this was in the middle of the golden age of televison where networks had access to good writers and the good writers only had movies and tv to work for not like today web streaming etc. the problem mostly is reality tv cheap and popular and junk.
The thing about the old days is we all watched these shows at the exact same moment. So the next day at school or work EVERYONE had seen them. These things were not just shows they were national events that shaped our collective conscience. We shared the love and pain of these characters together. And the theme songs were iconic. Maybe none more than MASH.
Bingo. I drop comments like this all the time. When kids showed up at school or we showed up at work the next day we had similar things to talk about. Now there are a billion choices and nobody has anything in common.
What I love most about this series is that grown men can feel love and compassion for one another without stigma. Not brothers by blood but brothers by circumstance. It's just very refreshing. And very ahead of it's time.
I have always thought this was a great way to end the show.. They were not just saying goodbye to each other, they were also saying goodbye to all the fans..
I thought that this was the most beautiful and yet touching ending of both the series and of their endearing friendship these two had with each other. Very well acted, very well played out to the end. Goodbye, farewell, amen.
Jetset906 not just in America but around the world tears were shed. I will forever miss M*A*S*H I loved to watch it all the time and never missed an episode. I'm still watching reruns of it today on channel 43. I laughed so many times, way to many to count and I cried just as many times. Charles Emerson Winchester III recently passed away and I wrote on his obituary. I didn't know him personally, or any of the cast for that matter but I felt like I was a part of the 4077th. I will always remember the last day the series aired. Colonel Sherman Potter trotting off in the distance with Sophie, BJ giving Hawkeye a lift to the chopper on his motorcycle and yelling at Hawk something while he took a sign with him that read Sanfransico. Hawk not hearing his best bud told the chopper pilot to go up, while BJ drives off down the hill so fast you almost think he's gonna crash the bike. Then the chopper raises in the air, just high enough for him and us as viewer's to see the word in rocks that his best friend left for him. Then he knew what he was trying to tell him. GOODBYE is what it spelled out....and the music starts to play for the very last time. The score that is so famous and that I will always remember. I can still hum it if need be. M*A*S*H* and you fine actor's will always be forever in my heart. 💖✌
Didn't realize anyone was allowed on the set for this. I know there were hundreds of press on the set for their last filmed episode. But this was not their last filmed episode, it was their last aired episode.
One of the greatest shows in the history of television. Nothing today comes remotely close to the quality of MASH. No matter how many times I watch this ending, it never fails to choke me up. Brilliant acting... Briliant writing. What more is there to say...
Couldn't of said it better myself Nick.. The theme music was unforgettable and combined with the The GOODBYE as the chopper lifts off still brings tears to my eyes
I cried and thought no fair. Remember Henry had a baby boy he never saw. His wife and he were making plans to go dancing. They never saw him again nor did the mash gang.
That script was only handed to Radar, to ensure the reactions of the cast were real. Radar said he had REAL concerns that he would actually be able to read the lines. One of the, if not THE, saddest scene in TV history.
How can you not get choked up at that? This show was off the air long before I was around but damn. Even a young guy like me can appreciate that this must've hit home hard to know it was all over. It's good to know that a show as huge as MASH went out on a high note, because too many shows completely collapse on themselves at the last turn. This didn't. It was the right ending to a classic show beloved by so many.
The last two and a half seasons without Radar were kind of stale, though. I'm in my 30s and was raised by this shows reruns. After Radar left, it started to get really depressing by the 8th season, and when Radar left, the show wasn't the same. I stuck it out and watched them but when I came upon this season, and this finale, I remember thinking, "It's time," and when this came, I wasn't a bag of tears, but I felt like the characters did. Like a weight was off my shoulders 😩.
He lifts off, sees the GOODBYE and the music starts playing..............How did onions get underneath my computer desk..........After all these years this scene still does it.........Time for pushups
It remains the most viewed series finale of all time in the US it was viewed by 105.9 million people and drew 77% of those watching television at the time.
That was back in the days where there were only 3 stations to choose from and only a small amount of the population had cable which didn't offer much in original weekly programs in those days.
Can still remember where I was when the final episode aired. It was Spring 1983, my junior year at U of GA, and I was just one of a roomful of kids in the packed dorm common room. All of us had grown up watching the show, and I haven't seen another TV phenomenon like it until Game of Thrones.
When I hear this theme music it reminds me of my childhood and the house I grew up in. When the show would come on it was just starting to get dark. The sun was going down but it was still light enough outside. The living room was just dark enough that the light from the TV was lighting up the room. It always takes me back to my childhood. Those were great times.
This was my dad's favorite show. We used to watch it everyday when I got home from school without fail. The 1 year anniversary of his death is coming up and I find myself watching videos of all his favorite songs and of course M*A*S*H.
