An interesting fact about the M*A*S*H finale

Count me in as another hardcore M*A*S*H* fan who has never seen the show's final episode. I'll have to fix that one day.

I guess I watched the show so much during the 70s that I never got around to getting it on DVD. Hopefully, they will remaster correctly it all for blu-ray and DVD one of these days, and I can buy the entire set all at once, which will be pricey.

I didn't like the first season because it wasn't serious enough. Maybe I get that feeling from my father who served in Korea.

I remember watching the episode where they killed off Stevenson's character. I knew about them killing off his character because of all the publicity about it. I've only seen it once or twice, but well remember Radar announcing it over the PA. I did not know that Alan Alda was the only one who was let in on it. I wonder why.

I like Alan Alda, and Larry Linville's character.

 

Radar walked into O.R. and told the medical staff in person, not over the P.A.

 

This thread needs this:

Finale Promos



Promo CBS MASH Finale 02 28 83

 

I have a book called The Last Days Of MASH that I haven't looked at in over 25 years. I'll have to pull it out of the box and see what little bits of info are locked away there. I do know it was about the time capsule episode. I recall a special airing on PBS at the time that spent time on the set. Seemed quite in depth if memory serves.

 

I got that book, it's awesome!
It's written by Alan Alda, and his wife Arlene, and they're still married to this day!

 

Anyone do the hike to the actual sight? Pretty surreal...

 

If memory serves, the "As Time Goes By" episode used the Season 9 theme music for some odd reason...other episodes in Season 11 used an edited version of the Season 3/4 theme. Others used the Season 10 theme and the remainder used a brand new version of the theme. Season 11 is a real hodgepodge of M*A*S*H theme music!

That "sit-com" style theme was used for three or four episodes near the end of the season- I know it's used for "The Army/Navy Game" and "Sticky Wicket" (my favourite Season 1 episode). And, no, in spite of CBS's intentions, that particular version of the theme doesn't suit the show at all

 

Did anyone watch the follow-up show "Trapper John MD"? I watched MASH pretty regularly as a kid, but I don't think I saw one episode of "Trapper John"... How long did that one last? Are there any fans?

 

Other than the pilot episode, there was zero mention of anything to do with M*A*S*H in TRAPPER JOHN, M.D. It was a generally serious hour medical show, with very little, if any comedy.

 

As I recall, there was some legal hair-splitting that maintained that Trapper John M.D. was not a spin-off of the M*A*S*H tv series, but rather a spin-off of the original theatrical movie (or maybe of the book; I forget). By making that distinction the producers saved themselves some royalty payments. Even so, it was surprising that they played down the comedy as they did.

 

I know it says that on wikipedia and various other places online, but I'm skeptical about that story about legal issues or a lawsuit. Both M*A*S*H (the series) and Trapper John M.D. were owned by 20th Century Fox, so why would royalties be necessary? Also, if we really want to split hairs... Trapper on the series was divorced, which fits the continuity of the series rather than the film or book (in both of which he was a bachelor).

Trapper John MD follows the successful template of Lou Grant... take a popular character from a 30-minute sitcom, and place them in a 60-minute drama. I think I read somewhere that Wayne Rogers was asked to reprise his role in the series but turned it down. Trapper is written as pretty much a completely different character, and as noted it's not a comedy. I always thought of House Calls as the "real" Trapper John M.D., since Rogers' character on that series more closely resembles Trapper than Pernell Roberts' character does.

 

I agree with you that House Calls functionally works as a Trapper John sitcom. (And I was surprised to discover, just now, that the Walter Matthau movie it was based on was written by one of my favorite comedy writers, Max Shulman. Wanna watch it now!)

 

And that's about what they're going for now!

 

I remember watching it sometimes, I can't say I was a "fan". It was not a "must see" show. It was a typical medical show, having virtually nothing to do with MASH. It was ok. It would probably seem very dated now, not in a good way.

 

Yeah, it really was more a remake of Medical Center than anything related to M*A*S*H. I imagine it would seem pretty cheesey by today's standards. I think the Trapper John name maybe got its foot in the door for viewers, but it ultimately was successful in its own right for reasons having nothing to do with M*A*S*H. Checking wiki, I see it lasted a surprising seven seasons, which is way longer than I'd remembered.

