MASH is probably one of my favorite shows of all time, but it had a reputation for replacing characters. In the Season 7 episode Lil, when asked what his initials stood for, he answered, "anything you want", but Hawkeye became adamant to know what they actually meant. ran for seven seasons, airing its series finale in 1986. THEN: Wayne Rogers played surgeon Captain John "Trapper" McIntyre, Hawkeye's partner-in-crime in the show's first three seasons, before leaving . But after an observation from Klinger, Hawkeye gets wise and convinces Charles to help him get revenge on B.J.. You think a lot of people will be tuning in to see the series finale of Supernatural this year, or Law and Order: SVU (whenever that happens)? In the end, Hawkeye thinks he has won until the others all point out to him that he never actually saw any of them get pranked; B.J. In the original novel he, Hawkeye and Duke were all married, while in the film there is no mention of Trapper's marital status, but they all lived a semi-hedonistic lifestyle with their drinking and carousing. Appearances However, before the show's seventh seasons premiered, Farrell's best friend on the show and in real life, Alan Alda, asked him to grow a mustache. It was a major switch, considering Trapper John was partners in crime with Alan Alda's character Hawkeye. [8][9] He died exactly one year before fellow M*A*S*H cast member William Christopher. The series was canceled after two seasons. Hawkeye Pierce is featured as the main character, played by Donald Sutherland in the 1970 film M*A*S*H and by Alan Alda on the television series also titled M*A*S*H. Later spin-offs involve characters who appeared in the series, but were set after the end of the war. gets his discharge papers and is overly excited to finally be going home. Odessa Cleveland appeared on M*A*S*H from 1972-1975 as Ginger Bayliss, one of the most frequently featured nurses over the first few seasons. Speaking of writing, M*A*S*Halso had an incredible pilot episode turnaround. Upon hearing the news, Hawkeye learns, an ecstatic Trapper ran through the mess tent naked. The Actors from M*A*S*H On How M*A*S*H Changed Our Lives, Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, Later, at the beginning and the end of Season 5's. also has a solid moral code and holds fast to his Hippocratic Oath; this is displayed in Preventive Medicine after Hawkeye spikes the drink of a bloodthirsty Colonel Lacy to make him medically unfit to lead an unnecessary battle. is shown to have a passion for motorcycles; he gets to drive one in The Yalu Brick Road. Why did McIntyre leave MASH? Nurse Bayliss was one of the few Black actors to appear as a recurring character on the show, and she was prominently featured in the season two episode "Dear Dad Three" in which she is forced to treat an angry and racist patient. He was the youngest of the main characters on the show, and was 78 in 2022. Then, in the movie The Gig (1985), alongside Cleavon Little, he was a jazz musician-hobbyist whose group has an opportunity to play a Catskills resort and must confront failure. B.J. Disobeying Major Burns' order to stay in camp, Hawkeye hitches a ride with Radar (who is on his way to Kimpo) to see Trapper one last time, but missed him by just ten minutes. was originally intended as a continuation of the departed Trapper John, with many of the latter's habits and mannerisms initially being retained through B.J. RELATED: 15 Actors Who Regretted Quitting TV Shows And Movies. Hunnicutt, hearing of the pranks played by Trapper John, attempts to show that he in fact is "the world's heavyweight scamp". itself; when Hawkeye rhetorically asks who would name their son "B.J. maintaining that they stood for nothing at all, Hawkeye went to great lengths to get at the truth, sending telegrams to many of B.J. He won five Emmy Awards for his work on the show, and he has remained a well-known and successful actor to this day. stop at Rosie's Bar and get plastered. He briefly visits Hawkeye, but makes no mention of his discharge while there. THEN: Maxwell Q. Klinger was only supposed to appear in one episode as a Colonel who dresses in womens clothing in an attempt to get kicked out of the Army (the 1970s were a different time). According to MeTV, Wayne was unsatisfied with certain terms in his contract, but instead of having them altered, he just never signed it. strongly objects to this needless surgery calling it mutilation and a violation of his oath, and after a heated argument with him refuses to be a part of Hawkeye's scheme. In the final episode he gets yet another motorcycle from a group of Chinese POWs and, after painting it yellow, rides it off into the sunset toward home. Incorrectly regarded as a goof in the series is him being shown as a Captain. Played by: [5] Players alternate between controlling a helicopter picking up wounded soldiers from the front and a surgeon removing shrapnel from a soldier, similar to Microsurgeon. gets into a discussion with Hawkeye about the things they're not going to miss once they head home, but when their discussion comes around to what they will