1962: The Year TV Went to WWII

By Bill Kunkel

Before October 1962, war stories were not considered appropriate content for series TV. Oh, there were plenty of documentaries, like the award-winning Victory at Sea, but original series set in a wartime environment had simply never been done.

Then, on Tuesday, October 2, 1962, Combat premiered on ABC. Three days later, The Gallant Men debuted on the alphabet network, and a small trend had begun. In fact, every war-based TV show that followed-from The Rat Patrol, Twelve O'Clock High and Garrison's Gorillas to Hogan's Heroes--owes a debt to those first shows, which proved that the grit and guts of men at war could indeed be the stuff of successful television.

Combat is arguably the finest war-based action-drama in TV history, and it is certainly the most successful, having run from 1962 through 1967. The series' nominal star was Rick Jason as Lt. Hanley, but second banana Vic Morrow (Sgt. Saunders) demonstrated so much more audience appeal that Hanley was quickly reduced to riding up in a jeep and handing Saunders his orders at the beginning of each show.

Combat used a variety of themes and techniques to deliver its stories of a hard-bitten squad of grunts moving through war-ravaged, post-D-Day Europe. Its core characters included the resourceful "Cage" Lemay (Pierre Jalbert); the brawny Littlejohn (Dick Peabody); Kirby (Jack Hogan); Braddock (comic Shecky Green); and "Doc" (Steven Rogers).

Unlike Combat, however, The Gallant Men survived just one campaign, despite good critical notices. Scheduled on Friday nights up against the popular western, Rawhide, ABC moved its new show to Saturday nights after only two months on the air. Out of the frying pan, the show now found itself in the ratings fire, facing the popular Jackie Gleason Show. Those Neilson ratings proved a tougher enemy than the Axis, and the show succumbed in the fall of 1963.

The Gallant Men was set in Italy during WWII and followed the adventures of the 36th Infantry "Texas" Division as they battled their way up the Boot. The action was seen through the eyes of a war correspondent named Conley Wright (Robert McQueeney), while the infantrymen were under the command of Capt. Jim Benedict (William Reynolds). The cast contained the usual collection of war story characters: the charming Italian lady-killer, PFC D'Angelo (Eddie Fontaine); best buddies Lucavich (Roland LaStarza) and Hanson (Robert Gothie); and the tough-as-nails Sgt. McKenna (Richard X Slattery).

Memorial Day is a wonderful opportunity to pause and reflect on the many individual sacrifices that have been made in this century on our behalf. Through dramas such as Combat and The Gallant Men, baby boomers were given an up-close-and-personal look at the war their parents' generation had just fought on behalf of the free world. It is only natural that they should maintain a fondness for the collectibles that remind them of these groundbreaking shows.

Bill Kunkel is a Channel Manager for the Collecting Channel at http://www.collectingchannel.com.

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The preceding material was written by Bill Kunkel. These are the opinions of the author, not the opinions of eBay, and therefore eBay does not validate the accuracy of or endorse these opinions.