This would have worked so much better if Radar was back in Iowa on the farm with his mom and he got together with the nurse Patty who he met at the airport when he was headed back to the 4077th after R&R. Patty didn't leave that far from Ottumwa. This just didn't work which is sad.
I agree 100%. I would have liked this storyline too. Radar's mom, and the Ottumwa townfolk. Another character could have been the young Korean boy Park Sung, the farming whiz Radar was sponsoring. How did he adjust to Iowa? Did he encounter prejudice? This would have made a better spinoff
I aggree we picture him there on the farm with his animals he loves so much& his mom.... Maybe if the story went that way the show would have done better this sucks👎🏾
And like everyone else .. I love the character RADAR.. but at this point it became a but odd seeing an actor that was near middle age.. he was around 43.. still playing a 20 year old
@@crpkvlOr a full on veterinarian, with Radar beaming that he “finally understands what Hawkeye and BJ and Dr Winchester were always talking about, at least when it comes to horses or kittens” 😉
I agree with the postings here !! Radar on the farm would have had a charm to the show !! Radar working on the farm , and at the General Store in order to make ends meet , and seeing Patty and Park Sung appear later in the season would have been great !! Also , -- just brainstorming -- but , What If Wayne Rogers appeared on " AfterMASH " as " Trapper John ?? " ( He could be there to perform a special operation , or whatever , ) and meets / converses with Colonel Potter first , ( Whom does not know that this man is the " Trapper " that he has heard so much about , but never met !! ) And , of course , Klinger and Father Mulcahy would recognize him immediately !! It would have been unexpected and fun !!
I appreciate the chance to see it, but it leaves little wonder why it didn't make it. One of Radar's defining qualities on MASH was the warmth and high regard he always displayed when talking about his hometown, family, and farm. I can't imagine why the producers/writers creatives here would then feel the need to put him anywhere else.
Right. If you're going to change all that, then don't make it about Radar. It's some guy who is working as a cop. He would have fit well in AfterMash, or do a show about Radar and his family and neighbors and family farm.
@@bicwhittle7820 It was misguided logic based on Radar’s ability to know what would happen even before those who were about to do it even knew, like the way he’d always quote Colonel Blake before Colonel Blake even said it. Too bad the brilliant writers who succeeded in turning a movie that was crude, vulgar, immoral and even a little blasphemous (those were what made the movie version so funny) into a highly rated and hilarious family friendly sitcom that lasted 11 seasons.
@@Logan_Baron The producers probably thought that picking an already popular character who had been written off years earlier (when Gary Burghoff quit the series in the 8th season), would’ve been a safer choice than to pick an unknown since everyone knew and loved Radar O’Reilly.
@@hydrolito I wouldn't exactly call Trapper John MD a 'spinoff.' The only thing that show had in common with MASH is that they said it was Trapper John. Oh, and in the fist episode he's having a bad dream about Korea and calls out for Hawkeye. It wasn't even Wayne Rogers starring in it. It was Pernell Roberts and it took place like 30 years after Korea. In addition, it was billed as kind of spin off from the MOVIE MASH and not the TV series.
I thought he had help from a Korean kid that was great at farming. I don't understand why they killed his entire back story taking away his farm and his mom it makes no sense
The whole idea with MASH was to not to stick to a in Cement Storyline.. thats why Hawkeye would have a sister, mom and dad.. then just a dad, no siblings, then a mom and dad.. so the kid that they moved there was just a plot to keep a episode going..
This could have worked. I would have liked seeing him in his hometown in Iowa but this did have potential especially with Victoria Jackson's iconic typecast as the soda shop waitress. Catching this pilot was fun!
The only time Radar felt like the Radar we came to love in MASH was when he was answering the questions from the admin lady as she was asking them. They seemed to forget his love of food when we was eating his soup. He would have been eating it while the pharmacist lady was dancing on the counter. (Does anyone remember the Adams Ribs episode when Hawkeye started a food fight in the mess tent and Radar was still happily chowing down.)
A new Green Acres themed sitcom with Radar was back in Iowa on the farm with his mom and he got married with the nurse Patty (who he met at the airport when he was headed back to the 4077th after R&R). Radar's mom, and the Ottumwa townsfolk. Another character could have been the young Korean boy Park Sung, the farming whiz Radar was sponsoring. How did he adjust to Iowa? Did he encounter prejudice? This would have made a better spin off per D Thompson's post
I would guess the reason they did it is everyone would be watching it, wondering, "when is going to visit him?" and expecting it to be a post-war M*A*S*H show
That's not really what people expected of a spin off back then. So many shows are spin-offs you probably don't even know. They were taken as different series. Only people today wine about entitled shit like that. I mean Lucy went on without Ricky for 3 more different shows. Didn't stop them from being a success.
@Kev R You aren't getting the concept of a spinoff. Spinoffs are shows that tie in to preexisting shows. Lucy's other shows were all about unique, totally different characters and none was a spinoff of the others. This show was centered around an existing character from a hit show, so a transitional tie in to that show is to be expected of a spinoff like this. They just did a poor job of pulling it off and totally destroyed most of the continuity of Radar's life post-MASH. They could have evolved him into his own unique personality after a while (think Frasier for example). I agree that Radar deserved better....better writing, better casting (Victoria Jackson was cute but awful) and a better premise.
Wow, what a cast. Including Joe Dante's favorite character actor, Dick Miller! And my boy Bill Bixby directing. All this needed, really, was a few good writers.
If I were to write a "Radar" O'Reilly spin off, it would be Radar selling the farm to the Korean kid, making sure his mom was being care of, and using his GI Bill to go veterinary school.
