Why did John Larroquette leave Black Sheep Squadron? He wasn't the only pilot written out
Long before Night Court made him a four-time Emmy winner, John Larroquette flew a Corsair — his first regular TV role was 2nd Lt. Bob Anderson on Baa Baa Black Sheep, NBC's World War II flying drama. Then, six episodes into season 2, Anderson simply vanished from the flight line.
The explanation has less to do with Larroquette than with a show fighting for its life.
A show already on borrowed time
Created by Stephen J. Cannell and starring Robert Conrad as real-life Marine ace Greg "Pappy" Boyington — who served as a consultant on the series — Baa Baa Black Sheep premiered on September 23, 1976. Critics weren't kind. The Washington Post greeted the debut by calling it a series aimed
"at anyone who remembers World War II as a rousing, blowzy, fraternity turkey-shoot."
NBC dropped the show after one season, then brought it back for midseason under a new name, Black Sheep Squadron, with season 2 premiering on December 14, 1977. The reprieve came with a catch: the ratings had to improve, fast — and the show was up against ABC's Charlie's Angels, the biggest hit on television.
The retool that cleared the flight line
NBC and the producers answered Charlie's Angels the least subtle way possible. For the show's final seven episodes, the cast list was revamped: several squadron pilots were dropped, a 16-year-old flier named Jeb Pruitt was added, and four nurses arrived on the island — promptly nicknamed "Pappy's Lambs." The Lambs included Denise DuBarry as Lt. Samantha Greene and Nancy Conrad, Robert Conrad's own daughter.
Larroquette exited after the sixth episode of season 2, right as the revamp hit. Anderson got no death scene and no goodbye; he just stopped appearing.
He wasn't the only one
- James Whitmore Jr. (Capt. Jim Gutterman) — one of the squadron's original leads, gone after the first season.
- Robert Ginty (Lt. T.J. Wiley) — also written out during the season 2 shake-up.
- The replacements — Jeb Stuart Adams as teenage pilot Jeb Pruitt, who lasted just seven episodes, plus the four nurses meant to lure away the Charlie's Angels audience.
Did the gamble work?
No. The nurses couldn't outdraw the Angels, and NBC ended the show on April 6, 1978, with "A Little Bit of England" — a finale best remembered for its guest star, rock legend Peter Frampton, in his only fictional role on American television.
Larroquette's own 1970s were rough — he has been open about the alcoholism he battled through the decade — but the exit from the flight line turned into a launchpad. He got sober, and by 1984 he was stealing Night Court as prosecutor Dan Fielding, on the way to four consecutive Emmys.
Anderson never got a farewell episode. Neither, really, did the show.