Personally, I really don't care for the series finale. I think it was way too long, drawn out, and depressing. I think the episode before the finale, "As Time Goes By" would have been a much better ending for this wonderful series. They could have had the war ending and in their last few days together, the 4077th gang could have said their goodbyes, created the time capsule, remembered those who had already gone home or never made it home, and maybe get a chance to get a few more practical jokes in. The episode could have lasted an hour.

I like Goodbye.... I think it does a good job of rapping of the series. One thing I did not like about it was the musicians being killed. You do got to admit though, the Goodbye in rocks has to be one of the best ending scenes of any series.

You do got to admit though, the Goodbye in rocks has to be one of the best ending scenes of any series.

Agreed. "Goodbye Farewell, Amen" is the textbook example of a series finale.

Oh yes, I did love the very last scene of the camp with "Goodbye" spelled out in rocks.

I like it! It's one of the best series finales in TV history.
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Hawkeye (to Col. Tucker): "Do you know you squish when you walk?"

Well, I HATED it!

It had a couple OK scenes; but that was it. Of course, a long time before that it had "jumped the shark" and became "the Alan Alda show". It was too much of "oh, we're doctors, and we're so good, and so this, and so that, and death is such a bummer".

And, that fire scene was obviously just tacked on. (because a real fire burned down the outdoor set while they were filming)

I loved it, too. I still get a little teary when I watch it. But, I do think there are places when it lagged on a bit too long (little too much w/hawkeye...we get the point). So, maybe it could have gotten shrunk down a half hour by editing away some of Hawk's stuff, but I agree, the rocks...that was absolutely amazing!

Did they ever do (or consider doing) a reunion episode based on the idea of the party at the hotel that was mentioned earlier in the series?

no, they never did.

The rocks were quite touching. However, I have served in a distant land far from home. When we were told it was time to go home, nobody would have been taking the time to write things in rocks, they'd have been packing their bags.

I liked the finale, I agree, the Goodbye in rocks was really moving. It really is hard to say goodbye to people you've worked with for a long time, if you're all close that is.

well, I'm sticking with my original reply. Only 1% was good. In other words, 99.9% of it sucked!!!

Being a fan of the early years, the finale would have meant alot more if it had the original cast finally going home. I think the episode was good, although I would have preferred just an hour episode.

I liked how in the previous episode (which i understand was the last episode shot) "As Time Goes By" the gang remembered the past characters. Henry, Radar and even Frank. However, they could have given something from Trapper. At least Trapper gets mentioned in the finale (Hawkeye: "Trapper didn't leave a note, either.").

It must have been a pressure-filled job to write the finale of "M*A*S*H".

:D

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/Goodbye.gif

I agree! I would never have wanted the responsibility of writing the finale! For those of you who disliked the finale, what would you have done instead?

This was probably the greatest final episode ever made.

I thought it was excellent, yes it was a little drawn out, but, how can tell the final stories of several people simultaniously without making it a bit long? it was nice that they didnt bother with a laughtrack, the best comedies these days dont even have them.

im hoping they release it seperately from the last season also because the last season really wasn't the best.

I agree! I would never have wanted the responsibility of writing the finale! For those of you who disliked the finale, what would you have done instead?

It's strange you should ask this question, because I've thought about this for a long time . There should have been a scene where Father Mulcahy led a meeting, and Hawkeye, B . J ., Margaret Houlihan, Major Winchester, Colonel Potter, Klinger, Soon -- Lee, Sergeant Zale, Luther Rizzo, Nurse Kellye Nakahara, and all the other characters would attend .

Father Mulcahy would have read Ecclesiastes 3 : 1 -- 8 ( "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven . A time to be born, and a time to die ..." ) out loud . He would have asked Colonel Potter to read Chief Joseph's surrender speech ( "Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired ; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever ." ) out loud , Finally, Father Mulcahy would have asked Hawkeye to read Max Ehmann's poem "Desiderata" ( "Go placidly among the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence ..." ) . It would've been a beautiful scene AND a real tearjerker .

