MASH actors to leave, with the star growing frustrated with his diminishing role. While he later returned to medical sitcoms with a hit series called House Calls, he ed on the chance to front spinoff Trapper John, MD. This series followed the title character (played by Pernell Roberts) decades after the Korean War as he works as the Chief of Surgery in a San Francisco hospital.
Trapper John, MD was the first of several MASH spinoffs, though its ties to original show have always been hazy. The pilot features a photo of Rogers from MASH, but after a legal dispute, it was declared a spinoff of the 1970 movie instead. In truth, the spinoff has so little to do with MASH it could easily have been rewritten to be an original series instead. Trapper John, MD is also the most straightfaced outing in the franchise, with little in the way of laughs.
This 2003 Show That Didn't Happen Is The Closest CBS Has Come To Rebooting MASH
CBS has always resisted the impulse to revive or reboot MASH, but the closest they ever came was a planned 2003 TV movie that sounded like a bad idea.
Trapper John, MD Is The Only Entry In The MASH Franchise To Drop The Comedy Entirely
There's no laugh track to be found in this MASH entry
The showrunners behind MASH hated the laugh track that CBS forced them to use, feeling it cheapened their show. The show evolved into one of the first dramedies on television, where the drama became almost as important as the humor. What makes Trapper John, MD so unique within the MASH saga is that it's not a comedy at all; it's a medical procedural. It's not like the show has zero laughs, but it's a decidedly more serious affair.
That's another element that sets it apart from the rest of the shows. The creative team behind MASH had no involvement with Trapper John, MD either; they even pulled a prank on CBS by pretending an episode was going to announce that Roger's Trapper offscreen, right before their spinoff was set to premiere. The lack of a laugh track or recognizable MASH characters - even leading man Pernell Roberts bears little resemblance to Wayne Rogers - makes it feel divorced from the shows that came before or after it.
Trapper John, MD proved that MASH itself was so inherently dramatic that it could still work with the sitcomy elements removed...
Trapper John, MD feels like any number of medical dramas from that era, though the writing isn't as sharp as something like St. Elsewhere. Still, even with the comedy stripped away, the spinoff was a success, and the fact it felt so distinct from MASH probably helped with that. It also proved that the parent series was so inherently dramatic that it could still work with the sitcomy elements removed.
Trapper John, MD Might Be Largely Forgotten, But It Was A Big Hit
The show has become the black sheep of the MASH franchise
Trapper John, MD hasn't left much of a cultural footprint and only tends to get mentioned nowadays due to its MASH links. Despite this, Trapper John, MD was a popular show that ran for seven seasons, making it the second longest-running MASH series. The series lasted from 1979 until 1986, and once it went off the air, that also marked the official end of the MASH franchise. Sadly, Trapper John, MD didn't receive any kind of finale or wrap-up episode, with the series being canceled after a significant ratings dip.
Every MASH Movie & TV Series |
Release Year |
|---|---|
MASH (Movie) |
1970 |
MASH (TV Series) |
1972-1983 |
Trapper John, M.D. |
1979-1986 |
AfterMASH |
1983-1985 |
W*A*L*T*E*R (TV Pilot) |
1984 |
It's not uncommon for a program that was huge in its day to slide out of cultural memory. Shows like The Practice, Ally McBeal or even St Elsewhere have largely slipped through the cracks of time, and Trapper John, MD has received a similar fate. In truth, the spinoff was a perfectly serviceable drama with a solid ensemble - but wasn't exactly a stellar show either. Unlike MASH, Trapper John, MD never produced or attempted anything groundbreaking or controversial, and the characters largely felt like copies of the original show, like Gonzo being the Hawkeye (Alan Alda) stand-in.
Trapper John, MD's Success Underlines Why The Other MASH Spinoffs Failed
AfterMASH certainly could have used less comedy
Whatever its faults, Trapper John, MD is undeniably the best MASH show that isn't called MASH. When the original series wrapped up in 1983, it was still a ratings winner, so CBS was determined to keep the cash cow milked. To this end, they launched sequel series AfterMASH, where Klinger (Jamie Farr), Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) and Potter (Harry Morgan) work at a veteran's hospital after the end of the war. Years later, co-creator Larry Gelbert stated (via FoundationINTERVIEWS) that he had botched the spinoff's execution.
I think it should have been an hour show, I don't think it should have gone for comedy. I think it could have been leaven with comedy, but I just had the wrong take on it completely. Once I saw what was going on, I knew that I just made the wrong choice, but it was not for me to say hold it, let's take it off the air.
A guest appearance from audience favorite Radar (Gary Burghoff) during AfterMASH season 1 led to the character getting a pilot for his own show. Dubbed W*A*L*T*E*R, the pilot followed Radar as he became a police officer, but after being rejected for a full series, it aired only once as a "Special Presentation" in 1984. Neither of the MASH sequel shows connected with viewers, but if AfterMASH had followed the dramatic path taken by Trapper John, MD, it might have worked.
Despite its popularity, Trapper John, MD has never been released on home media, and to date has not been made available on streaming platforms.
Trapper John, MD proved a non-sitcom MASH show could not only have worked, it could run for many years. In contrast, AfterMASH felt like a drama that was dragged down by its lame comedy; the lack of a leading figure like Hawkeye or Margaret (Loretta Swit) was a problem too. W*A*L*T*E*R always felt like a doomed proposition though, and it's hard to see how any approach - be it comedic or deathly serious - could have saved it.
Source: FountainINTERVIEWS
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M*A*S*H is a drama-comedy series set during the Korean War, centering on the lives of the staff at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital as they navigate the challenges of wartime medical service with humor and resilience.
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Trapper John, M.D.
- Release Date
- 1979 - 1986-00-00
- Network
- CBS
- Directors
- Earl Bellamy, Bernard McEveety, Leo Penn, Barry Crane, Seymour Robbie, Joseph Pevney, Charles Siebert, Gregory Harrison, Bob Sweeney, Robert Douglas, Vincent Sherman, Alex March, Jeff Bleckner, Michael O'Herlihy, Victor Lobl, Howard Morris, Jackie Cooper, Alf Kjellin, Michael Caffey, Michael Preece, Ralph Levy, Ivan Dixon, Susan Oliver, Walter Grauman
- Writers
- Don Brinkley, Charles Larson, Jeffrey Ferro, J. Miyoko Hensley, Shimon Wincelberg, Steven Hensley, Barbara Avedon, Carl Sautter, Jerry Ross, Jim Mulligan, Pamela Douglas, Robert C. Thompson, Stewart Moss
Cast
Pernell RobertsGeorge Alonzo 'Gonzo' Gates
Gregory Harrison"Trapper" John McIntyre-
Madge SinclairErnestine Shoop, R. N.
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Charles SiebertClara 'Starch' Willoughby, R. N.
Trapper John, M.D. is a television series that follows the life of Dr. Trapper John McIntyre, a veteran surgeon, as he navigates his career and personal relationships at San Francisco Memorial Hospital.
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