This was Television on February 28
1983: M*A*S*H goes out on top
The two-and-half hour series finale of one of television’s most acclaimed sitcoms remains the best-rated single broadcast in American TV history. Capping an 11-season, 251-episode run, “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” centered on the departure of the men and women of the 4077th in the final days of the Korean War. Its more than 105 million viewers held the record for largest audience until 2010, when it was surpassed by Super Bowl XLIV. But the episode’s whopping 60 rating and 77 share remain uneclipsed. -A.D.
Today’s Birthdays: Frank Bonner, radio station sales manager (71); Gilbert Gottfried, comic (58); Ilene Graff, butler employer (64); Ali Larter, hero (37); Robert Sean Leonard, oncologist (44); Gavin MacLeod, ship captain (82); Tangi Miller, college classmate (39).
This Was Television 
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