M*A*S*H (1972)

Considered by many to be one of the finest series in television history, "M*A*S*H" centers around members of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. While still focusing on the tragedies and insanities that war brings about, "M*A*S*H's" characters used humor, hijinx and hilarity to escape the horror and depression of the situation that they were in. Among the 4077's eccentric citizens were practical joker Capt. Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce (Alan Alda), Hawkeye's cohort Capt. "Trapper John" McIntire (Wayne Rogers), easygoing commander Lt. Col. Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson), nurse Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, blowhard Maj. Frank Burns (Larry Linville) and Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly, the company's clerk. William Christopher played the 4077's chaplain, Father Mulcahy, and Jamie Farr costarred as Corporal Max Klinger, who used any means necessary (including dressing in drag) to try and get out of the army. At the end of the third season, both Steveson and Rogers left the show and two new regulars were added. Capt. BJ Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell) proved a game joke-buddy to Hawkeye, and the group's new commanding officer Colonel Sherman Potter (Harry Morgan) was surprisingly tolerant.