"Sgt. Bilko" made the peacetime military seem funny, but how could you possibly play WWII for laughs? Answer: Isolate the servicemen on a remote Pacific island and shift the conflict so it's mostly between a rag-tag bunch of Navy irregulars versus their by-the-book captain. And as long as the public was enamored with a youthful President Kennedy, who commanded the PT-109 during the war, why not make the show about PT-Boats?
While you're at it, why not cast in the lead role a dramatic actor who appeared in one of the most honored WWII films, "From Here to Eternity" (1953), and who won an Oscar two years later for his portrayal of "Marty"?
As it turned out, Ernest Borgnine (Lt. Commander Quinton McHale) was also the only one of his TV crew who actually served in the Navy. Maybe that's why he looked so comfortable behind the wheel of that 70-foot plywood boat, which is all that those PT-Boats were really made of. But Borgnine also proved to be a natural straight man for comedians like Tim Conway and Joe Flynn, both of whom forged a comfortable career making Disney live-action comedies. In fact, this half-hour sitcom is very much in the same mold as those lightweight, straightforward comedies.
"McHale's Navy" debuted in 1962, three years before "Hogan's Heroes" and 10 years before "M*A*S*H," and it was truly a situation comedy. Yes, the cast and characters delivered the laughs, but the formula was what gave them the jokes. Week after week you knew what you were going to see: Capt. Binghamton (Flynn) and his toadie, Lt. Elroy Carpenter (Bob Hastings), would try to catch McHale's "gang of pirates" in the act, just as Bilko's commander kept trying to nail him and his men. One major difference was that Bilko was the instigator, while here McHale was the benevolent commander who let his men get away with murder as long as they didn't go too far, and as long as they did their duty when called upon. And almost always, McHale and his men would get off the hook because they did their jobs--fighting the enemy--really well. Sometimes it was by design, other times by accident, but the PT-73 had an uncanny knack for thwarting the Japanese almost every week as a means of avoiding courts-martial or transfer by their commanding officer.
Yes, there are racist elements here, and not just Japanese. The "natives" of the South Pacific are as negatively stereotyped as can be. But the show became a "must-see" on ABC, and cracked the Nielsen Top-25 its second and third seasons. The writing was just good enough, but it was the cast that made the show fun to watch. Anyone who's seen Tim Conway in later films will appreciate his style of comedy here, which bears an unmistakable resemblance to the Don Knotts bumbling school of slapschtick. And Flynn? He was born to be the clueless authority figure, with his horn-rimmed glasses and his "What, what, what?," along with that stubborn determination to get the offenders, though he had no idea how. Even the dynamic between the rotund McHale and his bumbling second-in-command would be one viewers would appreciate so much that they'd see it repeated in "Gilligan's Island" with the portly Skipper and his goofball "Little Buddy."
Even the supporting cast on "McHale's Navy" was fun to watch. Comic magician Carl Ballantine played the fast-talking Lester Gruber, whose schemes drive many of the episodes, while Gavin McLeod ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show") was Seaman "Happy" Haines, who wore a pirate's bandana long before he'd don that "Love Boat" captain's cap. Billy Sands was the goofy "Tinker" Bell, Gary Vinson was "Christy" Christopher, and Edson Stroll played the somewhat slow Virgil Edwards. Oh, and the unofficial crew member who lived on an island off the main island base of the PT-Boat squadron was Fuji (Yoshio Yoda), a Japanese soldier who ran away from the war and was adopted by McHale and his crew. Kindness may have led to their initial acceptance, but one reason they never shipped Fuji off to a POW camp was that he was an incredible cook. Great food, "native" girls, gambling operations, hammocks, beer in the torpedo tubes--what more could a seaman ask for? Plus, they were such an annoyance to Binghamton that they weren't even allowed to stay with others at the base on Taratupa. They had their own little island that was close enough to where you'd take a launch to get there, and that was just fine by McHale and his men, who turned that island into a little corner of paradise . . . and gambling.
Thirty-six episodes of this light sitcom are included on five discs that are housed in three slim plastic keep-cases with a cardboard sleeve:
1) "An Ensign for McHale"-Parker comes to the crew famous for destroying ensigns, but endears himself to the commander by not mentioning that Binghamton gave him just one week to whip the crew in shape or he's sent to the worst reassignment imaginable.
2) "A Purple Heart for Gruber"-Gruber's laundry scheme is thwarted when a Japanese sub torpedoes Binghamton's dress whites . . . and they have to sink that submarine to make amends.
3) "McHale and His Seven Cupids"-When Parker has the hots for a new tall nurse, McHale and his crew try to help out.
4) "PT-73, Where Are You?"-Joseph Heller (Catch-22) wrote this episode about a chain reaction. When the 73 turns up missing, why not swipe Carpenter's boat and repaint the number?
5) "Movies Are Your Best Diversion"-Reel fun as McHale's crew grabs first-run movies intended for Binghamton and gives the Captain B-nonsense instead. And their act of redemption this episode comes with their ingenuity in using those films to foil a Japanese attack on the convoy.