This final scene is legendary, and is the standard for how to end a series the right way. So many serieses have failed at this, but not surprisingly MASH nailed it. The way the writers incorporated the "Goodbye" into the final shot -- as BJ's last message to Hawkeye AND the show's last message to viewers -- was a stroke of pure brilliance.
it is a very sad yet happy ending. everybody wants to go home but nobody wants to say goodbye. Being together for a long time and then splitting up can be sad. now i am crying
In my opinion, it's the grandaddy of all television series, since. I have the whole collection and have watched them time without number. Every episode is like an old friend.
as a child, MASH had a profound impact on me. The ability, sometimes the necessity, to fight pain with comedy. Laughter is a beautiful thing, but also a powerful weapon against sadness and pain.
+Michel van der Linden Mash Was also a great Propaganda Weapon . introduced Cross Dressing to the Masses , Frank Burns conservative values laughed at Etc Etc . i may do a video break down of how this slick propaganda worked on the masses
parabot2 oh please, looney toons and kids cartoons showed crossdressing decades before MASH even went for it. Im also not sure if "propaganda" is entirely the word you're looking for here either.
+Michel van der Linden as a child it also had a profound impact on me. i would do anything to sit there again with my dad and watch the show and this episode. the true Depth of Mash is just something that cant be explained
Michel van der Linden Loony Toons are not Demanding that a men with a beard wearing a dress has full access to the toilets that your girls and grand children use .
I watched this brilliant and indelible show from S1, Ep.1; from ages 26 to 37; over M*A*S*H' eleven year run. I loved it so much, I purchased the entire series on DVD. But of all the episodes, Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen S11, Ep.16, was and still is the hardest for me to watch. I've seen it dozens of times, and that hug, and the sheer finality if it all, makes me weep like a baby.
I also felt so sorry for Charles in the last episode as well when the Chinese band members were all killed . No other TV series has ever come close to mash in making you laugh and cry , also having grown up watching the characters it felt you knew all of them so it really was goodbye . Watch it still to this day and still laugh and cry at it and not many TV series from the 1970s can do that .
I hate this scene. Every single time I watch it, I, a grown man, tell myself "No, goddammit, YOU WILL NOT CRY THIS TIME!!". I have failed in my objective every single time so far. Every single time, among the coupla hundred times.
Every night out at sea on our destroyer we would get two tv shows over the CCTV, MASH followed by Johnny Carson. They meant a lot to us sailors, to this day when I see MASH I think of my very good friends aboard that ship.
I remember watching this prime time in the early 1980's. At the time, it was probably the biggest television audience of its time. It's so hard to believe that it has been over 35 years. Wow. How time has went by for all of us.
Ive been to the Malibu state park a few times (I live in NYC) & I was surprised that despite all the MASH fans that came there, no one had the idea to take stones & spell out "GOODBYE" on the chopper pad. The next time I go, Im gonna do it. This show was & remains an amazing show, full of humor, life lessons, & love. They dont make TV like this or I Love Lucy or All in the Family or MASH, I feel like I know the characters, they are my friends. Geez...TV & movies & music have fallen such a long way...
Leaves a lump in my throat,so hard saying good bye to your best friend 😢 it hurts! The ending always gets to me 😭 One of the greatest show on TV love the music 😢 ❤️❤️❤️
I have so much respect for Alan Alda aka Hawk Eye. It was hard for him to leave there cause it's all he knew. But I know he was happy to finally go home. 🥰 This is the best show to ever exist.
I was at the young age of nine, well, almost 9, when this show ended. Even at 49, hearing that helicopter takeoff for the last time in the last few notes of the theme song make a big lump in my throat. Since I found the show, I have always liked the sound of a bell 47 helicopters. It always meant it was time for mash when I would hear that.
Ive just rewatched all of Mash dvds again its one of the few series ive known that even after the decades still works perfectly gave us many laughs several teary moments and still makes me think HOW DAM STUPID HUMANS ARE ...Even now we still send are kids of to fight to be king of the hill for a day ... Has any war actually when you look at it from a distance ever actually had a winner or is it not just one side losses less than the other ... and that teaches the next generation to hate others and so it all starts again.
The poor die while the rich get deferments for bone spurs, but can't remember which foot the bone spur was on (I'm talking about Trump, Bush, and all other like them.) All to rape and pillage for the rich.
mash as a TV series gets me every time. So many important moments. I wasn't alive when it originally aired, but I watched the reruns growing up. The never get old.
I'm crying now as I watch this in January 5th 2020 at 53 years old. And I also watched it in 1983 when I was 16. The emotion of this scene is so powerful.
What makes the finale sad is not that people died, but the fact that we grew so attached to the characters and their story and now life must return to it's natural cycle since the war was over. It gives a bitter-sweet taste and it is truly what made M*A*S*H remarkable: it stayed true to it's core to the very end.
Yes, very true, especially if you were transferred overseas. I hated Good Byes. Back when I was in the United States Marine Corps, people were transferred, NOT a whole unit. Most good byes meant you would never see your friend again. Semper Fi
I'm 21, and I get chills watching this. An amazing show, such glee from Hawkeye through the whole series... with the lethal subjects of war and the doctors on the field saving lives... wish I could have seen it when it aired brand new.
