Combat!, a one-hour World War II drama series, followed a front line American infantry squad as they battled their way across EuropeCombat!, a one-hour World War II drama series, followed a front line American infantry squad as they battled their way across EuropeCombat!, a one-hour World War II drama series, followed a front line American infantry squad as they battled their way across Europe
- Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys
- 4 nominations total
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSeveral sources have stated that Rick Jason was to carry the M1928A1 Thompson submachine gun. After two days of filming, Jason complained about the weight of the Thompson and switched to the lighter M1 carbine and carried it throughout the rest of the series. The M1 Carbine was designed primarily to be issued to officers, noncombat and line-of-communications troops. Vic Morrow was then given the Thompson to carry. After two weeks he also complained of its weight. A lighter replica Thompson was made out of wood and was carried by Morrow until it was time for a firefight, at which time he would switch back to the real Thompson. The replica can be seen with its incorrect ejection port.
- GoofsSgt. Saunders consistently fails to carry spare magazines for his Thompson sub-machine gun.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Vietnam: A Television History (1983)
Featured review
Probably the best drama ever filmed for television
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).
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).
helpful•190
- Troydawg
- Mar 30, 2000
- How many seasons does Combat! have?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 4:3
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