6) "Operation Wedding Party"-How to fight a war and also play wedding planner? That's McHale's dilemma as he tries to unite Christy and Lt. Winters (Cindy Robbins).
7) "Who Do the Voodoo?"-Yep, one of the racially offensive episodes has Chief Tali (played by Jacques Aubuchon) putting a curse on Capt. Binghamton because he won't compensate them for damages caused by the Navy.
8) "Three Girls on an Island"-The Tyler Sisters are stranded on an island, so naturally McHale and his crew want to be the ones to rescue the singers.
9) "McHale's Paradise Motel"-While on patrol, McHale and his crew discover an abandoned plantation that makes the perfect party house. But discreet? Not! It draws the attention of both U.S. and Japanese forces.
10) "The Battle of McHale's Island"-Binghamton wants to build an officer's club on McHale's little island, so of course McHale and his men have to sabotage the plan if they're to keep their freedom.
11) "The Day They Captured Santa Claus"-On Christmas Day, McHale and his men's attempt to play Santa for local children is thwarted by a Japanese ambush.
12) "Beauty and the Beast"-A photographer who rubs McHale and his men the wrong way is assigned to the crew, and they'll do almost anything to get rid of her.
13) "The Captain's Mission"-In this funny episode, while McHale is away, Binghamton will play. He leaves his desk and leads the PT-73 on a mission, with predictable laughs.
14) "Send Us a Hero"-The PR people want a war hero for a new bond tour, and Parker and the men scheme to have McHale chosen . . . until they find out he'll be going stateside without them.
15) "The Captain Steals a Cook"-Leave it to Gruber to spoil a good thing. He's been selling Fuji's Polynesian food to Navy personnel on Taratupa, and life gets complicated when Binghamton places an order for a dinner he's serving for a visiting admiral.
16) "The Ensign Gets a Zero"-Parker at the machine gun is a lot like Barney Fife with a handgun. You don't want to be around. Here, thinking Parker is an ace, Binghamton bets Parker can outshoot a rival's best.
17) "The Big Raffle"-A French girl helps the men raise money for Christy and Lt. Winters' first child.
18) "One of Our Engines is Missing"-McHale and his crew plot to find new engines for the PT-73, while Binghamton plots to ship them out to a new location. Of interest here is that Ted Knight guests and gets to spend time with Gavin McLeod, whom he'll work with later on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
19) "The Natives Get Restless"-The title says it all. Binghamton angers the locals again, and has to smooth things over before a VIP visits.
20) "The Confidence Game"-Parker thinks the crew doesn't respect him, and it's up to everyone to pump him up again.
21) "Six Pounds from Paradise"-This is kind of like getting Al Capone on tax evasion. Failing at everything else, Binghamton tries to fatten up the already portly McHale so he'll flunk the physical and be shipped out of his command to a desk job somewhere.
22) "Washing Machine Charlie"-If this sounds an awful lot like "Five O'Clock Charlie," the "M*A*S*H" episode about an enemy flier who makes predictable token bombing runs at the same hour each day, it gets even weirder. Mike Farrell, who would go on to star in "M*A*S*H," guests in this episode!
23) "Nippon Nancy Calling"-Parker has to spy on McHale at Binghamton's orders after a Nippon Nancy broadcast reveals some information.
24) "One Enchanted Weekend"-Parker is sweet on the daughter of a French planter, but Binghamton won't give him permission to visit. Will that stop him?
25) "The Mothers of PT-73"-When McHale's crew plans a shindig for the fleet, things get complicated when the event falls on Mother's Day.
26) "H.M.S. 73"-Binghamton tries this time to get McHale stationed as liaison officer to the British Navy in Australia.
27) "A Wreath for McHale"-Binghamton conducts a memorial service after he thinks McHale and his crew were killed in action off Kalakai.
28) "Portrait of a Peerless Leader"-Binghamton decides he can get McHale out of his life by having him transferred to teach at a PT-Boat training facility . . . far, far away.
29) "Instant Democracy"-Once more, Binghamton's plan to discredit and rid himself of McHale falls short. He needs McHale's help to get Chief Urulu's people to enlarge the Taratupa airstrip.
30) "Camera, Action, Panic"-"Laugh-In's" Arte Johnson guests in this episode about a combat photographer who has to film a PT-Boat crew in action (didn't we see one like this already?).
31) "Alias Captain Binghamton"-A Binghamton look-alike is assigned to McHale's men, and they're convinced it's really him or a spy for the captain.
32) "Parents Anonymous"-First a POW, now a war orphan. McHale and his men adopt Kim Su after a hospital ship strands her on the island.
33) "McHale's Millions"-The crew of the PT-73 find four million dollars in the wreckage of a Japanese plane. Thinking it counterfeit, Gruber starts trading it for trinkets . . . and about passes out when he discovers the money was real.
34) "The Hillbillies of PT-73"-Binghamton descends upon McHale's Island with a visiting Congressman, and is embarrassed about the tour until the Congressman tells him how much the atmosphere reminds him of home.
35) "The Monster of McHale's Island"-An emergency landing drops the spoiled-brat son of an admiral in McHale's lap.
