Alan Alda says the reason M*A*S*H is still as loved today as it was when it first aired in 1972 is because it was based on real stories.
The beloved actor credits “good writing, good performances and good direction” with the war-time comedy’s enduring success.
“Something that is seldom thought about or talked about is that we were telling the stories of people who had really lived and had lived through a horrendous experience in war-time,” the 85-year-old told Today.
“Sometimes we told the stories in a silly way, sometimes in a dramatic way, but most of the stories either were based on things we were told or things that could have happened.”
The final episode of the show was a watershed moment for TV history.
It aired on 28 February 1983 and more than 106 million people tuned in to say goodbye to the cast they had come to love.
More than 38 years on, it remains the most watched scripted television episode of all-time.
“The final episode had a huge audience, so big that during the commercial breaks in New York everybody got up and went to the bathroom and they almost broke the waterworks,” Alda recalled, laughing.
The six-time Emmy Award winner is showing no signs of slowing down and is now turning his focus to science in a new podcast.