I'm 54 years old...this is the first time I've seen this. Watched EVERY M*A*S*H episode(and some 'After M*A*S*H' episodes)...never seen this though....
Probably, so but i can always tolerate radar because he's so simple, unaffected and and foremost completely likable. unlike that short stocky neurotic dishonest and at times temperamental city dweller .
I always felt sorry for Radar when Lt. Colonel Blake died. They where so hilarious together. If they didn't kill him off the two would of made a great duo in their own show after Mash.
I loved M*A*S*H and still watch re-runs. The first three seasons with LTC Henry Blake were the absolute best imho. We will never see another series as such.
people hating this clearly were looking for "more mash"... its not... this is a story about a guy who cant catch a break..a nice guy in a bad world. ITS NOT MASH. Its like Rose, from Golden Girls. Its like George Castanza, Or Woody Allen. Remember the era and comedy style and timing. THIS is good. Light hearted..
Thanks for posting. I do not remember this at all and, honestly, it's not very good but I'm glad I got to watch it. This is from the time I had just started college...God, I miss those days.
thx for posting this. I remember years ago when CBS would play the pilots they didn't pick up for regular series. I saw this was scheduled but it ended up not being broadcast due to a power blackout in my area. I think it could have made a good series when you consider what other shows were airing back then. Car 54 meets the 80's. With a good cast and an Andy of Mayberry family feel it could have been a classic. I was also sorry when AfterMASH wasn't given a second season. If the two series had continued there could have been some good cross-over episodes with returning visits from MASH cast mates.
+Chris Cutress AfterMASH did get a second season, but it was put up against The A Team and tanked badly. It was cancelled after 8 episodes with the last going to air May 31, 1985.
Aw man! I loved this! Great characters created to support Radar and I LOVE the references to MASH! Spin off Trapper John MD totally just ignores MASH practically, this is is so cool! I love how Radar talks about Henry and Hawkeye. This was such a cool thing with great potential! I wish they had picked it up
R*A*D*A*R would have been a much better name. He should have been married to a really good character and they could have had a general goods store that doubled as a post office and volunteer fire department in Iowa
This is nice to watch , the way some people are talking it seems like this sitcom didn't last and I had no idea this show even existed, but that waitress in this show was definitely on the mash show I remember her. But nothing will ever replace the best show ever Mash 4077
I loved the character "Walter" from mash but this pilot was almost unwatchable. There are so many great things they could have done with the character but instead completely missed the mark. They should have kept him in Iowa, at least to start. If they had continued right from where mash left off and focused on his predictive ability, they might have had something. I remember watching this many years ago but I was so disappointed I don't think I made it all the way though the show before turning the channel in sadness.
Apparently, the main reason why Gary Burghoff agreed to do this pilot was because police were being portrayed in kind of a negative light at the time, and he wanted to help bring a more positive image to them. I agree with the consensus that a much better Walter spinoff would have been seeing him run the family . . . unfortunately, I think such a series would be about two decades too late: rural sitcoms were tossed out the window by the time the 70s came along, so a show about an innocent farmboy trying to run his family farm would have been out of place in a television landscape that had evolved into shows about social commentary.
You mean they couldn't do a TV show with social commentary set on a family farm? Well, I imagine they could today, with all the issues surrounding farming: GMOs, organics, soil depletion, migrant workers, the harshness of the job, land grabs, subsidies, corporate farming/factory farming, treatment of animals, veganism, racism in farming (black farmers deliberately sold sterile seeds to make their farms fail), sexism in farming, classism, young people leaving the farm, people returning to the farm, urban farming, family farming, community gardens, farmer's markets...shall I go on? Who wants to create this sitcom?
It was shown once in the Eastern and Central time zones of the United States, but pre-empted on the West Coast by CBS News coverage of the Democratic National Convention. This is the only known broadcast of the pilot.
Interesting with the degrees of separation here. Victoria Jackson was on SNL two years later. One of the writers for WALTER was Bob Schiller -- father of Tom Schiller, who was a writer for SNL.
you can buy aftermash on dvd...just not put out by 20ith century fox...its a 4 disc set,.it also includes the episode of WALTER..think its avail. on amazon....i got 1 from a private sale and as in mash if you watch the dvd theres more to the show than whats shone on t.v. theres stuff on the aftermash dvd that didnt get put on these shows....find it ,its a search,buy it and see the stuff not seen here....ENJOY...and remember its aftermash...not mash....its about a few of the vets and how their lives were after mash.....a mash fan.....ENJOY...
Burghoff did a good job recapturing Radar's manner, and there are a number of solid character actors in the cast, but this is pretty awful. The script is horrible. The comedic timing is non-existent. The laugh track seems to go off at random. And who the hell thought it would be a good idea to make Radar a cop in St. Louis? For 7 years we heard all about his mom, the farm, Iowa. They even had that Korean kid as a farmhand. And this was they they came up with.
I mean the MASH writers pretty much had a partial spin off written right there in Radar's last episode, if the people who wrote this pilot actually decided to add to what was already put into play this would have been a pretty good show.
August 3, 2017 from NPR... www.npr.org/2017/08/03/541382961/naacp-warns-black-travelers-to-use-extreme-caution-when-visiting-missouri NAACP Warns Black Travelers To Use 'Extreme Caution' When Visiting Missouri
A big problem with this show is the laugh track. It not only plays when it "thinks" something should be funny, it just plays randomly throughout the show. And the cousin is a thoroughly unlikable character.
