A Brief History
On February 28, 1983, the 11-season journey of TV viewers finally came to an end with the airing of the final episode of M*A*S*H. An incredible audience of 110 million people watched the bittersweet finale, with their beloved characters planning their return to a non-war America.
Digging Deeper
A major downer in the episode was key character Hawkeye Pierce receiving psychiatric care due to extreme trauma caused by an incident where he witnessed a mother smother her own baby to avoid detection by a communist patrol. The rest of the episode is a blur eclipsed by this terrible event.
Other long running and highly popular TV series ended in dissatisfying ways, including Seinfeld, Game of Thrones, True Blood, The Sopranos, and Lost, all of which left loyal viewers unhappy and or confused. Other series such as Sons of Anarchy, Mayans, and The Shield, all in the same TV universe, ended in depressing fashion.
What final episodes depressed you?
Note: The brevity required by YouTube for these short articles precludes in depth coverage of the subject of specific finales, but you are welcome to start discussion on any such finales that you would like examined more closely and we will happily engage in the discussion.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Alda, Alan and Arlene Alda. The Last Days of Mash: Photographs and Notes. Unicorn Pub House, 1983.
DeRose, Christopher and Ryan DeRose. The M*A*S*H Trivia Quiz Book. BearManor Media, 2019.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of the cast of M*A*S*H from Season 6, 1977, is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1929 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart as well as a detailed definition of “publication” for public art.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