Alexo - I liked B.J better. He was more traditional in terms of his values, but at the same time he didn't pry into the lives others. I think that after the war, I think B.J would've joined the Libertarian party.
I love how BJ said, "I'll see you in the States, I promise. Just in case I don't, I left you a note."... and Hawkeye didn't hear him....he just saw his lips move and make a pointing gesture. For all he knew, BJ was saying, "Goodbye " for good. That was great writing.
I remember seeing this episode as a kid during the summer of 1983. It was the only Mash episode I had ever seen, and yet I teared up at their farewell.
I'm crying as I'm watching this now in November of 2018. The emotional level of this scene is still very RAW and if you don't tear up at this scene then you never had a heart or "soul" to begin with.
It was not just the message in stones, but the sight of a desolate camp, once vibrant and full of life, that struck me. Imagine being among the last to leave such a place, after it has turned into a lonely and abandoned place. Imagine being BJ, the last to leave....
This show was ended before I was even born but I know EVERY EPISODE by heart! Seinfeld and Mash= The Two Best Sitcoms EVER!. THIS SCENE IS PROBABLY THE SADDEST IN SITCOM HISTORY THOUGH. Gets me every time!!!!
I was only 11 when this episode was broadcast, but I saw it and I will never forget it. Who would have thought that they could have replaced so many main players (Henry Blake, Trapper John, Frank Burns) with characters that were just as beloved? That was the genius of MASH. afterMASH sucked.
Shelley Ruble there was a show called Walter but it failed to get good ratings and was cancelled right away and was a show called After MASH that lasted from 1983 to 1985 that had some of actors from Mash return like Harry Morgan, Jamie Farr and William Christopher but went off air after few seasons due to low ratings
Hiccum Blurpaedius shut the hell up you stupid unhappy piece of shit. You comment constantly and tell others to fuck off or get out of your country why don’t you get out the hell out of our country. Go get laid or do something make your self happy for once in your miserable life.
I cry my eyes out every time I see this scene.. Bj looks like my dad and he reminds of him so much.. He has been gone 30+ years so its like seeing him still
You made us laugh, you made us cry, you made us think, and you made us feel-feel every joy and every loss, every terrible 48 hour day from the first one to the last. In the history of television, there is no show that really compares to MASH, in any way. You showed us that war is utterly human in every way possible, and that is a triumph in every way possible. Thank you, 4077th-Goodbye, Farewell and Amen. You will never be equaled
I was maybe 4 or 5 when MASH was on television. I really didn't comprehend much, but I know Hawkeye was funny. Now as an adult to see this is quite jarring. I have nothing but respect and appreciation here!!!
I was a freshman in high school when this aired. After watching it with my dad for so long and really caring about the characters, I have no trouble admitting I cried my eyes out. It was, up until that point, the saddest thing I had ever seen on TV. One of TV's greatest all-time shows.
I was in the airforce in 1972 vietnam-thailand when mash aired the first episode. Whenever I watch old episodes,especially this one it reminds me of the comardery we had because your fellow soldiers you served with were your family at the time and I think of them still everyday @ 70 it's like yesterday thank you MASH 😊💗
Next month will be FORTY years since this final episode aired on February 28, 1983. The sheer finality of it, is what hits home. Watching as a kid, I really learned for the first time that nothing, no matter how good, lasts forever. As the years pass, you shift your thinking and are filled with gratitude, that you had something this special, be a part of your life. M*A*S*H will truly live forever in the hearts of multitudes.
Oh my Gosh, I saw the last show with my folk's, I was 20 something. When the show came on in 1972, I was 15... I didn't watch M.A.S.H....I'm watching it now, at 60... Wonderful program, Alan Alda is 81 and Loretta Swit is 79; but they'll be forever young...and I have a lump in my throat!💋❤
The end of this felt like the end of a journey, they got friends, lost friends, had a great laugh, had many difficult challenges, had their ups and downs, and when this show ended, that journey ended.
This episode has to be one of the most heart wrenching episodes in television history,because the emotions on screen were real,these fantastic actors,who had made us laugh and cry in countless episodes,were saying a final farewell to the carricters they had portrayed,for me an avid fan of this wonderful show,i have watch this final episode over and over again,and i still weep buckets,i recently bought the complete dvd series box set,and have just started season three,and re-living and enjoying those great MASH years all over again,wonderful memories,when television was at its height.
that was the last minutes of the last time i watched a tv show. have never seen a Southpork, or Seinfeld or Simpsons show... nothing since that day, figured it was a good one to go out on. :-)
Seinfeld was truly great. The Simpsons is the most overrated show in the history of TV. You're not missing anything there. Beavis and Butt Head was a hundred time better and so is Family Guy.
M.A.S.h and Happy Days will go down in history,they were the two best sitcom In my opinion. I watched both sitcoms from the first episode to the the last episode.
