What was the most-watched TV finale of all time?
Monday, April 29, 2024
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| More than 106 million people watched the "M*A*S*H" finale — the most of any series finale ever. | After 11 years on the small screen, M*A*S*H aired its series finale on February 28, 1983 — and made history in the process. More than 106 million people tuned in to watch "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen," making it the most-viewed series finale ever. Until Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, which saw the post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts, it was the most-watched television broadcast in U.S. history. No episode of a scripted series has come close in the decades since. The series finale of Cheers earned 80.4 million viewers, Seinfeld got 76.3 million, and Game of Thrones — the most talked-about show on television for years — had 19.3 million.
A spinoff of Robert Altman's 1970 film of the same name, which was itself an adaptation of Richard Hooker's 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, the TV show used both comedy and tragedy to depict a military medical team working during the Korean War. After a slow start — the first season was ranked 46th in the ratings — the show only rarely dropped out of the top 20 for the rest of its run, and became one of the most memorable cultural products of the 20th century.
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 | | The "M*A*S*H" series finale was also the last episode of the show to be filmed. | | |
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| The "M*A*S*H" series finale was also the last episode of the show to be filmed. |  |  |
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| "M*A*S*H" stands for __. |  |
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 | Numbers Don't Lie |
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 | | Episodes of "M*A*S*H" that aired during its 11 seasons | | 251 |
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| | | Length, in minutes, of the series finale | | 135 |
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| | Actors who appeared in both first and last episodes (Alan Alda & Loretta Swit) | | 2 |
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 | The show's creators really, really didn't want a laugh track. |
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| Though ostensibly a comedy, M*A*S*H always struck a more serious tone than many 30-minute shows of its era. Series developer Larry Gelbart was strongly opposed to the idea of a laugh track, believing that canned laughter "cheapened the show," but CBS insisted on it. The network had never produced a comedy without one, and "got their way" because "they were paying for dinner," according to Gelbart. Gelbart and the other developers did win some concessions, however — there was never canned laughter during scenes in the surgical tent, season six onward featured a much quieter laugh track, and the DVD release has the option to watch the show with no fake laughter at all. | | |
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posted by June Lesley at 5:41 AM
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