Michelle Borth
Posted on 08/21/2015 7:50:23 AM PDT by ken5050
TGIF, so I thought I'd take a little break from ATTAC (all things Trump and Clinton) and turn to a lighter topic. In almost 70 years of network television, the two most popular genres by far have been westerns and police. Doctor/medical dramas have always entertained audiences. But I wanted to see which military themed TV series Freepers like, and/or remember most.
Can’t help it. Only watched a few of the first episodes and it seemed to spend most of its time portraying how that one character from “Friends” was a right arse’ole. Lots of personal politics in the episodes with little action.
Compare that with “The Unit”, which starts out with the induction of a new member into the unit and what they are all about. THEN follows the members as they take on their assignments and the personal dynamics behind them all. Really interesting stuff.
True, I did not like that portrayal either but it evolved from there into some quite interesting scenarios.
As far as the PC crap, even in the military you will find many flaming liberals mucking about and causing problems because of their personal biases.
It's even worse when the person(s) outrank you and take a personal delight in making your job as difficult as they can.
The Unit and earlier days of NCIS.
It followed the book extremely closely. Now was the book accurate? Only they'll ever know.
David Schwimmer (from Friends) played Capt. Herbert Sobel. In real life, he was a real martinet, driving the company to their limits. He was what made them as close, and as hyper-competent, a unit as there was. Unfortunately, he was an incompetent leader, and a worse combat commander, leading him to be reviled by most of the men. He was moved out of the company command shortly before D-Day.
Schwimmer only had a leading role in the first episode.
You're right, first show is personal politics, getting to know the characters, etc etc. The rest of episodes, though, have some of the best combat footage ever put to film. And, good character development, as well. You know the guys; they're not just cannon fodder.
I liked the final documentary "We Stand Alone Together", where you finally meet the men that the actors have been portraying. Gotta watch all ten episodes, first, though, for it to have any real meaning.
Give it another try. BoB is my favorite military show - TV, film, or otherwise.
Yeah, but they had Jonas discharge his weapon in the house—another liberal stereotype just shoved in. I liked it, but it seemed to go downhill pretty fast.
Michelle Borth
Yup. At one point I had a serious Combat addiction.
Now I am hooked on Strike Back.
I had the pleasure of getting commode hugging drunk with Pappy once.
Not by me.
Thanks, Ken. You are a peach!
Combat!
The Silent Service
12 O’Clock High
World at War
...and on the lighter side...
McHale’s Navy
Hogan’s Heroes
Sgt Bilko
Gomer Pyle, USMC
NCIS
NCIS - LA
M*A*S*H
I Dream of Jeannie
...Except I'm kinda fat
Very thin hair on top
And nowhere near as good looking...
But other than that, I'm almost a dead ringer :)
The Eunuch? Doesn’t sound like anything I want to watch. Half the men now on TV act like eunuchs.
I never saw The Unit. I haven’t had TV or cable since 90 and before then hardly watched. I do watch some things on DVD.
Thanks. Maybe I’ll check The Unit out.
My gen x vote is for Hogan and the gang, along with the Black Sheep and a little Rat Patrol re-run here and there.
MASH stunk once I figured out that it was a hippie deconstruction.
“Hennessey” starring Jackie Cooper.
Probie
The only thing I remember about Tour of Duty was how hot Kim Delaney was back then.
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