The final episode, a special two-and-half-hour episode of M*A*S*H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital), which was watched by 77 per cent of TV viewers in the USA, made it the highest percentage to watch a single TV show at that time, underlining its immense popularity. For viewers like this writer, and we are sure there were many like us, who watched the show much later, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, after satellite television had arrived in India, it came as a breath of fresh air. The 14-Emmy-Award-winning show directed by Robert Altman, introduced humour and drama through an empathetic lens, against the backdrop of the Korean War (1950-53), thanks to its brilliant ensemble cast, and screenwriter Larry Gelbart and his team.

(Left to right) Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, and Harry Morgan