[jalisco555]

Oh my, and I bet it will rank up there with Dennis Weaver leaving Gunsmoke or Mclean Stevenson or Wayne Rogers or Larry Linville or Gary Burghoff quitting MASH or Shelley Long doing the same with Cheers.

Old TV axiom- "Never quit a hit".

[OttawaFreeper]

I recall reading an interview with Loretta Swit and she said that Mclean told her that even if he ended up in a flop, he still wanted to be the main star of the show, as opposed to having to be number 2 or 3 to Alan Alda on MASH.