On February 28, 1983, the celebrated sitcom M*A*S*H bows out
after 11 seasons, airing a special two-and-a-half hour episode
watched by 77 percent of the television viewing audience. It
was the largest percentage ever to watch a single TV show up
to that time.

After earning consistently high ratings throughout its 11-year
run, M*A*S*H enjoyed enduring popularity in the following
decades, as it became one of the world’s most syndicated
shows. It also spawned an unsuccessful spin-off, After MASH,
which CBS aired from 1983 to 1985.

A look at the production set.

More than 100 million Americans tuned in to bid "Goodbye,
Farewell and Amen" to the doctors, nurses and staff of the
fictional 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital on this day
in history, Feb. 28, 1983.

The final episode of the hit CBS sitcom "M*A*S*H" remained
the most-watched television program in American history for
27 years.

It was finally surpassed by Super Bowl XLIV (the Saints over
the Colts) in February 2010.

Its finale is still the most watched scripted TV show in
American history, 40 years later. 

On February 28, 1983, the celebrated sitcom M*A*S*H bows out
after 11 seasons, airing a special two-and-a-half hour episode
watched by 77 percent of the television viewing audience. It was
the largest percentage ever to watch a single TV show up to that
time.

Set near Seoul, Korea, behind the American front lines during
the Korean War, M*A*S*H was based on the 1968 novel by Richard
Hooker and the 1970 film produced by 20th Century Fox and
directed by Robert Altman. Its title came from the initials for the
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

From left: Howard McNear, William Conrad, Georgia Ellis,
and Parley Baer.

The radio series “Gunsmoke” first aired on CBS on April 26, 1952 and
ended on June 18, 1961. The show stars William Conrad as Marshal
Matt Dillon, Howard McNear as Doc Charles Adams, Georgia Ellis as
Kitty Russell, and Parley Baer as Dillon’s assistant, Chester Wesley
Proudfoot. The TV series changed the newly limping Chester’s last
name from Proudfoot to Goode.

Sound-effects man Ray Kemper (left)
with William Conrad.

Conrad with cast member Georgia Ellis.

 
William Conrad 
(September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994)

Brace Beemer (making fist) and the rest of the cast during an episode of 
The Lone Ranger

The last original episode of The Lone Ranger was broadcast September 3, 1954
and transcribed repeats of the 1952–53 episodes continued to be aired on ABC
until June 24, 1955. The cowboy hero first  appeared in January of 1933 in a
radio show aired over WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. The title character was played
by George Seaton, Earle Graser, and Brace Beemer.

Original Air Date: May 18, 1938