3 ms·
Although MASH kind of shows the problem from the modern perspective of 1970s TV. At its best, it focused on the grimly humorous aspects of war and surgery (as a
by jhbadger 9y ago
Although MASH kind of shows the problem from the modern perspective of 1970s TV. At its best, it focused on the grimly humorous aspects of war and surgery (as a modern take on the subject would), but at least half the episodes were just sitcom material. Plus there weren't really story arcs, but they may have been impractical because on broadcast TV where box sets of previous seasons and streaming wasn't available, it would have been hard for someone who didn't watch every episode to follow.
- ghaff 9y agoWell, for that matter, VCRs weren't available. Also syndication was an important revenue stream. As a result, outside of miniseries "events," you mostly couldn't do shows that wouldn't work if someone weren't in front of their TV at a particular time slot every week. (There were somewhat exceptions like Dallas but they were rare.)