W*A*L*T*E*R

Spin off series are shockingly common in sitcoms and a lot of them are very popular. For example, Frasier, was a spinoff of Cheers, and lasted for the same amount of seasons, and it actually surpassed Cheers in terms of quality. Empty Nest spun off from Golden Girls and it had a pretty decent run. The Jeffersons was a spin off of All In The Family and it's iconic in it's own right.

Most importantly, MASH had a spinoff that was incredibly popular: it was called Trapper John MD. That show, again, had a very successful run.

But this spinoff, alongside AfterMASH, is yet another dud produced by CBS to capitalize off of the success of MASH. W*A*L*T*E*R follows Walter "Radar" O'Reilly as he returns home to his family farm in Iowa----Just kidding! He's actually living in St. Louis now..... as a COP. A freaking COP. What??? Why??

When Radar left MASH, he specifically left because he had a hardship discharge from his Uncle passing away. Radar needed to go home and help his mother with the farm that his Uncle was taking care of in Iowa. How do we get from "Radar's going back to Iowa" to "Radar is now in the big city"?

Here's the other problem--he's a cop. That is completely out of character for Radar. Radar is a clerk, and most importantly, someone who is not exactly "soldier material". Why would he become a cop? It's out of character.

This pilot failed... good! It should have. It was a stupid concept to begin with. AfterMASH would eventually come out and be a mild success as a MASH spinoff, but CBS execs made sure to quickly kill it by the second season by airing it at the same time as The A-Team. If you had the option between cool military dudes blowing up some cultist's barn in the middle of nowhere, or watching Klinger as a nurse... I would rather watch the barn blowing up.

I saw the pilot for W*A*L*T*E*R. Now I know beyond a doubt why they never made it into a series. Here's an interesting tidbit: It was directed by Bill Bixby! I wouldn't be surprised if it did NOT appear on his resume. Even having the asterisks in the title (Radar's real name of course) is dumb.

O'Reilly returns to Iowa, sells the farm & livestock and sends his mother to live with his aunt. His new bride leaves him for another man right after their honeymoon. (what!?) He decides to commit suicide, and goes to a drugstore to buy sleeping pills to overdose (+ aspirin b/c sleeping pills give him headaches (broom-che!)). The drugstore clerk, Victoria Jackson!, cheers him up and they become friends. His cousin Wendell gets him a job on the police force in St. Louis. Jocularity ensues.

Radar goes back home and they make a show about him AFTER he loses the farm? Blech. You may as well have a show about him after he BUYS the farm! To have a show about Radar anywhere but in Ottumwa Iowa is bogus. Miss this! I seal it: DNW: Do Not Watch!

It's really a pity this show didn't get picked up. I really think it had some potential. I'm a big M*A*S*H fan and Radar was my favorite character in the whole show and I do realize I might be a bit subjective, but for this show really seemed to be able to get some laughs. I don't know why AfterMASH was picked for a while and this wasn't but I really wish it was the other way around. I enjoyed seeing Potter, Mulcahy and Klinger in that one, but it seemed to me they veered in a different direction from the one they ought to have gone towards, so I guess that's one of the reasons people didn't like it too much.

TV spin offs did well back in the day. You got The Jeffersons a spin off of all in the family. And Archie Bunker's Place. Gomer pyle USMC a spin off The Andy Griffith Show. Did M*A*S*H had one?? YES it was called trapper john MD. Lasted a long time. But is not on Syndication. Or DVD. But rader did had a spin off called WALTER. And this show IS cringe. I mean really CRINGE. This show makes a long list. First rader might go home to his hometown Iowa? Right? NO. Hes not.

Rader is a cop. A COP?? Ok. Why is a rader a cop? Thats does not make the lore. He lost hes teddy bear and thats it.

Does rader need to be a cop? NO. Because why?

This got falled good! This is CRINGE. No way CBS. That show is not a BANGER SHOW. IF RADER HAS A SPN OFF THATS GOOD NOT A COP thats good. But NO hes a COP.

Come on. I raher watch him on M*A*S*H.

"W*A*L*T*E*R" was a painfully misguided spin off from "M*A*S*H"--as was "After M*A*S*H". The big difference is that "W*A*L*T*E*R" only lasted one episode and was apparently only shown to half the United States. I don't think they bothered showing it to everyone because they realized they had a bad idea in the pilot.

So what is so bad about the pilot? Well, they made the character pathetic and sad--and this is supposed to be a comedy! And, to top it off it had a VERY obtrusive laugh-track--one that OFTEN was used during the saddest and most awful moments in the show. Let me give you a few examples--all of which you learn about through flashbacks. First, Walter loses his farm (ha, ha, ha). Next, he gets married and his bride disappears--running off with another man (ha, ha, ha). And, finally, he goes into a pharmacy to get some drugs so he can commit suicide (he, he, he). Whose idea of funny was this? Was the show written by a serial killer?! Now I am NOT saying you shouldn't watch it--heck it's only 25 lost minutes in your life. But I am saying that I can see exactly why the network didn't pick it up--the show was maudlin. But, if you like the idea of Radar as a cop (talk about miscasting) and want to see Victoria Jackson before she was a regular on "Saturday Night Live", then by all means give it a shot. Just don't say I didn't warn you!