Yesterday, February 28, 2023, commemorated the 256th and final episode of the wildly popular and influential show of the 1970’s and 80’s M*A*S*H*. M*A*S*H* was so popular and influential it held the record for most watched television event for 27 consecutive years until it was eventually beaten by a Super-Bowl screening. The show accomplished so much its 11 years of show running, it inspired several anti-war messages with themes of civility, hope, tolerance, and comradery. M*A*S*H* also won fourteen Emmy Awards, seven of which belong to Alan Alda (The Longest Ride, Marriage Story, The West Wing) portraying the main protagonist and chief surgeon  Benjamin “Hawkeye” Pierce.

Alda celebrated the momentous anniversary yesterday morning by sending out a short but sweet Tweet saying “40 years ago today.”

40 years ago today. ⌛️❤️

— Alan Alda (@alanalda) February 28, 2023

M*A*S*H* was originally a satirical war film following the antics of American and United Nations draftees into the Korean War Conflict created by Robert Altman (Nashville, The Player, The Long Goodbye) in 1970. The film M*A*S*H* received such positive feedback that it was picked up by CBS and transformed into a sitcom initially airing in 1972. The sitcom stayed true to the film and had almost identical or similar characters with varying actors who starred in the film or were hired as a new role. The series followed these medics’ hectic day-to-day duties and responsibilities in an active war zone, often struggling to keep soldiers alive in the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

There were many fan favorite characters like Corporal Radar O’Reilly [Gary Burghoff (AfterMASH, Behind the Waterfall, Small Kill)], Major Margaret Houlihan [Loretta Swit (Cagney & Lacey, Race with the Devil, Play the Flute)], and Captain B.J. Honeycutt [ Mike Farrell (Memorial Day, Prime Suspect, Vanishing Act)]. As audience appeal increased, the show grew more depth by making characters emote, adapt, evolve, and act like normal human beings struggling to be in a war to a point of mass relatability.

The show grew increasingly popular causing a fanbase to form and allowed M*A*S*H* to tell more complex stories about the issues that come with an international war. Although the show took place in the Korean War, almost everyone knew the subtext underneath, creating a coalition of fans to stand against the current war in Vietnam.

After M*A*S*H*’s long-running reign, it eventually aired its final episode in February 28, 1983 entitled “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” with a total running time of two hours and thirty minutes. The show reigned in over 125 million viewers beating the record for most-watched televised event which previously belonged to the Apollo 11 moon landing in the summer of 1969. Although that record was beat by Super Bowl XLIX a few decades later, the M*A*S*H* finale remains the most-watched episode of any scripted television show in history.