Hey C,in the green circle.It does'nt matter that it was written in the 80s, nor that it looked like the 60s. BECAUSE, it was the early 50s when they returned stateside. I was 6 years old in 1966, a time that had the bucolic essence and architectual grace of the 50s. Especially in the mid-country region! I lived in Belton,Missouri in 1970. Area looked like a 40s,50s, and 60s mix. Seems like History was'nt your strong suit in school !
It's funny....sometime in the late 70's,MAD ran an article imagining possible TV spinoff series from that era; one was a re-interpreted "Odd Couple",in which Radar and Klinger (who apparently still wears women's clothing) moving to New York and living together. While it in no way suggested the pair were gay,it did maintain that Klinger's choice of wardrobe made him a lot of new friends in Times Square.
Actually now that I watched the whole show/episode, this show isn't bad. It had some decent parts, and it could have been really decent. I wouldn't have minded a whole season of it.
I gotta tell ya... i am a M*A*S*H fan from when they were new every thursday (or whatever day it was, i was 14, i don't remember what day of the week...) but even if they took him off the farm, and blew up his marriage... (i don't deny those would have made a good series) I still think that the way he interacted with the pickpocket kid and the drugstore girl (who I have always had a crush on...) would have made a fine 3 or 4 season series. Too bad it didn't take...
Just my opinion, but if they were going to do a spin off series about "Radar" why not pick it up after he gets back to Iowa (was it?) to help his mother with the farm and see what predicaments he get into there? All of a sudden he's a rookie cop in MO? What happened to mom and the farm?
watch after mash episodes yours truly and it had to be you...see what happened to radar and the farm,his mom,etc...good episodes,great 2 parter...enjoy ...
Sort of makes me wish I had watched this when it came out! Really, compared to some of the politicized crap on the tube today, this was in fact a rather refreshing visit from Radar, cut some of the crap out by the writers and perhaps a couple of "GOOD" actors in support and this could have been something. Not sure exactly what but since I loved Radar on the MASH, I would have watched this weekly! Perhaps it is the cop in me, or my time in Nam, or just Radar, I don't know but it was OK to me.
Such a tragic back story for poor Radar. Good casting with Victoria Jackson, although they might have done better with developing Radar's partner character. He needed a stronger character to offset his mild manner. Also, they kept some of the tropes from MASH, but not all. His almost telepathic ability was there (thus, his nickname "Radar"), but none of the other characters had that over the top cleverness and constant plays on words, such as BJ and Hawkeye had on MASH. What's left is a period piece, a sitcom that felt more like the '70's than the '80's when it was made. It was also bucking the 80's trend of three camera live sitcoms - Cosby, Cheers, etc. No big surprise that it wasn't picked up for more episodes. Lots of pilots get made, but many don't get picked up. It would have been interesting to see what might have been. They might have retooled some of the things that weren't working and recast some of the characters.
I remember watching this when it first came on CBS, on Thanksgiving. I think Radar and his cousin should had gone to Riverbend, MO to work near General Pershing VA hospital with Sherman Potter, Maxwell Q. Klinger and Fr. Mulcahy. They should had also recruited Odessa Cleveland, who played Nurse Ginger in Season One.
Thanks for this. I LOVE M*A*S*H, and even AfterM*A*S*H. I never got to see this. This made my day, thanks again! One thing however, the plot of this seems odd since Radar had said that the farm was THE most important thing next to his Mom and Uncle Ed. Yet he wasn't even in Iowa at all? I honestly think had they kept Radar in Ottumwa, Iowa, maybe this might have worked a little better?
This episode wasn't too good, it had it's moments of it being good, but for the most part it was dull. Would have been better if it would have picked up where MASH left off with Radar, being on the farm getting adjusted to being the man of the house and him reconnecting with that one woman, Patty that he met at the airport before returning back to camp. The writers may not have had a lot to work with on that plot, but it would have been interesting what they could have done with that though. I would say that out of the MASH spin offs so far After MASH is the best.
Trapper John MD was the only show after mash ended that was successful, simply because it was not a spin off of mash like Walter and Aftermash was. Trapper did elude sometimes to mash but never made it a main continuing story.
Actually, Bill directed episodes of other comedy series before this pilot- including his own "COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER" (his first attempt to work behind the camera), "MR. MERLIN", and "HERBIE THE LOVE BUG". He also directed several dramatic shows..........
This show could have been a hit... if they had taken Radar back to Ottumwa Ia to the farm, where he hooks up with the girl he met just before leaving Korea, starting a family etc. Keep in mind, country shows were a huge hit at this time... Little House on the Prarie, Hee Haw, it would have gone over. But Radar as a city cop? No sale
Wow. It was great to see Gary Burghoff reprise his M*A*S*H character role of Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly in this another new M*A*S*H spin-off series but this was such an infamous disaster and it is very sad that it was never picked up as a new series. It eventually became an almost half hour television movie that was to serve as the pilot for a spin-off series. Ever since Gary Burghoff had left the original M*A*S*H series back in 1979 after making some one last appearances on a two part episode called "Good Bye, Radar", he had expressed a desire to spend more time with his family as he was suffering from an occupational burnout. However in 1984, Gary Burghoff would eventually go on to reprise his M*A*S*H character role in a two part episode on After MASH which was a continuation of M*A*S*H that ran from 1983 to 1985. Those guest appearances would eventually lead to this as CBS and 20th Century Fox Television were prompted to try giving Gary Burghoff his own brand new solo M*A*S*H spin-off series in which it didn't work out. After seeing this for the first time recently, I have a feeling that Radar deserved better and it would have been lovely if Gary Burghoff had stayed in the original M*A*S*H series until the end just like his cast mate Mike Farrell who played Captain BJ Hunnicutt had encouraged him to do so. Otherwise, this was a short lived M*A*S*H spin-off series that was never picked up unfortunately. The rest as they say is history.