36) "Uncle Admiral"-Binghamton learns that Parker is related to a Vice Admiral Parker (Harry Von Zell), and has him reassigned as his aide. Poor Carpenter.
While you're at it, why not cast in the lead role a dramatic actor who appeared in one of the most honored WWII films, "From Here to Eternity" (1953), and who won an Oscar two years later for his portrayal of "Marty"?
As it turned out, Ernest Borgnine (Lt. Commander Quinton McHale) was also the only one of his TV crew who actually served in the Navy. Maybe that's why he looked so comfortable behind the wheel of that 70-foot plywood boat, which is all that those PT-Boats were really made of. But Borgnine also proved to be a natural straight man for comedians like Tim Conway and Joe Flynn, both of whom forged a comfortable career making Disney live-action comedies. In fact, this half-hour sitcom is very much in the same mold as those lightweight, straightforward comedies.
"McHale's Navy" debuted in 1962, three years before "Hogan's Heroes" and 10 years before "M*A*S*H," and it was truly a situation comedy. Yes, the cast and characters delivered the laughs, but the formula was what gave them the jokes. Week after week you knew what you were going to see: Capt. Binghamton (Flynn) and his toadie, Lt. Elroy Carpenter (Bob Hastings), would try to catch McHale's "gang of pirates" in the act, just as Bilko's commander kept trying to nail him and his men. One major difference was that Bilko was the instigator, while here McHale was the benevolent commander who let his men get away with murder as long as they didn't go too far, and as long as they did their duty when called upon. And almost always, McHale and his men would get off the hook because they did their jobs--fighting the enemy--really well. Sometimes it was by design, other times by accident, but the PT-73 had an uncanny knack for thwarting the Japanese almost every week as a means of avoiding courts-martial or transfer by their commanding officer.
Yes, there are racist elements here, and not just Japanese. The "natives" of the South Pacific are as negatively stereotyped as can be. But the show became a "must-see" on ABC, and cracked the Nielsen Top-25 its second and third seasons. The writing was just good enough, but it was the cast that made the show fun to watch. Anyone who's seen Tim Conway in later films will appreciate his style of comedy here, which bears an unmistakable resemblance to the Don Knotts bumbling school of slapschtick. And Flynn? He was born to be the clueless authority figure, with his horn-rimmed glasses and his "What, what, what?," along with that stubborn determination to get the offenders, though he had no idea how. Even the dynamic between the rotund McHale and his bumbling second-in-command would be one viewers would appreciate so much that they'd see it repeated in "Gilligan's Island" with the portly Skipper and his goofball "Little Buddy."
Even the supporting cast on "McHale's Navy" was fun to watch. Comic magician Carl Ballantine played the fast-talking Lester Gruber, whose schemes drive many of the episodes, while Gavin McLeod ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show") was Seaman "Happy" Haines, who wore a pirate's bandana long before he'd don that "Love Boat" captain's cap. Billy Sands was the goofy "Tinker" Bell, Gary Vinson was "Christy" Christopher, and Edson Stroll played the somewhat slow Virgil Edwards. Oh, and the unofficial crew member who lived on an island off the main island base of the PT-Boat squadron was Fuji (Yoshio Yoda), a Japanese soldier who ran away from the war and was adopted by McHale and his crew. Kindness may have led to their initial acceptance, but one reason they never shipped Fuji off to a POW camp was that he was an incredible cook. Great food, "native" girls, gambling operations, hammocks, beer in the torpedo tubes--what more could a seaman ask for? Plus, they were such an annoyance to Binghamton that they weren't even allowed to stay with others at the base on Taratupa. They had their own little island that was close enough to where you'd take a launch to get there, and that was just fine by McHale and his men, who turned that island into a little corner of paradise . . . and gambling.
Thirty-six episodes of this light sitcom are included on five discs that are housed in three slim plastic keep-cases with a cardboard sleeve:
1) "An Ensign for McHale"-Parker comes to the crew famous for destroying ensigns, but endears himself to the commander by not mentioning that Binghamton gave him just one week to whip the crew in shape or he's sent to the worst reassignment imaginable.
2) "A Purple Heart for Gruber"-Gruber's laundry scheme is thwarted when a Japanese sub torpedoes Binghamton's dress whites . . . and they have to sink that submarine to make amends.
3) "McHale and His Seven Cupids"-When Parker has the hots for a new tall nurse, McHale and his crew try to help out.
4) "PT-73, Where Are You?"-Joseph Heller (Catch-22) wrote this episode about a chain reaction. When the 73 turns up missing, why not swipe Carpenter's boat and repaint the number?
5) "Movies Are Your Best Diversion"-Reel fun as McHale's crew grabs first-run movies intended for Binghamton and gives the Captain B-nonsense instead. And their act of redemption this episode comes with their ingenuity in using those films to foil a Japanese attack on the convoy.
6) "Operation Wedding Party"-How to fight a war and also play wedding planner? That's McHale's dilemma as he tries to unite Christy and Lt. Winters (Cindy Robbins).
