Combat!

I was a grade schooler during the years that Combat showed on Tuesday nights. My father was wounded and captured in the Battle of the Bulge and served four months as a POW, before being liberated on April 14, 1945. He always said the show was very realistic and now that I am in my mid-forties and a WWII buff virtually my entire life, I fully agree with him. The men in the squad are very similar to those in Saving Private Ryan. They are scared, weary, and somewhat disillusioned, but nevertheless determined to carry out their roles in the great World War II. Uniforms, equipment, and the sets all look authentic. I have a question for those who enjoyed this series. Where does it show on television these days? I have access to many tv channels but cannot find Combat anywhere. Please advise.

Recently I began viewing the episodes of "Combat!" in sequence. I had loved this series as a kid, but was concerned that my return would result in serious disappointment. However, I've been really surprised at how strong the show really is, even after all these years!

The early episodes are a bit shaky because the show is still trying to find its feet. The use of Shecky Greene for comedy relief was an interesting idea, but those situations don't really seem to fit the rest of the show. But as I progress, the shows keep getting stronger, more confident. Yes, more happens to this platoon than would happen to any other unit that size. But, it's TV after all and they keep trying to mix up the scenario to add different plot lines.

Some of the themes considered in what I've seen so far: -The struggle of a new man replacing an old vet. -Challenging a collaborationist to help the resistance (with a good ending!) -How the constant stress of war can break men (a popular theme). -A child trying to join the war, then finding out what that really means.

I also beg to differ with one of the comments made by another reviewer. The platoon doesn't always have what they need. On the contrary, many of the episodes have, at the their heart, the platoon struggling with what they don't have or can't do. I applaud the folks who put this show together. I especially applaud the fact that Germans regularly speak German and French characters regularly speak French and there are no subtitles. Yes, these characters speak English when needed. However, the show often has the men struggling with basic communication and "Caje" is always being asked to translate. A nice touch.

So, if you rent this show, you'll get a pretty decent experience. These episodes will not have the graphic violence of today's military pictures. But the show was perfectly ready to grapple with some pretty complex and tough questions. An admirable effort for its time!

"Combat!" was the most realistic, exciting and emotional show in television history. This gem about a squad of soldiers battling it out in WWII after D-Day did not glorify war, though there were lots and lots of actions scenes and firefights, but instead focused on the individual soldier and how he dealt with the war personally and as part of a brotherhood. Terrific writing, superb direction, believable characters and slam band action were the trademarks of this true TV classic. Big name directors and actors lined up to become part of the show which ran for 5 seasons and 152 episodes on ABC and has developed a huge following to this day. The series regulars were superb and believeable. Vic Morrow, Rick Jason, Jack Hogan, Piere Jalbert, Dick Peabody and Conlan Carter all shone on thier own unique ways. The characters of Saunders, Hanley, Kirby, Caje, Littlejohn and Doc have become etched in our minds forever. "Caje, take the point" was a phrase uttered quite often as myself and my childhood friends would act out the episode of Combat! we just watched and now as adults we see the show in all it's glory we may have overlooked as children. My only "complaint" about the show as in any show with recurring characters, we knew our heroes would not perish. We knew they would get the job done because there was another to do next week. As an adult, it lessens the tension a wee bit but who really cares? These are our heroes and we want them to succeed, not die and the characters and actors pull it off so well, it really becomes a mute point. I loved that the Germans actually spoke German. so what if we didn't know what they were saying? Whatever it was, it had to be bad and something that could hurt our beloved squad. My biggest disappointment through all this praise, and I feel it is important, is the lack of respect Combat! gets in the mainstream. Fine, it can stay our "little secret" but please, let's give credit where credit is due! this was the finest example of dramatic television in the mediums history! Let's recognize that! Let's not forget about it! When classic TV is discussed, let's not forget Combat! Please don't push it aside and bury it like the mainstream has! It is an important show and one that should be seen again and never forgotten. And how about giving Vic Morrow a star on the hollywood walk of fame!

