These Soldiers Say 'Over There' Is 'Bogus'

Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | July 26, 2005 | M.L. Lyke

[Cecily]

A truck tire hits a flagged wire, a roadside bomb explodes, a handsome private with shredded leg screams in agony. In the bloody chaos of the moment, his soldier buddies panic. One pukes.

Stop the cameras! Sir!

"People don't act like that when an i.e.d. (improvised explosive device) goes off. They make us look like idiots. We're not idiots!" said a first lieutenant previewing "Over There," the new TV series from Steven Bochco ("NYPD Blue," "Hill Street Blues") that debuts tomorrow night on FX cable network. It's set in Iraq, hyped as "true to life" by producers and hailed by critics as "unflinching" and "gut-wrenching."

"Bogus" was the preferred adjective among the eight soldiers -- most of them Iraq vets -- viewing the series pilot last week at Camp Murray, headquarters of the Washington State National Guard in Tacoma.

[Tatze]

...but that "30 Days" crap seems like liberal paradise!

With very few execptions, 30 Days takes what would be considered a conservative view, and tries to get someone who holds that view change their mind.

Live as a muslim. Live in a gay lifestyle. Live in poverty. Live eco-friendly. Pure liberal garbage!

How about... putting an anti-war nut through basic training, or living as a christian, or whatever? Don't expect to see that anytime soon.

[Peach]

Either they don't listen to that Marine or he was a lousy Marine. LOL

[johnb838]

i'll pass... Empire is pretty good... has some of the same problems, but who cares, it's 2000 years ago.

[HitmanLV]

Big shock.

[sgtbono2002]

MASAH was funny in spots until it got so liberal I wanted to puke watching it. I havent watched Allan Alda since and that Farrell guy can KMA.

[Coop]

I didn't say I liked Alda or Farrell. They're both well known libs. But the series was IMHO one of the best ever produced.

[johnb838]

It was funny with the original M*A*S*H* movie. You had Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland making that one here, and you had George C. Scott making Patton, the Greatest War Movie Ever Made (if not the greatest movie ever made) over there. They were all equally liberal and equally antiwar. Strange world isn't it.

[Puppage]

That's too bad--it looked like it might be worth watching

Not from the promos I saw.

[ampat]

I'm talking about war in general. Ask any warrior if they liked it or hated it.

[The_Reader_David]

How about this: Roadside bomb explodes. Humvee get hit. Wounded soldiers yells out. Buddies act like pros, one giving first aid and the others hunting down the cockroach who set off the bomb and capturing him.

I'd watch.

Sounds good to me. Heck I'd watch even if your scenario were supplemented by a newly deployed soldier who is seeing his first actual combat puking. (Of course within the first season I'd expect the character who puked to start becoming a brave, reliable, battle-hardened veteran.)

[speed_addiction]

What did you guys think about the 80's series "Tour of Duty?" I thought the first couple of seasons were okay until they tried to turn it into "Knot's Landing: Siagon."


With Howard Dean the dems have formally graduated from "disarray" to "debacle", with "irretrievable disaster" just around the corner.

[mewzilla]

BOCHCO, STEVEN
LOS ANGELES, CA 90025
PRODUCER

GORDON, BARRY
VIA BARRY GORDON FOR CONGRESS
03/30/1998 1000.00 98033043485
10/26/1998 1000.00 98034094627

BOCHCO, STEVEN
LOS ANGELES, CA 90035
STEVEN BOCHCO PRODUCTIONS

LICHT, RICHARD A
VIA LICHT 2000 COMMITTEE
06/01/1999 1000.00 99020080035

BOCHCO, STEVEN
LOS ANGELES, CA 90064
BOCHCO PROD./OWNER

KERRY, JOHN F
VIA JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC
03/18/2004 2000.00 24991161191

BOCHCO, STEVEN
LOS ANGELES, CA 90064
SELF EMPLOYED/WRITER AND PRODUCER

CLARK, WESLEY K
VIA CLARK FOR PRESIDENT INC
09/30/2003 2000.00 23992086549

Total Contributions: 7000.00

Joint Fundraising Contributions

These are contributions to committees who are raising funds to be distributed to other committees. The breakdown of these contributions to their final recipients may appear below