There should also have been a scene where Dr . Daniel Pierce ( Hawkeye's father ) hears about the end of the war and he's all happy because Hawkeye gets to come home to Crabapple Cove, a scene where Peg Hunnicutt hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because B . J . gets to come home to Mill Valley, a scene where Sister Mulcahy hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because Father Mulcahy gets to come home to the United States, a scene where Charles Emerson Winchester II, Mrs Winchester, and Honoria hear about the end of the war and they're all happy because Major Winchester gets to come home to Boston, a scene where Mildred Potter hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because Colonel Potter gets to come home to Hannibal, Missouri, and a scene where Mr . and Mrs . Klinger hear about the end of the war and thay're all happy because Klinger gets to come home to Toledo .

There could've also been a scene where "Howitzer Al" Houlihan hears about the end of the war and he's all happy because Margaret has a chance to go to a better assignement . When everybody left one by one, they should have shaken Hawkeye's hand before leaving and said to him "Give my best to your father !" . I thought the entire plotline about Hawkeye losing his sanity was unnecessary . They should've thought of another plot for the M*A*S*H finale .

Yeah, I personally think the MASH series finale was the greatest finale in history. There are a couple of things I might have liked to see. But I won’t nitpick it. Heck! If it was up to me. MASH never would have ended.

I like Goodbye.... I think it does a good job of rapping of the series. One thing I did not like about it was the musicians being killed. You do got to admit though, the Goodbye in rocks has to be one of the best ending scenes of any series.
I was never a big fan of the show but I watched the last episode because it was such a big deal and I kind of liked it. It's too bad the show After Mash never made it.

It's strange you should ask this question, because I've thought about this for a long time . There should have been a scene where Father Mulcahy led a meeting, and Hawkeye, B . J ., Margaret Houlihan, Major Winchester, Colonel Potter, Klinger, Soon -- Lee, Sergeant Zale, Luther Rizzo, Nurse Kellye Nakahara, and all the other characters would attend .

Father Mulcahy would have read Ecclesiastes 3 : 1 -- 8 ( "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven . A time to be born, and a time to die ..." ) out loud . He would have asked Colonel Potter to read Chief Joseph's surrender speech ( "Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired ; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever ." ) out loud , Finally, Father Mulcahy would have asked Hawkeye to read Max Ehmann's poem "Desiderata" ( "Go placidly among the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence ..." ) . It would've been a beautiful scene AND a real tearjerker .

There should also have been a scene where Dr . Daniel Pierce ( Hawkeye's father ) hears about the end of the war and he's all happy because Hawkeye gets to come home to Crabapple Cove, a scene where Peg Hunnicutt hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because B . J . gets to come home to Mill Valley, a scene where Sister Mulcahy hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because Father Mulcahy gets to come home to the United States, a scene where Charles Emerson Winchester II, Mrs Winchester, and Honoria hear about the end of the war and they're all happy because Major Winchester gets to come home to Boston, a scene where Mildred Potter hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because Colonel Potter gets to come home to Hannibal, Missouri, and a scene where Mr . and Mrs . Klinger hear about the end of the war and thay're all happy because Klinger gets to come home to Toledo .

There could've also been a scene where "Howitzer Al" Houlihan hears about the end of the war and he's all happy because Margaret has a chance to go to a better assignement . When everybody left one by one, they should have shaken Hawkeye's hand before leaving and said to him "Give my best to your father !" . I thought the entire plotline about Hawkeye losing his sanity was unnecessary . They should've thought of another plot for the M*A*S*H finale .
I know this thread's from last year, but I just want to say what I would have added-I would have added a scene where Col. Blakes wife hears about the end of the war on the radio and starts thinking about what happened to her husband. She turns off the radio, looks at a picture of him she has on display, picks it up, kisses it, hugs it and starts crying.
Also a scene where Peg Hunnicut hears about it on TV, turns to Erin and says something like "Guess what honey? Your daddy's coming home!!"

I agree! I would never have wanted the responsibility of writing the finale! For those of you who disliked the finale, what would you have done instead?

