Taking "Radar" out of Walter O'Reilly removes much of the character's charm. On M*A*S*H, Radar was a young man from Iowa, stuck in the middle of a war, trying to keep the 4077th running without losing his mind. Although W*A*L*T*E*R attempted to recast this fish-out-of-water concept by making Walter a rookie cop, there is little to differentiate Walter O'Reilly from any other police officer new to the job. The few remnants of his precognition seem out of place and his relationships in the pilot are generic or silly.
What made the Radar character so wonderful on M*A*S*H was his interaction with the rest of the M*A*S*H cast — particularly Colonel Blake and Colonel Potter — and his mix of naivete and cunning. In W*A*L*T*E*R, the character is older and more cynical, and placed in the stale trappings of a by-the-book sitcom. Gary Burghoff did his best, but he had very little to work with.
What made the Radar character so wonderful on M*A*S*H was his interaction with the rest of the M*A*S*H cast — particularly Colonel Blake and Colonel Potter — and his mix of naivete and cunning. In W*A*L*T*E*R, the character is older and more cynical, and placed in the stale trappings of a by-the-book sitcom. Gary Burghoff did his best, but he had very little to work with.