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McHale's NavyFirst Aired in 1962 A Lively, Light-hearted Romp Through The Pacific Theater Of Operations – An experienced South Pacific Sea Dog, by the name of Quinton McHale, was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander into the U.S. Navy Reserve, at the start of World War II, and made the Skipper of the Torpedo Patrol (PT) Boat #73, stationed at the U.S. Naval Installation on the island of Taratupa, in the Southwest Pacific. Assigned to his command were 6 free-spirited, good-hearted Swabbies who loved to have fun, but who – Though they usually ignored Navy regulations – Did their jobs, and did them well, when duty called. The 73 ‘Family' included, among others, a con man and amateur Magician, a womanizing hunk, a dedicated Family man, a guitar-playing, moonshine-making Tennessee good ol' boy, and even a deserter from the Japanese Navy, who was an excellent cook. Second in command, was Ensign Charles Parker, a young spit-and-polish, by-the-book Officer from Chagrin Falls Ohio, who was somewhat of a klutz, but who always managed to come out on top of a situation, usually with the help of McHale and The Crew. McHale and his men were under the command of Captain Wallace B. Binghamton – Known as ‘Old Leadbottom' to McHale and his men – Commander of the Taratupa Base, in whose side, McHale and his Crew were a constant thorn. Most episodes centered around Binghamton trying to find a way to get rid of McHale and his rule-bending ‘Pirates' (One would be hard-pressed to see an episode of this series without the military term ‘Court Martial' being mentioned, at least once), with McHale and his fun-loving ‘Eightballs' scheming to keep Binghamton from doing so, their exemplary performance in battle, more times than not, getting them out troublesome situations. ‘McHale's Navy' was first presented as a straight action drama, on ABC's ‘Alcoa Premiere' anthology series, in April of 1962. The pilot episode – Entitled ‘Seven Against The Sea' – Found enough of an audience that it was turned into a comedy series, which premiered on the ABC Television Network on the evening of Thursday, October 11th 1962, at 9:30 p.m. EST. It got off to somewhat of a slow start, opposite NBC's popular ‘Hazel', but held it's own, and gained a small following. It cracked the top 25 in it's 2nd season (‘63/'64), on Tuesday nights, in the 8:30 time-slot, with a strong lead-in from ABC's ‘Combat', landing at #23, with a Nielsen rating of 22.8. But, from that point on, it was all uphill for ‘McHale'. In it's 3rd (‘64/'65) & 4th (‘65/'66) seasons, in a losing battle with CBS's powerhouse ‘Red Skelton Hour', it was soon on it's way out. An attempt to boost it's sagging ratings, by moving McHale, his Crew, and Captain Binghamton to a base in Italy, in it's 4th and final season, proved to do more harm than good, and resulted in the cancellation of the series, in 1966. The series was popular enough with the public to prompt the production of two full-length theatrical-release motion pictures, during it's run. ‘McHale's Navy', released by Universal Pictures in June of 1964, featured all the regular cast members from the series, and ‘McHale's Navy Joins The Air Force', in July of '65, this one sans Borgnine. Both were 90-minute extended episodes of the series, and mildly popular, at best. A 1997 big-budget movie, based on the series, and with Tom Arnold as McHale, was a total flop. All three are available on VHS or DVD. It's tough to catch ‘McHale's Navy' on TV, due, probably, to some kind of legal issue, and, there are no legal VHS or DVD releases for the series, at this time. But ‘McHale' still has many loyal fans, and, thanks to some cable showings, over the past few years, has probably gained some new ones, and, hopefully, we will soon be able to watch the adventures of McHale and his TV family at our leisure. With a highly talented cast including Academy Award® winner Ernest Borgnine, comic genius Tim Conway, the one-of-a-kind comic talent of Joe Flynn, and a solid supporting cast, ‘McHale's Navy' was – And is – TV comedy at it's very finest. If you see any mistakes on this page or if you have more infomation about this show, please submit a comment |