7) "Who Do the Voodoo?"-Yep, one of the racially offensive episodes has Chief Tali (played by Jacques Aubuchon) putting a curse on Capt. Binghamton because he won't compensate them for damages caused by the Navy.
8) "Three Girls on an Island"-The Tyler Sisters are stranded on an island, so naturally McHale and his crew want to be the ones to rescue the singers.
9) "McHale's Paradise Motel"-While on patrol, McHale and his crew discover an abandoned plantation that makes the perfect party house. But discreet? Not! It draws the attention of both U.S. and Japanese forces.
10) "The Battle of McHale's Island"-Binghamton wants to build an officer's club on McHale's little island, so of course McHale and his men have to sabotage the plan if they're to keep their freedom.
11) "The Day They Captured Santa Claus"-On Christmas Day, McHale and his men's attempt to play Santa for local children is thwarted by a Japanese ambush.
12) "Beauty and the Beast"-A photographer who rubs McHale and his men the wrong way is assigned to the crew, and they'll do almost anything to get rid of her.
13) "The Captain's Mission"-In this funny episode, while McHale is away, Binghamton will play. He leaves his desk and leads the PT-73 on a mission, with predictable laughs.
14) "Send Us a Hero"-The PR people want a war hero for a new bond tour, and Parker and the men scheme to have McHale chosen . . . until they find out he'll be going stateside without them.
15) "The Captain Steals a Cook"-Leave it to Gruber to spoil a good thing. He's been selling Fuji's Polynesian food to Navy personnel on Taratupa, and life gets complicated when Binghamton places an order for a dinner he's serving for a visiting admiral.
16) "The Ensign Gets a Zero"-Parker at the machine gun is a lot like Barney Fife with a handgun. You don't want to be around. Here, thinking Parker is an ace, Binghamton bets Parker can outshoot a rival's best.
17) "The Big Raffle"-A French girl helps the men raise money for Christy and Lt. Winters' first child.
18) "One of Our Engines is Missing"-McHale and his crew plot to find new engines for the PT-73, while Binghamton plots to ship them out to a new location. Of interest here is that Ted Knight guests and gets to spend time with Gavin McLeod, whom he'll work with later on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
19) "The Natives Get Restless"-The title says it all. Binghamton angers the locals again, and has to smooth things over before a VIP visits.
20) "The Confidence Game"-Parker thinks the crew doesn't respect him, and it's up to everyone to pump him up again.
21) "Six Pounds from Paradise"-This is kind of like getting Al Capone on tax evasion. Failing at everything else, Binghamton tries to fatten up the already portly McHale so he'll flunk the physical and be shipped out of his command to a desk job somewhere.
22) "Washing Machine Charlie"-If this sounds an awful lot like "Five O'Clock Charlie," the "M*A*S*H" episode about an enemy flier who makes predictable token bombing runs at the same hour each day, it gets even weirder. Mike Farrell, who would go on to star in "M*A*S*H," guests in this episode!
23) "Nippon Nancy Calling"-Parker has to spy on McHale at Binghamton's orders after a Nippon Nancy broadcast reveals some information.
24) "One Enchanted Weekend"-Parker is sweet on the daughter of a French planter, but Binghamton won't give him permission to visit. Will that stop him?
25) "The Mothers of PT-73"-When McHale's crew plans a shindig for the fleet, things get complicated when the event falls on Mother's Day.
26) "H.M.S. 73"-Binghamton tries this time to get McHale stationed as liaison officer to the British Navy in Australia.
27) "A Wreath for McHale"-Binghamton conducts a memorial service after he thinks McHale and his crew were killed in action off Kalakai.
28) "Portrait of a Peerless Leader"-Binghamton decides he can get McHale out of his life by having him transferred to teach at a PT-Boat training facility . . . far, far away.
29) "Instant Democracy"-Once more, Binghamton's plan to discredit and rid himself of McHale falls short. He needs McHale's help to get Chief Urulu's people to enlarge the Taratupa airstrip.
30) "Camera, Action, Panic"-"Laugh-In's" Arte Johnson guests in this episode about a combat photographer who has to film a PT-Boat crew in action (didn't we see one like this already?).
31) "Alias Captain Binghamton"-A Binghamton look-alike is assigned to McHale's men, and they're convinced it's really him or a spy for the captain.
32) "Parents Anonymous"-First a POW, now a war orphan. McHale and his men adopt Kim Su after a hospital ship strands her on the island.
33) "McHale's Millions"-The crew of the PT-73 find four million dollars in the wreckage of a Japanese plane. Thinking it counterfeit, Gruber starts trading it for trinkets . . . and about passes out when he discovers the money was real.
34) "The Hillbillies of PT-73"-Binghamton descends upon McHale's Island with a visiting Congressman, and is embarrassed about the tour until the Congressman tells him how much the atmosphere reminds him of home.
35) "The Monster of McHale's Island"-An emergency landing drops the spoiled-brat son of an admiral in McHale's lap.
36) "Uncle Admiral"-Binghamton learns that Parker is related to a Vice Admiral Parker (Harry Von Zell), and has him reassigned as his aide. Poor Carpenter.
