This one is, of course, all about McLean Stevenson's final episode on the show. This article ran the day of "Abyssinia, Henry"--March 18, 1975--which means people read it before the episode in question aired.
Now check the copy, especially the last line: they give away the ending!! One of the biggest shocks ever delivered by a TV show, and this newspaper article gives it away to anyone familiar with the movie Mr. Roberts. I cannot imagine how furious I would have been, either as a viewer or a member of the M*A*S*H staff--if I had seen that. And since a lot of these types of articles were written by the AP or a similar outfit, its possible this piece ran in other newspapers, as well. Sheesh!
I'm happy to report I found quite a few interesting(?) newspaper articles related to the show, so check back here often as I'll be posting them regularly!
I had a huge crush on my 5th grade teacher and used to hang around after school to wash her boards and stuff (pathetic, I know). Anyway, she was a big MASH fan while I had given up on the show after the first season. The day after this episode aired, she was so stunned and upset that they would kill Henry off like that. Nowadays, characters on TV shows drop like flies, but back then it just wasn't done. It was my first inkling that maybe there was something daring about the show, and I should start watching MASH again.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story! Didn't everyone have a crush on a teacher at some point?
ReplyDeleteYes on the teacher crush, Mrs Adams, first grade. ;-)
ReplyDeleteMan, that's jacked-up that the guide gave away what was a very shocking ending to an era of the show.
Truthfully, I've always felt that that episode really catapulted them into a force to be reckoned with. The show went significantly deeper at that point. No longer just a comedy, you had vested emotions in these characters.