miss- each other, B.J. In 1973, a play by Tim Kelly, based on the book, television show, and film, was published in both one-act and full versions. Honeycutt. After returning from R&R in Tokyo, Hawkeye is informed by Radar that Trapper John had gotten his discharge and was on his way to Kimpo Air Field in Seoul to fly home. Rogers also appeared in the 1980s miniseries Chiefs. Did you know that M*A*S*Hwas based on a novel? NOW: Stevenson passed January 15, 2016, from a heart attack. . Both Col. Blake and Major Burns were two dimensional characters. Wiki User. In Radars Report, when Trapper's patient later dies after a wounded POW smashed an IV blood bottle connected to the patient, Trapper was so enraged that he confronted the bedridden POW in a threatening manner, with serious thoughts of retaliation for the loss of his patient. Season 4 was pretty similar to the previous two seasons save the fact that BJ and Potter had replaced Trapper and Henry. The Korean War lasted under four years, yet the show itself ran for 11 years. is in a helicopter and forced to cut a rope leading down to a wounded soldier he and the pilot were attempting to rescue from an enemy patrol, effectively abandoning him to capture or death. THEN: Coming in to replace Trapper John as Hawkeyes best friend/partner-in-crime, B.J. He played a soldier who not only suffered an injury but also had leukemia. When Mike Farrell's Captain B.J. Rogers married his second wife, Amy Hirsh, in 1988. He acquired the nickname "Trapper John" during an incident in which he was having sex with a woman in a Boston & Maine Railway washroom. Though not always the case, it was something fans of the series learned later. ", "I'm a temporarily misassigned civilian.". Elliott Gould (1970 film)Wayne Rogers TV series Pernell Roberts Trapper John, M.D. For instance, Hawkeye didn't have one for Crab Apple Cove. "Trapper" John Francis Xavier McIntyre is a fictional character in Richard Hooker's M*A*S*H novels, as well as the film and the two TV series (M*A*S*H and Trapper John, M.D.) Trapper left no goodbye note but did "give" Radar a kiss on the cheek to pass on to Hawkeye, which he very reluctantly does. Other actors from the TV show served in additional branches of the military. Hazel The armistice is finally signed ending the war, but more wounded arrive and then the 4077th is ordered back to its original location. Once the land was sold, the time capsule was discovered only months after the series ended, which likely affected its relevance to the construction worker who found it and asked what to do with it. : Eventually, B.J. Eye Color: Mulcahy with Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper mentions that his parents wanted him to be a priest. In the time between his Korea experience and his tenure at San Francisco Memorial Hospital, Trapper John (now played by Pernell Roberts) had matured considerably, becoming a steadier part of the medical establishment. CBS refused to give the green light to an episode where soldiers would stand outside in the cold to purposefully become ill enough to be sent home, even though writers stressed that this was a true detail regarding soldiers that should at least be shown to audiences. then reveals that the real target of the joke was Hawkeye himself, brilliantly proclaiming that "the greatest joke of all was the joke that never came". series, divorced) After the third season, Rogers left the show and was replaced by Mike Farrell as B. J. Hunnicutt. During a break in the deluge, B.J. in 1986. In light of the series' lengthy run, Rogers later admitted he regretted leaving M*A*S*H. Trapper John's final M*A*S*H episode was "Abyssinia, Henry," which also included the final appearance of Col. Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson). They have also written several books. Hawkeye starts asking him questions, swearing that he has seen him somewhere before. (Harry Morgan). The 1972 hit television series M*A*S*H was a spinoff of the similarly popular, albeit darker, movie of the same name, launching the successful career of director Robert Altman. Some gossip still made its way around, but there was no way of knowing all of the fun secrets, inside jokes, and hidden details behind favorite TV shows. He appeared on the Cannon episode "Call Unicorn" in 1971. In 1988 and 1990, he appeared before the United States House Committee on the Judiciary as an expert witness, testifying in favor of retaining the banking laws enacted under the GlassSteagall Legislation act of 1933. Although the show depicted many truths to the war, it also avoided some that painted the troops in an unpatriotic light. This series is the most popular and best-known version of the franchise and was ranked #25 in TV Guide's "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". Frank's unnatural storyline is because Larry Linville's five-year contract was up. At the time, he claimed he didn't want to get typecast into physician roles and wanted to expand his acting reach. He succeeded Elliott Gould, who had played the character in the Robert Altman movie MASH, and was himself succeeded by Pernell Roberts on the M*A*S*H spin-off Trapper John, M.D. Interestingly, the growth of the mustache also coincided with a change in B.J. is overcome with envy over Radar's discharge, and says he almost hates Radar because he is home while he is still stuck in Korea, then mentioning that he feels the same way about Trapper even though the two have never met. Most of the cast had no idea when Henry Blake was being offed from the show. