On the End of a Phenomenon

Well, boys, it would be hard to call what we've been through fun, but I'm sure glad we went through it together. You boys always managed to give me a good laugh right when I needed it most. Never forget the time you dropped Winchester's drawers in the O.R. 'Course I had to pretend I was mad at ya, but inside I was laughing to beat all hell.

M*A*S*H premiered in the U.S. on September 17, 1972, and ended February 28, 1983, with the finale, “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen”, becoming the most watched and highest rated single television episode in U.S. television history at the time, with a record-breaking 125 million viewers (60.2 Rating and 77 Share), according to the New York Times. It had struggled in its first season and was at risk of being cancelled. Season two of M*A*S*H placed it in a better time slot (airing after the popular All in the Family); the show became one of the top ten programs of the year and stayed in the top twenty programs for the rest of its eleven-season run. It is still broadcast in syndication on various television stations. The series, which depicted events occurring during a three-year military conflict, spanned 256 episodes and lasted eleven seasons. (source: Wikipedia)

image: The cast of M*A*S*H from Season 8 onwards (clockwise from left): Mike Farrell, William Christopher, Jamie Farr, David Ogden Stiers, Loretta Swit, Alan Alda, Harry Morgan.

Originally published on The Minot Voice: February 28, 2015