China Beach

I haven't seen the series since it first was on ABC. I tried to watch every week and was angry when they canceled it, because it was a great series.I recently purchased a copy of the pilot episode on VHS tape (China Beach)and once again was reminded how well the series was put together. Like many others I want to own all of the series on DVD and hope that chance will come. Dana Delany was outstanding in this role and touches the heart. Through her you see what it is like to see young men dying or dealing with terrible, life altering injuries and how hopeless she feels when she can not save them. Yet she knows the important part she plays to those dying boys as the voice and touch that represents the mothers, wives, lovers, and sisters of those who are dying far from home. They are not dying alone when she is there. Others in the cast are outstanding as well. The Gal that played Cherry the donut girl, and the back up singer turned lead, when the pretty one can't stay well enough to sing. She came to meet the boys-a-rama ,but soon was doing much more to touch the hearts of those at war. This is not a drama about the fighting in the field, but about the nurses and doctors in the field and the soldiers that go through their hospital. This is not Mash in Vietnam! This is a serious drama that will have you crying for all those dead and wounded soldiers wasted on battlefields around the other side of the world fighting an unpopular war. Each deals with the stress in their own way, but you can not watch this series without it touching you deeply and emotionally. If you lived during the Vietnam years then this will bring back the emotions of those times. If for no other reason this series should be put on DVD to honor the nurses, Doctors, entertainers, and donut girls that tried to bring a touch of home to the troops in Vietnam. To those who were wounded and survived and the many who did not this series should be available and remembered. Tour of Duty also should be on DVD and is excellent companion piece to show what the fighting grunts on the ground went through. Tour of duty is scheduled to be released on DVD this summer. Now Give us China Beach!

I was eleven when I started watching this show, and it left an indelible impression on me. I was watching a lot of shows back then that I was probably too young to watch(!), and there was a lot of stuff I didn't get, but I knew, even as a middle schooler, that "China Beach" was something special. A few months ago I started borrowing videotaped episodes from a friend (thank you, History Channel!), and re-experiencing it. While, at times, it's cheesier than I remembered it (and that was mostly just in some season 1 episodes), you can't do better than Marg Helgenberger and Dana Delany and Jeff Kober as K.C., McMurphy, and Dodger (respectively). The dialogue is great, but there's so much said in just a look, and that, my friends, is acting. There was really something special going on in that show. I think it was partly the subject matter and the shooting everything(?) on location (as opposed to a sound stage -- I know it wasn't shot in Vietnam ;)), but it felt so deceptively REAL... Anyway, I couldn't love it more, and I've never seen another show like it. My thanks to the producers and writers and crew (and, of course, the actors!) -- you all should be really proud of what you did.

China Beach was a great show and I can't believe that the series has not been put on DVD. We can get so many shows that are mediocre with no problem. I hope the executives realize what a gem they have and release it for everyone to see.

I watched this show when I was in middle school and high school. I would love to be able to watch it again as an adult, and as a history teacher. I know that much of it is not realistic, but there is no denying the emotion. There were so many scenes that just pulled at your heart.

I hope soon we will be able to enjoy the entire series on DVD.

I have been reliving "China Beach" the past year or so on cable TV, and I must say, the experience has been just as moving the second time around. I cannot speak of "China Beach" without using superlatives: 1) My all-time favorite TV show; 2) Easily the most underrated TV show ever; 3) The all-time best performance by an actress in TV history (Dana Delaney as Colleen); 4) The most nuanced, complex, intimate and believable development of a TV character in history (again, Dana as Colleen); 5) The three most loaded, gut-wrenching, revealing, and well-acted words ever uttered by a TV character {"Don't 'Colleen' me!" by you-know-who). Of course, there were many other great performances on the show, and the subject matter has never been so intimately portrayed. However, Dana's performance will haunt my soul forever.

Dana Delaney's "McMurphy" (the principal character) is complex, captivating, beautiful and sexy. The entire cast is outstanding, right down to the extras. The scripts and story lines are gripping and move the viewer from one emotion to another, moment to moment. Issues great and small are addressed in each episode and characters are well-developed and allowed to grow and change throughout the series. One particularly outstanding and unique episode is built around interviews with nurses who actually served in Viet Nam, including the nurse who was the model for the McMurphy character. These interviews are coupled with scenes from the series that illustrate the interviews. It is one of my fondest hopes that the entire series will finally be released on DVD.