With contributions from AaronHandyIII and the Yahoo! CBSPromos2 Group.

Watching television back in the 1970s was a vastly different experience than it is today. There were fewer commercials, no annoying network bug in the corner, and program sponsorship was more common. What follows is a brief introduction to watching M*A*S*H when it was originally broadcast in the 1970s and 1980s, with video footage from 1978.

Sponsored By

It used to be common for a television show to be largely supported by one company. The phrase “sponsored by” would be tagged on to advertising spots for that company’s product(s). Here is a fifteen-second spot for M*A*S*H featuring Prudential Insurance.

We’ll Be Right Back

Although largely forgotten today, the networks used to include brief (usually only a few seconds) program “bumpers” right before a commercial break in an attempt to make sure viewers didn’t change the channel. Occasionally, these bumpers were included in the middle or the end of a commercial break.

The CBS Logo

In the days before the now familiar network bug (that annoying logo in the bottom corner of the television screen) the networks would toss up their logos at random intervals during commercials to remind viewers which network they were watching. These network identifications were few and far between. M*A*S*H originally aired on CBS so the CBS Eye would occasionally stare out at viewers.

Episode Promos

CBS, like all networks of today and yesterday, promote their shows with teaser spots or promotional spots, advertisements for a series or a specific episode. M*A*S*H was no different. All the episodes were promoted to make sure people knew when an episode was airing and what it was about.

Here are rare promos for the first two episodes of the fourth season (audio only):

Thanks to the Yahoo! CBSPromos2 Group for the episode promos.

Last updated July 26th, 2007