Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show

 True confessions time:  I haven't seen all the eps of my favorite TV show.  There are fifty eps I haven't seen yet.  So it's entirely possible I'll someday like a different ep less.  But right now, my least-fave ep of Combat! is "Conflict."

Pierre Jalbert as Caje in "Conflict"

"Conflict" is in the fifth season, and involves two of our squad, Caje and Littlejohn, angry with each other.  Throat-slitting angry.  Their conflict is never explained to my satisfaction, they spend most of the episode glaring at each other and growling like angry dogs, and I really think the idea of a huge rift between two main characters could have been handled better and taken to more interesting places.  Plus, all that anger makes me edgy.  Blech.

Dick Peabody as Littlejohn in "Conflict"

Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show

My favorite episode of Combat! is also the first one I ever saw:  "The Walking Wounded."  Oh, how I love this ep!  Of course, it's Saunders-centric, with a weighty moral dilemma that could topple lesser men.  Should he risk the lives of four people -- himself included -- to save one critically wounded stranger?  It's that old "good of the many vs. good of the few" problem that can make for such good episodes.  Plus, it's written by Burt Kennedy, one of my fave writers for this series.

Saunders is the literal walking wounded, with a leg wound that doesn't keep him from walking, but has him out of action for a bit and on his way to an aid station.  But the aid station gets bombed right when he arrives.  He finds an unconscious, wounded man in the back of a deserted ambulance.  The ambulance is a bit banged up, but still runs, so Saunders takes off in it to find the nearest medical help.  Along the way, he picks up a trio of less-literally wounded soldiers:  the ambulance's driver, who ran away when the bombing started, a doctor who has seen too many bleeding bodies and thinks anything he does now is pointless in the long run, and a nurse who steadfastly sticks with the doctor because she believes in him.  And loves him, so much so that she never gives Saunders so much as a flirty glance, but there's no accounting for taste.

Guest stars Gary Merrill, Geraldine Brooks, and Steven Joyce

Everyone but Saunders thinks the wounded man is past all hope, but Saunders is determined to get him to medical help.  Only problem is, they have to go right past the German lines to get him there, it's a long way to travel and the wounded man might not live that long anyway, and they could rejoin their own lines much closer and be safe, though there would be no medical aid.  But Saunders insists that if he were the wounded man, he wouldn't want to be abandoned (even though I'm pretty sure if he were the wounded guy, he'd be insisting the others leave him and save themselves -- oooh!  Fanfic story idea!).

Vic Morrow as a wounded and weary Sergeant Saunders

Why do I love this episode?  I put it down to the central theme of Playing God.  One of my favorite lines from the entire series is in this ep:  the doctor says he thinks he knows whether the wounded guy can be saved or not, and Saunders says, "I always thought that was up to Somebody Else."  That line struck such a chord with me the first time I heard it that I instantly loved Saunders and the series and the episode, all rolled into one.  (Five years later, I would fall in love with a vampire named Angel, the show Angel, and one specific episode all because of one bit of dialog.  I have a weakness for good, revealing writing, cantcha tell?)  I think what particularly resonated with me was the idea that this strong-willed, brave, seemingly self-sufficient sergeant trusted God to make the really important decisions about life and death.  I was fourteen when I first saw this episode, and struggling with reconciling my own strong will with trusting God.  Saunders, especially in this ep, was precisely the role model I was hungering for.

Can I be the puppy's stunt double?  Pleeeeeeeease?

Also, Saunders just looks darned good in this episode.  And it has a puppy!  Gotta love the puppy.

Day 05 - A show you hate

This was a toughie, as I don't generally slander any moment's leisure watching things I won't like.  If I think I'll hate it, I won't watch it.

But I came up with one show that I have seen bits of and definitely hate:  South Park.  It's vulgar, obscene, profane, and I regret seeing what little I have seen of it.

Day 04 - Your favorite show ever

If you've read this blog at all, you know what I'll be writing about today:  Combat!

Mmmm.  Combat!  What a show.  From the first time I watched an ep, at the tender age of 14, I have loved and adored Combat!  I even co-maintain a fansite for it, Fruit Salad, where Deborah Koren and I share our fanfiction, screencaps, my humorous ep reviews, and various other (often "hidden") goodies.  I wouldn't pour that kind of time and effort into just any show, so what makes Combat! so special?

The Squad

Partly, it came into my life at the perfect time.  I was 14, just beginning to grow up, and starting to recognize good writing and acting from bad.  It was 1994, the fiftieth anniversary of D-Day, and all kinds of classic war movies were being released on video.  My dad loves war movies, so we watched quite a few of them that year.  And then, Combat! came into my life, one of many old shows on a brand new channel starting up, TV-55.  My dad remembered it from his childhood, we recorded some episodes, and from then on, it's been an important part of my life.  A year or so later, I started writing seriously, and one of the first stories I wrote was, technically, Combat! fanfiction, though I didn't yet know such a thing as fanfic existed.

Partly, it's the setting.  I'm a history buff -- I love learning about WWII and the 1940s, and that makes this show right up my alley.  I also love heroes.  Combat! is about heroes, the real, dirt and grime and daily grind kind of heroes.