Well, it would still take some fancy moves (and of course replacing Potter and B.J. for Blake and Trapper) in the plot, but I always wanted the television series to work back to a closer connection to the novel, that would have seemed more aesthetically pleasing than the "Alan Alda show", who had grown way out of character for Hawkeye the way he was concieved. In the novels, Hawkeye is a conservative who even says one of his favorite activities is "Kicking the bejesus out of lefties just to stay in shape".

The M*A*S*H novel, assuming the first season or two covered the first part of the plot of the novel pretty well, ends up like this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MASH:_A_Novel_About_Three_Army_Doctors

A U.S. Congressman whose son is wounded in combat demands that Trapper and Hawkeye fly to Japan to perform an "emergency surgery." The surgery proves to be routine and the doctors spend much of the recovery period playing golf. Hawkeye reconnects with a friend, "Me Lay" Marston, who serves as an anesthesiologist for the Army but also helps a local doctor run a combination Pediatric Hospital and whorehouse. Me Lay asks the boys to look at a sick baby, who does require emergency surgery. Hawkeye and Trapper blackmail the hospital's commanding officer into permitting the operation and talk Me Lay into adopting the orphan baby.

Trapper and Hawkeye return to find the 4077th overwhelmed by casualties. A continuous flow of wounded pours into the hospital for two weeks. All personnel work around the clock performing operations. Everyone becomes exhausted and irritable; the Swampmen begin harassing Maj. Houlihan. She complains to Gen. Hammond, who begins an investigation of Col. Blake's conduct. The Swampmen intercede, smoothing matters over with the General.

Summer arrives and Col. Blake is sent to Tokyo for three weeks, Colonel DeLong fills in. Col. DeLong is unfamiliar with the type of high-volume, high-speed surgery used at the 4077th; after an angry confrontation with Hawkeye, DeLong gains respect for the work. Eventually the Swampmen get bored and decide to convince DeLong they need psychiatric evaluation. When he sends them to a diagnostic unit, they escape custody and visit a brothel.

General Hammond's unit has a football team. Because he has stocked it with professional players who were drafted, he makes a tidy profit playing other units and betting on the results. The Swampmen organize their own team and tell Col. Blake to ask Hammond to assign neurosurgeon Oliver Wendell Jones to the 4077. Jones, unbeknownst to Hammond, is a former star known as Spearchucker.

In the game, the Swampmen incapacitate one of Hammond's pros by injecting him with a sedative during a pileup. They use Corporal Radar O'Reilly ESP abilities to detect upcoming plays and employ on a trick play to win the game 28-24 and make an enormous profit.

As Duke and Hawkeye wait for their deployments to expire, they become bored. To keep them busy, Henry Blake has teach two new doctors their short-cuts. One learns capably, but the other needs to be sent home. On the journey back from Korea, they feign battle fatigue to get favorable treatment and impersonate chaplains to avoid work. They say goodbye when they reach the US; each rejoins his family.

And, then, rather than AfterMash, why not the much tighter M*A*S*H Goes To Maine?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M*A*S*H_Goes_to_Maine

I know this thread's from last year, but I just want to say what I would have added-I would have added a scene where Col. Blakes wife hears about the end of the war on the radio and starts thinking about what happened to her husband. She turns off the radio, looks at a picture of him she has on display, picks it up, kisses it, hugs it and starts crying.
Also a scene where Peg Hunnicut hears about it on TV, turns to Erin and says something like "Guess what honey? Your daddy's coming home!!"

That really would have been nice... and maybe even a quick scene with Trapper John, who, according to the sequel M*A*S*H Goes To Maine novel, is a Lieutenant in the medical organization of Maxie Neville in New York City by this point...

It's strange you should ask this question, because I've thought about this for a long time . There should have been a scene where Father Mulcahy led a meeting, and Hawkeye, B . J ., Margaret Houlihan, Major Winchester, Colonel Potter, Klinger, Soon -- Lee, Sergeant Zale, Luther Rizzo, Nurse Kellye Nakahara, and all the other characters would attend .

Father Mulcahy would have read Ecclesiastes 3 : 1 -- 8 ( "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven . A time to be born, and a time to die ..." ) out loud . He would have asked Colonel Potter to read Chief Joseph's surrender speech ( "Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired ; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever ." ) out loud , Finally, Father Mulcahy would have asked Hawkeye to read Max Ehmann's poem "Desiderata" ( "Go placidly among the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence ..." ) . It would've been a beautiful scene AND a real tearjerker .

