Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" is a television film that served as the 256th and final episode of the American television series "M*A*S*H". Closing out the series' 11th season, the two-hour episode first aired on CBS on February 28, 1983, ending the series' original run. The episode was written by eight collaborators, including series star Alan Alda, who also directed.
The episode's plot chronicles the final days of the Korean War at the 4077th MASH; it features several storylines intended to show the war's effects on the individual personnel of the unit and to bring closure to the series. After the ceasefire goes into effect, the members of the 4077th throw a party before taking down the camp for the last time. After tear-filled goodbyes, the main characters go their separate ways, leading to the final scene of the series.
Plot.
As final peace negotiations continue during the Korean War, Hawkeye Pierce undergoes treatment at a psychiatric hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown in the OR. Prompted by Sidney Freedman, he gradually recalls an incident that occurred while the personnel of the 4077th were returning to camp from a beach outing. Their bus picked up some refugees and wounded soldiers, but was forced to pull off the road to avoid being spotted by an enemy patrol. Hawkeye recounts that he told a woman to keep her "chicken" quiet, which she did by smothering it to death. 
Meanwhile, a runaway tank destroys the camp latrine and crashes nearby.
Leaving the camp to relieve himself in a creek, Charles Winchester is surprised to find five Chinese soldiers, who turn out to be musicians, ready to surrender to him. They insist upon surrendering and being held in the MASH unit, where their playing of Chinese music torments Winchester. Though they have no common language, Winchester mentions Mozart while yelling at them to shut up and the musicians recognize the name and start playing part of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet. Winchester recognizes the music and begins to teach them the entire piece. When he fears being turned down for a staff position at a prestigious Boston hospital, Margaret Houlihan sends a telegram to a family friend at that hospital with a glowing, enthusiastic endorsement. Winchester becomes angry with Margaret after learning from Klinger that he only won the position through her intervention.
Klinger has fallen in love with Soon-Lee Han, a local Korean refugee, and persuades her not to look for her missing parents in an area of heavy fighting. B.J. Hunnicutt receives his discharge orders and promises Colonel Potter that he can arrange for a surgeon to take his place. During a sudden mortar attack prompted by the presence of the crashed tank, Father Mulcahy rushes to free several POWs from a makeshift holding pen, and is affected by an exploding shell. He demands that B.J. – the only one who knows about Mulcahy's deafness caused by the explosion – keep it a secret so that he will not be discharged and lose his opportunity to care for the local orphans.
Upon further treatment, Hawkeye eventually reveals that the chicken was his own mental substitution of the event in order to cope with it, as the woman had actually smothered her baby. He resents Sidney for making him remember the baby's death, but Sidney explains it is a necessary part of the recovery process. He sends Hawkeye back to the 4077th and promises to check in on him. B.J. leaves to begin his journey home after being discharged, when Colonel Potter receives a notice rescinding B.J.'s discharge but decides not to act on it. Hawkeye returns to camp and learns to his dismay that B.J. did not leave him a goodbye note. As the shelling continues, he impulsively jumps into the tank and drives it into the camp garbage dump, diverting the enemy fire away from the OR. Potter becomes concerned and calls Freedman for a follow-up visit with Hawkeye.
The camp is forced to relocate due to an incendiary bomb attack and resulting forest fire. Once the unit has set up, the replacement surgeon arrives – B.J., who had made it as far as Guam before word of the rescinded discharge reached him. During a party to celebrate the second birthday of B.J.'s daughter, Hawkeye thinks Sidney is there to confront him about the tank incident, but Sidney reassures him that his actions were sensible in caring for his fellow soldiers. Hawkeye then confides to Sidney that the incident on the bus has made him scared to be near children. Sidney brushes off these fears, telling Hawkeye that his failures may make him a better doctor. Hawkeye later hesitates briefly before operating on a young girl, but is able to go ahead with the procedure; Sidney leaves the 4077th with Hawkeye's thanks.
