Stevenson worked after college at a radio station, played a clown on a live TV show in
Dallas, became an assistant athletic director at Northwestern, and sold medical supplies and insurance. He also worked as a
press secretary for his cousin in the presidential elections of 1952 and 1956. He formed the "Young Democrats for Stevenson." After this he appeared in New York City on stage, and in television commercials. He also performed on
Broadway, and began to establish himself as a comedy writer, writing for the American version of
That Was the Week That Was—in which
Alan Alda appeared—and
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, performing occasionally on both shows. He was a regular on the 1970
The Tim Conway Comedy Hour variety show on CBS. During the late '60s and early '70s, he appeared in TV commercials for products such as
Kellogg's,
Libby's fruit cocktail,
Dolly Madison and
Winston cigarettes, in which he was shown sprinting around a parking lot of Winston delivery trucks and painting over the product slogan, replacing the "like" in "like a cigarette should" with the grammatically correct "as".
M*A*S*H at
Walt Disney World's
Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park After guest-starring in
That Girl with
Marlo Thomas, he was cast in
The Doris Day Show in 1969, playing magazine editor boss Michael Nicholson until 1971. Originally, he auditioned for the role of
Hawkeye Pierce in
M*A*S*H, but was persuaded to play Lt. Col. Henry Blake instead. Stevenson found his greatest success in
M*A*S*H. The series quickly became one of the most popular
situation comedies of its time, and was eventually recognized as one of the top sitcoms in television history. He wrote the episode "
The Trial of Henry Blake", and provided the story for another, "
The Army-Navy Game", which earned him an
Emmy nomination. Despite the show's success, Stevenson began to resent (as did
Wayne Rogers) playing a supporting role to the wisecracking Hawkeye (played by
Alan Alda), and asked to be released from his contract during the show's third season. The show's writers reluctantly penned him an exit in the final episode of the 1974–1975 season (entitled "
Abyssinia, Henry"), in which Lt. Colonel Blake was discharged, only to board a plane that was shot down over the
Sea of Japan, killing everyone on board—a development added after scripts were distributed so the show's actors would display genuine emotion. In an interview,
M*A*S*H actress
Loretta Swit commented that Stevenson wanted to be the star and felt oppressed as one of an ensemble of eight. She said that before Stevenson left the series he told her, "I know I will not be in anything as good as this show, but I have to leave and be number one." Although he had played ensemble parts for several years, he stated that the primary reasons for his departure were systemic problems with
20th Century Fox, especially disregard for simple comforts for cast and crew on location, and the more lucrative opportunities presented to him at the time. Stevenson was replaced in the series by
Harry Morgan, a best friend of Stevenson who had guest-starred opposite him in the Season Three premiere episode "
The General Flipped at Dawn". Morgan portrayed
Colonel Sherman Potter for the show's remaining eight seasons and starred in its short-lived spin-off
AfterMASH.
Match Game Stevenson appeared as a guest panelist for several weeks on
Match Game in 1973 and 1974, and again in 1978 on the daytime and nighttime weekly syndicated version. In 1981, he became a regular panelist on the daily syndicated version of
Match Game, staying with the show until its cancellation a year later. He would make occasional appearances on the subsequent
Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour in 1983 and 1984.
M*A*S*H aftermath After his departure from
M*A*S*H, Stevenson's acting career declined. While occasionally filling in for
Johnny Carson as guest host of
The Tonight Show, Stevenson's first attempt at his own show was an NBC variety show special titled
The McLean Stevenson Show on November 20, 1975. The program finished 41st in the ratings that week and the planned series was ultimately scuttled. He then starred in a series of sitcoms:
The McLean Stevenson Show (1976–77),
In the Beginning (1978),
Hello, Larry (1979–80) and
Condo (1983). All four sitcoms were dismissed by audiences, lambasted by critics and all aired while
M*A*S*H was still in production. Only
Hello Larry lasted two seasons; all the others were cancelled in their first. Stevenson guest-starred as Stan Zbornak's brother Ted in the hit sitcom
The Golden Girls in 1987, in addition to guest-starring in shows such as
Square One TV,
The Love Boat, ''
Diff'rent Strokes (as part of a cross-over with his series Hello, Larry
), and Hollywood Squares. He filled in for Johnny Carson as guest host of The Tonight Show
58 times, and as a guest on the program in 1982, he brought his daughter Lindsey onto the set when she was just 16 weeks old. During the 1988–89 television season, he returned to a supporting TV role in an ensemble, playing Max Kellerman in the short-lived CBS series adaptation of Dirty Dancing''. ,
Ayn Ruymen and Stevenson in a publicity still for
The McLean Stevenson Show 1977 Stevenson's screen credits include the
Disney movie
The Cat from Outer Space as a friend of Frank Wilson (played by
Ken Berry) along with his
M*A*S*H replacement Harry Morgan. He also was a co-host of the
syndicated daytime talk show
America, which lasted 16 weeks between September 16, 1985, and January 3, 1986. Stevenson's career decline saw him become a target for industry ridicule.
Steve Daley wrote in 1985 that he had "worn out his television welcome", while
David Bianculli drafted "The Annual McLean Stevenson Memorial 'I'm Gonna Quit This Show and Become a Big Star' Award" early in his career as a critic. Stevenson considered leaving
M*A*S*H the biggest mistake of his career. ==Death==