"TRAPPER JOHN, M.D."

[treky]

for those that have been waiting for a DVD realease of this series; bad news: I just read that it may never come to DVD.

I don't know about "AFTER MASH" though.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...because 20th Century-Fox simply believes there's not an "audience"- or one large enough- to make it worthwhile [and profitable] for them to release all 151 episodes. It doesn't appear on any "national" cable channels as "M*A*S*H" does (at least two different ones these days carry that), so they figure, if the series isn't given any "exposure", who's going to remember it? Better to release their current "in-house" series on DVD- the ones viewers KNOW about, like "GLEE", "BONES", "THE SIMPSONS" and "24"...guaranteed to make a profit for them. Otherwise, why bother spending all that money to digitally remaster an "old show" that very few people are interested in seeing?

[treky]

are you talking about "TRAPPER JOHN M.D." or "AFTER MASH"?

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...to "TRAPPER JOHN, M.D.", 'treky'. But that also applies to "AfterMASH" as well, even though that has more of a chance of seeing DVD release than the former (but not much).

[treky]

yea, theres a LOT of "MASH" fans who would like to see both series released.

I'm a "MASH" fan, but just of the first 3 seasons; before it became "THE ALAN ALDA SHOW", and I'd like to see "TRAPPER JOHN M.D." released-I remember it and it was pretty good-I don't give a damn about "AFTER MASH"-I hated that. I read somewhere that Time magazine called it one of the 50 worst spinoffs ever; and they're right!!

Another show that a lot of MASH fans-including me-would also like to see come to DVD though is "WALTER"; the pilot for a proposed series about Radar that only aired once.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by treky

yea, theres a LOT of "MASH" fans who would like to see both series released.

I'm a "MASH" fan, but just of the first 3 seasons; before it became "THE ALAN ALDA SHOW", and I'd like to see "TRAPPER JOHN M.D." released-I remember it and it was pretty good-I don't give a damn about "AFTER MASH"-I hated that. I read somewhere that Time magazine called it one of the 50 worst spinoffs ever; and they're right!!

Another show that a lot of MASH fans-including me-would also like to see come to DVD though is "WALTER"; the pilot for a proposed series about Radar that only aired once.

The M*A*S*H sequel I always thought would work well in film or television is Richard Hooker's first sequel to M*A*S*H, M*A*S*H Goes To Maine:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M*A*S*H_Goes_to_Maine

[forn]

I never watched more than an episode of Trapper John, M.D., but my impression was that it bore little or no resemblance (literally) to the original character. I remember some people getting excited because the character mentioned Korea in an episode though.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by forn

I never watched more than an episode of Trapper John, M.D., but my impression was that it bore little or no resemblance (literally) to the original character. I remember some people getting excited because the character mentioned Korea in an episode though.

True, I found it drab, and not at all like the character played by both Elliott Gould and Wayne Rogers.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by forn

I never watched more than an episode of Trapper John, M.D., but my impression was that it bore little or no resemblance (literally) to the original character. I remember some people getting excited because the character mentioned Korea in an episode though.

Yes, you'd hardly see any similarity between Wayne Rogers and Pernell Roberts.

[forn]

Originally Posted by Will Dockery

True, I found it drab, and not at all like the character played by both Elliott Gould and Wayne Rogers.

Thanks, glad I'm not the only one. I always wondered if I was missing something.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by stevea

Yes, you'd hardly see any similarity between Wayne Rogers and Pernell Roberts.

True, Wayne Rogers, like Elliott Gould, maintained the character description of the novel, wild and creating anarchy.


"He trapped me!"

The Trapper John of the solo series was more Adam Cartwright in modern times.

[forn]

Originally Posted by Will Dockery

The Trapper John of the solo series was more Adam Cartwright in modern times.

Lol. I don't know if you meant that as humorous, but I found it funny.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by forn

Lol. I don't know if you meant that as humorous, but I found it funny.

Funny, yes, but the show was a waste of potential as far as evolving Trapper John's story.

[forn]

Originally Posted by Will Dockery

Funny, yes, but the show was a waste of potential as far as evolving Trapper John's story.

I always thought they just wanted to do a medical show, and slapped Trapper's name on there as a ploy to get ratings. They did offer it to Wayne Rogers though, who turned it down.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by forn

I always thought they just wanted to do a medical show, and slapped Trapper's name on there as a ploy to get ratings. They did offer it to Wayne Rogers though, who turned it down.

"I always thought they just wanted to do a medical show, and slapped Trapper's name on there as a ploy to get ratings".

I had the same impression, to me it was the Medical Center of the 80's.

"They did offer it to Wayne Rogers though, who turned it down".

That's on the IMD website, I don't buy it. The reason I don't buy is given in the write-up on the very same page, let's take a look at the entire statement:

"The producers of Trapper John, M.D. (1979) approached Wayne Rogers to play the title role in their new spin-off. He declined. If he had, the producers of Trapper John would have most certainly had to pay royalties to their parent show MASH. When they were sued by Gene Reynolds and Larry Gelbart and the MASH team, they successfully argued that Trapper John was a spinoff of the MASH movie and the book, not necessarily the tv show. They would have had a hard time making that argument if Wayne Rogers had been hired to play Trapper".

No way they would have wanted Rogers for the role, the royalties the producers would have had to pay would have made the project unprofitable for them. Rogers was also the lead in a new series House Calls premiering on CBS just a few months after Trapper John premiered.