WW II Television Series

[50 Gold]

Does anybody remember the TV series "Combat," which ran from 1962 to 1967? It starred Vic Morrow as Sgt. Saunders. My childhood mind will never forget Sgt. Saunders and his Thompson sub-machine gun. Does anyone remember him ever running out of ammo and having to change magazines? Wasn't TV amazing in that a German soldier firing an MG42 couldn't hit "the broadside of a barn," as my dad used to say, but an American GI with a 1911. 45 could take out an enemy soldier at 100 yards or so? No wonder we won the war.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Sure. I grew up watching that show and totally loved it. I still have a Mattel Tommy Gun that was my favorite toy weapon for a while because of Vic Morrow's using one on Combat!

But I haven't seen an episode since I was a kid. I wonder how the show holds up... some 60s dramatic shows hold up very well, but not all.

See http://www.combattvseries.com/

 

[Feraud]

Combat was slightly before my time. They are running the show on one of our local cable channels. I try to catch it. I like it!

 

[Twitch]

Boy I'd sure like to see those episodes again! Sgt. Saunders, Lt. Hanley, Cage, Kirby, Little John....oh yeah!

 

[Bayern]

Broken Thompson

"Does anyone remember him ever running out of ammo and having to change magazines?"

I've been watching the show recently (DVD from the library) and just watched an episode where Sgt Saunders actually breaks his thompson into pieces along with the rest of the squad prior to being captured. I guess he got a new one! And I have seen them run out of ammo and change clips!
**the comments and bluppers that come with the DVDs are very interesting.

 

[scotrace]

A testimonial

Dad used to watch Combat! because he said it was fairly realistic compared to most films.
He told me that anytime you see a guy in a movie pick up a huge machine gun off a tripod and start firing it from the hip, or, as in the '40's film "Airforce," the guys pluck a machine gun off a B-17 mount and hand fire it, that's BS. He said the recoil makes the weapon's barrel pull upward so hard you can't control it.

YMMV

 

[Twitch]

One of my favorite episodes was one when Saunders encounters a very seasoned German sargeant and they play cat and mouse for the whole show.

 

[Rigby Reardon]

Reruns of that show was the reason to stay home sick when I was a kid.

 

[Serial Hero]

All the seasons are on DVD for about $30.00 each, or all together for $300

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/sea...uickSearchText=Combat&FRM=0&userid=1O2LPexCjc

 

[MrBern]

I dont recall it from way back when, but have enjoyed seeing it on cable the last few years.
I'm sorry that Combat and LeaveIttoBeaver were never rerun in NYC the way that Trek , I loveLucy, the Honeymooners & The OddCouple were in constant rotation.
Its certainly an old gem.
Incidentally, Vic Morrow who played 'SgtSaunders' was the father of JenniferJasonLeigh.
He was killed filming a war scene in TheTwilightZone movie.

 

[Rigby Reardon]

Helicopter crash during an unsafe stunt, as I recall...I believe the director was blamed, and probably was to blame, but was found not to be 'blameable' for some reason. I believe two children were killed at the same time. Tragic end.

Combat was a frequent rerun in a block of black&whites during week mornings - along w/ the Adams Family, the Munsters, and Gilligan's Island (the first couple seasons, in b&w, when The Professor and MaryAnn were just 'and the rest'. )

It inspired my brother and I to get toy M-16s...the kind that would scare a cop into shooting these days. Ah, a childhood of gunplay...

J

 

[Twitch]

Who liked McHale's Navy?