"Sgt. Bilko" made the peacetime military seem funny, but how could you possibly play WWII for laughs? Answer: Isolate the servicemen on a remote Pacific island and shift the conflict so it's mostly between a rag-tag bunch of Navy irregulars versus their by-the-book captain. And as long as the public was enamored with a youthful President Kennedy, who commanded the PT-109 during the war, why not make the show about PT-Boats?
While you're at it, why not cast in the lead role a dramatic actor who appeared in one of the most honored WWII films, "From Here to Eternity" (1953), and who won an Oscar two years later for his portrayal of "Marty"?
As it turned out, Ernest Borgnine (Lt. Commander Quinton McHale) was also the only one of his TV crew who actually served in the Navy. Maybe that's why he looked so comfortable behind the wheel of that 70-foot plywood boat, which is all that those PT-Boats were really made of. But Borgnine also proved to be a natural straight man for comedians like Tim Conway and Joe Flynn, both of whom forged a comfortable career making Disney live-action comedies. In fact, this half-hour sitcom is very much in the same mold as those lightweight, straightforward comedies.
"McHale's Navy" debuted in 1962, three years before "Hogan's Heroes" and 10 years before "M*A*S*H," and it was truly a situation comedy. Yes, the cast and characters delivered the laughs, but the formula was what gave them the jokes. Week after week you knew what you were going to see: Capt. Binghamton (Flynn) and his toadie, Lt. Elroy Carpenter (Bob Hastings), would try to catch McHale's "gang of pirates" in the act, just as Bilko's commander kept trying to nail him and his men. One major difference was that Bilko was the instigator, while here McHale was the benevolent commander who let his men get away with murder as long as they didn't go too far, and as long as they did their duty when called upon. And almost always, McHale and his men would get off the hook because they did their jobs--fighting the enemy--really well. Sometimes it was by design, other times by accident, but the PT-73 had an uncanny knack for thwarting the Japanese almost every week as a means of avoiding courts-martial or transfer by their commanding officer.
Yes, there are racist elements here, and not just Japanese. The "natives" of the South Pacific are as negatively stereotyped as can be. But the show became a "must-see" on ABC, and cracked the Nielsen Top-25 its second and third seasons. The writing was just good enough, but it was the cast that made the show fun to watch. Anyone who's seen Tim Conway in later films will appreciate his style of comedy here, which bears an unmistakable resemblance to the Don Knotts bumbling school of slapschtick. And Flynn? He was born to be the clueless authority figure, with his horn-rimmed glasses and his "What, what, what?," along with that stubborn determination to get the offenders, though he had no idea how. Even the dynamic between the rotund McHale and his bumbling second-in-command would be one viewers would appreciate so much that they'd see it repeated in "Gilligan's Island" with the portly Skipper and his goofball "Little Buddy."
Even the supporting cast on "McHale's Navy" was fun to watch. Comic magician Carl Ballantine played the fast-talking Lester Gruber, whose schemes drive many of the episodes, while Gavin McLeod ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show") was Seaman "Happy" Haines, who wore a pirate's bandana long before he'd don that "Love Boat" captain's cap. Billy Sands was the goofy "Tinker" Bell, Gary Vinson was "Christy" Christopher, and Edson Stroll played the somewhat slow Virgil Edwards. Oh, and the unofficial crew member who lived on an island off the main island base of the PT-Boat squadron was Fuji (Yoshio Yoda), a Japanese soldier who ran away from the war and was adopted by McHale and his crew. Kindness may have led to their initial acceptance, but one reason they never shipped Fuji off to a POW camp was that he was an incredible cook. Great food, "native" girls, gambling operations, hammocks, beer in the torpedo tubes--what more could a seaman ask for? Plus, they were such an annoyance to Binghamton that they weren't even allowed to stay with others at the base on Taratupa. They had their own little island that was close enough to where you'd take a launch to get there, and that was just fine by McHale and his men, who turned that island into a little corner of paradise . . . and gambling.
Thirty-six episodes of this light sitcom are included on five discs that are housed in three slim plastic keep-cases with a cardboard sleeve:
1) "An Ensign for McHale"-Parker comes to the crew famous for destroying ensigns, but endears himself to the commander by not mentioning that Binghamton gave him just one week to whip the crew in shape or he's sent to the worst reassignment imaginable.
2) "A Purple Heart for Gruber"-Gruber's laundry scheme is thwarted when a Japanese sub torpedoes Binghamton's dress whites . . . and they have to sink that submarine to make amends.
3) "McHale and His Seven Cupids"-When Parker has the hots for a new tall nurse, McHale and his crew try to help out.
4) "PT-73, Where Are You?"-Joseph Heller (Catch-22) wrote this episode about a chain reaction. When the 73 turns up missing, why not swipe Carpenter's boat and repaint the number?
5) "Movies Are Your Best Diversion"-Reel fun as McHale's crew grabs first-run movies intended for Binghamton and gives the Captain B-nonsense instead. And their act of redemption this episode comes with their ingenuity in using those films to foil a Japanese attack on the convoy.
