MovieChat Forums > Trapper John, M.D. (1979) Discussion > MASH or M*A*S*H

MASH or MAS*H

posted 18 years ago by queman628
10 replies | jump to latest

In the trivia section it states that this show was ruled in a court of law was a spinoff of the 1970 movie MASH and not the 1972 TV series M*A*S*H. However it another section of the trivia it also says that Wayne Rogers was asked to reprise his role of Trapper for this TV series.

My questions is........If this TV show was suppose to be a spinoff of the movie and not the series, wouldn't it have made better sense to ask Elliot Gould to play the part of Trapper instead of Wayne Rogers??

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] celiagotti 18 years ago

that is a good point queman. I have never seen this show, but always assumed Wayne Rogers HAD to be playing Trapper John. I am surprised to see that of all people, the dude from Bonanza played him!
I thought Wayne Rogers left the tv show M*A*S*H b/c his character wasn't going anywhere, so I thought that is why he wanted his own series! But all these years, I was wrong. He never wanted to play Trapper John again. How sad. B.J. was not bad w/ Hawkeye, but never as perfect as Trapper. :(

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Wolverine37 17 years ago

Simple answer: Because it was never intended to be a spinoff of MASH until they were in a situation to lose money.

"Enough is enough. I've had it with these snakes"
-- Neville Flynn, Snakes on a Plane

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] GunsmokeRocks 17 years ago

Another question is on "Trapper John, MD" was Trapper particularly good at operating on chests.

In the movie, he was the "chest cutter" where on the TV show, that was Hawkeye.

Fred

[–] csidet1971 10 years ago

If Wayne Rogers starred, the series may have gone in a completely different direction.

[–] AlanFirestone 9 years ago

When Wayne Rogers was offered the show, it was supposed to be a spinoff of the TV show.. when Rogers passed, a reluctant Purnell Roberts took the role, and they went in a different direction as a spinoff of the movie. Along with Rogers turning down the part, the original producers, who did the tv series MASH, also passed on it because at the time, they were still doing MASH, followed by AfterMASH.

The court ruling that it's a spinoff of the Movie, came after the shows premier, when it was still up in the air, sort of speaking. The second season is when the show took on a life of it's own.

[–] DarthTokenGator1 9 years ago

After all the trouble, wouldn't of been easier just to rename the main character?! I guess they still wanted to cash in on the success of MASH either way

[–] crood 8 years ago

I always wondered about that. Since the show was ultimately a hospital drama with no real links to MASH outside of the character's name, why did they consider it worth paying royalties for? All it was ever used for was to set up the relationship with Gonzo, early on. The only other reference were the "nicknames" the characters had in the first season that were dropped fairly early on.