That there was a pilot made for a
Catch 22 TV show starring Dreyfus as Yossarian
Here's a failed pilot for a proposed TV series version of the 1970 Mike Nichols film "Catch-22" that aired on the ABC Network (and thus, via WLS Channel 7 in Chicago) on Monday, May 21st 1973 as part of a block of other ultimately unsold (or "busted") pilots (under the banner of "Comedy Trio") that also included "The Barbara Eden Show" (which co-starred Joe Flynn, Roger Perry, Moosie Dryer and Pat Morita) and "The Karen Valentine Show" (starring the perky "Room 222" co-star and "Match Game" panelist Charles Nelson Reilly).
This pilot - involving the goings-on of the 256th Squadron, stationed at Pianosa, an island off the coast of Italy ("the craziest bomber group in the Air Corps") - starred Richard Dreyfuss as lead bombardier Yossarian, with Dana Elcar as Colonel Cathcart, Frank Welker (perhaps most famous as the voice of "Freddy" on the long-running "Scooby-Doo" cartoon series) as McWatt, Stewart Moss as Korn, Suzanne Zenor as Nurse Duckett, Robert Pratt as Orr, Sam Chew as Aarfy, Nicholas Hammond (who was one of the von Trapp children in "The Sound of Music" and later the star of the short-lived 1978 live-action series version of the "Spider-Man" comics), as Nately, and J.S. Johnson as Doc Daneeka.
The plot starts off with Yossarian (in a voiceover) glad he's not on the latest mission, instead heading back to his girlfriend, Ginger McDougal, back home, after landing his plane at Pianosa to refuel, having completed 30 missions - but his co-pilot's tour of duty is just starting! As Yossarian notes, Pianosa is a loony bin with a commanding officer who loves to play with toy soldiers, which segues into the opening titles.
