I recently found these old reruns airing on the cable channel, METV. They’re on during the night, so I’ve been DVR’ing them and watching them later in the day. I’d forgotten how good this series was since I saw it as a kid in the 60’s! Lots of old wartime footage of a variety of aircraft, B-17’s in action, etc. Interesting stories in the episodes as well. Anybody else watching this show? What do you think?
P.S. This channel is made up mostly of old shows from the 60’s and 70’s - Combat!, Gomer Pyle, Gunsmoke, Canon, Perry Mason, etc. Brings back lots of memories while watching them . . .
Ya, I catch Combat! and 12 O’clock High every night… If you get "Anntena TV, you can catch Baa Baa Black Sheep too… As well as The A-Team and Battlestar Galactica… (The one where Starbuck and Boomer ain’t chicks orc Cylon chicks, and Baltar is on a Base Ship and getting screwed by a Cylon named “Lucifer”, who sounds suspiciously like “Dr Smith” whom we know is still “Lost in Space” (Another show that can be found on those channels) and Star Trek is still with Cap’n Kirk and…)
However, I digress… Black Sheep =Beautiful F4U1 and -4 Corsairs… Seven of 'em… Texas Zekes too…
Three. The first season staring Robert Lansing are the best. By the third and final season when Paul Burke portrayed the replacement Col in command Joe Gallagher, they had his character and crew crashing in France and Germany (and pulling off gonzo missions there) so often, he should have leased an apartment in downtown Berlin.[*-)]
All the episodes were fine, except one of the early color examples. Picture and sound didn’t mesh, like one of those badly dubbed old foreign flicks from the 50’s and 60’s.
According to the ebay vendor, the series entered public domain a couple of years ago. It was never “officially” released by the studio.
On the other hand, “Combat!” was released over the course of several years by a major producer. I got mine as they came out, from Amazon. Top quality all around, including comments by some of the actors still with us.
The whole five years of “Combat!” is now available in one set. It’s well worth the money. The episodes still hold up very well, perhaps because they mostly deal with the “universal human condition.”
I purchased all the monochrome Combat series on DVD, but missed buying the color season.
I still enjoy watching Combat as much as during first run, and nowadays especially enjoy seeing those absurdly huge Nazi swastikas on the German uniforms.
I’ve recorded most of the 12 O’Clock High onto DVD for viewing when I am awake.
I watched the Robert Lansing 1st season when it was a first run show and recalled it being the best season.
However, after viewing it recently I am more inclined to judge the Lansing and Burke Monochrome series about equal.
I prefer the Lansing character but the scripts have Lansing escaping from occupied France so easily and often that anyone who didn’t know better would think the cross channel service was better under Nazi occupation than it is now.