Gary Burghoff left "M*A*S*H" in 1979 because he was tired of playing 'Radar' and wanted to move on to other roles. Five years later, he's doing this shit. Sad.
I've gotta be honest. It's kind of a shame this wasn't picked up. I mean, aside from the exposition overload at the beginning, hit was actually a really swell episode of what could've been a nice, cozy show. Kinda like _Night Court._ (And yes, I know this episode nullified Radar's whole story. I still like this for what it is.)
Wendell in the beginning is the same actor who played Benny Goodwin in Rhoda $99o for a television? Same size in 2o22's equivalent costs less than $2oo and the drug store lady played the receptionist Nancy in New WKRP
I'm sorry I loved MASH and Radar was by far one of the best/my favorite characters, but I think he was the last person on the show I could see becoming a big city police officer.
This Pilot might have been shown in more parts of the country, if Jesse Jackson didn't go on, and on, and on, in his speech at the Democratic National Convention.
![TRAPPER JOHN MD - PILOT EPISODE [Full Episode] 1979 - Season 1 - Episode 1 (First Episode)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/c7bDKT8Xc6U/mqdefault.jpg)
This would have worked so much better if Radar was back in Iowa on the farm with his mom and he got together with the nurse Patty who he met at the airport when he was headed back to the 4077th after R&R. Patty didn't leave that far from Ottumwa. This just didn't work which is sad.
Lee Appleyard Exactly what I was thinking. St Louis?!
I agree 100%. I would have liked this storyline too. Radar's mom, and the Ottumwa townfolk. Another character could have been the young Korean boy Park Sung, the farming whiz Radar was sponsoring. How did he adjust to Iowa? Did he encounter prejudice? This would have made a better spinoff
I aggree we picture him there on the farm with his animals he loves so much& his mom.... Maybe if the story went that way the show would have done better this sucks👎🏾
Lee...i agree
Lee Appleyard I agree COMPLETELY!!!!!!!
I would’ve never pictured Radar as a cop. A mail carrier, a logistician, an actuary, but never a cop.
And like everyone else .. I love the character RADAR.. but at this point it became a but odd seeing an actor that was near middle age.. he was around 43.. still playing a 20 year old
I imagined he would gone into Veterinary work.
Nah, a vets assistant, that fits better
Hospital Administration @@crpkvl
@@crpkvlOr a full on veterinarian, with Radar beaming that he “finally understands what Hawkeye and BJ and Dr Winchester were always talking about, at least when it comes to horses or kittens” 😉
I agree with the postings here !! Radar on the farm would have had a charm to the show !! Radar working on the farm , and at the General Store in order to make ends meet , and seeing Patty and Park Sung appear later in the season would have been great !! Also , -- just brainstorming -- but , What If Wayne Rogers appeared on " AfterMASH " as " Trapper John ?? " ( He could be there to perform a special operation , or whatever , ) and meets / converses with Colonel Potter first , ( Whom does not know that this man is the " Trapper " that he has heard so much about , but never met !! ) And , of course , Klinger and Father Mulcahy would recognize him immediately !! It would have been unexpected and fun !!
I appreciate the chance to see it, but it leaves little wonder why it didn't make it. One of Radar's defining qualities on MASH was the warmth and high regard he always displayed when talking about his hometown, family, and farm. I can't imagine why the producers/writers creatives here would then feel the need to put him anywhere else.
He could have been put in the series AfterMash, but this- he just doesn't fit so i'm somehow glad this series was never made
Right. If you're going to change all that, then don't make it about Radar. It's some guy who is working as a cop. He would have fit well in AfterMash, or do a show about Radar and his family and neighbors and family farm.
It didnt make it because they turned it into a crappy unfunny sitcom and honestly without Mash , radar was just a boring character
@@bicwhittle7820 It was misguided logic based on Radar’s ability to know what would happen even before those who were about to do it even knew, like the way he’d always quote Colonel Blake before Colonel Blake even said it. Too bad the brilliant writers who succeeded in turning a movie that was crude, vulgar, immoral and even a little blasphemous (those were what made the movie version so funny) into a highly rated and hilarious family friendly sitcom that lasted 11 seasons.
@@Logan_Baron The producers probably thought that picking an already popular character who had been written off years earlier (when Gary Burghoff quit the series in the 8th season), would’ve been a safer choice than to pick an unknown since everyone knew and loved Radar O’Reilly.
I'll tell you: it's amazing how so many ideas can stem from one single TV show-and still not come to fruition.
Trapper John, MD was a successful spin off.
@@hydrolitotrue that
@@hydrolito I wouldn't exactly call Trapper John MD a 'spinoff.' The only thing that show had in common with MASH is that they said it was Trapper John. Oh, and in the fist episode he's having a bad dream about Korea and calls out for Hawkeye. It wasn't even Wayne Rogers starring in it. It was Pernell Roberts and it took place like 30 years after Korea. In addition, it was billed as kind of spin off from the MOVIE MASH and not the TV series.
I thought he had help from a Korean kid that was great at farming. I don't understand why they killed his entire back story taking away his farm and his mom it makes no sense
I know, it really doesn't. At least with After MASH it stayed true to the story lines of the characters.
And that pretty girl he met at the airport when he was on leave.
The whole idea with MASH was to not to stick to a in Cement Storyline.. thats why Hawkeye would have a sister, mom and dad.. then just a dad, no siblings, then a mom and dad.. so the kid that they moved there was just a plot to keep a episode going..