By contrast, I'm also surprised to see on wiki that House Calls was only on three seasons, and only one of those was a full 24 episodes. I remembered it lasting longer than that. I haven't seen it since its original run, but I remember it being a pretty funny show at the time. That show was ultimately done in by the producers' ill-advised decision to play hardball with Lynn Redgrave about her reasonable desire to have accommodations to nurse her infant on the set. When she left, the ratings declined, either due to her departure or bad publicity.

It's pretty weird both shows debuted in the fall of 1979. On Sunday night you had Trapper John M.D., not featuring Wayne Rogers. Then the following night you had Rogers playing a a completely different doctor on House Calls.

 

I vaguely remember my folks watching both House Calls and Trapper John MD back in the day though I don't recall a thing about those shows...House Calls I'd be interested in checking out, have to see if any of the episodes are on You Tube or something.

 

"Trapper John, MD" was on the air/in production while the "M*A*S*H' series was still on the air/in production, so it's less of a follow-up than it was a spin-off...

I used to watch it quite a bit, but never really thought of Trapper John on the self-titled series as being the same guy as I seen on "M*A*S*H"... Even back then I knew they were "supposed to be" the same character, but I never thought of them as such...

 

On the "M*A*S*H" series, Trapper John was married with, I believe, two daughters... If he was divorced on the "Trapper John, MD" series, that was something they created for that series and doesn't fit with the continuity of the "M*A*S*H" series.

 

I watched "M*A*S*H" all the time as a kid, but I didn't see the finale until I bought the series on DVD...

If you don't have the 11th season of "M*A*S*H" on DVD, but want to see the finale, the finale *was* released as a stand-alone release... Even though I had the finale as part of the season 11 set, I bought the stand-alone release from Walmart's budget bin for $5.00 due to it including 6 hours of extras relating to the "M*A*S*H" series...

 

Interesting comparison there to "Lou Grant" as a dramatic spin-off from a sitcom.

I guess that's why the show never crossed my radar (o'reilly) as a kid... At that age, we would have liked and expected a continuation of the "zany antics" of the Trapper John we remembered from M*A*S*H.

 

Yeah, the chronology of that is that each season had initially been released as its own product. They came in fat cases with a fat center "page" to hold the middle of three discs. After season 11 was out and we all had the full series, they released a full series Martinis and Medicine set that included extras. Fans were upset that they'd faithfully bought the original seasons only to have to buy the full series to get extras.

So, they released a special "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" set that had the identical third disc from the season 11 release, plus the extras disc from the Martinis set. For a small amount of money, we fans were able to get all that there was.

 

I remember watching both shows. I liked them both. Pernell Roberts and Gregory Harrison worked well together on Trapper John. Far more serious show than Mash. It was a successful show. I have not seen it since it went off the air, so I do not know how well it has aged. House Calls was a very funny show that should have lasted longer. The producers needed to keep Lynn Redgrave on the show. She and Wayne Rogers had great chemistry.The show did not last much longer after she left. Big mistake. I also remember Bob Newhart said that he came back to television with his Newhart show because of House Calls. It was an intelligent and funny show. Good combination. Ironic, that it went off the air before Newhart premiered.

 

How does that not fit? He was married on M*A*S*H, and on Trapper John M.D. it was stated that he'd gotten divorced after he returned from the war. The writers of the Trapper John show were branching off the M*A*S*H continuity. My overall point was that his divorce supports the notion that the writers of Trapper John M.D. were basing the character on the M*A*S*H TV series, not the film or book.

Newhart was its replacement on the schedule, in fact.

 

The lack of consideration and neanderthal attitude for such a recent event is pretty bizarre.

 

They really shot themselves in the foot. Their petty power tripping killed the show, and by doing this before they'd reached the five-season mark they undercut any chances of a successful syndication run. From what I've read, Rogers was part of the problem. He had a lot of power on the show, was not easy to deal with, and viewed himself as the only star.