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Wayne's exit from the show was abrupt and against the wishes of the producers. Jamie Farr and Alan Alda, who played Klinger and Hawkeye, respectively, were both military men. to replace the departed Trapper John as Hawkeye's best friend, and they did many things together, including going to Tokyo on R&R (Dear Comrade). However, that changed radically when Alan Alda was cast as Hawkeye. does not appear-. (son) & Kimberly 'Kim' McIntyre (daughter) (on Trapper John, M.D. William Wayne McMillan Rogers III (April 7, 1933 December 31, 2015)[1] was an American actor, known for playing the role of Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre in the CBS television series M*A*S*H and as Dr. Charley Michaels on House Calls (19791982). Trapper had a reputation for being a womanizer. Rogers played Trapper John, usually acting opposite of Alan Alda's Hawkeye. While Hawkeye tends to fly strictly by his gut emotions (often at the expense of his better judgment), B.J. It's fun to revisit some of the shows of yesteryear and discover just what was going on during filming, what the series was actually based on, and other fun hidden facts about the programs. NEXT:20 Mistakes In Iconic Sitcoms Only True Fans Noticed. Rogers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005.[6]. Who replaced trapper john on mash tv show? The actor who played Lt. Why did BJ replace Trapper on MASH? Like many great long-lasting TV shows, many of the guest stars who appeared in M*A*S*Hwent on to become A-list actors. Wayne Rogers, who starred as the irreverently cantankerous Trapper John on TV's M*A*S*H, died Thursday . Hunnicutt is a character in the M*A*S*H TV series. After leaving M*A*S*H, Rogers appeared as an FBI agent in the 1975 NBC-TV movie Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan, as Michael Stone in the 1980 miniseries Top of the Hill, and as civil rights attorney Morris Dees in 1996s Ghosts of Mississippi. NOW: Alda continues to act in occasional projects, including playing Jack Donaghys soft-hearted liberal father on the sitcom 30 Rock. In Bottoms Up, after he stages a prank with Hawkeye during which Charles loses his pants in the OR (for which Hawkeye was blamed), B.J. This presents a problem for Colonel Blake as he intended to appoint Trapper Chief Surgeon, but Margaret is determined to see Trapper punished. Plus, Rogers came into and left MASH when the show was still fresh. Colonel Blake). Anyone who loved the show would have thought that it made a poignant moment and would be just as exciting once the time capsule was found, but the person who discovered it wasn't very impressed, according to actor Alan Alda. In August 2006, Rogers was elected to the board of directors of Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.,[5] a Fortune 1000 manufacturer of semiconductors and electronic components. Legally, Trapper John, M.D. B.J. NOW: Linville passed from pneumonia in 2000. Ironically, nearly three months after Trapper John, M.D. M*A*S*H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. To counter his leave, the creators attempted to sue Wayne for breaking his contract, but the actor had a loophole that they weren't aware of: He had never actually signed the contract they'd presented him. 's forced separation from his family, particularly missing the important moments (his and Peg's anniversary and Erin's first two birthdays) and the imposed neglect of his own domestic responsibilities (basic repair jobs that he would normally handle if he were still at home) were particularly upsetting to him. But while Hawkeye continued womanizing, B.J. Radar had tried unsuccessfully to reach Hawkeye in Tokyo to alert him of Trapper's departure. M*A*S*H character On two separate occasions, Margaret drunkenly professes her attraction to Trapper John. Season 5 continued to put comedy first, though Margaret began to change and Burns ran out of room to grow. was given the honor of speaking the last word in the series. B.J. The characters were so beloved that the show inspired two spinoffs, After M*A*S*H, which ran for two seasons and won a Peabody award, and Trapper John MD, which ran for seven and was nominated for three Emmys. According to ScreenRant, the show was involved in a lawsuit as the M*A*S*H creators claimed the series was a spinoff of their show. In the series finale, while Hawkeye is in psychiatric care for his nervous breakdown, B.J. THEN: Alongside Alda, Loretta Swit was one of the longest-serving members of the 4077, playing head nurse and stickler for the rules Margaret Hot Lips Houlihan for all 11 seasons. Shortly after B.J. In fact, the producers gave the TV version