The single most-watched TV episode in US history
Long before the world of streaming services, where dozens of different platforms vie for your attention with premium costs, the humble TV was a key fixture of homes worldwide, a place of communion where families and friends would gather to experience culture unfold before their eyes. Indeed, much has changed, with few people even engaging with live TV anymore, unless it’s to watch the biggest sporting events of the year.
Yet, while live sports have long attracted the eyes of viewers, during the 20th century and the early parts of the new millennium, TV series drew in similar numbers, with shows like The Sopranos, Saturday Night Live and Friends drawing in millions of viewers each and every week. But, even these juggernauts of television history cannot compare with the programme that holds the record for the most-watched single episode of TV in US history.
It was back in the early 1980s when this record was smashed, with the recipient being the series M*A*S*H, an immensely popular sitcom that told the story of the staff of an army hospital during the Korean War, who decide to laugh in the face of terror. Starring the likes of Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swit, and Jamie Farr, the show won 14 Primetime Emmys during its run from 1972 to 1983.
The episode that received the highest amount of viewers was, unsurprisingly, the celebrated season finale, titled ‘Goodbye, Farewell and Amen’, with the two-and-a-half-hour special airing on CBS on February 28th, 1983, to the tune of 105.97million viewers.
This feat bettered Super Bowl XVII, the NFL final of the same year, as well as the miniseries Roots, which had been immensely popular back in 1977. Better still, while holding the impressive record, the finale was also critically acclaimed, with Alda being nominated for ‘Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series’ for his work on ‘Goodbye, Farewell and Amen’.
To truly appreciate quite how marvellous the feat was, from 1983 until 2010, the finale remained the most-watched single broadcast on American television. This was until Super Bowl XLIV, however, when the patriotic match finally beat out the record set by M*A*S*H, earning 106million viewers.
Take a look at the trailer for the M*A*S*H TV series below, but if you can’t be bothered to indulge in the entire series, there’s always the 1970 movie to get your teeth into.
