Trapper John, M.D.

- Season 5

(1983)

A professional skater refuses treatment for a heart condition that could be fatal. Stanley and E.J. find out that they are going to be parents.

The new acting board chairman tries to pressure Arnold Slocum into retirement only four months short of his pension.

Trapper's contract is up for renewal, and a jealous surgeon is trying to discredit him and take over his position as Chief of Surgery.

Trapper's ex-wife starts a self-help group for the wives of doctors, and ends up with one of them on her doorstep. Stanley and E.J. may lose their baby.

Trapper gets called into the hospital on his birthday to deal with a possible epidemic. Stanley is finally able to track down the source of the problem, but that does not do much for John's mood, as everyone seems to have forgotten him.

Gonzo has been training three doctors for cardiac surgery. But he is told due to budget reasons, he has to cut one of them. So he sets out to do that by getting to know them personally.

A 119-year-old man, seemingly in good health, says that he has come to the hospital to die. He changes his mind after media attention makes him feel important again, but Trapper discovers an aortic aneurysm that may kill him after all.

As SFM fills with the casualties of the Bay City Marathon, E.J. Riverside goes into labour three weeks early. Stanley can't be found, because he has secretly decided to compete in the run.

Andrea finds out who her real mother is, and wants to meet her. Trapper's concern over the emotional state of a Greek patient brings out the good Samaritan in Gonzo, who decides to contact the man's daughter in Greece.

Against his better judgement, Trapper agrees to staple the stomach of an obese woman. Gonzo goes to unusual lengths to save Andrea's dog.

Everyone is happy for Gloria when she earns her accreditation in Advanced Cardiac Life Support Care, except one doctor. He does not believe nurses should be doing this kind of work, and tries to have Gloria fired.

A nurse/midwife who spreads herself too thin threatens her career and two lives, and may bring Gloria down with her. Gonzo sets up a homey "birthing centre" at the hospital.

Trapper's old friend, a former workaholic, turns up after years. Trapper is confused when he finds that the man has quit his job and seems intent on nothing but having fun. An E.S.P. clinic set up in the hospital seems to be bringing out unwanted talents in Ernie.

When an eight-month-old baby is brought to the hospital with respiratory problems, x-rays show that the child is a dwarf.

A cancer patient who dies at the hospital leaves all his worldly wealth to Gonzo, who discovers that most of it was obtained illegally. Jackpot, Ernie and Gloria conspire to trick Stanley into taking his annual physical.

An elderly woman comes to visit with her husband, who died a year previously. A pediatrician has difficulty dealing with a young boy who has cancer.

Gonzo is convinced that the paranoia of one of his patients has a physical cause. Slocum attempts to cut back on nursing costs by employing a robot nurse, who proves to be quite successful.

A patient at SFM who fancies himself a detective is determined to solve the mystery of missing medication, to the despair of the police working on the case.

For two years, Jackpot has allowed an elderly friend to believe that $10 a month is paying for full medical insurance but he runs into trouble when she becomes seriously ill and requires treatment that he cannot afford.

Trapper questions Ernie's motives when she accepts a proposal from a long-time suitor only after she finds out that he is dying.

Trapper lets his imagination run wild when vintage medical equipment stored in his office makes him wonder how doctors in 1917 dealt with issues considered routine in the 1980s.

The doctors of San Francisco Memorial find themselves under the glare of a productivity analyst whose desire to get more work from staff leads her to bring back a doctor suspended for operating unnecessarily.