Yet another question for Elsig...
Bob Gassel
to thinking about Col. Blake's death...
After the announcement of his plane being shot down, the next epsiode begins
some days or weeks afterwards; did you ever consider doing an episode showing
what happened in that intervening time...the days after Blake's death? Did you
or the network consider it too maudlin? Did Wayne Rogers departure affect this
decision...if Rogers hadn't left, would the next season's premiere been
Potter's arrival?
BG
Elsig
to thinking about Col. Blake's death...
>
>After the announcement of his plane being shot down, the next epsiode begins
some days or weeks afterwards; did you ever consider doing an episode showing
what happened in that intervening time...the days after Blake's death?
>
No.
> Did you or the network consider it too maudlin?
>
The issue obviously never arose.
> If Rogers hadn't left, would the next season's premiere been
Potter's arrival?
>
Yes.
LG
Mikael Uhlin
>>If Rogers hadn't left, would the next season's premiere been
>>Potter's arrival?
>
>Yes.
This subject has been brought up before but I've never really got the
picture clear. The production numbers indicates that episodes # 74 [G-501],
Change of Command (when Potter arrived), # 75, It Happened One Night [G-502]
and # 83, Of Moose And Men [G-503] were made before # 73 Welcome To Korea
(which introduced BJ) [G-504-506]. It also places # 79 Dear Mildred [G-505]
in between.
But exactly when during production was it clear that Rogers should leave?
Before the filming of season 4 started or after those three first episodes
(G-501 - 503) were made? Were those episodes not completed when Rogers left
and Farrells parts added later? BJs appearance in "Change of Command" really
seems as a Trapper-leftover, whereas in "Of Moose And Men" it's definitely
BJ and not Trapper.
Bob Gassel
>picture clear. The production numbers indicates that episodes # 74 [G-501],
>Change of Command (when Potter arrived), # 75, It Happened One Night [G-502]
>and # 83, Of Moose And Men [G-503] were made before # 73 Welcome To Korea
It's not unusual for episodes to be produced out of sequence, so I wouldn't
read much into it. You have to remember, "Welcome To Korea" was a fairly
big-scale episode, with lots of additional sets and locales, so it probably
took longer than usual for pre-production.
Just remember that "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" wasn't the last episode
filmed...logistics dictate filming schedules.
BG
Mikael Uhlin
>It's not unusual for episodes to be produced out of sequence, so I wouldn't
>read much into it. You have to remember, "Welcome To Korea" was a fairly
>big-scale episode, with lots of additional sets and locales, so it probably
>took longer than usual for pre-production.
Yeah, that's true, but as Elsig said that "Change Of Command" would have
been the first episode of Season 4 if Wayne Rogers hadn't left, they
obviously added "Welcome To Korea" at a later stage in order to introduce
BJ. My question is if this addition was done before or after the filming had
started.
Elsig
clear. The production numbers indicates that episodes # 74 [G-501], Change of
Command (when Potter arrived), # 75, It Happened One Night [G-502] and # 83, Of
Moose And Men [G-503] were made before # 73 Welcome To Korea (which introduced
>
>But exactly when during production was it clear that Rogers should leave?
Before the filming of season 4 started or after those three first episodes
(G-501 - 503) were made? Were those episodes not completed when Rogers left and
Farrells parts added later? BJs appearance in "Change of Command" really
seems as a Trapper-leftover, whereas in "Of Moose And Men" it's definitely BJ
and not Trapper.
>
I can't really get into which production number followed what. It wasn't all
that important to me.
With Stevenson definitely gone at the end of season 3, plotting began on what
would have been the first episode of Season 4 - "Change of Command." The work
was done during the hiatus between (seasons) 3 and 4.
During that period, we sweated out the Rogers situation - would he leave the
show, wouldn't he, etc. When it became clear that he was leaving, we began
casting for another actor and preparing the script for "Welcome to Korea,"
without a whole lot of time to get it ready.
LG
Mikael Uhlin
>With Stevenson definitely gone at the end of season 3, plotting began on
what
>would have been the first episode of Season 4 - "Change of Command." The
>work was done during the hiatus between (seasons) 3 and 4. During that
period,
>we sweated out the Rogers situation - would he leave the show, wouldn't he,
etc. >When it became clear that he was leaving, we began casting for
another actor and >preparing the script for "Welcome to Korea," without a
whole lot of time to get it ready.
Very interesting! Thanks a lot for answering.