It's easy to see why Carson kept having him on. Stevenson was inoffensive, self-deprecating, and could yap incessantly, which would fill up time if they didn't have anyone else to book. It 'was' interesting to learn he'd married someone on The Tongith Show staff. That fact, alone, goes a long way to explaining how he kept getting on. His wife could just tell Carson that he had a couple of amusing anecdotes, and he'd be on. But funny or interesting? No.
And, yeah, it wouldn't be surprising to learn he'd made up the bit about the bank drive-up having television monitors. I guess it wouldn't have been as funny (which it wasn't, anyway) if he'd just said the teller started singing at the window.
Likewise, his story about being in four accidents within the last month was just drawn-out filler, too, although it was entirely believable that he was driving around LA in a ten year old Porsche. Leaving a very successful television show was about the dumbest thing he could have done. Of course, if he hadn't, he'd still have ended up like everyone else who stayed with the show (except for Alda) who are all now long forgotten. In fact, I wonder if the famous MASH scene where it was announced Stevenson's character was killed was done intentionally so he couldn't later milk it for a series or some kind of work. I doubt they were very happy he decided to leave.
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hallrk
8 years ago
From what I have read in the past they were extremely ticked off that he left the show. So they made sure he could never come back by killing him off. Stevenson leaving that show was one of the dumber things any actor has done. Same goes for Wayne Rogers leaving it too.
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rogueforte
8 years ago
Yeah, but killing off Henry Blake kind of backfired on them. Supposedly, there was a huge audience backlash from their 'revenge' on Stevenson for leaving the show. Of course, it cost Stevenson much more in the end; the show went on successfully for many more years while Stevenson's career essentially tanked and never recovered.
I'm not sure Wayne Rogers' career was affected nearly as much. While it's true his fame disappeared even more than Stevenson's when he left, I think Rogers had a rather successful alternate income in the stock market. IOW, Stevenson needed the money that his fame had provided (and pretty much went away after he left M*A*S*H). I don't think Rogers was ever hurting for money, so didn't need his entertainment career.
Plus, there was always the rather incongruous difference between the way the two characters departed the show. An entire episode (I think the last of that season) was devoted to Henry Blake leaving. Trapper John's departure wasn't mentioned until the first episode of the next season, and only after the character was actually gone.
Regardless, the show pretty much 'jumped the shark' after both characters exited and Alan Alda's influence greatly expanded just to insure he wouldn't leave, too.
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ScarletKnights
8 years ago
Trapper John's departure wasn't mentioned until the first episode of the next season, and only after the character was actually gone.
That's because it was a last minute decision. When they tried to hold him to his contract after a dispute, it was discovered that Rogers never signed it, so he was free to go.
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