M*A*S*H (TV series) the parent show's Monday night time slot and featured several of its characters reunited in a Midwestern hospital after the war. The more successful "Trapper John, M.D." (1979–86) took place nearly three decades after the events of "M*A*S*H" and depicted Trapper John McIntyre as chief of surgery at a San Francisco hospital; its producers argued successfully in court that it was based on the earlier movie rather than the TV series. In an unpurchased television pilot, "W*A*L*T*E*R" (1984), Walter "Radar" O'Reilly joins the St. Louis police force after his farm fails following his return to the US. "Making M*A*S*H", a
M*A*S*H (TV series) days of real time. Many of the stories in the early seasons are based on tales told by real MASH surgeons who were interviewed by the production team. Like the movie, the series was as much an allegory about the Vietnam War (still in progress when the show began) as it was about the Korean War. The episodes "Abyssinia, Henry" and "The Interview" were ranked number 20 and number 80, respectively, on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time in 1997. In 2002, "M*A*S*H" was ranked number 25 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In