MASHspinoffTrapper John, MDdropped a signature element of the franchise - which saw it become a surprise hit. Wayne Rogers was one of the firstMASHactors to leave, with the star growing frustrated with his diminishing role. While he later returned to medical sitcoms with a hit series calledHouse Calls, he passed on the chance to front spinoffTrapper 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, MDwas the first ofseveralMASHspinoffs, though its ties to original show have always been hazy. The pilot features a photo of Rogers fromMASH, but after a legal dispute, it was declared a spinoff of the 1970 movie instead. In truth, the spinoff has so little to do withMASHit could easily have been rewritten to be an original series instead.Trapper John, MDis 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 behindMASHhated the laugh trackthat 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 makesTrapper John, MDso unique within theMASHsaga 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 behindMASHhad no involvement withTrapper John, MDeither; 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 recognizableMASHcharacters - 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, MDfeels like any number of medical dramas from that era, though the writing isn’t as sharp as something likeSt. Elsewhere. Still, even with the comedy stripped away, the spinoff was a success, and the fact it felt so distinct fromMASHprobably 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, MDhasn’t left much of a cultural footprint and only tends to get mentioned nowadays due to itsMASHlinks. Despite this,Trapper John, MDwas a popular show that ran for seven seasons, making it the second longest-runningMASHseries. The series lasted from 1979 until 1986, and once it went off the air, that also marked the official end of theMASHfranchise. Sadly,Trapper John, MDdidn’t receive any kind of finale or wrap-up episode, with the series being canceled after a significant ratings dip.
1970
1972-1983
1979-1986
1983-1985
WALTE*R(TV Pilot)
1984
It’s not uncommon for a program that was huge in its day to slide out of cultural memory. Shows likeThe Practice,Ally McBealor evenSt Elsewherehave largely slipped through the cracks of time, andTrapper John, MDhas 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.UnlikeMASH,Trapper John, MDnever 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, MDis undeniably the bestMASHshow that isn’t calledMASH. 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 seriesAfterMASH, 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 (viaFoundationINTERVIEWS) 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) duringAfterMASHseason 1 led to the character getting a pilot for his own show. DubbedWALTE*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 theMASHsequel shows connected with viewers, butifAfterMASHhad followed the dramatic path taken byTrapper John, MD, it might have worked.
Despite its popularity,Trapper John, MDhas never been released on home media, and to date has not been made available on streaming platforms.
Trapper John, MDproved a non-sitcomMASHshow could not only have worked, it could run for many years. In contrast,AfterMASHfelt 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.WALTE*Ralways 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.
MAS*H
Cast
MAS*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.
Trapper John, M.D.
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.
