Combat!

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For other uses, see combat (disambiguation).
Combat!

Rick Jason (r.) and Vic Morrow in Combat!
Format War Drama
Starring Rick Jason
Vic Morrow
Pierre Jalbert
Jack Hogan
Dick Peabody
Conlan Carter
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 152 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 46 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run October 2, 1962 – August 29, 1967
External links
IMDb profile

Combat! was an American television program that aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The exclamation point in "Combat!" was a stylized bayonet.

Created by Robert Pirosh, the show covered the lives of a squad of American soldiers in France[1] during World War II and starred Rick Jason, Vic Morrow, Pierre Jalbert, Jack Hogan, Conlan Carter, Shecky Greene, and Dick Peabody. Incidentally, most of the cast members were veterans of World War II, though not in the Army infantry. Morrow, Peabody and Hogan served in the U.S. Navy, while Jason served in the Army Air Corps. Conlan Carter served in the Air Force during the Korean War.

After the first season, the recurring members of the squad were: Rick Jason as 2Lt. Gil Hanley, Vic Morrow as Sgt. Chip Saunders, Jack Hogan as Pvt. William G. Kirby, Pierre Jalbert as PFC. Paul "Caje" LeMay, Conlan Carter as "Doc," and Dick Peabody as PFC. Littlejohn.

Guest stars usually appeared as additional squad members, French citizens or Nazi soldiers. In the first season, the then little-known Ted Knight and Frank Gorshin made appearances. Notable guest stars in the second season included Lee Marvin, James Coburn, Richard Basehart, Eddie Albert, Nick Adams, James Caan, and Leonard Nimoy (as a U.S. soldier/German translator), and Baseball Hall of Famer Warren Spahn (as a German guard). Mike Farrell (coincidentally for this later M*A*S*H doctor, as a medic) also guest-starred. Later also Beau Bridges and Robert Duvall. The program was produced by Robert Blees, Robert Altman (briefly), Richard Caffey, Gene Levitt, and Richard Maibaum. The executive producer was Selig J. Seligman. Ten episodes were directed by Altman, who went on to make M*A*S*H and other acclaimed films.

Combat! ran for five seasons, of which the first four are in black and white, with a move to color for the final season.

CBS Paramount Television (inherited from ABC Films, Worldvision Enterprises and Paramount Television) owns American television distribution rights to the series, while Disney-ABC International Television has international rights--original producer and copyright holder Selmur Productions was once a division of ABC Films, now CBS Paramount Television.

Contents

[edit] Cast

Rick Jason ... Hanley
Vic Morrow ... Saunders
Pierre Jalbert ... Caje
Jack Hogan ... Kirby
Dick Peabody ... Littlejohn
Conlan Carter ... Doc
Tom Lowell ... Billy Nelson (1st and 2nd seasons)
Shecky Greene ... Braddock (1st season)
Steven Rogers ... Doc (1st season)
Paul Busch ... (regularly played different parts, mostly Germans)

[edit] DVD releases

Image Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD (Region 1). They released each season in two-volume sets in 2004 and 2005. On December 6, 2005, Image Entertainment released a 40-disc boxed set featuring all 152 episodes. Each season set as well as the complete series set features various extras including commentaries, oddities, bloopers, and photo galleries.

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
Season 1 - Campaign 1 16 August 20, 2004
Season 1 - Campaign 2 16 August 20, 2004
Season 2 - Mission 1 16 November 30, 2004
Season 2 - Mission 2 16 November 30, 2004
Season 3 - Operation 1 16 March 29, 2005
Season 3 - Operation 2 16 March 29, 2005
Season 4 - Conflict 1 16 May 24, 2005
Season 4 - Conflict 2 15 May 24, 2005
Season 5 - Invasion 1 12 August 30, 2005
Season 5 - Invasion 2 13 August 30, 2005
The Battle Box (Complete Series) 152 December 6, 2005


[edit] References

  1. ^ Although the series ran five seasons, King Company never fought its way out of France.

[edit] External links