M*A*S*H: Good-Bye, Farewell, and Amen (1983)
It aired on my local MeTV affiliate.
This TV movie and final episode is by far and without question (in my mind at least, but millions who were an front of the set with me in 1983 agree) the greatest ending to a TV series that there ever was, or that there ever will be. I think that anyone who is interested in film, especially regarding character development, should view it. A few things to set up the story, for those who would like to watch this without seeing the series, which is all right to do:
Major "Hawkeye" Pierce, the unit's most efficient and recourceful surgeon, in the past few episodes leading up to the finale, was under psychiatric treatment for a nervous breakdown suffered under stress. The movie opens with him in a mental ward. Sydney, the psychiatrist, is a semi-regular character.
Corporal Klinger, the company clerk, spent the majority of the Korean war feigning insanity by dressing as a woman in order to receive a discharge. He wants, more than anything, a ticket out of Korea. Recently, Sun Lee, a formerly suspected North Korean spy held hostage under his watch, has been cleared of her suspicions and recruited Klinger's assistance finding her family, who are refugees.
Maj. Charles Winchester III is the company's most skilled surgeon, even more than Pierce, and not afraid to admit it. He is haughty, sophisticated, and pretentious, with an apreciation for the finer aspects of the humanities such as fine literature and classical music, and a disdain for the "common". (Though he has an out-of-character fondness for comic books and Tom & Jerry.) He is my favorite character in the series.
There are more major characters and several supporting characters present in the finale, but events of the episodes leading up to this aren't required to "pick them up".
I cry several times every time I watch it. During the final 20 minutes I become rendered into a blubbering mess. For a sitcom, the finale's tone is much more serious, even shocking at times, but still funny in a more subtle way.
On a personal note, a snippet of the M*A*S*H theme song can be heard near the beginning of HOO episode 2. It's my tribute to a series that is always in my mind as a guide/manual when I write my scripts.
https://vimeo.com/channels/holdingourown http://holding-our-own.tumblr.com"None practice tolerance less frequently than those who most loudly preach it."