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The 'M*A*S*H' finale, by the numbers
Half the country tuned in to watch this historic series finale.
It's the television moment that broke records. On this day in 1983, the entire country stopped in its tracks to watch the series finale of M*A*S*H.
"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" marks the end of the long-running, historical television sitcom about doctors serving in the Korean War.
The legendary episode made us laugh, cry and feel every emotion in between. Here are a few numbers to mark just how historic this series finale was. Take a look!
1. 450,000
That's the amount of money it cost advertisers to run a 30-second commercial during the finale. In 2016, that would be equivalent to about $1.9 million.
2. 121,000,000
That's the total number of viewers that tuned into the finale, more than the Super Bowl and Roots miniseries. To compare, 121 million people is equivalent to the entire population of Mexico.
3. 256
That's the total number of M*A*S*H episodes that ran over the course of the show's 11 seasons.
4. 3
That's how many weeks some people in San Francisco had to wait to watch the finale. The night "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" aired, parts of Northern California suffered a power outage. On March 21, KPIX, the CBS affiliate in San Francisco, reaired the episode.
5. 120
Without commercials, that's the total number of minutes the finale ran. With commercials included, the special ran for 2.5 hours in primetime. To compare, a regular episode of M*A*S*H is only a half hour long.
6. 36
That's how many years it's been since "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" first aired on February 28, 1983. To this day, the episode remains the most-watched series finale of all time.
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