Combat!

***Combat!*** was a weekly television series that dramatized the exploits of a U.S. Army infantry squad in northern France during and after D-Day. It aired from October 2, 1962, to March 14, 1967. 152 episodes were produced.

*Combat!* was built around the men of K Company, second platoon, 361st Infantry Regiment, 21st Division, IV Corps. At the heart of the show was Sgt. Chip Saunders, played by Vic Morrow. Saunders was a squad leader and the focus of many episodes. His superior officer, Lt. Gil Hanley, was also the lead character of many episodes. Hanley was played by Rick Jason.

Supporting characters in the series included:

* PFC Kirby (Jack Hogan), the squad's BAR man, goldbrick, cynic and complainer
* PFC "Caje" LeMay (Pierre Jalbert), the squad's Louisiana-born French interpreter
* Pvt. Littlejohn (Dick Peabody), the gentle giant of the group
* Pvt. Nelson (Tom Lowell), a naive youngster who matures through the liberation campaign
* Doc (Conlan Carter), platoon medic in seasons two through five
* Doc Walton (Steven Rogers), the platoon’s original medic in season one

As the first successful scripted World War II drama on American primetime TV since the 1957-58 TV season, *Combat!* helped launch a surge of WWII dramas and comedies that aired on all three broadcast networks until the early 1970s.

Common themes of *Combat!* episodes were the futility of war, mortality, moral and ethical dilemmas, and survival in extreme situations. Most of the time, these stories are told in single episodes; rarely did the series feature storylines that spread over multiple episodes.

The series was created by screenwriter Robert Pirosh. An Army veteran who served in Europe in World War II, Pirosh wanted to create a series that looked at the war from ground level. His vision called for no regular character above the level of sergeant. Pirosh's original concept was retooled between the filming of the pilot episode, "A Day in June," and production of the first season.

Filmed in an era when strict continuity was uncommon, *Combat!* frequently dispensed with characters with no explanation. Even series regulars, such as Doc Walton and Billy Nelson, vanished with no reaction from their squadmates. In other cases, new characters would be featured, but would be unmentioned in any subsequent episode.

Over the course of its five seasons on the air, *Combat!* abandoned a retelling of the liberation of mainland Europe and instead became a series of self-contained episodes with no specific timeframe or location (other than somewhere in France). The men of the 361st never saw victory in Europe and the end of World War II.

In its third season, *Combat!* ranked as the tenth-most popular show in America. It was the only season in which the show cracked the top thirty among American television programs. Nevertheless, *Combat!* spawned coloring books, novels, a children's book, toys, a board game, and trading cards. Cinematographer Robert Hauser and actors Vic Morrow and Conlan Carter were nominated for Emmy awards, but none won.

ABC cancelled *Combat!* in the spring of 1967, largely to save money. Adopting color increased production costs. Additionally, many of the cast's contracts were coming to an end, which would likely have led to major salary demands in the subsequent negotiation cycle. The network also saw the potential to make money by syndicating *Combat*'s legacy black-and-white episodes before monochrome televisions went out of fashion. To succeed *Combat!* ABC launched another World War II-set series, called *Garrison's Gorillas,* whose pilot was filmed during *Combat*'s fifth and final season. *Garrison's Gorillas* would last a single season.

After its cancellation, *Combat!* lived a long life in local and national syndication. More than twenty years after the series was cancelled, a Japanese company released a video game based on *Combat!* and its first season characters. Dedicated fan and writer Jo Davidsmeyer organized cast reunions in the 1990s and published an authoritative book on the series in 1996 (updated in 2008). In the 2010s, episodes of the series ran on MeTV, a digital channel dedicated to vintage television shows. A similar channel, Heroes and Icons, began weekly showings of *Combat!* in February 2020. All five seasons have been released on DVD, and many episodes can be found in their entirety on YouTube.

## References

1. ↑ Wikipedia - List of World War II TV Series
2. ↑ ClassicTVHits.com - TV ratings, 1964-65
3. ↑ Combat - Emmy nominations
4. ↑ *Garrison's Gorillas*on IMDB
5. ↑ Sgt. Saunders' Combat! review
6. ↑ Jo Davidsmeyer's *Combat!* website
7. ↑ DVDTalk.com: Combat! The Complete Series review
8. ↑ *Combat!* on YouTube