of Hawkeye some of the character details of the film version of Trapper (in the MASH film, Trapper John is the 4077th's top chest-cutter and Chief Surgeon; in the TV series, Hawkeye is Chief Surgeon and references are made to him being the camp's top chest-cutter). "Pilot" (Season 1, Series pilot) In the series finale ofM*A*S*H, the staff has to bug out due to an incoming brush fire. He trapped me! revolved around the interrelation between Trapper and his younger colleague, Dr. George "Gonzo" Gates (Gregory Harrison), who had served in a MASH unit in Vietnam and exhibited some of the same behaviors Trapper John himself once had. Richard Hooker's book MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors is the story of the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea, . Following a team of U.S. Army surgeons as they tried to deal with the heartbreaking reality of the Korean War, the show quickly became a hit, running for more than a decade across 11 seasons. In Post Op, Frank Burns wrongly accuses an enlisted corpsman named Boone of killing his patient; Boone is crushed, but Trapper examines the patient's chart and then punches Frank in the presence of Margaret who had just arrived at camp moments earlier. about Trapper, whom he is replacing, and then about Henry and Frank, the latter of whom Hawkeye reveals to B.J. . in for a Bronze Star for bravery, B.J. ", Related: The Real Reason Shelley Long Left 'Cheers'. B.J. On the other hand, B.J. that everyone in camp calls "Ferret Face". He must leave so quickly after hearing the news that he has no time even to leave a note, echoing Trapper's failure to do so at his departure. ran for seven seasons, airing its series finale in 1986. Show was on another level when they replaced most of the earlier characters. The series is correct in having him be a Captain. later apologizes to Hawkeye for hitting "the best friend I ever had", and then breaks down sobbing over the excruciating reality that the first person that Erin called "Daddy" was somebody else, added to which he knows he will never regain the lost time he should have had with Erin. McIntyre is portrayed by Elliott Gould in the 1970 film, by Wayne Rogers in the first three seasons of the television series, and then by Pernell Roberts in the 1979-86 series Trapper John, M.D. Another weird detail: when cast members complained about the script too much, writers changed the script to make actors wear parkas, pretending it was cold weather, when it was 90 to 100 degrees on set. Trapper John, M.D. Several of these living TV legends continue to work in film and TV to this day, and perhaps they will gather together in September to celebrate the iconic show's special birthday. becomes the second main character (after Klinger, and before Potter and Winchester) to not appear in either the 1968 novel or the 1970 film. Similarly, Radar never put one up for Ottumwa, Iowa. B.J. In Oh, How We Danced, Hawkeye and the others tried to ease B.J. received a letter from Peg in which she tells of meeting Radar in San Francisco; he becomes particularly upset when he reads that Erin ran up to Radar and called him "Daddy"; his anger reaches a level where he destroys the still in the Swamp and punches Hawkeye in the face before storming out. He was a big part of the show's makeup during those early seasons. Fox developed a M*A*S*H video game that was released for the Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit family and the TI-99/4A. He found the character too cynical, however, and asked to screen test as Trapper John, whose outlook was brighter. revolved around the interrelation between Trapper and his younger colleague, Dr. George "Gonzo" Gates (Gregory Harrison), who had served in a MASH unit in Vietnam and exhibited some of the same behaviors Trapper John himself once had. During production of M*A*S*H, Mike Farrell met Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams, who served as a technical consultant on the show. The ruse didnt work, as the character was so popular he stayed for the entire run of the series. Gary Burghoff was the first actor cast. According to Radar, after hearing the news, an ecstatic Trapper went streaking through the Mess Tent. Related: Why Julia-Louis Dreyfus Has Never Seen The First Episode Of Seinfeld. B.J. Wayne Rogers, who portrayed "Trapper" in the TV series, was told when he accepted the role that Trapper and Hawkeye would be equally important, almost interchangeable (much like how Hawkeye and Trapper were presented in the MASH film). The show ran from 1972-1983, which puts it in elite company after all, only the most popular shows can run for ten seasons or more. He played Slim Davis on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow in 1959. Captains B. J. Hunnicutt and "Trapper" John McIntyre are fictional characters from the television series M*A*S*H. Wayne Rogers, who portrayed "Trapper" in the TV series, was told when he accepted the role that Trapper and Hawkeye would be equally important, almost interchangeable (much like how Hawkeye and Trapper were presented in the MASH film). B.J. The main reason