in British audiences experiencing the hit sitcom as a deeply bleak, dramatic anti-war satire.
