30 years ago tonight the Korean War ended for the second time when CBS aired the M*A*S*H finale "Goodbye, Farewell & Amen". With an estimated audience of 105.97 million viewers, the broadcast beame the most-watched program in television history and remained so for 27 years until the Super Bowl in 2010. The broadcast, however, is still the highest rated episodic program ever and with cable tv and online viewing, it is unlikely to ever be challenged.
"GFA" was not the best episode of M*A*S*H but it was a very good episode, with a multitude of plotlines: Hawkeye's mental breakdown and subsequent return to the 4077th, BJ's erroneous discharge, Colonel Potter's efforts to deal with a growing number of P.O.Ws encamped at the 4077th, Margaret trying to decide her future, Charles's attempts to conduct a group of Chinese musicians/soldiers who surrendered to him, Father Mulcahy's hearing loss, Klinger's efforts to help the Korean woman Soon-Lee find her family while falling in love with her and, of course, the end of the Korean War.
Here is a clip from a tv special called Stay Tuned, in which Dick Van Dyke narrates the segment about "GFA":
Ken Levine was a writer for M*A*S*H for 4 years starting in Season 5 and offers his thoughts on the finale here. You can also read an article featuring "Where are they now?" profiles of 7 cast members here.
The M*A*S*H finale was an event which was well-covered by the media and it deserved to be....it was the end of a high-quality tv series that America had taken to its collective heart. M*A*S*H was and still is my all-time favorite program....I never missed an episode when it aired (with the exception of the pilot episode, which I did catch when it was rerun by the network) and friends knew better than to call me while the show was on. I did not attend any local "M*A*S*H Bashes" on that historic evening, preferring to say farewell at home. There were 3 moments that brought me to tears: Charles's reaction to the tragic deaths of the Chinese musicians, Hawkeye and BJ saluting Colonel Potter as he prepared to leave and this image from the final moments of M*A*S*H:
It is hard to believe that it has been 30 years since M*A*S*H left the airwaves....not that it ever really went away. Reruns air every day in syndication (not to mention TV Land and ME-tv) and the entire series is available on DVD....needless to say, I have all of the episodes. TV hasn't been the same during the 3 decades since the finale but it is comforting to know that M*A*S*H will always be around.
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