6) "Operation Wedding Party"-How to fight a war and also play wedding planner? That's McHale's dilemma as he tries to unite Christy and Lt. Winters (Cindy Robbins).
7) "Who Do the Voodoo?"-Yep, one of the racially offensive episodes has Chief Tali (played by Jacques Aubuchon) putting a curse on Capt. Binghamton because he won't compensate them for damages caused by the Navy.
8) "Three Girls on an Island"-The Tyler Sisters are stranded on an island, so naturally McHale and his crew want to be the ones to rescue the singers.
9) "McHale's Paradise Motel"-While on patrol, McHale and his crew discover an abandoned plantation that makes the perfect party house. But discreet? Not! It draws the attention of both U.S. and Japanese forces.
10) "The Battle of McHale's Island"-Binghamton wants to build an officer's club on McHale's little island, so of course McHale and his men have to sabotage the plan if they're to keep their freedom.
11) "The Day They Captured Santa Claus"-On Christmas Day, McHale and his men's attempt to play Santa for local children is thwarted by a Japanese ambush.
12) "Beauty and the Beast"-A photographer who rubs McHale and his men the wrong way is assigned to the crew, and they'll do almost anything to get rid of her.
13) "The Captain's Mission"-In this funny episode, while McHale is away, Binghamton will play. He leaves his desk and leads the PT-73 on a mission, with predictable laughs.
14) "Send Us a Hero"-The PR people want a war hero for a new bond tour, and Parker and the men scheme to have McHale chosen . . . until they find out he'll be going stateside without them.
15) "The Captain Steals a Cook"-Leave it to Gruber to spoil a good thing. He's been selling Fuji's Polynesian food to Navy personnel on Taratupa, and life gets complicated when Binghamton places an order for a dinner he's serving for a visiting admiral.
16) "The Ensign Gets a Zero"-Parker at the machine gun is a lot like Barney Fife with a handgun. You don't want to be around. Here, thinking Parker is an ace, Binghamton bets Parker can outshoot a rival's best.
17) "The Big Raffle"-A French girl helps the men raise money for Christy and Lt. Winters' first child.
18) "One of Our Engines is Missing"-McHale and his crew plot to find new engines for the PT-73, while Binghamton plots to ship them out to a new location. Of interest here is that Ted Knight guests and gets to spend time with Gavin McLeod, whom he'll work with later on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
19) "The Natives Get Restless"-The title says it all. Binghamton angers the locals again, and has to smooth things over before a VIP visits.
20) "The Confidence Game"-Parker thinks the crew doesn't respect him, and it's up to everyone to pump him up again.
21) "Six Pounds from Paradise"-This is kind of like getting Al Capone on tax evasion. Failing at everything else, Binghamton tries to fatten up the already portly McHale so he'll flunk the physical and be shipped out of his command to a desk job somewhere.
22) "Washing Machine Charlie"-If this sounds an awful lot like "Five O'Clock Charlie," the "M*A*S*H" episode about an enemy flier who makes predictable token bombing runs at the same hour each day, it gets even weirder. Mike Farrell, who would go on to star in "M*A*S*H," guests in this episode!
23) "Nippon Nancy Calling"-Parker has to spy on McHale at Binghamton's orders after a Nippon Nancy broadcast reveals some information.
24) "One Enchanted Weekend"-Parker is sweet on the daughter of a French planter, but Binghamton won't give him permission to visit. Will that stop him?
25) "The Mothers of PT-73"-When McHale's crew plans a shindig for the fleet, things get complicated when the event falls on Mother's Day.
26) "H.M.S. 73"-Binghamton tries this time to get McHale stationed as liaison officer to the British Navy in Australia.
27) "A Wreath for McHale"-Binghamton conducts a memorial service after he thinks McHale and his crew were killed in action off Kalakai.
28) "Portrait of a Peerless Leader"-Binghamton decides he can get McHale out of his life by having him transferred to teach at a PT-Boat training facility . . . far, far away.
29) "Instant Democracy"-Once more, Binghamton's plan to discredit and rid himself of McHale falls short. He needs McHale's help to get Chief Urulu's people to enlarge the Taratupa airstrip.
30) "Camera, Action, Panic"-"Laugh-In's" Arte Johnson guests in this episode about a combat photographer who has to film a PT-Boat crew in action (didn't we see one like this already?).
31) "Alias Captain Binghamton"-A Binghamton look-alike is assigned to McHale's men, and they're convinced it's really him or a spy for the captain.
32) "Parents Anonymous"-First a POW, now a war orphan. McHale and his men adopt Kim Su after a hospital ship strands her on the island.
33) "McHale's Millions"-The crew of the PT-73 find four million dollars in the wreckage of a Japanese plane. Thinking it counterfeit, Gruber starts trading it for trinkets . . . and about passes out when he discovers the money was real.
34) "The Hillbillies of PT-73"-Binghamton descends upon McHale's Island with a visiting Congressman, and is embarrassed about the tour until the Congressman tells him how much the atmosphere reminds him of home.
35) "The Monster of McHale's Island"-An emergency landing drops the spoiled-brat son of an admiral in McHale's lap.
