While writing theater reviews for The Chicago Maroon, he was asked to pen material for an improvisational troupe that included Alan Arkin and Mike Nichols.

After M*A*S*H, Bowen returned to television and gained a fan following as Hamilton Majors Jr., the pleasantly snooty Ivy League CEO of Continental Flange and supportive boss of Herschel Bernardi on the TV sitcom Arnie (1970–72).

In 1976, Bowen appeared in the TV parody film Tunnel Vision, doing a convincing Henry Kissinger impersonation that he was often asked to perform at parties around Hollywood.

(The film featured a galaxy of comic stars including Chevy Chase, John Candy, Howard Hesseman and Joe Flaherty, but Bowen received top billing as the others were still relatively unknown at the time.)

[2] In the early 1980s, Bowen enjoyed another round of weekly TV work with recurring roles on House Calls (starring former M*A*S*H sitcom alumnus Wayne Rogers), At Ease, and Maggie Briggs.

[6] (Stevenson also died from a heart attack; because of this strange coincidence, Bowen's family did not make the news of his death public until a week afterward in an attempt to minimize any confusion over the two actors and their obituaries.)