MASH's Failed Radar Spinoff Makes 1 Controversial Character Decision So Much More...

[TMC]

...Frustrating

https://screenrant.com/mash-failed-r...e-frustrating/

MASH has multiple failed spinoffs, but one specific spinoff actually made a beloved MASH character's ending feel less significant in retrospect.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by TMC

...Frustrating

https://screenrant.com/mash-failed-r...e-frustrating/

MASH has multiple failed spinoffs, but one specific spinoff actually made a beloved MASH character's ending feel less significant in retrospect.

A bookkeeping issue to start with MASH had only one spinoff, AfterMASH. The Trapper John series was based on the characterization from the film MASH and second novel not the TV series. This fact was adjudicated in court. That leaves us with Walter which of course would have been a spinoff had the pilot sold but it didn't.

There just isn't enough there to build a series around. A returning Korean War vet working as a patrolman in St. Louis in the mid 1950's, good luck with that. The connection with MASH gets the show a sampling the first week or two but after that the series would have to sink or swim on its own merits. The character isn't that funny in the first place and this after all was a comedy series. The pilot itself is nice, it's just not something that can be turned into a series.

[icecream]

Both epguides.com and my complete primetime directory say Trapper John, M.D. is a M*A*S*H spin-off. The directory lists it on the same page with other spin-offs like Frasier/Cheers, The Jeffersons/All in the Family, and Joey/Friends. Just because some court doesn't think it is a spin-off doesn't make it true, they don't have the expansive TV expertise Brooks and Marsh do.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by icecream

Both epguides.com and my complete primetime directory say Trapper John, M.D. is a M*A*S*H spin-off. The directory lists it on the same page with other spin-offs like Frasier/Cheers, The Jeffersons/All in the Family, and Joey/Friends. Just because some court doesn't think it is a spin-off doesn't make it true, they don't have the expansive TV expertise Brooks and Marsh do.

If you look at Pernell Roberts he is similar in appearance to Elliot Gould who played the part in the movie. You may not be willing to accept that fact that the movie and the books were much different than the TV series both in style and substance but a court did. PS there was no appeal and there was a lot of money sitting on the table.

[opus]

This isn’t going to turn into one of those Maude/Good Times things, is it?

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...lay.php?f=2453

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by opus

This isn’t going to turn into one of those Maude/Good Times things, is it?

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...lay.php?f=2453

Well maybe I can cut that off before it starts by pointing out the fact that the author of the piece Zachary Moser doesn't know what he's talking about. Let's take a quick look:

"MASH had a handful of failed spinoffs"

"Their response was to create MASH spinoff shows, AfterMASH, WALTER, and Trapper John, M.D. Only one was moderately successful, and another actively harmed a beloved character's exit from MASH".

Think about all the misinformation here. Leaving the spinoff discussion off the table, the creators of the TV series MASH had nothing to do with the creation of Trapper John MD. There is absolutely no dispute about that. What's just as bad is the incredible factual error that Trapper John MD became a series only at the conclusion of the MASH TV series. But wait there's more, not one but two references based on his spinoff definition, "failed spinoffs", "one was moderately successful", you said what! By any objective standards Trapper John MD was a major hit, not failed, not moderately successful, a big hit. The Nielsen ratings are available, couldn't he take a minute and look at them. The first four seasons the series was on it ranked 19, 17, 15, 18 for the season! Season 5 the show ranked number 30 and in season 6 it ranked 29. So that's four seasons in the top 20, six seasons in the top 30, that's a major hit. The show ran for 7 seasons 151 episodes how could he flat out lie to readers like this.

If he had just stuck with a discussion about the failed pilot and pointed out what he thought were the flaws the piece might have been a decent read, instead of that we get a trainwreck much worse than Walter and AfterMASH combined.