| After MASH M*A*S*H ended its 11-season run with a 2-1/2 hour final episode on February 28, 1983, that showed the members of the 4077th parting ways as the Korean War came to an end. The decision to stop the series had come prior to the start of production that season when the seven principal cast members voted 4-3 to end M*A*S*H that year.  The three holdouts in that vote were Harry Morgan, Jamie Farr, and William Christopher. As M*A*S*H's final season got underway, Farr began wondering what he'd do after the series concluded, and started thinking about what happened to all those veterans who passed through the 4077th after they went stateside. He mulled the idea over with Morgan and Christopher, and eventually to Larry Gelbart. The person who developed M*A*S*H for television and who served as its producer for the first four seasons, Gelbart developed a sequel series involving three of the 4077th characters and pitched the idea to 20th Century Fox.
The series was set at General John J. Pershing General V.A. Hospital in River Bend, Missouri. Potter became chief of staff, Klinger was hired as his administrative assistant, and Mulcahy arrived as the hospital's Catholic chaplain. Gary Burghoff returned as Radar for 2 episodes and Edward Winter also reappeared as Col. Flagg. | 