There should also have been a scene where Dr . Daniel Pierce ( Hawkeye's father ) hears about the end of the war and he's all happy because Hawkeye gets to come home to Crabapple Cove, a scene where Peg Hunnicutt hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because B . J . gets to come home to Mill Valley, a scene where Sister Mulcahy hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because Father Mulcahy gets to come home to the United States, a scene where Charles Emerson Winchester II, Mrs Winchester, and Honoria hear about the end of the war and they're all happy because Major Winchester gets to come home to Boston, a scene where Mildred Potter hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because Colonel Potter gets to come home to Hannibal, Missouri, and a scene where Mr . and Mrs . Klinger hear about the end of the war and thay're all happy because Klinger gets to come home to Toledo .

There could've also been a scene where "Howitzer Al" Houlihan hears about the end of the war and he's all happy because Margaret has a chance to go to a better assignement . When everybody left one by one, they should have shaken Hawkeye's hand before leaving and said to him "Give my best to your father !" . I thought the entire plotline about Hawkeye losing his sanity was unnecessary . They should've thought of another plot for the M*A*S*H finale .

Great ideas... in a way, the final episode could have actually easily ended the war and sent everyone home. Maybe an outright adaptation of the excellent M*A*S*H* sequel, "Goes To Maine" (again, adding Potter, Hunnicutt, Klinger, Winchester to the mix in place of Trapper, Duke, Blake and so on):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M*A*S*H_Goes_to_Maine

Hawkeye Pierce returns to live in Crabapple Cove, Maine near the town of Spruce Harbor. Having left the Army, Hawkeye is established to be working for the Veterans Administration. In May 1954 he is laid off. At this point, Hawkeye doesn’t have much money in the bank, is 31 years old, and has three children: Billy, Stephen and Karen.

The day he’s released, Trapper John McIntyre comes to visit and sets Hawkeye’s future in motion. Trapper John, a Lieutenant in the medical organization of Maxie Neville in New York City, arranges for further thoracic training for Hawkeye, first in the East Orange VA Hospital in New Jersey, then at St Lombard’s in Manhattan from July 1954. After two years Hawkeye breezes through the Thoracic Boards. At the end of his training in June 1956, two Spruce Harbor locals, Jocko Allcock (the man who was responsible for Hawkeye being fired by the VA) and “Wooden Leg” Willcox (the local fish magnate) come to visit Hawkeye to set him up in practice—by betting favorably on the outcome of his operations.

The first operation with Trapper John’s assistance (upon Pasquale Merlino) is a success, and thanks to his superior training Hawkeye becomes the local surgeon. As time goes by, Hawkeye is given more patients by the local general practitioner of note, “Doggy” Moore; goes into private practice with ex-Spitfire pilot Tony Holcombe and plots the eventual reuniting of the Swamp Gang. By 1959 Hawkeye has lured Trapper John, Duke Forrest, and Spearchucker Jones into his net, and thanks to the proceeds of the “Allcock-Willcox” syndicate, a new “Finestkind Fishmarket and Clinic” is set up along with the new Spruce Harbor General Hospital.

Duke returns to Georgia from Korea, and takes a course in urology. Hawkeye Pierce then invites him up to Spruce Harbor, Maine to join him and a new friend, Tony Holcombe in private practice. Duke immediately turns up in Maine with his bloodhound, Little Eva, and joins Hawkeye in persuading Spearchucker to become the local neurosurgeon. Duke and his family move into Crabapple Cove next to Hawkeye and Mary Pierce.

This could have also served as a strong lead in to the AfterMash series...

Was the series finale at 2.5 hours (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oIIwm_4lSs) too bloated? I'm sure that they likely could have told the story in a 60 or 90 minute episode. But by 1983, it was obvious that series finales could bring in lots of viewers, meaning the network could command high advertising prices. So I suspect that CBS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ShUqqchOdc) pushed for the 2.5 hours to sell more ad time.

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