Thanks for posting this. I always wanted to see the pilot. Never really imagined Radar as a cop.
It's not that bad, he was a guy in a uniform in mash why not a cop for a young guy coming out of a war ?
@@michaelmohrle1773 because he was a PAC clerk not combat or MP lol
This could have worked. I would have liked seeing him in his hometown in Iowa but this did have potential especially with Victoria Jackson's iconic typecast as the soda shop waitress.
Catching this pilot was fun!
The only time Radar felt like the Radar we came to love in MASH was when he was answering the questions from the admin lady as she was asking them. They seemed to forget his love of food when we was eating his soup. He would have been eating it while the pharmacist lady was dancing on the counter. (Does anyone remember the Adams Ribs episode when Hawkeye started a food fight in the mess tent and Radar was still happily chowing down.)
I do now, I want to rent that season all over again.
@@timcondon5184 If you still own a dvd player you can purchase the boxset of Mash rather then rent the shows or stream it with those damn commercials
Adams Ribs was one of the best episodes
@@timothykozlowski2945
I wonder if Trapper ever sent Mildred Feeney the money for the ribs that she picked up for them 🤔, lol.
@@IDSnowman I think Big John gave her the money
A new Green Acres themed sitcom with Radar was back in Iowa on the farm with his mom and he got married with the nurse Patty (who he met at the airport when he was headed back to the 4077th after R&R). Radar's mom, and the Ottumwa townsfolk. Another character could have been the young Korean boy Park Sung, the farming whiz Radar was sponsoring. How did he adjust to Iowa? Did he encounter prejudice? This would have made a better spin off per D Thompson's post
This was CBS and they wanted nothing to do with anything farmish back in the day after the "Rural Purge"
❤ that would've made a great spinoff.
No.
There was no hope for any of this being made into a good spin off. 👎
I was expecting to see Radar his mom& the farm. Bummer
That's why the pilot didn't make it.
Thanks
Same here and it would have been a better plot to pick up where it left off when Radar leaves MASH.
roamer61 exactly. Radar would never send his mom off and sell the farm. What a crock of shit, fuck whoevee decided to make it this way.
Really unfortunate. This series needed to be shot like MASH. Needed the same lighting, writing style, etc. Radar deserved better.
I would guess the reason they did it is everyone would be watching it, wondering, "when is going to visit him?" and expecting it to be a post-war M*A*S*H show
That's not really what people expected of a spin off back then. So many shows are spin-offs you probably don't even know. They were taken as different series. Only people today wine about entitled shit like that. I mean Lucy went on without Ricky for 3 more different shows. Didn't stop them from being a success.
Yeah, that was it. It was the lighting.
@Kev R You aren't getting the concept of a spinoff. Spinoffs are shows that tie in to preexisting shows. Lucy's other shows were all about unique, totally different characters and none was a spinoff of the others. This show was centered around an existing character from a hit show, so a transitional tie in to that show is to be expected of a spinoff like this. They just did a poor job of pulling it off and totally destroyed most of the continuity of Radar's life post-MASH. They could have evolved him into his own unique personality after a while (think Frasier for example). I agree that Radar deserved better....better writing, better casting (Victoria Jackson was cute but awful) and a better premise.
I totally agree, he did deserve better and the writers of this show should have made this spin off stay true to MASH like After MASH did.
Wow, what a cast. Including Joe Dante's favorite character actor, Dick Miller! And my boy Bill Bixby directing. All this needed, really, was a few good writers.
There were a few scenes where I wanted to know what would happen next e week.
If I were to write a "Radar" O'Reilly spin off, it would be Radar selling the farm to the Korean kid, making sure his mom was being care of, and using his GI Bill to go veterinary school.
Never new this existed. As bad as it was I actually enjoyed watching.
It only aired one time, that was on the east coast. For some reason it was never shown on the west coast.
My Wife and I Shaving Dot Com I enjoyed it also. Never knew it this existed. I love "anything" pertaining to MASH.
I wonder if Gary had high hopes for this or knew it was a disaster, I still enjoyed watching it.
I'm 54 years old...this is the first time I've seen this. Watched EVERY M*A*S*H episode(and some 'After M*A*S*H' episodes)...never seen this though....
Thanks for sharing this. I never did get to see it.
In a way, he kinda looks like George Costanza.
Probably, so but i can always tolerate radar because he's so simple, unaffected and and foremost completely likable. unlike that short stocky neurotic dishonest and at times temperamental city dweller .
That's an insult to Radar.
Being short does not mean they look alike.
In a way, don't we all look like George Costanza?
looks a lot like him....*Says sarcastically, Show about nothing.
After mash w Klinger& Potter was pretty good, i just heard about this one w Radar, about to watch! Awe Radar😍
Well, Victoria Jackson always appealed to me, so seeing her in this previously unseen pilot was nice.
Never saw this before! The problem was probably that not enough people saw it or liked it back then. But thanks so much for posting it here.
I enjoyed this. Im a big MASH fan and a After MASH fan too.
I'd say it was a BLESSING this show ... never made it on the air.
WOW!!!! Bill Bixby directed!!!! Learn something new everyday!!!!
I always felt sorry for Radar when Lt. Colonel Blake died. They where so hilarious together.
If they didn't kill him off the two would of made a great duo in their own show after Mash.
I loved M*A*S*H and still watch re-runs. The first three seasons with LTC Henry Blake were the absolute best imho. We will never see another series as such.
They actually could have had the Henry character. Just explain that initial reports of his demise were exaggerated
people hating this clearly were looking for "more mash"... its not...
this is a story about a guy who cant catch a break..a nice guy in a bad world. ITS NOT MASH. Its like Rose, from Golden Girls. Its like George Castanza, Or Woody Allen. Remember the era and comedy style and timing. THIS is good. Light hearted..
