The MASH reunion included several big reveals about the inner workings of making the series, including how some of its biggest elements came to be. When CBS greenlit the project in the early '70s, it was already the second adaptation of Richard Hooker's book — MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. The success of Robert Altman's film was a double-edged sword for the war show, but it eventually proved that the story was so much better with a longer storytelling format. 40 years since it ended in 1983 with the highest-rated TV episode, "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen," MASH remains at the forefront of pop culture, and somehow, eternally relevant.