A Podcast About the TV Show Black Sheep Squadron
Here are the best episodes.
Here are the worst episodes.
Here are the best guest stars.
We might even get Jon's thoughts! (Those thoughts essentially tuned out as 'I dunno, planes are cool').
Look, I write these things before we start, and usually I have notes, but we're just going to talk about season 1 ok.
I'll miss Hutch.
The show transitioned about half way through and got a tad serious, which we both like.
RED WEST!
We also get Tommy Hirachi, Pappy's nemesis in the show (not so much in real life).
Some real exploration of Gutterman's PTSD.
Ginty's best work of the series so far.
Wait, you can't solve everything with a punch?
OK, well you can solve some things.
I am warming up to Col. Lard.
This is a crossover episode with WKRP
Andy Micklin is basically a walking trope and Steve and I don't care.
I think that Robert Conrad really showed some range here.
I don't want to, however, hear his kissing noises.
Rabaul was certainly an important base for the Japanese.
It was eventually just bypassed.
The use of Tora Tora Tora footage was really good in this one.
What's the deal with Bobby Boyle's hair?
I love Gutterman, but sometimes I want to yell at him.
Nurses still in their civvy uniforms..
Part 2 was better than Part 1, just like it was with Rockford!
The actual Pappy is in this one!
The New Britain campaign and strikes on Bougainville were a thing.
Oh yeah, here is a link to the documentary about the 214 Steve talked about.
Fighter sweeps were too.
So we have some actual historical accuracy here!
Nurses are great, if you are an officer.
Also, why are the nurses in civilian nursing uniforms?
James Whitmore Jr. kills it in this one, but Robert Conrad shows some chops too.
Patterson the red shirt...
This one is about bullying, and hit home for both of us (you'd never guess the two of us would be bullied, no, kids love weird kids who read a lot...)
I like that it focusses a lot on Larry.
I like that it focusses a lot on Jerry.
Look, I like these guys.
Wartime romances were a real thing. They were often intense, and often a bad idea. A lot of guys came home to babies that couldn't have been theirs, and a lot of couples generally had kids outside of marriage, which was not as accepted a thing, generally. Mostly people moved on.
Some really good dogfighting scenes in this one.
We get Pappy drinking aftershave in this one!
Come to think of it, I shouldn't have used an exclamation point there, like, am I excited about alcohol use disorder?
Classic military movie trope of volunteers only in this one.
Classic military movie trop of drawing lots.
Whitmore Jr is really good in this one as usual.
The USS Princeton was a real carrier.
Those extra guys are a bunch of Dales.
Pappy is horrible. in the one.
The Fraser strait on the other hand....
This one is pretty dark. We think of Baa Baa Black Sheep as a sort of swashbuckling 'isn't war fun' kind of show. And yes dear listener, it often is. But hidden in that brew of bullshit is often some great commentary on war. This episode is like that. Poor Doug has no life outside of being an Admiral's son, or being a jinx.
This one also talks about privilege and superstition, two things Pappy would have none of. He didn't care who you were, as long as you could fly, but of course, he'll take advantage of your position in life.
There are some wild historical inaccuracies in this one that we discuss.
James Whitmore Jr. kills in this episode.
This one is the classic 'guy gets shot down over enemy territory and has to figure a way out'. This has been seen in so many shows and movies. Be it, Star, both Wars and Trek, be it 12 O'Clock High, be it Combat! be it Piece of Cake, Wings (the 1977 one look it up) hell, I think there's a Hogan's Heroes like this! Still, a good one.
Rene Auberjonois is in this one and he's very good. There are a couple of scenes where he really shows his chops. Spoiler, he's a better actor than Robert Conrad. Another spoiler, Conrad keeps up.
Why are they on an island off the coast of Labrador?
Pappy was actually shot down of course and ended up in transit on Truk, where they attack on the show, and where at the end of the episode you will hear a real newsreel from the time that pappy is ctually in (you can't really easily make him out from the air, but he talks about it in Baa Baa Black Sheep).
This is, as usual, a fun one.
Whitmore steals every scene he is in, killer performance this week.
Charles Napier is always fun. He just chews scenes, and I love it.
I always wonder about two guys just playing straight poker with each other. Why not just flip a coin?
I would never get Jim Gutterman mad, I'd be afraid he'd snap. Whitmore did an excellent job with this character.
Bar fights that men bond over. It's a war movie trope.
Greg and Red both sucker punch each other in this episode.
In a lot of ways, this is the quintessential Baa Baa Black Sheep episode. It's got Col Lard, Gen Moore, Red fighting Pappy, some great dogfighting, some ground combat. Oh and lots of drinking and historically questionable bits...
Hey, it's part 2 of the pilot!
One thing about the show, while Pappy is the hero, he's not sugarcoated, he's a drunk and, as he would say 'a bum'.
Guy could fly though. He actually did down five Japanese planes in one engagement, which is nuts.
I wish they'd use real place names, but as Steve reminds me often, Cannel was in the entertainment business.
There is some really good use of stock footage from the war in this episode.
I love the Corsair. That is just true, so I thought I'd say that.
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| VMAF 214 Patch today |
We've dropped enough hints.
Hell, on the retro TV podcast I am a part of I covered this show on my third episode.
Anyway yes, it's the Black Sheep Squadron/Baa Baa Black Sheep, the story of famed US Marine fighter squadron, the Black Sheep, and their first commander, Major Greg, 'Pappy' Boyington. Originally they were to be called 'Boyington's Bastards', which obviously is where we got the name for our little show.
Oh and by the way, if this is in your Rockford or Mad Men feed yeah, it will happen once. Look, what did you pay for the podcast? Nothing, that's right. We'd like a case of Scotch and two crates of .50 cal ammo.
You can see the squadron's unit patch today honours the originals.
There is some truth in this episode. You know, WW2 happened for example...
We still deal with some serious WW2 stuff this week, as of course Steve and I would.
OK, not really, but, kinda? Anderson, gone. TJ gone. "Pappy's Lambs" in (blech) Jeb the eith year old pilot with feathered hai...