36) "Uncle Admiral"-Binghamton learns that Parker is related to a Vice Admiral Parker (Harry Von Zell), and has him reassigned as his aide. Poor Carpenter.
While you're at it, why not cast in the lead role a dramatic actor who appeared in one of the most honored WWII films, "From Here to Eternity" (1953), and who won an Oscar two years later for his portrayal of "Marty"?
As it turned out, Ernest Borgnine (Lt. Commander Quinton McHale) was also the only one of his TV crew who actually served in the Navy. Maybe that's why he looked so comfortable behind the wheel of that 70-foot plywood boat, which is all that those PT-Boats were really made of. But Borgnine also proved to be a natural straight man for comedians like Tim Conway and Joe Flynn, both of whom forged a comfortable career making Disney live-action comedies. In fact, this half-hour sitcom is very much in the same mold as those lightweight, straightforward comedies.
"McHale's Navy" debuted in 1962, three years before "Hogan's Heroes" and 10 years before "M*A*S*H," and it was truly a situation comedy. Yes, the cast and characters delivered the laughs, but the formula was what gave them the jokes. Week after week you knew what you were going to see: Capt. Binghamton (Flynn) and his toadie, Lt. Elroy Carpenter (Bob Hastings), would try to catch McHale's "gang of pirates" in the act, just as Bilko's commander kept trying to nail him and his men. One major difference was that Bilko was the instigator, while here McHale was the benevolent commander who let his men get away with murder as long as they didn't go too far, and as long as they did their duty when called upon. And almost always, McHale and his men would get off the hook because they did their jobs--fighting the enemy--really well. Sometimes it was by design, other times by accident, but the PT-73 had an uncanny knack for thwarting the Japanese almost every week as a means of avoiding courts-martial or transfer by their commanding officer.
Yes, there are racist elements here, and not just Japanese. The "natives" of the South Pacific are as negatively stereotyped as can be. But the show became a "must-see" on ABC, and cracked the Nielsen Top-25 its second and third seasons. The writing was just good enough, but it was the cast that made the show fun to watch. Anyone who's seen Tim Conway in later films will appreciate his style of comedy here, which bears an unmistakable resemblance to the Don Knotts bumbling school of slapschtick. And Flynn? He was born to be the clueless authority figure, with his horn-rimmed glasses and his "What, what, what?," along with that stubborn determination to get the offenders, though he had no idea how. Even the dynamic between the rotund McHale and his bumbling second-in-command would be one viewers would appreciate so much that they'd see it repeated in "Gilligan's Island" with the portly Skipper and his goofball "Little Buddy."
Even the supporting cast on "McHale's Navy" was fun to watch. Comic magician Carl Ballantine played the fast-talking Lester Gruber, whose schemes drive many of the episodes, while Gavin McLeod ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show") was Seaman "Happy" Haines, who wore a pirate's bandana long before he'd don that "Love Boat" captain's cap. Billy Sands was the goofy "Tinker" Bell, Gary Vinson was "Christy" Christopher, and Edson Stroll played the somewhat slow Virgil Edwards. Oh, and the unofficial crew member who lived on an island off the main island base of the PT-Boat squadron was Fuji (Yoshio Yoda), a Japanese soldier who ran away from the war and was adopted by McHale and his crew. Kindness may have led to their initial acceptance, but one reason they never shipped Fuji off to a POW camp was that he was an incredible cook. Great food, "native" girls, gambling operations, hammocks, beer in the torpedo tubes--what more could a seaman ask for? Plus, they were such an annoyance to Binghamton that they weren't even allowed to stay with others at the base on Taratupa. They had their own little island that was close enough to where you'd take a launch to get there, and that was just fine by McHale and his men, who turned that island into a little corner of paradise . . . and gambling.
Thirty-six episodes of this light sitcom are included on five discs that are housed in three slim plastic keep-cases with a cardboard sleeve:
1) "An Ensign for McHale"-Parker comes to the crew famous for destroying ensigns, but endears himself to the commander by not mentioning that Binghamton gave him just one week to whip the crew in shape or he's sent to the worst reassignment imaginable.
2) "A Purple Heart for Gruber"-Gruber's laundry scheme is thwarted when a Japanese sub torpedoes Binghamton's dress whites . . . and they have to sink that submarine to make amends.
3) "McHale and His Seven Cupids"-When Parker has the hots for a new tall nurse, McHale and his crew try to help out.
4) "PT-73, Where Are You?"-Joseph Heller (Catch-22) wrote this episode about a chain reaction. When the 73 turns up missing, why not swipe Carpenter's boat and repaint the number?
5) "Movies Are Your Best Diversion"-Reel fun as McHale's crew grabs first-run movies intended for Binghamton and gives the Captain B-nonsense instead. And their act of redemption this episode comes with their ingenuity in using those films to foil a Japanese attack on the convoy.
6) "Operation Wedding Party"-How to fight a war and also play wedding planner? That's McHale's dilemma as he tries to unite Christy and Lt. Winters (Cindy Robbins).
