Email: ryvan@aol.com
Posted: 6/18/2017 10:46:26 PM
I was trying to catch a fish and listening to the radio last night. On the local classic rock station was a show called "Flashback." The show picks a year and does a recap of the year's rock music, interspersed with other news and events from the year. The show was recapping 1977 and asked a trivia question on what MASH actor killed his career by leaving the show that year. After giving the answer, they referred to a failed show in which Larry starred and limited guest star work. Admittedly, I'm no Larry Linville expert, but I really don't think leaving MASH hurt his career. He was a good actor doing a role that had pretty much run its course. Unless Frank was going to become a little more human going forward, staying may have done more harm than good for his career. You think the "Flashback" folks were really off-base, too?
Posted: 6/18/2017 11:11:48 PM
it bristles me when people say "This show ruined their career" Larry's new show just wasn't funny. It's very very hard for people to get more than one successful show in a career, let alone one Look at most of the cast of W.K.R.P, Mary Tlyle Moore, and other hugely successful shows. People like to say that the character of Frank ruined Larrys' career. Not at all. I anything it defined him and people expect Frank to show up other shows. W.K.R.P, MTM, Hunter (Fred Dryer), Dallas(most characters), and countless other shows.
Posted: 6/19/2017 3:05:39 AM
Uusally, whenever they talk about a M*A*S*H actor who "ruined his career with a failed show," they're talking about Mac Stevenson, considering he had not one, but two shows after he left (THE MCLEAN STEVENSON SHOW and HELLO, LARRY).
Posted: 6/19/2017 10:56:32 AM
Acting seems to be such a tough business that even being given an opportunity with an additional show, successful or not, seems to say something positive about your acting career, not negative.
Posted: 7/20/2017 8:52:34 PM
Actually. he had *three*. IN THE BEGINNING, created by Norman Lear, starred Mac as a priest in an ill-advised attempt to make a sitcom out of the old Bing Crosby movie GOING MY WAY. It ran all of five episodes in the fall of '78 before getting yanked.