Think about it - "Hello Larry" was probably the most successful of his post-M*A*S*H series endeavors, lasting a full season and change.

Having not seen it since its original run, I can't really say whether or not it was a good series that stood the test of time. I guess I thought it was okay at the time it aired, but my standards weren't quite to stringent back then and some shows we like in our youth don't quite hold up years later in our so-called "adulthood".

I think one of the M*A*S*H producers or someone at CBS had to have had a curse taken out on poor McLean - after all, he never had another hit show, despite many attempts.

I never understood him leaving the show. I know why he left, but you'd think after working in show business all those years and finally achieving success on a hit show, that he'd milk it for all it was worth. Actors' egos are a mystery to me. Just shut up, collect your checks and ride the train til the ride ends!

i dont know about curses, but i would think that bad judgment and even worse luck had a pretty good hand in things for Maclean ;)

i always joke when an actor makes a stupid move like he did leaving mash they should get the mclean stevenson memorial dunce cap there have been quite a few tv actors id have given it to over the years for the record im a big hello larry fan

Was his NBC show-"in the Beginning" any good? I think it was on NBC in 1978

He had...
In the Beginning on CBS (I think it lasted 4 episodes)
Condo on ABC
The McLean Stevenson Show on NBC
Hello, Larry on NBC

And don't forget The Doris Day Show BEFORE M*A*S*H!!!

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
Was his NBC show-"in the Beginning" any good? I think it was on NBC in 1978 it was on cbs and it wasant too bad the one time i saw it it was sort of like amen except with a priest instead of a deacon

McLean was "cursed" by his own stupidity!!

his mash costars thik it was more his inflated ego than stupidity

McLean should've stayed on M*A*S*H.

McLean should've stayed on M*A*S*H.

But he didn't. I'm sure Harry Morgan was grateful to Mac, though.

Great moments in bad decisions....Shelly Long is next on the list
"I want to quit Cheers and make movies!" <GOOD call, Shelly!! :rolleyes:

Great moments in bad decisions....Shelly Long is next on the list
"I want to quit Cheers and make movies!" <GOOD call, Shelly!! :rolleyes:

Yep, another dumb move. Cheers ran another six years, Kirstie Alley stepped in and became a star and Shelley...well, her greatest claim to fame since leaving Cheers was appearing in the Brady Bunch movies.

Hell, Kirstie's only bitch about Cheers ending was that she wanted it to keep going! She knew a good thing when she had one. ;)

Yep, another dumb move. Cheers ran another six years, Kirstie Alley stepped in and became a star and Shelley...well, her greatest claim to fame since leaving Cheers was appearing in the Brady Bunch movies.

Hell, Kirstie's only bitch about Cheers ending was that she wanted it to keep going! She knew a good thing when she had one. ;)


Well what was rong with her trying to become a BIGGER STA??-lol You have to make the effort to do bigger and better things

i dont know about curses, but i would think that bad judgment and even worse luck had a pretty good hand in things for Maclean ;)
Well put. I agree with you 100%.

Well what was rong with her trying to become a BIGGER STA??-lol You have to make the effort to do bigger and better things

Nothing. But when you've got a great gig like Cheers, you hold onto it as long as you can! She could have done Cheers and done movies during the off season from the show.

I just think after years of struggle trying to find stardom, she should have held onto her meal ticket and done movies on the side. Instead, she ended up without stardom and a dismal movie career.

Nothing. But when you've got a great gig like Cheers, you hold onto it as long as you can! She could have done Cheers and done movies during the off season from the show.

I just think after years of struggle trying to find stardom, she should have held onto her meal ticket and done movies on the side. Instead, she ended up without stardom and a dismal movie career.
I must admit that Troop Beverly Hills is still both a guilty pleasure and a soft spot. It reminds me of my days as a Girl Scout. :D

I must admit that Troop Beverly Hills is still both a guilty pleasure and a soft spot. It reminds me of my days as a Girl Scout. :D

Her movie career started fairly promising, but it seemed like once she'd finally left Cheers, that was pretty much it. Michael J. Fox could have easily left Family Ties around 1986, as Back To The Future made him a major film star, but he stayed with the show through its entire run and still appeared in successful feature films.

You notice David Caruso has learned his lesson. He left NYPD Blue looking for movie stardom and when he flopped he returned to TV in CSI: Miami. I haven't heard a peep out of him since that show premiered.

Actually David Caruso came back to TV for CBS in a series called "Michael Hayes", a one season wonder, before getting the CSI gig.

As for McLean, do you think NBC could not have kept Hello, Larry going for another season? Not as if NBC's fortunes were greatly improving at that point.

Actually David Caruso came back to TV for CBS in a series called "Michael Hayes", a one season wonder, before getting the CSI gig.

As for McLean, do you think NBC could not have kept Hello, Larry going for another season? Not as if NBC's fortunes were greatly improving at that point.


I haven't found the ratings for Hello Larry yet like I did for most short-lived shows

What was the timeslot for HL during its second season? Was it at that time displaced by FOL behind Diff'rent Strokes?

What was the timeslot for HL during its second season? Was it at that time displaced by FOL behind Diff'rent Strokes?


aired on wednesday nights at 9:30pm after Different strokes

hmmmmmmm, you would think it would have still been enough of a followup hit to get renewed. Or perhaps NBC knew it would be better to invest in a show that truly had a DS legacy, Facts of Life?

hmmmmmmm, you would think it would have still been enough of a followup hit to get renewed. Or perhaps NBC knew it would be better to invest in a show that truly had a DS legacy, Facts of Life?


It's a shame those crossovers with DS didn't help at all. There were 3 crossovers, 1 in Portland and 2 in NYC

I also admit to watching McClean's ABC sitcom, "Condo"

I also admit to watching McClean's ABC sitcom, "Condo"

I remember seeing a couple episodes myself. It co-starred Luis Avalos from The Electric Company. It was so long ago, I don't remember if it was good or bad.

I remember seeing a couple episodes myself. It co-starred Luis Avalos from The Electric Company. It was so long ago, I don't remember if it was good or bad.
I enjoyed it very much. It was paired with Bea Arthur's Amanda's which I did not like.

I remember reading an interview with McLean Stevenson in the early '80s where he said that if M*A*S*H did an episode where Henry Blake turned up alive at the 4077th, his body having been found floating in the sea of Japan with a pound of kelp up his nose, he'd have done it.

In other words..."I screwed up."

I remember reading an interview with McLean Stevenson in the early '80s where he said that if M*A*S*H did an episode where Henry Blake turned up alive at the 4077th, his body having been found floating in the sea of Japan with a pound of kelp up his nose, he'd have done it.

In other words..."I screwed up."
I'd agree with McLean. But the show would jump the shark if that happened.

I think he rubbed people the wrong way and I'm not sure if it was intentional or not.

Mind you this is based on his "celebrity" appearances from Match Game where I believe McLean played himself. He seemed to go out of his way to act obnoxious.

I think there was one part in the game where the winning contestant spun a wheel and McLean was landed to answer the Super Match. I think the match was (blank) cake.

I think the woman contestant mentioned that someone in her life just had a birthday so her answer was - birthday.

And McLean wrote rake and rambled something about needing to clean up his yard. Gene Rayburn chewed him out, but McLean acted like he was out of it.

I'm wondering if he appeared to be unlikeable at times.