7) "Who Do the Voodoo?"-Yep, one of the racially offensive episodes has Chief Tali (played by Jacques Aubuchon) putting a curse on Capt. Binghamton because he won't compensate them for damages caused by the Navy.
8) "Three Girls on an Island"-The Tyler Sisters are stranded on an island, so naturally McHale and his crew want to be the ones to rescue the singers.
9) "McHale's Paradise Motel"-While on patrol, McHale and his crew discover an abandoned plantation that makes the perfect party house. But discreet? Not! It draws the attention of both U.S. and Japanese forces.
10) "The Battle of McHale's Island"-Binghamton wants to build an officer's club on McHale's little island, so of course McHale and his men have to sabotage the plan if they're to keep their freedom.
11) "The Day They Captured Santa Claus"-On Christmas Day, McHale and his men's attempt to play Santa for local children is thwarted by a Japanese ambush.
12) "Beauty and the Beast"-A photographer who rubs McHale and his men the wrong way is assigned to the crew, and they'll do almost anything to get rid of her.
13) "The Captain's Mission"-In this funny episode, while McHale is away, Binghamton will play. He leaves his desk and leads the PT-73 on a mission, with predictable laughs.
14) "Send Us a Hero"-The PR people want a war hero for a new bond tour, and Parker and the men scheme to have McHale chosen . . . until they find out he'll be going stateside without them.
15) "The Captain Steals a Cook"-Leave it to Gruber to spoil a good thing. He's been selling Fuji's Polynesian food to Navy personnel on Taratupa, and life gets complicated when Binghamton places an order for a dinner he's serving for a visiting admiral.
16) "The Ensign Gets a Zero"-Parker at the machine gun is a lot like Barney Fife with a handgun. You don't want to be around. Here, thinking Parker is an ace, Binghamton bets Parker can outshoot a rival's best.
17) "The Big Raffle"-A French girl helps the men raise money for Christy and Lt. Winters' first child.
18) "One of Our Engines is Missing"-McHale and his crew plot to find new engines for the PT-73, while Binghamton plots to ship them out to a new location. Of interest here is that Ted Knight guests and gets to spend time with Gavin McLeod, whom he'll work with later on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
19) "The Natives Get Restless"-The title says it all. Binghamton angers the locals again, and has to smooth things over before a VIP visits.
20) "The Confidence Game"-Parker thinks the crew doesn't respect him, and it's up to everyone to pump him up again.
21) "Six Pounds from Paradise"-This is kind of like getting Al Capone on tax evasion. Failing at everything else, Binghamton tries to fatten up the already portly McHale so he'll flunk the physical and be shipped out of his command to a desk job somewhere.
22) "Washing Machine Charlie"-If this sounds an awful lot like "Five O'Clock Charlie," the "M*A*S*H" episode about an enemy flier who makes predictable token bombing runs at the same hour each day, it gets even weirder. Mike Farrell, who would go on to star in "M*A*S*H," guests in this episode!
23) "Nippon Nancy Calling"-Parker has to spy on McHale at Binghamton's orders after a Nippon Nancy broadcast reveals some information.
24) "One Enchanted Weekend"-Parker is sweet on the daughter of a French planter, but Binghamton won't give him permission to visit. Will that stop him?
25) "The Mothers of PT-73"-When McHale's crew plans a shindig for the fleet, things get complicated when the event falls on Mother's Day.
26) "H.M.S. 73"-Binghamton tries this time to get McHale stationed as liaison officer to the British Navy in Australia.
27) "A Wreath for McHale"-Binghamton conducts a memorial service after he thinks McHale and his crew were killed in action off Kalakai.
28) "Portrait of a Peerless Leader"-Binghamton decides he can get McHale out of his life by having him transferred to teach at a PT-Boat training facility . . . far, far away.
29) "Instant Democracy"-Once more, Binghamton's plan to discredit and rid himself of McHale falls short. He needs McHale's help to get Chief Urulu's people to enlarge the Taratupa airstrip.
30) "Camera, Action, Panic"-"Laugh-In's" Arte Johnson guests in this episode about a combat photographer who has to film a PT-Boat crew in action (didn't we see one like this already?).
31) "Alias Captain Binghamton"-A Binghamton look-alike is assigned to McHale's men, and they're convinced it's really him or a spy for the captain.
32) "Parents Anonymous"-First a POW, now a war orphan. McHale and his men adopt Kim Su after a hospital ship strands her on the island.
33) "McHale's Millions"-The crew of the PT-73 find four million dollars in the wreckage of a Japanese plane. Thinking it counterfeit, Gruber starts trading it for trinkets . . . and about passes out when he discovers the money was real.
34) "The Hillbillies of PT-73"-Binghamton descends upon McHale's Island with a visiting Congressman, and is embarrassed about the tour until the Congressman tells him how much the atmosphere reminds him of home.
35) "The Monster of McHale's Island"-An emergency landing drops the spoiled-brat son of an admiral in McHale's lap.
36) "Uncle Admiral"-Binghamton learns that Parker is related to a Vice Admiral Parker (Harry Von Zell), and has him reassigned as his aide. Poor Carpenter.
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