Greatest TV Show Ever Aired Ended today. 35 years ago today

[legalboxers]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodbye,_Farewell_and_Amen

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen is a television film that served as the 256th and final episode of the American television series M*A*S*H. Closing out the series' 11th season, the 2 hour episode first aired on CBS on February 28, 1983, ending the series' original run. The episode was written by a large number of collaborators, including series star Alan Alda, who also directed.

The episode's plot chronicles the final days of the Korean War at the 4077th MASH, and features several storylines intended to show the war's effects on the individual personnel of the unit, and to bring closure to the series. After the ceasefire goes into effect, the members of the 4077th throw a party before taking down the camp for the last time. After tear-filled goodbyes, the main characters go their separate ways, leading to the final scene of the series.

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Today 35 years ago today was the saddest day to me. The most amazing television show ended today.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-mash-finale-35th-anniversary-20180228-story,amp.html

An estimated million viewers in New York City alone used the toilet after the show ended, pouring 6.7 million gallons of water through the city's sewers, United Press International reported at the time. "In speaking to engineers who've been around 30 or 40 years, they haven't encountered anything like this before," Peter Barrett, a spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Protection, told UPI.

http://www.shrinktank.com/saying-goodbye-mash-35-years-later/

On February 28, 1983, I sat down in front of my monstrosity of a television and flipped on CBS to say goodbye to the show I loved. M*A*S*H followed the lives of the doctors, nurses, and soldiers in the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. As the first familiar notes of the show’s theme song, Suicide is Painless, penetrated my ears, I knew the end of this long-term relationship (via eleven seasons) was near. Unfortunately, it was time for me to say Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen (the title of the final episode) to the beloved characters of M*A*S*H.

The two-hour finale begins with the series main character and my personal favorite, army surgeon Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce in a dark place psychologically.

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:( who is watching this with me?

[Bluemax]

I still tear up to this day watching Beej and Hawkeye say goodbye.

Some friends of mine have hiked to the set near Malibu. It burned down due to a wildfire while they were filming the last episode. However, there are still some relics left.

[ksoma]

In my middle school/high school years, I had to wake up by 7am for school, but I was awake every night past midnight, because a local channel ran an hour block of MASH from 11pm to midnight, and I watched it every night.
It started by accident. Just background noise when I did my homework. Then I started watching it more. It was fantastic.
It's probably been a decade since I've watched a single episode of MASH, but I know I've seen it through twice... with the exception of the finale, which I only saw once. One of the most powerful pieces of TV ever written.

A lot of people have trouble getting into older shows. Some things just don't age well, and if you didn't grow up with it, it seems like a relic. But because this show was about a war in the 1950s, I don't think aging hurt it, because it was about something in the past all along. And the set design and writing gave it a firm believably. One thing about MASH that most series don't have is it can never get old, because if recreated today, it would turn out much the same, with the exact same scripts.

It worked. It was genius. It was funny, and heart wrenching, and intelligent and silly. Some people look to TV now and think of MASH and think, sadly, "they don't make 'em like that any more."
But the truth is, they never made 'em like that. MASH was unique. That is why it was special.

[coachTanthony]

Loved this show as a kid. Always enjoyed the Hawkeye and Trapper episodes the most. I could always tell if trapper or BJ was on the show by the beginning show intro. The M. A. S. H was smaller when it came up on the screen and you knew right away that it was an older one and not a new one with BJ and COL Potter LOL

[goaded]

It was a great series, although it lasted longer than the war itself.

There was a sequel, with Radar, Potter, Klinger and Father Mulcahy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L68pVCRubCs

It's quite sweet, but it didn't last long.

[najekim]

Greatest show. Perhaps, but I like other shows better. The single, most watched episode in television history? Yup.

[Red-wolf]

why does this show look so old in the last episode.

[InTimoreDei]

That show is so bloody overrated. Greatest TV show ever? Meh... I wouldn't call it that.

[legalboxers]

Eastenders?

[InTimoreDei]

Are you seriously asking an Irish guy if he thinks some dumb British show is the greatest TV show ever? haha.

My vote goes to Taxi or All In The Family. Gotta love Archie Bunker... funniest character out of the 70's.

[legalboxers]

I will give you Archie Bunker. Jeffersons?

[InTimoreDei]

Definitely!

[Anonymous]

I didn't realize Breaking Bad was so old.

[OatsnWhey]

Meh... Jersey Shore was the greatest show ever.

[OatsnWhey]

Lmao people are taking me seriously.

[Titus1]

That show was so bad God destroyed the pier with a hurricane and then the rebuilt one with a fire.

[Waffles731]

Never seen mash

[ksoma]

It's worth a watch. It has aged well, especially when considering it is about a past event, which means its aging hasn't effected ones ability to watch it and appreciate it for what it is.

Hysterically funny at times, but also very powerful. I do not think it is an exaggeration to suggest it was one of the best works in television history.