That one of the greatest TV shows in history began. On September 17, 1972, M*A*S*H began it's 11 year run on CBS. A book first, then a movie, by 1972 a cheap TV show version of the movie. By the end of it's first season, it ranked 46 and was close to being cancelled. In steps Babe Paley, wife of William S, Paley, owner of CBS in the 70's. She loved the show. and voila! It made it to a second season.

And it was moved to Saturday nights, behind All in the Family. Which was the number one show on TV at the time. All of a sudden M*A*S*H goes from 46 to 4 in the ratings, and for the next 1o years, it's a staple on CBS. The final episode attracted over 125 million viewers (over 70 percent of all TV's were turned to M*A*S*H that night in 1983) and was the most watched TV show of all time until the Super Bowl 2 years ago broke that record.

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