No. It’s just stupid.
George Costanza isn't a nice guy. He's a piece of shit that killed a woman (probably intentionally).
Thanks for posting. I do not remember this at all and, honestly, it's not very good but I'm glad I got to watch it. This is from the time I had just started college...God, I miss those days.
Interesting!.....I didn't think a show like this existed!
thx for posting this. I remember years ago when CBS would play the pilots they didn't pick up for regular series. I saw this was scheduled but it ended up not being broadcast due to a power blackout in my area. I think it could have made a good series when you consider what other shows were airing back then. Car 54 meets the 80's. With a good cast and an Andy of Mayberry family feel it could have been a classic. I was also sorry when AfterMASH wasn't given a second season. If the two series had continued there could have been some good cross-over episodes with returning visits from MASH cast mates.
+Chris Cutress AfterMASH did get a second season, but it was put up against The A Team and tanked badly. It was cancelled after 8 episodes with the last going to air May 31, 1985.
The longest 24 minutes of my life.
Aw man! I loved this! Great characters created to support Radar and I LOVE the references to MASH! Spin off Trapper John MD totally just ignores MASH practically, this is is so cool! I love how Radar talks about Henry and Hawkeye. This was such a cool thing with great potential! I wish they had picked it up
TJMD was based off the books, not the series. The producers of the MASH tv series sued but lost.
Pretty easy to see why this was never picked up
I say. Was garbage
Looks like they didn't get the same writers as MASH.
@@littlewitch1218 alan Alda made MASH
R*A*D*A*R would have been a much better name. He should have been married to a really good character and they could have had a general goods store that doubled as a post office and volunteer fire department in Iowa
The Sargent, who was CD on Walker Texas Ranger, also played the bar tender on Season 1 of After MASH.
That was actually better than I expected. I'm not sorry the series wasn't picked though. Seeing every week would have be cloying IMO.
I like the episode! I wish they would've kept it on. 😢
3:26 Lyman ward, the actor who played ferris bueller's father and numerous characters in the director, john hughes' films
I think its cool that walter played something other than mash. I just wish he did more.
This is nice to watch , the way some people are talking it seems like this sitcom didn't last and I had no idea this show even existed, but that waitress in this show was definitely on the mash show I remember her. But nothing will ever replace the best show ever Mash 4077
Uh, I don't think Victoria Jackson was ever on MASH.
I loved the character "Walter" from mash but this pilot was almost unwatchable. There are so many great things they could have done with the character but instead completely missed the mark. They should have kept him in Iowa, at least to start. If they had continued right from where mash left off and focused on his predictive ability, they might have had something. I remember watching this many years ago but I was so disappointed I don't think I made it all the way though the show before turning the channel in sadness.
Apparently, the main reason why Gary Burghoff agreed to do this pilot was because police were being portrayed in kind of a negative light at the time, and he wanted to help bring a more positive image to them. I agree with the consensus that a much better Walter spinoff would have been seeing him run the family . . . unfortunately, I think such a series would be about two decades too late: rural sitcoms were tossed out the window by the time the 70s came along, so a show about an innocent farmboy trying to run his family farm would have been out of place in a television landscape that had evolved into shows about social commentary.
Little House on The Prairie.
You mean they couldn't do a TV show with social commentary set on a family farm? Well, I imagine they could today, with all the issues surrounding farming: GMOs, organics, soil depletion, migrant workers, the harshness of the job, land grabs, subsidies, corporate farming/factory farming, treatment of animals, veganism, racism in farming (black farmers deliberately sold sterile seeds to make their farms fail), sexism in farming, classism, young people leaving the farm, people returning to the farm, urban farming, family farming, community gardens, farmer's markets...shall I go on? Who wants to create this sitcom?
@@APOCALYPSE_X-MEN The Waltons. (Not exactly a farm, but it's rural, and they have a garden and a cow.)
the reporter is the same one that reported on the 4077th
Continuity!
Interesting to see a young Victoria Jackson in this show before she went on Saturday Night Live.
It was shown once in the Eastern and Central time zones of the United States, but pre-empted on the West Coast by CBS News coverage of the Democratic National Convention. This is the only known broadcast of the pilot.
Interesting with the degrees of separation here. Victoria Jackson was on SNL two years later. One of the writers for WALTER was Bob Schiller -- father of Tom Schiller, who was a writer for SNL.
Absolutely loved the pilot shame it never got picked up
you can buy aftermash on dvd...just not put out by 20ith century fox...its a 4 disc set,.it also includes the episode of WALTER..think its avail. on amazon....i got 1 from a private sale and as in mash if you watch the dvd theres more to the show than whats shone on t.v. theres stuff on the aftermash dvd that didnt get put on these shows....find it ,its a search,buy it and see the stuff not seen here....ENJOY...and remember its aftermash...not mash....its about a few of the vets and how their lives were after mash.....a mash fan.....ENJOY...
Burghoff did a good job recapturing Radar's manner, and there are a number of solid character actors in the cast, but this is pretty awful. The script is horrible. The comedic timing is non-existent. The laugh track seems to go off at random. And who the hell thought it would be a good idea to make Radar a cop in St. Louis? For 7 years we heard all about his mom, the farm, Iowa. They even had that Korean kid as a farmhand. And this was they they came up with.
I mean the MASH writers pretty much had a partial spin off written right there in Radar's last episode, if the people who wrote this pilot actually decided to add to what was already put into play this would have been a pretty good show.
Yeah, he walks into the malt shop and laughter explodes for no reason at all.
