A Podcast About the TV Show Black Sheep Squadron
Ahh yes, the old 'enlisted man who does not want to be an officer' trope. It's hard not to love though, the idea of Andy as an officer is great.
Directed by Dana Elcar.
I'm kind of warming to Lard on this rewatch.
We get a Red Buel reference. No autocomplete, not the freaking drink, stop it...
We talk a bit about Tokyo Rose.
The running joke that TJ runs his mixture so rich because he sucks is funny.
As with much of the first half of season 2, this one is pretty good!
Season finale!
The director, Phillip DeGuerre, took some neat chances this week.
Micklin is taking over from Hutch.
Steve and I talk a bit about the idea of 'knights of the air'.
What's with captain sgt. Bilko?
Efficiency experts are now called industrial organizational psychologists.
I love Hirachi throwing 'rice ball' back at Pappy.
TJ reads Japanese as well as he flies.
'You got American chocolate?'
'You got Japanese rice wine?'
Lots of use of stock footage this week, much of it over Europe.
The B17 was not that big a deal in the Pacific theatre.
Inter service rivalry is a thing.
So general Moore just leaves....
Col Lard working together with Pappy, as much as he can, is a nice twist.
There's still this sense that everything can be cured with a fistfight, though, I suppose that sort of dispute resolution kind of comes to mind when your job is trying to make sure some other guy dies for his country.
I liked this one, though Masters of the Air it ain't.....
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!
Wait, what did you pay for the podcast? Nothing. I retract my apology.
JAMES DARREN! I love Jimmy Darren. I loved him in the Time Tunnel, I loved him in DS9, and he plays 'movie star' really well. Of course Jimmy died on Sept 3. If you get a chance, check out the interview with him on the Shuttlepod podcast. It's excellent.
Hollywood stars did joined the armed forces, as did pro athletes etc.
Who? Oh, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Glenn Miller, you know, no big stars... This is the equivalent today of say Ryan Reynolds, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and oh I dunno, Taylor Swift joining the armed forces to fight the evil that is fascism. This shows you how seriously people took this.
Rod getting names wrong, classic.
Everything is solved with toxic masculinity.
What's Nancy's problem?
Hey this one has not one, but two made up islands!
The 'well if we could just get a mission we won't get court martialled' trope continues. (Also, is it martialled or martialed?). OK, turns out it must be the double l one right?
This one was broadcast on December 7, 1976. You may not know this, but, a pretty big thing happened on December 7, 1941, just saying.
I don't put my feet up on my desk much, but if Admiral Nimitz says it's a good idea I will start.
I really liked how Lard knew something was up because there was too much Scotch on Espartos Marcos.
Pappy's plane changes a few times scene to scene which is pretty funny.
'It's called stock footage David, be quiet'.
That said, much of the dogfighting stuff is great.
You sir, are no admiral Nimitz.
There are, today, listening posts like the show talked about. This one though seems to detect things using active sonar pings and Morse code...
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....
Repeat this with me, there was no Christmas Island campaign.
I wonder if what Pappy proposes is technically a war crime.
Some great stuff about carrier operations this week. That guy is in a dumb looking shirt and hat for a reason.
US Navy vs USMC rivalry is a real thing. Inter service rivalries are in general in every country with armed forces.
We get some proper toxic masculinity this week.
We both love Gutterman.
We also get the 'flying misfits vs the US armed forces' this week. I'm not complaining BTW.
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.
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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...
