Sometimes, people get confused about the difference between a legal distinction and an actual distinction. This is what has caused many web sources to proclaim that the MASH spinoff, Trapper John, M.D. was actually a spinoff of the original movie, not of the TV series. Wrong! It was definitely meant to be a spinoff of the TV series.
As good as the film was, it was dwarfed by the popularity of the show. Why would anyone base a television show off a movie most people hardly remembered instead of one of the most successful television shows in history? They wouldn’t. The Trapper John in the spinoff was supposed to be Trapper John McIntyre from the show, not the film. Of course, since it was Pernell Roberts, mister miscast himself, there was no actual resemblance, neither in looks nor personality.
Trapper John, M.D. was “Legally” a Spinoff of the Movie
The producer of the MASH film was Ingo Preminger. Preminger had an agreement with 20th Century Fox that gave him “first right of refusal” for any spinoffs produced from MASH. While Trapper John, M.D., which began airing in September 1979, was certainly meant to be based on the TV show and somewhat the film, Preminger filed a lawsuit saying that, due to his contract with FOX, he was entitled to a share of the profits and he should be the producer of the show.
The New York Supreme Court agreed that Preminger was entitled to a 25% share of profits and declared that the show was legally a spin-off of the movie. However, the court did not agree that he had the right to produce the show based on his original agreement with Fox.
Trapper John, M.D. Pilot Features Images and Clips From the MASH TV Show
Although it is not clear whether this actually happened, it’s often claimed that the he producers of the show also sued, seeking royalty payments, saying that the spin-off was based on Trapper John, played by Wayne Rogers in the MASH show. The movie’s producers managed to convince the court that the series was based on the movie and the original book.
Based on the pilot, this is clearly not true. The first episode includes a dream sequence of Trapper’s which has photos and video clips from the MAS*H film and the TV series. One of the pictures is a publicity photo of Wayne Rogers as Trapper and Alan Alda as Hawkeye. As he wakes up from his dream, he mentions Radar and Hawkeye. While it seems obvious that both the show and the film were supposed to be inspirations, after this, Trapper’s time in Korea is rarely mentioned and, of course, none of the MASH characters appear.
Weird Spinoff Bearing No Resemblance to the Source Material
Now that we have that cleared up, most will agree that it hardly matters. Trapper John, M.D. was a spinoff in spirit only. It bore so little resemblance to anything to do with MASH and Trapper John, many folks watching it at the time did not even realize it was that Trapper John! While it was a good show that dealt with some serious issues, including AIDS, it was really just a medical show about a doctor and a mentor. The idea was that Trapper had “mellowed.” Well, people can mellow, but they rarely receive personality transplants.
Pernell Roberts has no more business playing Trapper John than he did playing a Cartright on Bonanza. He was truly an actor without any depth or ability to immerse himself into a character. He had a tendency to be over-dramatic, something that certainly doesn’t suit the character of Trapper. Regardless, he played Trapper John for twice as long as Wayne Rogers did.