Who ever wrote this skipped all the episodes of MASH.
Radar needed to grow up, marry and have some little kids. I think he was still in puberty while on MASH.
Shows just what network programmers are good at: .Screwing Up!
Color TVs were RARE in 1954, at least they got the price of it right, the first color TVs were around $1,000 ($7,000 in 2024 dollars).
"There's a city out there seething with crime."
60 years later there is still a big crime problem here.
Much more than there was then - and much more lethal.
The crime rate has gone down some this past year, but it's still not near proper levels.
August 3, 2017 from NPR...
www.npr.org/2017/08/03/541382961/naacp-warns-black-travelers-to-use-extreme-caution-when-visiting-missouri
NAACP Warns Black Travelers To Use 'Extreme Caution' When Visiting Missouri
Last Republican Mayor? 1949
I like this and After MASH. I think these would do better today than they did when they were new.
I would have liked to see him re assemble the jeep he mailed home would made a great episode
This was directed by Bill Bixby, the guy who played David Banner on the INCREDIBLE HULK.
He also played Tim O'Hara on MY FAVORITE MARTIAN and Tom Corbett on COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER.
he did a p!ss poor job....
Who on earth was in charge of that laugh track? Helen Keller?
I literally just shot hot coffee out my nose. Where's the laugh track when you need it?
There was just nothing funny to punctuate.
A big problem with this show is the laugh track. It not only plays when it "thinks" something should be funny, it just plays randomly throughout the show. And the cousin is a thoroughly unlikable character.
I agree with the laugh track issue. they didn't want one on the original series either... TV is a strange land...
Hey C,in the green circle.It does'nt matter that it was written in the 80s, nor that it looked like the 60s. BECAUSE, it was the early 50s when they returned stateside. I was 6 years old in 1966, a time that had the bucolic essence and architectual grace of the 50s. Especially in the mid-country region! I lived in Belton,Missouri in 1970. Area looked like a 40s,50s, and 60s mix. Seems like History was'nt your strong suit in school !
"Same to you, Bigelow!"
I wonder if he was related to Nurse Bigelow.
It's funny....sometime in the late 70's,MAD ran an article imagining possible TV spinoff series from that era; one was a re-interpreted "Odd Couple",in which Radar and Klinger (who apparently still wears women's clothing) moving to New York and living together. While it in no way suggested the pair were gay,it did maintain that Klinger's choice of wardrobe made him a lot of new friends in Times Square.
Thank you Didn't know about this. Have not been able to find ep21-22 of season 1 After M*A*S*H or any of season 2
You can see why this show never got off the ground.
I don't understand why it never went further then the pilot episode that looked like it would have been a good show.
Actually now that I watched the whole show/episode, this show isn't bad. It had some decent parts, and it could have been really decent. I wouldn't have minded a whole season of it.
I enjoyed it, too. I would have enjoyed a whole season.
This only aired one time on the east coast, for some reason it did not make the air on the west coast. July 17th, 1984.
I gotta tell ya... i am a M*A*S*H fan from when they were new every thursday (or whatever day it was, i was 14, i don't remember what day of the week...) but even if they took him off the farm, and blew up his marriage... (i don't deny those would have made a good series) I still think that the way he interacted with the pickpocket kid and the drugstore girl (who I have always had a crush on...) would have made a fine 3 or 4 season series. Too bad it didn't take...
Ah the CBS Specials - the repository for dead pilots.
Anything about MASH I love, and I really enjoyed W*A*L*T*E*R
Just my opinion, but if they were going to do a spin off series about "Radar" why not pick it up after he gets back to Iowa (was it?) to help his mother with the farm and see what predicaments he get into there? All of a sudden he's a rookie cop in MO? What happened to mom and the farm?
That is addressed in his guest appearances in afternash.
watch after mash episodes yours truly and it had to be you...see what happened to radar and the farm,his mom,etc...good episodes,great 2 parter...enjoy ...
100% agree. did mom die, get re-married, what about mom/ the farm???
"You hardly ever see a beaver with unruly hair." Well it is the 50's pal.
She tried to show him her unruly beaver doing the coyote ugly routine on the bar.
Sort of makes me wish I had watched this when it came out! Really, compared to some of the politicized crap on the tube today, this was in fact a rather refreshing visit from Radar, cut some of the crap out by the writers and perhaps a couple of "GOOD" actors in support and this could have been something. Not sure exactly what but since I loved Radar on the MASH, I would have watched this weekly! Perhaps it is the cop in me, or my time in Nam, or just Radar, I don't know but it was OK to me.
Too bad this show didn't fly. ... any chance to see Gary Burghoff do Radar O'Reilly is GOLD.
Such a tragic back story for poor Radar. Good casting with Victoria Jackson, although they might have done better with developing Radar's partner character. He needed a stronger character to offset his mild manner.
Also, they kept some of the tropes from MASH, but not all. His almost telepathic ability was there (thus, his nickname "Radar"), but none of the other characters had that over the top cleverness and constant plays on words, such as BJ and Hawkeye had on MASH.
What's left is a period piece, a sitcom that felt more like the '70's than the '80's when it was made. It was also bucking the 80's trend of three camera live sitcoms - Cosby, Cheers, etc. No big surprise that it wasn't picked up for more episodes.
Lots of pilots get made, but many don't get picked up. It would have been interesting to see what might have been. They might have retooled some of the things that weren't working and recast some of the characters.
Yup, would of made more since Radar returning to Iowa as mentioned. With good writers it properly could of been on a few seasons.
Check it out! It's Ferris Beuler's dad (Lyman Ward) as a police officer on this episode.
