hrailey-34155
I would have rated the show a 10 if somehow Peter Fonda's character could have been developed in the series, perhaps as stated earlier, the contrast in the farm boy to leader would have been a better storyline. even retaining Burke but showing the transition of Fonda to that position with Burke moving up to Commanding General.Anyway, it is now relegated to history and we are the better for the show having been presented. It is a common thing for creative Actors to be difficult and in the confines of a regular series with 30+ shows a year, stressful I dare say if Director, Producer and Lead Actor have, let's say creative differences of opinion. That being said, no one adequately replaced the paramount acting abilities of Robert Lansing, and I think he regretted "firing himself" from the show, if I remember the Dick Cavett interview fairly accurately. It feels like Lansing was never fully utilized in Hollywood, it is rare to find an Actor that can convey so much in a look as he did, the glance downward and peering up was classic Lansing.
jack_j_lucas
I miss many of the old time classic TV series including 12 O'Clock High and the Untouchables, but thankfully METV has come to ATT UVerse cable for my enjoyment along with the timeless series, Combat!. The one gripe that I had about Robert Lansing playing the lead as General Savage was that he came off about as lovable in love scenes as a dead wet carp that had been beached for several days. He may have been dramatic, but he certainly wasn't at all believable as being romantic.I wish that Hollywood would re-shoot many of the classic WWII war stories and battles, as too many of them that were made shortly after the war in the 1950's would feature hundreds of Americans attacking in battle with one fatality and a couple of casualties and hundreds of enemy dead, and that of course simply wasn't the case. 12 O'Clock High did a great job of making American casualties realistic and I'd love to see the series resurrected again.I just caught Frank Oberton on a rerun of Bonanza on METV as an embittered Father who's son is killed in a gun battle with Joe Cartright. Frank died of a heart attack in 1967, the same year as the last 19 episodes of 12 O'Clock High filming before it was canceled. Doe anyone know if he died while the series was still filming? If so, how was he written out of the script?
misterbee-1
I was a teenager when this show was on in 64 and I never missed it. It's on AMLTV now, and I catch it whenever I can. Between Robert Lansing and Paul Burke, my friends and I preferred Lansing. He always gave an intensity to the role, sort of stand-offish, but always in command. But when Paul Burke stepped in as commander of the 918th Bomb Group, he brought pretty much the same intensity. I'm not sure if Lansing tried to copy Gregory Peck's General Savage, but Lansing did a great job transitioning the role to TV. The show was produced by Quinn Martin (QM Productions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinn_Martin) who produced some of the best shows of the 60's. For those of us who have always been fans of the great old B-17 Flying Fortress, 12 OClock High is still a great TV show.
MARTY-251
Twelve O'Clock High is the story of the airmen of the 918th Bombardment Group based at Archbury, England. The great leadership skills of the commanding officers and how they dealt with their crews in daily life or death situations while fighting the Luftwaffe. This series had superior writing, sets and story lines-many of which were based on actual events of World War II. There is a lot of aerial combat footage used in this series from both the side of the Allies and the Axis powers. A superbly acted series with excellent casting. This series needs to be shown again in the United States as it is a great tool for teaching our young people what life and freedom was all about during this bygone era.