One Thing M*A*S*H Got Wrong Was Marvel Comics History
What do “Happy Days” and “M*A*S*H” have in common? Well, for one thing, they’re both era-defining TV shows of the 1970s that took place in the 1950s. “M*A*S*H” was set during the Korean War (even if its satirical target was the more recent Vietnam War), which unfolded from 1950 to 1953. It’s a well-known joke that thanks to its 11-season run (1972 to 1983), the series lasted longer than the war it was set in.
That’s not the only historical incongruity in “M*A*S*H” — there’s a small but telling one in season 4, episode 21, “The Novocaine Mutiny,” as first noted in “TV’s M*A*S*H: The Ultimate Guide Book” by Ed Solomonson and Mark O’Neill. In this episode, Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville) is left in command and predictably behaves like a tyrant (a la Captain Queeg in “The Caine Mutiny,” the root of the episode’s title). He begins searching officers’ quarters for “stolen” (actually gambled) money. When he gets to Radar’s (Gary Burghoff) office, he finds some comic books; the scene transition is a cut to Burns taking the comics out of drawers and stacking them one by one.
These floppy issues are only visible for a split second, but looking closely, they include copies of “Amazing Spider-Man” issue #81 and “The Avengers” issue #72. There’s just one problem; the episode is in 1952, when these comics didn’t exist yet.