Trivia / Trapper John, M.D.

• Character Outlives Actor: Nurse Clara "Starch" Willoughby got married during the summer of 1980, retired and moved away from San Francisco; on screen, the character did not keep in touch with her former co-workers, and other than possibly brief mentions early in the 1980-1981 season, she is not referred to again and it was presumed she was still living when the series ended in 1986. That's because Starch's portrayer, Mary McCarty, died in the spring of 1980, shortly after production of the 1979-1980 season episodes ended; Madge Sinclair's character, Nurse Ernestine Shoop, replaced Starch.
• Directed by Cast Member: Gregory Harrison directed five episodes; Charles Siebert did seven episodes.
• Hollywood Old: A minor example. Pernell Roberts was only 51 when the series began, but mathematically Trapper would have to be pushing 60 if not already there.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: The series has never been released to home media or streaming platforms, but fans have preserved all 151 episodes by recording reruns.
• No Dub for You: The German dub of the show omitted just one episode, Season 7's "The Wunderkind", due to laws in the country surrounding depictions of Nazism in media.
• Technical Advisor: Just as he did for the main show, Dr. Walter D. Dishell served as this show's medical advisor to ensure the scenes that take place in the O.R. were as accurate as possible.
• What Could Have Been: Wayne Rogers was reportedly offered the chance to reprise his role as Trapper, but turned it down as he wasn't interested in playing a doctor again. Ironically, he ended up doing just that in House Calls, which premiered mere months after Trapper John, M.D..
• A lawsuit involving MASH film producer Ingo Preminger claiming he had the right to produce the series (the court said he didn't but he got to receive a percentage of the show's profits) had been distorted on the internet as this show not legally being based on the M*A*S*H series and just the film — which is odd because the movie producer was the one suing in the first place). Indeed, during the pilot episode a photo on the wall depicts the television versions of both Hawkeye and Trapper (Alan Alda & Wayne Rogers) instead of the original movie versions (Donald Sutherland & Elliott Gould).

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