{"id":43,"date":"2010-03-22T18:21:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-22T18:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hub-dev.bates.edu\/150years\/february-1983-the-final-episode-of-mash\/"},"modified":"2019-10-03T12:57:40","modified_gmt":"2019-10-03T16:57:40","slug":"mash","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/150-years\/months\/february\/mash\/","title":{"rendered":"February 1983: The final episode of "M*A*S*H""},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’re a mid-1980s alum, you probably watched the final episode of M*A*S*H <\/em>on campus with friends. And you weren’t alone: the Feb. 28, 1983, telecast remains the all-time highest-rated TV program. Watched by 125 million viewers, the show achieved a 60 rating and 77 share (that is, 60 percent of all potential TV households were tuned in, and 77 percent of households watching TV that night were tuned to M*A*S*H)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next two shows on the all-time list \u2014 the “Who Shot J.R.?” episode of Dallas <\/em>and an episode of Roots <\/em>\u2014 were in 1980 and 1977, respectively, a bygone era of big-three network dominance. Back then, a hyped show could easily get a 40 rating. Heck, even The Thorn Birds <\/em>(1983) and ABC’s nuke drama The Day After <\/em>(1983) got 40 ratings and 60 shares. Today, only a Super Bowl approaches those numbers, or maybe the final episode of a show like Friends.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jon Hall ’83, then an assistant editor for The Bates Student, <\/em>now a reporter and anchor for Channel 7 in Boston, covered the campus reaction to the final episode in the Student.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n