On Monday, February 28th, 1983, beginning at 8:30PM ET, CBS broadcast the final episode of M*A*S*H. In the days and weeks leading up to the finale, news coverage of the final episode was virtually non-stop. All manner of media got in on finale blitz: television, print, radio. But on the evening the final episode actually aired, it was the syndicated news-magazine shows — like Entertainment Tonight or PM Magazine — that really benefited.

One of the earliest of the current style of news-magazine was Entertainment Tonight, which was first broadcast on September 14th, 1981 and is still on the air. Broadcast Monday through Friday with an hour-long edition on weekends, the half-hour program is syndicated, meaning it does not air nationally at the same time although typically it is shown in local markets at either 7:00PM or 7:30PM ET.

Not surprisingly, the Monday, February 28th, 1983 edition of Entertainment Tonight focused heavily on the end of M*A*S*H, although another CBS sitcom, All in the Family, also received coverage. One segment devoted to M*A*S*H was the Entertainment Tonight Spotlight, a five-minute look at the “past, present and future” of the series. Hosts Ron Hendren and Mary Hart (who is still with Entertainment Tonight) looked at the M*A*S*H finale parties, including one bash in Cleveland, Ohio where Larry Linville was the guest of honor.

The telephone poll for the evening also focused on M*A*S*H: “Do you want CBS to do a M*A*S*H sequel?” Sadly, the results are unknown. The spotlight ended with a special tribute to M*A*S*H: a montage of stills from the series interspersed with footage from a press conference about the finale set to the version of “Suicide is Painless” from the MASH feature film.

 
 

Last updated July 27th, 2007