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 by Chris Davison, chris@lthmedia.com
106 million people. Three times the size of an “American Idol” audience? The number of Americans who vote in a presidential election? More people than live in England and Canada combined? 106 million people gathered around their television sets to watch the final episode of M*A*S*H, broadcast on February 28, 1983 with a Nielsen rating of 60.2 and a 77 share. M*A*S*H was created by Larry Gelbart, a master storyteller who passed away earlier this month.
When the HRTS was founded in 1947, Larry Gelbart was a teenager actively working in the industry, as a writer for radio comedians such as Danny Thomas and Bob Hope. During the 1950s, Larry worked in television with Sid Caesar…..and imagine if you will walking into a writers room filled with Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Carl Reiner, Woody Allen and Larry Gelbart; the phrase “all star” doesn’t come close to doing justice to such a room. After achieving early success on radio and television, in 1962 Larry partnered with Burt Shevelove and Stephen Sondheim and wrote the blockbuster Broadway musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”.
By the age of 40 Larry had achieved great success in radio, television and theater and then in 1972 he developed a show that took things to the next level. With America deeply entrenched in Vietnam, M*A*S*H deftly mixed comedy and drama to explore the lives of military men and women serving abroad and, for all intents and purposes, invented the dramedy as we know it today. M*A*S*H ran for 11 seasons and its finale was viewed by the aforementioned 106 million people. It was a different time in America to be sure, but M*A*S*H was far from the only program on the air and it still holds the record for the most-watched episode in television history.
Continuing his multimedia career path, Larry penned the feature films “Oh, God!” and “Tootsie” and also returned to Broadway with his play “City of Angels”. Larry Gelbart was a master storyteller across all media, winning two Tonys and an Emmy and earning two Academy Award nominations. He enjoyed writing and continued to do so throughout his life, at the time of his passing he was in the process of developing “City of Angels” into a feature film.
Earlier this year I heard about a home kit that allows you to sequence your own DNA and find out the risks and potentials. I asked Larry if he would be interested in such a thing and he quipped “happily for me, this is one more decision I'll never have to make. I would hate to find out at the age of 80 that I'm only going to live until I'm 70”. Such effortless wit and such grace to anyone and everyone, rest in peace Larry Gelbart.
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