It’s always wartime on TV
War is hell.
Everyone knows that, but it does make for some interesting TV
shows. Television has been fascinated with images of war since its
beginning. Vietnam was the first war that people could watch at
home. When troops invaded Iraq for Desert Storm in 1991 CNN was
practically already there waiting for them.
It’s always wartime on TV
War is hell.
Everyone knows that, but it does make for some interesting TV shows. Television has been fascinated with images of war since its beginning. Vietnam was the first war that people could watch at home. When troops invaded Iraq for Desert Storm in 1991 CNN was practically already there waiting for them.
There have been several TV shows about war and the military from “F-Troop” (1965-1967) to the current “Navy NCIS.” Since Veterans Day is this Sunday let’s take a look back at some of the TV shows about the military.
From 1955 to 1959 Phil Silvers played Sgt. Bilko in “The Phil Silvers Show.” Bilko was a conman who ran the motor pool at an Army base in Kansas. He was always thinking up get-rich-quick schemes and getting into trouble with his superiors. I’ve never seen the show and people today might be more familiar with the movie version starring Steve Martin, but I know it was a classic comedy. There is a three-disc 50th anniversary edition DVD available to buy and it can also be rented at Netflix.com.
One of the earliest shows dealing with war was “Combat” which ran from 1962-1967. It was about a group of infantrymen as they fought WWII in Europe. It was nominated for three Emmy awards and starred Vic Morrow as Sgt Saunders. Morrow is probably best known now for being decapitated by a helicopter while filming “Twilight Zone: The Movie” in 1982.
“Combat” was a very realistic show especially for its time. The Germans spoke German without any subtitles and it didn’t shy away from violence. I’ve only seen a few episodes about 20 years ago when channel 44 would broadcast them late at night, but I enjoyed it. It is available on DVD.
Most of the others shows in the ’60s dealt with the military in a comical way. There was “McHale’s Navy,” (1962-1966) about PT-boats in World War II, “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C,” (1964-1969) a country bumpkin joins the marines, “F-Troop” (1965-1967) the U.S Calvary and “Hogan’s Heroes.” (1965-1971) POW’s in a German concentration camp.
Of the four “Hogan’s Heroes” is my favorite. I used to watch it in syndication almost every morning. Bob Crane played Col. Hogan the leader of the POW’s. The best character is Sgt. Schultz played by John Banner. All of the actors who played the lead Germans were actually Jewish. Robert Clary who played LeBeau was actually in a Nazi concentration camp as a child. Richard Dawson who played Newkirk had auditioned for the role of Hogan and lost out to Bob Crane. They did not get along and Dawson did not attend his funeral.
Bob Crane was murdered seven years after the series ended. He was found bludgeoned and strangled with a telephone cord in an Arizona hotel room. His murder has never been solved. I was 11 years old at the time and I haven’t been able to watch the series since. It just doesn’t seem funny anymore.
In 1972 one of the best TV series in history premiered on CBS. “M*A*S*H” was an adaptation of the 1970 Robert Altman film of the same name. The main star was Alan Alda who played Hawkeye Pierce and it was about a group of doctors in a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War. Some of the other characters were Trapper John, BJ, Radar, Klinger and Hot Lips Houlihan.
The first five seasons are some of the funniest shows ever filmed, but once Larry Linville who played Hawkeye’s nemesis Frank Burns left the quality of the series declined. It became too preachy and switched gears from a comedy to more of a drama. Even though it was set in Korea it was a metaphor for the ongoing war in Vietnam.
The thing that I liked best about the show was the friendships between Hawkeye and Trapper John and later BJ. I was a sophomore in high school when the show went off the air in 1983 with a two-hour series finale.
It was raining and the electricity was going off all day long. I was scared that I would miss the finale (this was before VCRs and TIVOs), but everything turned out ok. I was able to watch it that night. I rewatched the episode about five months ago and I still get misty eyed when Hawkeye and BJ say goodbye.
McLean Stevenson, who played Lt. Col. Henry Blake in the TV show, died from a heart attack in 1996 and the next day Roger Bowen who played Blake in the movie also died from a heart attack.
There were a few other military series in the ’70s, but none of them had the success or critical acclaim of M*A*S*H. “Baa Baa Black Sheep” (1976-1978) starred Robert Conrad as the leader of a group of fighter pilots stationed in the Pacific during World War II.
There was also “Operation Petticoat” about a pink submarine during World War II and starring Jamie Lee Curtis whose father Tony was in the 1959 movie. The series lasted one season. “CPO Sharkey,”starring Don Rickles as a navy chief petty officer, ran for two seasons from 1976 to 1978.
In the ’80s there were several attempts at military comedies. Jimmie Walker starred in “At Ease” that lasted one season in 1983. Lorna Patterson was “Private Benjamin” in a TV version of the Goldie Hawn movie. It was on the air from 1981 to 1983. In 1983 CBS tried to capture the magic of M*A*S*H with the show “After Mash” about Col. Potter, Klinger and Fr. Mulcahy in a veterans hospital. Thankfully this horrible show was canceled after one season.
It wasn’t until the end of the decade that two great shows dealing with the Vietnam War debuted on TV. “Tour Of Duty” ran on CBS from 1987 to 1990. It was originally a knock off of the movie “Platoon,” but quickly grew into a powerful series dealing with war.
The other show was “China Beach” (1988-1991) starring Dana Delany and Marg Helgenberger. It was the more critically acclaimed of the two. It dealt with nurses at a military base in Vietnam. Instead of battle scenes the show focused on the horrors of war and how it affects the people sent to serve.
Of the two I always preferred “Tour Of Duty” because is was more action oriented.
“Jag” and “Major Dad” were the two main series in the ’90s. “JAG” ran from 1995 to 2005 and was about Cmdr. Harmon “Harm” Rabb, a former navy fighter pilot and now a lawyer who investigates crimes committed by Navy and Marine personnel. The show struggled in its early years with some cast changes, but once it got under way it became a great show. It debuted on NBC, but was picked up by CBS after one season due to low ratings.
I’ve never seen “Major Dad” but it starred Gerald McRaney as a marine who marries journalist Shanna Reed who has three daughters from a previous marriage. It ran from 1989 to 1993 and was a minor hit for CBS.
On March 20, 2003 the United States invaded Iraq in a war that is still going on today. In July 2005 the TV series “Over There” premiered on the FX network. It was about the armed forces in Iraq and lasted only one season. I think that it is too soon to have a series set in Iraq. It’s bad enough to hear news reports without having to see it dramatized every week on TV. This was a really good show, but it just wasn’t the right time to broadcast it.
This year the Lifetime network got some of its highest ratings with the drama “Army Wives,” starring Catherine Bell and Kim Delaney. It’s about the wives of soldiers and how they deal with their husbands being away at war. I watched two episodes and liked it. I’m hoping that it comes back for a second season.
One of this season’s top rated shows is “Navy NCIS” which started off as a Navy rip-off of CSI, but has grown to become a great show on its own. Donald P. Bellisario who also created “Jag” created it. Mark Harmon leads the team of agents who investigate crimes by Navy or Marine personnel.
If you can’t find a veteran to buy a beer or take to a parade or ceremonies you can honor a veteran by watching any of these great shows.