was to distinguish the two characters, who seemed quite similar. Though he did show some stubble from time to time, he remained without a full face of hair during his first few seasons. He has served as an executive producer and producer in both television and film, and as a screenwriter, and a director. We've updated this list with a few more items that should make you nod in understanding about some of the show's quirks. Centered around the exploits of Army surgeons in the fictional Mobile Army Surgical Hospital 4077 during the Korean War, the show began as a spinoff of the hit Robert Altman film released in 1970, which in turn was an adaptation of the bestseller M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Doctors. This changed after Alan Alda, whose acting career and rsum up to that point had outshone that of Rogers, was cast as Hawkeye and proved to be more popular with the audience. Captain B.J. The character of B.J. Hawkeye and Radar rush to Kimpo airport to attempt to see him one last time before he departs stateside, but while they miss Trapper by a mere ten minutes, they meet his replacement, Captain B.J. The U.S. entered the Korean conflict at the end of June 1950. THEN: TV veteran Harry Morgan stepped into McLean Stevensons army boots, playing the gruff-but-loveable camp commander Colonel Potter through the end of the series and into the spinoff AfterM*A*S*H. NOW: Morgan passed in his sleep in 2011 at the age of 96. "MASH", in posters for the movie and in the trailer, it was rendered as M*A*S*H. M*A*S*H, a TV adaptation of the film, ran from 1972 to 1983, more than three times as long as the war it chronicled. At the beginning of Season 4 (after the dramatic season 3 finale in which Henry is discharged but killed on the way home), Hawkeye returns from R&R alone in Tokyo to find that Trapper has also been discharged. Hunnicutt. The most prominent example of this was in Period of Adjustment when, soon after Radar went home, B.J. Morgan, a veteran character actor and former Universal contract player, portrayed Colonel Sherman T. Potter. Gary Burghoff played the popular character Walter "Radar" O'Reilly on M*A*S*H for the first eight seasons of the show's run. Despite his unceremonious exit from M*A*S*H, Wayne was apparently offered an opportunity to reprise the role he'd played in the series in his own spinoff show, Trapper John, M.D. Hair Color: remained strongly devoted to his family back home, although he did have two close calls with infidelity while at the 4077th: While largely unflappable in other regards, B.J. Trapper John, M.D. He was also the head of Wayne Rogers & Co., a stock trading investment corporation. 1970 MASH film and M*A*S*H and Trapper John, M.D. THEN: David Ogden Stiers character Winchester replaced Frank Burns as Hawkeyes foe, although Charles Emerson Winchester III was a little more rounded, being less antagonistic and more stuffy and pompous, if kindhearted. The rank of Captain is achieved after 7 years of active duty service or a field promotion for officers on the line side (fighting). On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Study now. Home: Copyright 2023 Distractify. The cast from the M*A*S*H series appeared in advertising for IBM products, such as the PS/2 line that introduced the PS/2 connector for keyboards and mice. 's daughter, B.J. Despite his friendship with Hawkeye, it is implied that Trapper never bothered to contact him for the remainder of the war to apologize for his awkward departure; even though that was completely selfish and out of character on his part, it was probably the writers' intent to not let his departed character cast a negative shadow on his replacement, B.J. BJ Hunnicutt, played by Farrell (replaced Trapper John after the fourth season) Reynolds (co-creator, producer, director): We named him "BJ" because our cameraman, a great guy, was named Bill . Her performance was critically acclaimed, and she won two Emmy Awards out of ten nominations for her performance on M*A*S*H. These days, Swit seems to be mostly retired from acting. During its 11-season run, the staff at the 4077th celebrated theholiday four times. Trapper John was referred to a few times in the series after his departure, most prominently in The Joker is Wild, in which B.J., hearing of the pranks played by Trapper John, attempts to show that he in fact is "the number one scamp". In reality, the show's set on the Fox Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains was devastated during filming of the final episode. First appeared in: Jamie Farr played Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger on M*A*S*H for all eleven seasons, although his character only appeared in a recurring role for the first three seasons before being upped to series regular status for season four. But audiences took to the bit character that he was written in as a regular on the show. reluctantly tells Hawkeye that he can no longer thumb his nose at authority, as the act and the citation have turned him into a soldier. After the camp is forced to bug out due to a major forest fire caused by incendiaries, B.J.