Littlejohn (Dick Peabody) and Billy Nelson (Tom Lowell)

Then there's the writing.  This show has some of the best doggone episodes I've ever seen in any show.  It grapples with serious, deep, sensitive subjects.  Betrayal, revenge, justice, mercy, fear, courage, love, hate, kindness, cruelty, good, evil -- it's all here.  Combat! introduces us to cowards, murderers, musicians, artists, grocery clerks, shoe salesmen, writers, every kind of character you can imagine.  And it does all this in just 152 episodes.

Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason)

There's also the acting.  The main cast members are all superb:  Vic Morrow, Rick Jason, Pierre Jalbert, Jack Hogan, Dick Peabody, Conlan Carter, and Tom Lowell.  They're supported with a truly impressive list of talented guest stars.  Actors and actresses like James Coburn, Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Eddie Albert, Mickey Rooney, Nina Foch, Leonard Nimoy, James Caan, Beau Bridges, Roddy McDowell, Sal Mineo, Frankie Avalon, Robert Duvall, James MacArthur, Joan Hackett -- I could keep going, but you get my point.  Some of these pros even requested to be on Combat! because they knew it was such a swell show.

Kirby (Jack Hogan), Doc (Conlan Carter), and Caje (Pierre Jalbert)

But most important for me are the characters.  The main ones are all great, but from my first episode, my heart has belonged to Sgt. Saunders.  He's played by Vic Morrow with a depth of feeling and understanding I have never seen equaled in a mere TV show.  He transcends the stereotype of Hero.  He's brave, but also fearful.  He's noble, but also human.  He's intelligent, but also fallible. He's compassionate, but also uncompromising.  In other words, he's the kind of complex character I'm still trying to learn to write.  He's so multifaceted, he feels real to me, and I sometimes forget he's fictional.

Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow)

So.  I love the setting, the writing, the acting, the characters. For sixteen years, my pulse has quickened every time I hear the familiar duh duh-duh-duh duh-duh rhythm.  I don't expect to lose interest any time soon.

Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)

I'm only watching one new show this season:  the reboot of Hawaii Five-O.  So far, it's been quite fun :-)  I dig Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly and Scott Caan as Danny Williams.  Alex Laughlin and Grace Parks are nice scenery.  The eps have been solid enough, and James Marsters played their first Bad Guy, so can't complain about their guest casting.  I doubt this will ever be one of my Favorite Shows Ever, but oh well.  Like the original, it's watchable, exciting, and a good cop show.  And so far, it doesn't seem to be trying to be one of the forensic crime solving shows, but it's sticking to being a show about cops catching criminals.  Kind of refreshing.

 

Though, for me, Scott Caan doesn't hold a candle to the original Danno, James MacArthur.  He's the whole reason I watch the original.  I've had a thing for James MacArthur since the first time I saw The Swiss Family Robinson, and he never fails to delight me. I always get the feeling he's really nice in real life.

I guess Daniel Dae Kim is probably the reason I'm watching this one so far, which feels pretty weird, because not so long ago, I just knew him as the evil Wolfram and Hart lawyer, Gavin Park, on Angel.  I especially detested Gavin because he replaced Lindsey.  But after Lost, I quite dig Dae Kim, and decided to see what he has to offer in a detective show.

(We don't get any channels on our actual TV, so I watch shows online at either cbs.com or hulu.com.  I love the internet!)


Super Exciting News!  According to his official website, James MacArthur has agreed to be in an ep of the new series!  Ooooooooooo!

And yes, I got Dano's nickname from the original Hawaii Five-O.  I'm a dork.

Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching

I'm interpreting today's topic to mean a current TV show that I wish had a bigger audience. 

I wish  NCIS:  Los Angeles had more viewers.  Including me.  I wish I'd watched the first season, and I'm glad it got a second season because I'm hoping I'll be able to watch some of it.  Because I love love love Chris O'Donnell.  I love Linda Hunt.  And I dig some of the music in this show a whole bunch.  (Is that odd?  To like a show for its music?)  So I wish more fans of NCIS would give the spin-off a chance and keep it on the air.  I know I'm going to try.

Day 01 - A show that should never have been canceled

Easy. Firefly.  They canceled it before it really got started. 

Sure, I'd love to have had another season of Angel -- it had just refound its stride when it was canceled.  And sure, I'd love more Nero Wolfe adventures.  But Firefly didn't even get to finish its first season, and that is a crying shame.

 This is such a shiny show, what there is of it.  I didn't watch it in its initial run, so I myself am partly to blame for its cancellation.  Firefly aired the first year Cowboy and I were married.  He was finishing college, I was working my first full-time job, and I was already addicted to Joss's other two shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.  I didn't think I had time for another show, didn't really know what Firefly was about, didn't give it even one chance.

Then the Firefly 'verse came to the big screen in 2005 with the movie Serenity.  My brother-in-law, Noumenon, asked if I wanted to go see it with him.  I love going to the movies, and it's rare I get to see one with another person, so I said sure, anything to support Joss Whedon.  I loved the concept, the characters, the writing -- instant fan.  (You can read about my initial impressions here.)  But, clearly, a show that is literally about cowboys in space was just too oddball for the network execs, and they pulled the plug.  Evil, silly, annoying execs.  Grr.  Arrgh.

(I really want this shirt!)