'MAS*H' Says Goodbye, Farewell to Ratings Record

By PopEater Staff Posted Feb 9th 2010 06:28AM

At long last, the Super Bowl has slain that ratings behemoth known as the 'M*A*S*H' finale. More people tuned in to watch the New Orleans Saints take down the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday than any one TV program in American history, meaning the 27-year-old record held by the comedy classic has been broken.

According to Nielsen (via the AP), 106.5 million viewers watched the game on CBS. 'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen,' 'M.A.S.H.'s' series finale, also aired on CBS, with 105.97 million viewers tuning in to bid Klinger and Hot Lips adieu.

Alan Alda, who played Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce on the show, was gracious in defeat after hearing the news.

"I'm happy for New Orleans," he told the NY Times. "I want to see that city come out first in every way that it can, even if it means giving up a record that 'M*A*S*H' held for a long time."

According to reports, there are 114.9 million TV households in the United States, which is about 32 million more than when 'M*A*S*H' signed off in 1983. Also, it's worth noting that there weren't 5 million channels to choose from back then.

The previous record for a Super Bowl was set last year, when a whopping 98.7 million football fans watched Pittsburgh beat Arizona.

Comments

(31)

Tuesday 09 February

By What?!

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It would have been the Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl. Consider New Orleans very, very lucky. You know it and I know it!

By Tim

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Yea like no one knew the Saints would win, they are performers. Next season listen to the media and all that is being said about the two teams involved, you will know who will win before the game is played. This year was the easiest to pick so far.

By Ed

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Long Live MASH And Tom W your an IDIOT

By lornawestie

The Superbowl was on?

By Hatetexas4ever

a tainted super bowl at that. anyone who watched the OT of the NFC championship game knows what i am talking about. thank the refs saints fans. they put you into a SB you shouldnt have been in. and the NFL did nothing about it. no longer a fan of the NFL. hope it folds

By jimi lalumia

get Lou Reed to fill Simon's chair....tHAT would be great...

By anticimex92

Actually, I was tuning in to see the saints lose. COLTS 4-life

By theovercomer99

More people and more TV's today. A fair way to determine a programs popularity should concider the percentage of possible viewers in the formula. M.A.S.H. is still the winner.

By karenione

When was the MASH final episode? How long ago? There are more people today than way back then. More people watching from every corner of the earth today than when the final episode aired. I will always remember the Saints winning the Super Bowl, but MASH will be forever.

By tom w

The korean war lasted 3 years yet the show was on 11 years people sure are stupid who made that show

Wednesday 10 February

By tiana

to kool kolors just shows how much of a bandwagon fan u
r. i hate ppl like you who just cuz ur team lost u move on to another
team. if u were ever an avid colts fan u would be there through their
ups n downs. i am an avid mets, jets n lakers fan n u really think i
would ever leave them just cuz they lost or were disloyal hell no. ppl
like me r avid true sports fans who stand by their team forever no matter what. i was also rooting for the
colts. the rest of u who like the saints cuz of the hurricane can go screw ur
self cuz no one likes the jets or giants just cuz of 9-11 n that was
worse. bye bye losers

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