Charles reluctantly says goodbye to the Chinese musicians during a prisoner exchange, and they play the Mozart Clarinet Quintet for him while being driven away in a truck. A final ceasefire is announced, to take effect at 10:00 that night and mark the end of hostilities in the war. The camp moves back to its original site on orders from headquarters, with wounded soldiers continuing to arrive. While performing triage, Winchester is horrified to discover that one of the musicians has been brought in dead and that the others were killed when their truck was attacked. Dazed, he returns to The Swamp and tries to listen to the record of the Clarinet Quintet he taught them, but smashes it in anger.
Once the surgical shift is finished, the camp personnel throw a final party and talk about their plans for after the war. Klinger announces that he wants to marry Soon-Lee and remain in Korea. The next morning, Mulcahy officiates at their wedding before the camp is dismantled and everyone says their goodbyes, leaving via assorted modes of transportation. Winchester apologizes to Houlihan for his earlier poor treatment of her, and gives her a book of her favorite poetry with an inscription by him. Houlihan says goodbye to the Potter and B.J., then shares a long kiss with Hawkeye while the others stand around uncomfortably.
Potter reveals that his ride out of camp will be his beloved horse. Since he can't take her home with him, he is leaving it with the orphanage.
Just before Hawkeye leaves in a chopper, B.J. shouts that he left a note this time. As he lifts off, Hawkeye looks down and sees it: the word GOODBYE spelled out with rocks across the landing pad. He smiles to himself as the chopper carries him away from the 4077th.
Cultural reaction and impact.
The anticipation before the airing of "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was unprecedented, especially for a regular television series (in contrast to awards shows, sporting events, or special events). Interest from advertisers prompted CBS, the network broadcasting "M*A*S*H", to sell 30-second commercial blocks for $450,000 (equal to $ today) each—costlier than even for NBC's airing of the Super Bowl of that year.
On the night the episode aired, large areas of California (particularly the San Francisco Bay Area) suffered power outages due to unusually stormy winter weather, which prevented many viewers from watching the series finale. Three weeks later, on March 21, KPIX, the CBS affiliate in San Francisco, re-aired the episode.
Reaction and "AfterMASH".
In the United States, the episode drew 105.97 million total viewers and a total audience of 121.6 million, more than both Super Bowl XVII and the "Roots" miniseries. The episode surpassed the single-episode ratings record that had been set by the "Dallas" episode that resolved the "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger. From 1983 until 2010, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" remained the most watched television broadcast in American history, passed only in total viewership (but not in ratings or share) in February 2010 by Super Bowl XLIV. It still stands as the most-watched finale of any television series, as well as the most-watched episode.
As "M*A*S*H" was one of the most successful shows in TV history, in order not to lose the franchise completely, CBS quickly created a new series, "AfterMASH", that followed the postwar adventures of Colonel Potter, Max Klinger, and Father Mulcahy in a stateside hospital. Despite wide popularity in its premiere episodes, script problems and constant character changes led to a sharp decline in viewers, and the show was canceled by CBS after only two seasons. Another would-be spin-off, "W*A*L*T*E*R", was a pilot made in 1984 that was never picked up. It starred Gary Burghoff, who reprised his "M*A*S*H" character.
"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was not initially included in the syndication package for "M*A*S*H"s final season; however, in 1992, the episode made its syndication premiere in time for its 10th anniversary. Local stations aired it as a part of a "Movie of the Week".
"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was not the final show filmed, as the final season was filmed out of order. The final scene filmed for the series was the time capsule burial scene from "As Time Goes By".
The wildfire story line was written into the show after a real wildfire destroyed most of the outdoor set, in October 1982. The scene was filmed less than 12 hours after the fire had ravaged the set.
When "M*A*S*H" was shown on FX and Hallmark Channel, they aired "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" occasionally. Hallmark Channel showed it twice a year, February and August, before dropping "M*A*S*H" from its schedule. TV Land and MeTV have also shown the episode sporadically, including Veterans Day broadcasts on November 11, 2015, November 11, 2019 and November 11, 2020. In Canada, the cable channel History Television shows the episode in its entirety annually on the Labor Day holiday.
In 2011, the TV Guide Network special "TV's Most Unforgettable Finales" ranked this finale as the best.
Because the final episode was filmed as a -hour movie, the producers counted it as 5 episodes in the season's production order to the network for broadcasting, for a total of 20 episodes in all.