BOCHCO, STEVEN MR.
LOS ANGELES, CA 90064
BOCHCO PRODUCTIONS/OWNER PRODUCER

KERRY VICTORY 2004
06/14/2004 10000.00 24981256709

Total Joint Fundraising: 10000.00

Recipient of Joint Fundraiser Contributions

These are the Final Recipients of Joint Fundraising Contributions

BOCHCO, STEVEN
LOS ANGELES, CA 90035
SELF-EMPLOYED

DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
11/01/2004 5000.00 24981625119

BOCHCO, STEVEN MR.
LOS ANGELES, CA 90064
BOCHCO PRODUCTIONS/OWNER PRODUCER

DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
06/14/2004 10000.00 24962018223

[SlowBoat407]

(Of course within the first season I'd expect the character who puked to start becoming a brave, reliable, battle-hardened veteran.)

Growth? Change? A psycho-spritual journey from innocence to experience set against the metaphor of a battle between good and evil? Please. This is Hollywood. We don't need no steenkeeng morality.

[wallcrawlr]

It's trying to "Vietnamise" the Iraq war.

Hollywood tells us that every soldier that went to Vietnam was a dope smoking loser.

Not until a couple years ago did I start reading autobiographies of soldiers from Vietnam and learned what real soldiers thought about life/death over there.

[speed_addiction]

How about this: Roadside bomb explodes. Humvee get hit. Wounded soldiers yells out. Buddies act like pros, one giving first aid and the others hunting down the cockroach who set off the bomb and capturing him. I'd watch.

My daughter served in Iraq. She was a medic in an MP Unit, but in the way it usually is in the Army her Commander went, "Homina! Homina! Homina!" and POOF! She was basically transformed into an MP well trained in lifesaving skills.

She was part of a convoy escort twice that got hit by IEDs. One time it was a fuel truck that got hit and one of the MP Hummers was engulfed by the burning fuel. She and some other soldiers braved enemy fire to get those troops out of their burning vehicle. She suffered burns to her hands and face. She was awarded a Bronze Star for this action. She later lost her left eye, hearing in her left ear and suffered nerve damage to her left arm in a grenade attack in Bagdad.

She has been looking forward to seeing this show. I will post her critique of it.


With Howard Dean the dems have formally graduated from "disarray" to "debacle", with "irretrievable disaster" just around the corner.

[sean327]

Your right, Tour of Duty was a good show for the first 2 seasons, then they went "Chick Filk" on us. Hollywierd always screws up a good thing.

On another note, if you watch the trailer for Over There closely you will see a soldier firing an M-16. The problem I saw was the ejection port/dust cover being on the wrong side. In the trailer the ejection port/dust cover is on the left side of the weapon, in real life it is on the right side!! Little thing like this tick me off when I watch something. It drives my wife nuts when I point these things out to her.

[geopyg]

"How about this: Roadside bomb explodes. Humvee get hit. Wounded soldiers yells out. Buddies act like pros, one giving first aid and the others hunting down the cockroach who set off the bomb and capturing him."

And have two of them (at least) be women - like the two gals that got awards a few months ago for that exact scenario. I'd watch too ;)

[geopyg]

"She and some other soldiers braved enemy fire to get those troops out of their burning vehicle."

This is the next greatest generation. Will wait to see what she thinks of the show. God Bless you and your daughter and give her strength living with her disabilities.

[blu]

I'm with you. I'm not a vet, but I do have an open mind. Sometimes, I think we put too much emphasis on politics. Let's just let the storyteller tell his tale, and judge it after we've seen it. After all, it is TV...

And besides, rock 'n roll and guns??? Come on, who could turn that down? Only, I really hope that the soundtrack is not chock full of 60's music, that's SO been done to death. Of course, "Ride of the Valkyries" comes as the system default on the sound systems for the Apaches, right? :)

[antiRepublicrat]

Yup...my favorite M*A*S*H character was Frank Burns. He was a buffoon but the only conservative on the show...even though the writers made him a hypocritical two-timing moron.

Don't forget Colonel Potter. Old Army all the way. He knew to give his troops some leeway when he had a winning team, but the times they crossed him, well, Harry Morgan was pretty good at protraying "extremely pissed off."