Wow Bill Bixby directed this one
The network didn't want to get Bixby angry. They wouldn't like it if he got angry.
I remember watching this when it first came on CBS, on Thanksgiving.
I think Radar and his cousin should had gone to Riverbend, MO to work near General Pershing VA hospital with Sherman Potter, Maxwell Q. Klinger and Fr. Mulcahy.
They should had also recruited Odessa Cleveland, who played Nurse Ginger in Season One.
"Pilots" often crash and burn, and this was NO exception.
After MASH only lasted a few episodes. I don't think this show would have lasted long.
Todd Reeder AFTER MASH lasted 2 seasons (but it should have lasted 2 weeks)
Thanks for this. I LOVE M*A*S*H, and even AfterM*A*S*H. I never got to see this. This made my day, thanks again! One thing however, the plot of this seems odd since Radar had said that the farm was THE most important thing next to his Mom and Uncle Ed. Yet he wasn't even in Iowa at all? I honestly think had they kept Radar in Ottumwa, Iowa, maybe this might have worked a little better?
I would have watched it, bet it would have gotten pretty interesting.
That show could have worked. I always liked Radar.
The girl singing and dancing to Radar was pretty funny.
This episode wasn't too good, it had it's moments of it being good, but for the most part it was dull. Would have been better if it would have picked up where MASH left off with Radar, being on the farm getting adjusted to being the man of the house and him reconnecting with that one woman, Patty that he met at the airport before returning back to camp. The writers may not have had a lot to work with on that plot, but it would have been interesting what they could have done with that though. I would say that out of the MASH spin offs so far After MASH is the best.
What about Trapper John, MD? That was pretty good.
@@tarrylrosier8443 I hadn't seen it at that point. It was pretty good.
The best part? The last three minutes.
Trapper John MD was the only show after mash ended that was successful, simply because it was not a spin off of mash like Walter and Aftermash was. Trapper did elude sometimes to mash but never made it a main continuing story.
Plus they did not try to cast wayne rogers in the lead.
And it was based on the Movie instead of the TV Series
NEVER KNEW THIS EXISTED until today. cant say i liked it, sorry.
Meeno Peluce from Voyagers! plays the pick pocket. That's cool.
You never see Radar and George Costanza in the same place at the same time.
love those classic
Holly crap! Directed by Bill Bixby!
Was this his first time directing?
If it was, he was a little green.
I don't know.
Timothy -- I see what you did there.
Haha
Actually, Bill directed episodes of other comedy series before this pilot- including his own "COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER" (his first attempt to work behind the camera), "MR. MERLIN", and "HERBIE THE LOVE BUG". He also directed several dramatic shows..........
I'm sitting in the year 2020 wishing it was more like the '80s when this show was made about a veteran clerk turned cop in the 50s.
This show could have been a hit... if they had taken Radar back to Ottumwa Ia to the farm, where he hooks up with the girl he met just before leaving Korea, starting a family etc.
Keep in mind, country shows were a huge hit at this time...
Little House on the Prarie,
Hee Haw, it would have gone over.
But Radar as a city cop? No sale
Wow. It was great to see Gary Burghoff reprise his M*A*S*H character role of Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly in this another new M*A*S*H spin-off series but this was such an infamous disaster and it is very sad that it was never picked up as a new series. It eventually became an almost half hour television movie that was to serve as the pilot for a spin-off series. Ever since Gary Burghoff had left the original M*A*S*H series back in 1979 after making some one last appearances on a two part episode called "Good Bye, Radar", he had expressed a desire to spend more time with his family as he was suffering from an occupational burnout. However in 1984, Gary Burghoff would eventually go on to reprise his M*A*S*H character role in a two part episode on After MASH which was a continuation of M*A*S*H that ran from 1983 to 1985. Those guest appearances would eventually lead to this as CBS and 20th Century Fox Television were prompted to try giving Gary Burghoff his own brand new solo M*A*S*H spin-off series in which it didn't work out. After seeing this for the first time recently, I have a feeling that Radar deserved better and it would have been lovely if Gary Burghoff had stayed in the original M*A*S*H series until the end just like his cast mate Mike Farrell who played Captain BJ Hunnicutt had encouraged him to do so. Otherwise, this was a short lived M*A*S*H spin-off series that was never picked up unfortunately. The rest as they say is history.
Gary Burghoff left "M*A*S*H" in 1979 because he was tired of playing 'Radar' and wanted to move on to other roles. Five years later, he's doing this shit. Sad.
I liked it. I would have watched it.
I've gotta be honest. It's kind of a shame this wasn't picked up. I mean, aside from the exposition overload at the beginning, hit was actually a really swell episode of what could've been a nice, cozy show. Kinda like _Night Court._
(And yes, I know this episode nullified Radar's whole story. I still like this for what it is.)
The other cop is clearly supposed to be the Hawkeye of the show. He even sounds like him.
Directed by Bill Bixby!! Lol!
He was Brenda's fiance from Rhoda
Wendell in the beginning is the same actor who played Benny Goodwin in Rhoda $99o for a television? Same size in 2o22's equivalent costs less than $2oo and the drug store lady played the receptionist Nancy in New WKRP
8:16 Is that Lucy, the receptionist at the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department?
Victoria Jackson from SNL!
I'm sorry I loved MASH and Radar was by far one of the best/my favorite characters, but I think he was the last person on the show I could see becoming a big city police officer.
This Pilot might have been shown in more parts of the country, if Jesse Jackson didn't go on, and on, and on, in his speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Was that Patrick Warburton at the end in the bit part as the police officer answering the phone? Looks like him.