120 million viewers in a final salute to M*A*S*H
FEB 28, 1983
THESE days, there seems to be a limitless number of television channels, streaming options and downloadable content.
But it means that very rarely is there a television “event”now where everyone is tuning into a show at the same time and talking about it the next day.
In 1983, however, our choices were much simpler, reflected in the amazing viewing figures for the final episode of M*A*S*H.
The series was in danger of being cancelled
An incredible 121.6 million Americans tuned in to see the 256th episode of the longrunning series, beating the record set by the Who Shot JR? cliffhanger from Dallas.
It would remain the mostwatched show in American TV history until the Super Bowl in 2010, although it remains the highest-rated finale of any TV series to this day.
Titled Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, it was a feature-length episode co-written and directed by the show’s star, Alan Alda.
Adapted from the 1970 film M*A*S*H which was based on a 1968 novel, the half-hour dark comedy began on September 17, 1972, and ran for 11 seasons.
Set during the Korean War, it followed the US military doctors and support staff of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital stationed overseas.
The series wasn’t an immediate success. During its first season, it was in danger of being cancelled due to low ratings, but it was given a reprieve and moved to a better time slot the following year, where it fared much better, reaching the Top 10 list.
Alan Alda played Hawkeye Pierce, a surgeon who was more interested in drinking and chasing women than the rigours of military life.
The supporting cast included Loretta Swit as head nurse
Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, Jamie Farr as Max Klinger and George Morgan as Father Mulcahy. Mike Farrell and Harry Morgan joined the show in series four, playing BJ Hunnicutt and Charles Emerson Winchester III.
There were attempts at spinoffs, with mixed results.
Trapper John, MD was set nearly three decades after M*A*S*H, and featured the character of Trapper John Trucker as chief of surgery at a San Francisco Hospital. Wayne Rogers had played the character in the first three years of M*A*S*H, but was replaced by Pernell Roberts for the spin-off, which ran from 1979 to 1986.
After MASH picked up straight after the events of its predecessor, and featured three characters from the original, Father Mulcahy, Colonel Potter and Klinger. It was soon cancelled.
No show could hope to live up to M*A*S*H’s success and it’s now highly unlikely its 121million viewers record will ever be broken.