I've always sort've respected the show but never got into it, but have given it a real shot the last couple days. Love it but am finding it hard to get over it compared to the basic advances in TV production, even this, one of the best shows of all time. My thinkins:
Do away with the laugh track, I know it's a relatively recent measure of quality to not have one, but this is a show (maybe one of the first) that should never have had one and seemed only to because it was only allowed to stray so far from the 70s TV standard. It really nearly ruins the show for me (no hyperbole)
The characters are all great, even the "comic relief" characters among comedic characters are fantastic.
The shift from glib comedy to harsh drama is flawless and I think no other show has matched it before or since.
Basically what I'm asking for for Xmas is a laugh-trackless MASH, somehow still cut so that it's pacing for those laugh-track cues won't be glaring in it's absence.-