Loretta Swit Was Forbidden From Leaving M*A*S*H For Another Opportunity
"M*A*S*H" star Loretta Swit didn't always have the easiest time as the only main female star of the series; her character was often underwritten early on and she was frustrated with the way her story ended. It's no surprise, then, that she was interested when she had the opportunity to leave "M*A*S*H" for another series where she would have a bigger role. Unfortunately for Swit (and luckily for the rest of us), the folks at 20th Century Fox shut down that idea faster than Hawkeye making a beeline for a new hot nurse.
Basically Swit was forbidden from leaving "M*A*S*H," despite the fact that many of her fellow early season co-stars had already left, but that's show business for you! By the final few seasons, Swit's character Margaret Houlihan and Alan Alda's Hawkeye were the only characters left from the beginning of the show, so maybe it was just a matter of trying to keep more than Hawkeye around (or maybe the executive powers that be just realized Swit was indispensable). Either way, she stuck around until the end, contributing to all 11 seasons of one of the best TV shows ever made.
In an interview with Yahoo, Swit shared the story of when she snagged a great starring role in another show and wasn't allowed to leave "M*A*S*H," along with her rather surprising feelings about the whole situation.
Forbidden from leaving M*A*S*H
Quite a few stars left "M*A*S*H" over its run for a variety of reasons. At some point or another, Gary Burghoff's Radar O'Riley, Larry Linville's Frank Burns, Wayne Rogers' Trapper John, and McClean Stevenson's Lt. Colonel Henry Blake were all written off of "M*A*S*H," but when Swit wanted out, she was told "no." The time she wanted to leave most was when she starred as Christine Cagney in a "Cagney & Lacey" TV movie and was offered the role in the CBS series of the same name. Ultimately, however, she was locked into her "M*A*S*H" contract:
"I was very tempted [to leave] after I did that movie. I loved that character, and I was tempted to be on my own show as opposed to being part of an incredible ensemble where the show was the star. 20th Century Fox said: 'Forget it — you're not going anywhere.' I was like, 'Oh, I can't?' And they said, 'Yeah, we're not gin gonna let you go.' Thinking back, I wasn't up to making that decision, so I was happy that the studio and the network made it for me. That way, I could always blame them!"
Though it would be pretty reasonable for Swit to be furious about the situation since all of her male co-stars were allowed out of their contracts, she had a pretty positive outlook because of the way things turned out.
M*A*S*H without Margaret
"M*A*S*H" did a pretty great job at filling in the gaps when actors left the series, introducing new characters that sometimes worked even better than the original. The best example is Frank Burns, who was a bit one-dimensional and honestly hindered Houlihan's potential for growth. He was replaced by David Ogden Stiers as Major Charles Winchester, who was similarly an antagonist for Hawkeye but was a much more complicated and layered character. While it's possible that the team behind "M*A*S*H" would have written in a new female character to fill Houlihan's spot or possibly make one of the other nurses step up a bit, like Kellye (Kellye Watson), it would have been extremely difficult.
Instead of doing the "Cagney & Lacey" CBS series, Swit stayed on "M*A*S*H" for another three seasons. Her character development in those last few seasons is truly excellent, and it's satisfying to see her given the due she deserves after some of the fumbles of earlier on. It's a shame that Swit wasn't allowed to make the same choice to leave as some of her co-stars, but at least it all worked out in the end.