Why Did James Whitmore Jr. Really Leave Black Sheep Squadron?

Summary

• Black Sheep Squadron was a well-loved military comedy that aired in the 1970s.
• One of the most memorable things about the series is the sudden disappearance of James Whitmore Jr.'s fan-favorite character Captain Jim Gutterman from Season 2.
• While the show gave no explanation for Jim Gutterman's absence, we can try to figure out why James Whitmore Jr. didn't return to the set.

We all know about the so-called Chuck Cunningham Syndrome, named after the character from the ABC sitcom Happy Days who simply dropped out of the show one day and was never mentioned on or off screen again.

This phenomenon could easily have been named after James Whitmore Jr.'s famous character Captain Jim Gutterman from the NBC war dramedy Black Sheep Squadron had its second season aired a few years earlier. The reason is that the fan-favorite pilot Jim Gutterman also disappeared from the show without a trace.

It seems we'll never know what happened to the handsome pilot (hopefully he survived the war and got a happy in-universe fate), but why didn't James Whitmore Jr. reprise his iconic role? We can try to figure that out.

From Baa Baa Black Sheep to Black Sheep Squadron

The television series that followed the lives and misadventures of Robert Conrad's Major Greg 'Pappy' Boyington and a band of his Navy pilots known as the Black Sheep ran for two seasons with 37 episodes. And even though it premiered in 1976, the story is still quite entertaining and remembered with warmth by older audiences.

Despite viewers’ love, the show, originally called Baa Baa Black Sheep, was canceled after its first season due to insufficient ratings and complaints that it violated family viewing time standards. However, NBC soon reversed the decision to compensate viewers for the cancellation of the sitcom Off the Wall.

The military comedy returned for Season 2 with a new name, Black Sheep Squadron, which was an attempt to get away from being associated with a children's show (Baa Baa Black Sheep comes from an infamous nursery rhyme) and thus boost ratings.

Along with the title change, a few other alterations were made. The focus shifted slightly to the lives of the nurses, and some squadron pilots were dropped, including Jim Gutterman, who was probably missed the most by fans. So why didn't James Whitmore Jr. take part in the second season of the series that became his breakthrough?

Booming Career

James Whitmore Jr. always spoke warmly about Black Sheep Squadron. He was in love with his character from the moment he auditioned for the part and felt very comfortable on the set. So it was not some behind-the-scenes scandal that took him away from the show. Ironically, it was the fame the role brought to the actor.

While NBC was canceling and resurrecting Black Sheep Squadron, the career of James Whitmore Jr. started to boom. Shortly after Season 1, he was cast in several other TV shows and his debut feature movie, Sidney J. Furie’s The Boys of Company C.

Furie’s Vietnam War movie was filmed in the Philippines and took Whitmore a long way from the Indian Dunes Airstrip in Valencia, CA, where the set of Black Sheep Squadron was located. On top of that, right after returning to the States, the actor received a call from The Rockford Files offering him to star opposite his personal acting hero, James Garner. Of course, Whitmore couldn't pass up such an opportunity.

And that meant that Black Sheep Squadron would have to do without Captain Jim Gutterman.

Sources: IndustryCentral, The Suva Files Blog.