In the late 1970s, while working as the classical music morning host at WVWR in
Roanoke, Virginia (now Virginia Tech's
WVTF), Cronauer had an idea for a television sitcom that would be a blend of
M*A*S*H and
WKRP in Cincinnati, two popular TV series of the era. In 1979 he tried to sell a treatment of this idea, basing the story on his experiences in Vietnam, but without success. A few years later he pitched a made-for-TV movie on the same theme: this time, a friend's agent in Hollywood got the treatment into the hands of
Robin Williams, who thought the idea was good enough to warrant a feature-length movie starring himself. However, according to Cronauer, little of the film reflects his real life. Among other things, Cronauer was not a subversive person but a "lifelong card-carrying
Republican", and later took an "active role" in both
Bob Dole's unsuccessful
1996 presidential campaign and
George W. Bush's successful
2004 presidential reelection campaign. The movie, directed by
Barry Levinson, told a heavily fictionalized story based on a screenplay by
Mitch Markowitz, a screenwriter who had worked on
M*A*S*H. Cronauer later told friends that Levinson had insisted that Williams and Cronauer not meet until the film was completed as Levinson did not want Williams to try to imitate Cronauer's actions and vocal delivery style. ==Law career and later life==