adztigana Among the best TV shows, watching the current re-runs brings back fond yesteryear's memories. It was early 80's, and I remembered running back with friends to the big penal (village head) home just to watch the series. It was the only house with cool TV - and constant electric supply. (In comparison to few others in the village needing generators to run the TVs). We used to re-create the scene from the show, and cue wounds here and there and even a broken arm for my best buddy. Watching Combat! again, only now I fully enjoy the spirits embodied by the actors, ingenious plots variety and Kirby has the best one-liners (and gun). Worth waiting in the midnight hour and just wait for that triumphant drum-trumpet intro.

DKosty123 This series was a top rated one for ABC. It is easy to see why. Vic Morrow, Rick Jason, & the regular cast were talented actors. The series also got a lot of support from top notch guest stars as well.The production qualities of this show were better than a lot of series. Somehow the action sequences would always look fresh. We'd always believe our heroes would come out and they always did thanks to so clever script writing. Amazingly, a large battery of script writers would always make things flow somehow.This show gave us some heroes to look up too when we were kids who were regular GI's instead of wearing capes & flying. The Pvts & Sgts were the heroes, not the brass. The thing I have noticed in reruns I have seen recently is that sometimes the scripts did get a little stretched. This series almost ran as long as the entire World War 2.The setting is in France & the Germans are always the enemy. If our regulars got wounded, the medics would always have them fixed up for the next episode. I'd also bet more ammunition was used filming this show than any other hit series.This series glorified war & was prior to efforts to show how horrible war really was. What is interesting is that it doesn't really get into the type of partisan political views shown later in MASH. This show rarely gets preachy letting the actions speak. That is why this show is so good. The US Military served as consultants to the program.

jexlin01 Season four of this WWII drama stands out with several intense episodes such as "The Steeple," on which a paratrooper is stuck on a church. A Nazi officer leaves his body hanging to gloat to the French villagers. Vic Morrow makes many attempts to save the very alive airborne officer. In "The Odyssey" Morrow feigns to be in shellshock and wears a German uniform to fool the Nazis in to believing he is one of their own. In "Hellbeast" he and Frank Groshin (the Riddler from Batman) command a disabled German tank in a desperate attempt to get to friendly lines. All are nail biting episodes today as well as 45 years ago. I never heard of this show until recent years. Well worth the wait.

surf66ocbp Combat ! It came on late on WFIL-TV in Philly. I'd sit there with a pint glass of milk and ten Ivan spiced wafers and pace myself through the four acts of every Combat episode week in and week out. It was great because after Combat were re-runs of the Untouchables. Enough of that. Combat was realistic and well put together. There was no better infantry squad portrayed that I've ever seen in the movies or TV than Chip Saunders squad (with the R/T call-sign "King two".) When I went in the Army in '68 I had to relearn military phonetics.... Baker was Bravo, King was Kilo, Nancy was November....I had watched Combat and Twelve-o'clock High so often. Let me tell you something: having my last name called by a Sargeant and being put on the 'point' or the 'flank' for the first time in the real Army was almost a familiar situation! You learn right away whats Hollywood and whats reality however. The first lesson is helmet etiquette; chin straps never hang loose. You never 'one-arm- hang' your weapon, (sling or port-arms or you are using it.) ad infinitum.....but there was a ton of believability in Combat regardless.All the actors knew how to salute. This is unbelievably critical to convey a sense of reality. Just look at Cuba Gooding playing a military guy if you want a real laugh. I believe two of the actors were ex-military Navy. The actors knew their weapons...so much so that you identified each weapon with the soldier. M-1 Garand with Littlejohn, Saunders with the Thompson, and Kirby with the BAR....Caje with a knife... Kirby, by the way, lugged an authentic Browning Automatic Rifle through every episode. The Radio Operator ALWAYS "got-it" but the R/T traffic was authentic and the unit itself seemed to be as ubiquitous as the weaponry. This crew used to go on-location frequently too. Korbel Winery was one location. To this day I buy their champagne because of it. And there was the back lot at MGM where they shared the set with 'Man from Uncle" and some westerns.Vic Morrow was to Combat and all military movies (both screens) as William Shatner is to James T Kirk: unassailable. The shame of Vic Morrows death is that he was put in a dangerous situation by a movie director later in his career and died because of negligence: plain and simple. Hence Vic Morrow as Sgt Chip Saunders stands forever in my mind, looking over the barrel of the Thompson perched on his hip....as the hard-bitten squad leader: best NCO in the European Theater bar none.The actor who portrayed Littlejohn was an accomplished writer. His recollections of those days are priceless and recommended for any fan of 'Combat!"