That last episode of M*A*S*H must have been a mutha

[SnoopyBoy]

Saw Super Bowl 42 had the second-most viewers in history behind that 1983 MASH finale. I think I read more than 100 million people watched MASH, which was probably half the country's population back then. I've seen MASH on re-runs, but what was the deal with that last episode? It blows me away that 25 years later nothing has been watched more.

 

[Football_Bat]

I think the final episode of MASH was two hours.

 

[mike311gd]

The finale of Seinfeld was No. 3 or 4 on the sitcom list for a while.

 

[slappy4428]

I think the final episode of MASH was two hours.

Not only that, but it was actually two hours -- instead of the 30 minute weekly show that seemed to last two hours...

 

[joe]

When it originally ran, it was an hour and a half, not two hours. And 100 million (or whatever) people watched it because cable was not ubiquitous like it is today, and most people had only three to five channels. And it was consistently one of the top 10 shows of its time.

 

[slappy4428]

When it originally ran, it was an hour and a half, not two hours. And 100 million (or whatever) people watched it because cable was not ubiquitous like it is today, and most people had only three to five channels. And it was consistently one of the top 10 shows of its time.

Which today is amazing, because any show after season three is unwatchable unless it has Colonel Flagg in it.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Saw Super Bowl 42 had the second-most viewers in history behind that 1983 MASH finale. I think I read more than 100 million people watched MASH, which was probably half the country's population back then. I've seen MASH on re-runs, but what was the deal with that last episode? It blows me away that 25 years later nothing has been watched more.

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was one of the great episodes of all time. It deserved that lofty rating.

 

[slappy4428]

Saw Super Bowl 42 had the second-most viewers in history behind that 1983 MASH finale. I think I read more than 100 million people watched MASH, which was probably half the country's population back then. I've seen MASH on re-runs, but what was the deal with that last episode? It blows me away that 25 years later nothing has been watched more.

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was one of the great episodes of all time. It deserved that lofty rating.

When the series started, I loved watching it... by the time it ended, I had long grown tired of Alan Alda's insufferable preening morality play...

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Saw Super Bowl 42 had the second-most viewers in history behind that 1983 MASH finale. I think I read more than 100 million people watched MASH, which was probably half the country's population back then. I've seen MASH on re-runs, but what was the deal with that last episode? It blows me away that 25 years later nothing has been watched more.

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was one of the great episodes of all time. It deserved that lofty rating.

When the series started, I loved watching it... by the time it ended, I had long grown tired of Alan Alda's insufferable preening morality play...

M*A*S*H was bigger than Alan Alda. Could it have gone on without him? Tough to tell ... it survived lots of other cast changes and kept chugging on.

 

[slappy4428]

Saw Super Bowl 42 had the second-most viewers in history behind that 1983 MASH finale. I think I read more than 100 million people watched MASH, which was probably half the country's population back then. I've seen MASH on re-runs, but what was the deal with that last episode? It blows me away that 25 years later nothing has been watched more.

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was one of the great episodes of all time. It deserved that lofty rating.

When the series started, I loved watching it... by the time it ended, I had long grown tired of Alan Alda's insufferable preening morality play...

M*A*S*H was bigger than Alan Alda. Could it have gone on without him? Tough to tell ... it survived lots of other cast changes and kept chugging on.

no. MASH had become the Gospel According to Alan Alda... most plots revolved around him, the shtick tiresome...

 

[old_tony]

I remember watching it when I was in college. I was so depressed that there would be no more MASH that I took about a five-mile walk after it was over.

And the thing was, I never watched MASH in its prime-time spot. Only at 10:30 after the news ever night. I'm the same way with Law & Order now. Never really watched it in prime time but have seen them all.

