They did at least have two stage actors on hand, Charles Durning (as the Captain) and Kevin Bacon (as Pulver, just after "Footloose"). Howard Hesseman, another star for 1984 TV purposes, doesn't offer much in the role of Doc. You know, Robert Hays, famous for - what? "Airplane"? And "Airplane 2"? Which doesn't exactly give him the stature of Hank Fonda, who not only brought with him decades of stardom but two years of playing Roberts on stage.
However, and it's a big however, you don't get Fonda, Cagney, Powell and Lemmon what you get is, for starters Robert Hays as Lt. This gives you Mister Roberts more or less as written, which is perhaps a more effective reading of the play than the film version is. A second alternative has become available with the DVD release of the 1984 made-for-TV version of the play, filmed live in front of a studio audience. Still, it had Henry Fonda repeating the stage role that fit him so well to many, he remains the one and only Mister Roberts.
This was a Hollywoodized version of the award-winning play by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan, and not exactly an untampered transfer of the material. If it's "Mister Roberts" you want, the logical choice is to turn to the 1955 motion picture version starring Henry Fonda, James Cagney and William Powell, with the young Jack Lemmon stealing his scenes (and an Oscar) for his performance as Ensign Pulver.
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