The Creator Of MASH's Hated Spinoff Thinks This One Change Would Have Saved It (And He's Right)

Larry Gelbart believes AfterMASH could have been saved by dropping the franchise’s sitcom format entirely. The finale of MASH is the most-watched scripted TV episode of all time – a record that’s unlikely to be beaten. This speaks to how popular the series was when it went off the air, so it makes sense that CBS attempted some MASH spinoff shows to see how they fared. The pilot for Radar spinoff W*A*L*T*E*R proved so bad it only aired once, though after AfterMASH managed to run for two seasons before being canceled.

It was actually a cast vote that ended MASH, with most of the ensemble voting to wrap it up before its quality slipped. The three actors who voted to keep going were Jamie Farr (Klinger), Harry Morgan (Potter) and William Christopher (Father Mulcahy), who were instead offered AfterMASH. While the trio were great supporting players, AfterMASH proved characters like Klinger just weren’t meant to be the leads. It didn’t help that its veteran hospital setting didn’t lead itself toward laugh out loud hilarity.

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AfterMASH’s Creator Thinks The Spinoff Should Have Been A Straight Drama

Larry Gelbart quickly realized the spinoff took the wrong approach

The cast of AfterMASH with Alan Alda's Hawkeye looking upset — Custom image by Simone Ashmoore

Larry Gelbart was the showrunner for MASH’s first four seasons and pioneered the combination of comedy and drama. Gelbart found himself utterly exhausted by the close of season 4 and decided to leave, but was later tempted back by AfterMASH. Speaking with FoundationINTERVIEWs, Gelbart felt exploring a veteran’s hospital in the aftermath of a war was a good hook. In hindsight, he realized the key mistake he made with the spinoff.

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.

Towards the end of MASH, the tonal pendulum between comedy and drama had largely swung toward the latter. Certain viewers much prefer the earlier, lighter seasons, which were broadly comic but peppered with moments of drama, but the show became more serious as it evolved. In that way, it wouldn’t have been a big shift for AfterMASH to switch gears toward being a straight medical drama.

That’s really what it should have been since the attempts at humor in the offshoot rarely landed. As Gelbart suggested, an hour-long AfterMASH exploring the issues faced by veterans would have been a stronger angle, and just because it would have lacked canned laughter, it still could have had humor and lightness too.

Trapper John, MD proved a dramatic take on MASH could work

MASH received another spinoff in the form of Trapper John, MD in 1979 – though its connections to the series have always been murky. The pilot opens with Trapper (Pernell Roberts) dreaming about stock footage from the show, and he has a picture of Alan Alda’s Hawkeye and Wayne Rogers’ younger Trapper on his desk. Despite that, the show later claimed to be spunoff from the 1970 movie. Regardless, Trapper John, MD is unique among the MASH shows, since it’s the only one to drop the sitcom format entirely.

Wayne Rogers reportedly passed on an offer to reprise the title role for Trapper John, MD.

The show is a straight-ahead medical drama – to the point where it doesn’t really need any links to MASH. Trapper’s time in Korea is rarely brought up, and no other characters from the show turn up to say hello. Still, the series proved a MASH offshoot could drop the comedy entirely. Trapper John, MD ran for seven seasons, whereas AfterMASH was canned partway through its second season after CBS made the disastrous call to pit it against The A-Team in the ratings.

Larry Gelbart Feels AfterMASH’s Premise Was Wasted On The Franchise

AfterMASH should have dropped the MASH

Aftermash characters Colonel Sherman Potter, Major Charles Winchester, Father Mulcahy, Nurse Kellye, B.J. Hunnicutt, Mike D'Angelo, Nurse Margie Cutler played by Harry Morgan, Jamie Farr

Gelbart makes a particularly telling remark about AfterMASH when he states “I think AfterMASH is a good idea for series, I think it was a bad idea to people it with people from MASH.” Gelbart seemed to realize while making the spinoff that it was the primary concept he was drawn to, more so than continuing MASH. For him, having three players from the series returning limited what AfterMASH could become, and that the premise would have been better served as a dramatic piece will no ties to the parent show.

AfterMASH could have been an emotional sequel that tackled serious issues, but the concept was held back by tying itself to MASH.

There are episodes of AfterMASH that hint at what a more dramatic version would have been, which make for the stronger outings it produced. The spinoff never figured out what it wanted to be, and the pressure of following up the beloved original series didn’t help. A move away from the sitcom format would have signaled to audiences that the sequel was its own beast, though again, it could have had jokes spread throughout.

Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing, and on paper AfterMASH held potential. It could have been an emotional sequel that tackled serious issues, but as Gelbart suggested, the concept was held back by tying itself to MASH.

Source: FoundationINTERVIEWS