 

[Clerk Typist]

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" ran 2 1/2 hours and had a 60.2 rating and 77 share of audience, reaching 50.15 million households and 105.9 million people on 2/28/1983. It's No. 1 among programs televised since 1961. Neilsen had a different rating system before that. A 1957 CBS telecast of Cinderella is said to have been seen by 107 million people. So take your pick.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Saw Super Bowl 42 had the second-most viewers in history behind that 1983 MASH finale. I think I read more than 100 million people watched MASH, which was probably half the country's population back then. I've seen MASH on re-runs, but what was the deal with that last episode? It blows me away that 25 years later nothing has been watched more.

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was one of the great episodes of all time. It deserved that lofty rating.

When the series started, I loved watching it... by the time it ended, I had long grown tired of Alan Alda's insufferable preening morality play...

M*A*S*H was bigger than Alan Alda. Could it have gone on without him? Tough to tell ... it survived lots of other cast changes and kept chugging on.

no. MASH had become the Gospel According to Alan Alda... most plots revolved around him, the shtick tiresome...

The schtick never got tiresome to me. Some had labeled the show sanctimonious. But not all shows revolved around Hawkeye. If anything, take a look at how Winchester's character largely came full circle the last few seasons. Sure, he was still smarmy and holier-than-thou, but David Ogden Stiers' character showed signs of getting it. Klinger's crusade for a Section 8 slowed to a crawl, Mulcahy was trying to come up with something worthwhile, Houlihan was worrying about something more than her military ways and sordid love life and Potter was trying to make amends for spending three wars away from Mildred.

Is that ALL Hawkeye-centric?

 

[slappy4428]

No. But instead of an ensemble cast, as they evolved, they were still peripheral players to Alda at the show's core.
Give me trapper and Henry Blake and I'll watch. After that, not so much.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Saw Super Bowl 42 had the second-most viewers in history behind that 1983 MASH finale. I think I read more than 100 million people watched MASH, which was probably half the country's population back then. I've seen MASH on re-runs, but what was the deal with that last episode? It blows me away that 25 years later nothing has been watched more.

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was one of the great episodes of all time. It deserved that lofty rating.

When the series started, I loved watching it... by the time it ended, I had long grown tired of Alan Alda's insufferable preening morality play...

M*A*S*H was bigger than Alan Alda. Could it have gone on without him? Tough to tell ... it survived lots of other cast changes and kept chugging on.

They have your answer right here.

 

[friend of a friend]

What the hell is that, Henry?

 

[jobu]

AfterMASH, the short-lived spin-off.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0084969/

 

[friend of a friend]

Wow, I have absolutely no recollection of that.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Saw Super Bowl 42 had the second-most viewers in history behind that 1983 MASH finale. I think I read more than 100 million people watched MASH, which was probably half the country's population back then. I've seen MASH on re-runs, but what was the deal with that last episode? It blows me away that 25 years later nothing has been watched more.

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was one of the great episodes of all time. It deserved that lofty rating.

When the series started, I loved watching it... by the time it ended, I had long grown tired of Alan Alda's insufferable preening morality play...

M*A*S*H was bigger than Alan Alda. Could it have gone on without him? Tough to tell ... it survived lots of other cast changes and kept chugging on.

no. MASH had become the Gospel According to Alan Alda... most plots revolved around him, the shtick tiresome...

Whatever.

He was great from the moment he walked on that set till the second he was looking at Beej's stones on the ground from the helicopter.

 

[Chef]

Saw Super Bowl 42 had the second-most viewers in history behind that 1983 MASH finale. I think I read more than 100 million people watched MASH, which was probably half the country's population back then. I've seen MASH on re-runs, but what was the deal with that last episode? It blows me away that 25 years later nothing has been watched more.

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was one of the great episodes of all time. It deserved that lofty rating.

When the series started, I loved watching it... by the time it ended, I had long grown tired of Alan Alda's insufferable preening morality play...

M*A*S*H was bigger than Alan Alda. Could it have gone on without him? Tough to tell ... it survived lots of other cast changes and kept chugging on.

no. MASH had become the Gospel According to Alan Alda... most plots revolved around him, the shtick tiresome...

Whatever.

He was great from the moment he walked on that set till the second he was looking at Beej's stones on the ground from the helicopter.

Quick triviajack; What did the stones say?