Combat was realistic because the producers worked extensively with the Army to duplicate details of how soldiers fought. There is a Combat web site on the net that lists episodes and has interviews from the cast including Jason and Morrow who are dead.

Jason has the most revealing comments. He was suppose to carry the machine gun that Saunders carried. Apparently it was common for the junior officers to have the machine gun. However as an avid hunter and gun user he knew how heavy it would be carry the gun around during the long shoots. Eventually they made a lighter wooden replica for Saunders to carry.

Morrow hated guns according to Jason and would not even shoot skeet with him. Jason said Morrow was one of the most talented directors on the show. Jason's best episodes he said are the ones that Morrow directed such as The Pillbox. My favorite story was Jason's retelling of Morrow's direction for the two parter Hills are for Heroes.

The two part episode took 21 extra days to shoot and cost ABC an extra $300,000. They sent memos complaining to Morrow about the extra time and money that the two part episode cost them. According to Jason, Morrow used the ABC memos to light his cigarettes!

I grew up watching Combat!. So much had it been a part of my youth that I knew the names Sgt. Saunders, Lt. Hanley, Kirby, Littlejohn and Caje, and could picture them in my mind, long after I had forgotten most of the stories I had seen. They had made nearly as much impression on me as my own family; their teamwork, leadership and unshakable sense of honor and fair play became priceless examples to follow.

Around Christmastime last year I rediscovered the series on the Encore Action Channel, just after becoming a DirecTV subscriber.

What incredible serendipity! Only weeks before I had been thinking about Combat! and the characters that were so familiar to me as a boy. When I saw the series on the listings I thought, "Maybe I'll tape it and see if it was really as good as I remember it. Can my cloudy kid's memory have inflated its quality, the way our reminiscences often do to the pleasant times of our youth?" I would find out.

I played back an episode "Any Second Now," where Lt. Hanley was trapped in a bomb-damaged church, next to the very unexploded bomb that cratered the interior of the sanctuary. His only hope for release lay in the unsteady hand of a British bomb defuser who had lost his nerve. While this episode turned out to be far from the best Combat! episode filmed, it was good enough to eclipse most of the finest episodes of television dramas of the last 30+ years. I was so impressed with my re-introduction to this WWII drama that I had to share it with my wife. She, as I, had become hooked.

Over the last three months we have seen nearly every episode of this classic series. We are left with many impressions, among them the sad thought of what an immense artistic talent was lost when Vic Morrow met his untimely death. His direction of several Combat! episodes shows as much cinematic vision as three Spielbergs put together. The two-part Combat story "Hills are for Heroes," which Morrow directed, is more solid and inspired than even most theatrical movies of the last three decades.

That said, "Hills are for Heroes" has to be the finest two hours ever written (by Gene L. Coon) and filmed for television. This is not hyperbole. I challenge anyone who has seen it to confess to me that they were NOT totally emotionally drained after sitting through it. The performances of both the regulars and the guest stars are far more gripping and immediate than conventional TV performances of the day, or even today. Even better than most performances in theatrical movies, as well.

(A special note must go to the performance of Jack Hogan as the emotionally harried Private William G. Kirby, who truly let us, the audience, feel what it was like to be ordered to take a hill that you knew only God and His angels could take.)

There are dozens of Combat! episodes that deserve status nearly as high on my list as "Hills are for Heroes," but I could ramble even further if I try to name them here. Better to see the show for yourself. No show captured the human side of World War II the way Combat! did.

I encourage anyone who has not yet seen this superb classic war drama to give it a try. You WILL be hooked. And you will feel that, for a brief time, you really were a member of King Company's heroic Second Platoon, serving under Lt. Hanley and Sgt. Saunders, driving the Germans from occupied France in the summer and fall of 1944.

As of this writing, you can see two episodes back-to-back per weekday on the Encore Action Channel, noon Eastern (USA), 9:00 a.m. Pacific (USA).