"Bring your shoes; this may be our last dance before we go home."

On February 28, 1983, when I was only a few months away from my high school graduation and definitely much younger than I am now, my mom and I joined an estimated 50 million households (roughly 125 million viewers) to watch “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen,” the series finale of the long-running television series M*A*S*H.

Based on Robert Altman’s 1970 feature film adaptation of Richard Hooker’s darkly-humorous novel about the doctors, nurses, and medics of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War, M*A*S*H aired on the CBS television network for 11 seasons – from 1972 to 1983, which meant the series lasted longer than the actual 1950-1953 conflict by more than seven years.

By this time, it was obvious to even the most casual viewer that the cast – which had evolved over the years with actors leaving and joining the show – was aging and the illusion that only three years had passed in television time was going to vanish eventually. Also, the Vietnam War, which was in some ways a source of inspiration for some of the series’ anti-war sensibilities, had been over for almost a decade, and the American political scene was taking a more conservative turn during President Ronald Wilson Reagan’s first term.

Because of these and other creative factors, the writers and producers (including the series’ leading actor Alan Alda) decided that it was better to go out in style while the show’s Nielsen ratings were still high rather than let M*A*S*H die in a downward spiral of dullness, repetition, and creative laziness.

“Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” – the 16th episode in an abbreviated final season – is atypical compared to the rest of the series. First, it’s a two-and-a-half hour long (if you include the commercials if you catch it on cable) TV movie, shot and directed (by Alan Alda) more like a theatrical feature than a typical half-hour long episode. The visual look is different, and the camera is used in a more active fashion as it follows the story’s various “branches” in several locations.

Second, the entire endeavor – which eschews the hated convention of the canned laugh track most sitcoms are saddled with on TV – is atypically somber and even tragic, with various characters going through some very trying experiences.

A case in point is Capt. Benjamin Franklin Pierce’s story arc. When “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” opens, Hawkeye, the wisecracking, nurse-wooing, but oh-so-sensitive Chief Surgeon of the 4077th, is away from his unit and a patient at an Army psychiatric hospital and under the care of Maj. Sidney Freedman (recurring guest star Allan Arbus).

Dr. Sidney Freedman: Yesterday, you were going to tell me about that day at the beach.
Hawkeye: It was great, very hot. A lot of people say too much sun is no good for you. And you know, carcinomas can result from that. You know, this of course would concern me as a physician.
Dr. Sidney Freedman: I'd like to get back to the beach.
Hawkeye: Hey, go ahead, take the rest of the day off.

It seems that Hawkeye, who has weathered many storms in his tour of duty in Korea, has finally had a nervous breakdown after witnessing a horrific incident on the 4077th’s bus after an idyllic break on a nearby beach. What he saw on the bus and the emotional effects on the good doctor take some time to be revealed to Dr. Freedman and the viewer, but when the revelation is made, it’s not hard to understand why Hawkeye, who had to put up with war’s insanity and the lousy living conditions at the edge of the front for nearly three years, finally snaps.

Of course, once Sidney releases Hawkeye from the “snake pit,” the Chief Surgeon returns to duty at the 4077th, where not only does he find that in his absence a clerical error has resulted in B.J. Hunnicutt’s (Mike Farrell) transfer back to the States, but that casualties are mounting almost exponentially as Communist and United Nations forces try to grab some last minute “real estate” before a negotiated cease-fire takes hold.

Meanwhile, the war-weary Col. Sherman T. Potter (Harry Morgan) not only has to deal with being short of one surgeon, having to keep an eye on his Chief Surgeon for any recurring sign of mental instability, and a rising number of casualties, but also with a wayward U.S. tank that is attracting North Korean mortar crews, a heavy influx of Chinese prisoners of war, and a huge forest fire that prompts a hasty “bug out” by the 4077th and its entire complement of medical staff, support personnel, the patients, and the POWs.

B.J.: You know, Father, the first time I've met you, I thought there's this nice decent guy, kind of sweet and gentle, you know? How's he ever gonna last out here? I got to tell you, you're just about the toughest bird I know.
Father Mulcahy: Well, I'm certainly a lot luckier than some of the people we've seen come through here.

To summarize the various plot threads – and all the major cast members have sizable storylines – would spoil the viewing experience for those who haven’t seen “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” yet, but if you are a big M*A*S*H fan and have a favorite character, you won’t be disappointed by the series finale’s various “last hurrahs” for such members of the 4077th’s staff as Father Mulcahy (William Cristopher), Sgt. Max Q. Klinger (Jamie Farr), Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III (David Ogden Stiers), and Maj. Margaret Houlihan (Loretta Swit), as well as supporting characters as Sgt. Luther Rizzo (G.W. Bailey), Nurse Kellye (Kellye Nakahara), Igor (Jeff Maxwell), and the ever-watchable Arbus, who appeared on and off throughout the series’ entire run.

That’s not to say that this big mega-episode isn’t without its dark side or even flaws. It’s by far the bloodiest episode – a fact pointed out to me by my chorus teacher the day after it originally aired – and it doesn’t try to water down its 1970s-era preachy tone much. Sure, the Korean War, like all conflicts, was hell, and any series (whether it be a comedy or drama) set in a war should address that aspect, but to many viewers, sometimes the writers’ too-liberal philosophy seeps through and doesn’t point out that unlike Vietnam, Korea was more or less a justified conflict caused by North Korea’s invasion of its non-communist neighbor.

Nevertheless, “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” is still one of the best series finales ever aired. It is, of course, a very sentimental segment of the M*A*S*H series, and it mixes its trademark humor (“Y-ello. Snake pit, we never close.”) and genuine human feelings, as in the way Hawkeye and B.J. say farewell to their beloved commanding officer:

Hawkeye: Colonel, before you go...
B.J.: We've been thinking about it, and there's a little something we'd like to give you.
Hawkeye: It's not much, but it comes from the heart.
[Hawkeye and Hunnicutt snap to attention, and for the first time salute Colonel Potter. Potter, very slowly and militarily, returns their salute]



“Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” Major Cast List”

Alan Alda ... Capt. Benjamin Franklin 'Hawkeye' Pierce
Mike Farrell ... Capt. B.J. Hunnicut
Harry Morgan ... Col. Sherman T. Potter
Loretta Swit ... Maj. Margaret Houlihan
David Ogden Stiers ... Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III
Jamie Farr ... Sgt. Maxwell Q. Klinger
Allan Arbus ... Maj. Sidney Freedman
G.W. Bailey ... Sgt. Luther Rizzo
Rosalind Chao ... Soon-Lee Klinger
William Christopher ... Capt. Father Francis J. Mulcahy
Jeff Maxwell ... Pvt. Igor Straminsky
Kellye Nakahara ... Nurse Kellye