The Real Reason M*A*S*H Killed McLean Stevenson's Henry Blake

For a show that was billed as a comedy, "M*A*S*H" most definitely had its share of heavy, heartbreaking moments. After starting off with unimpressive ratings and a near cancellation, the series delivered a crushing blow at the end of the third season. "Abyssinia, Henry" was the final episode for Colonel Henry Blake, played by McLean Stevenson. Blake was granted a discharge and it seemed like the episode was heading for a bittersweet, but uplifting conclusion. Then, Radar walks into the operating room and delivers the devastating news that Blake's plane was shot down and there were no survivors.

The shocking news that Blake had been killed was not just hard on the cast — they found out about it just minutes before filming the scene — but on viewers as well. Stevenson had two years left on his contract but wanted to leave. Series creator Larry Gelbart said they agreed to let him out of the contract early, but decided to make his exit a statement. "We decided that we would have him die on his way home," he said in an interview with Pop Goes the Culture TV. "Because while we spoke of death many times on the series ... we thought we'd have his death mean something." It was a move that positioned "M*A*S*H" as a series unafraid to tackle the serious issues associated with war.

The following section includes mention of sensitive content involving the topic of child death.

After "Abyssinia, Henry" aired, CBS was flooded with letters, many from people who felt killing McLean Stevenson's character was a cheap move. However, series creator Larry Gelbart said that a real-life event proved the writers weren't reaching. "As timing would have it ... the week that McLean Stevenson's character died on 'M*A*S*H' there was an actual plane crash in Saigon," Gelbart said in the same interview.

"A cargo plane filled with Vietnamese children who were coming to America to be adopted crashed on the runway, and dozens of kids were killed. And we said that we hoped that they would see that we're not just manufacturing tragedy for exploitative reasons, that these things happen in a far worse way in real life."

In the end, Henry Blake's death was a turning point for "M*A*S*H" despite the backlash. Gelbart admits that on at least one occasion when the episode re-aired, the final scene was removed completely by CBS. "Abyssinia, Henry" marked only the second time, to that point, that M*A*S*H finished at the top of the Nielsen ratings, and it is now considered one of best episodes in the entire series.