Episode 21 - Poor Little Dave and Steve

I like this title.

Nice performances by guest stars this week, especially Soon-Tek Oh.  We're both big fans.

OH look, an episode with a crash an a nun, I think Dan and I have covered an episode like this.

'I am not French, I'm Swiss'.  So was my grandfather, he fought Nazis and Japanese fascists, just saying...

Sorrel Booke is another great guest star this week.

Nice use of footage from 'Operation Petticoat' in this one, but you do see some pink sub at the end, which kind of both gives it away and takes you (if you're me) out of the scene.

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Episode 19 - Dave and Steve Fly One Last Mission Over Sengai

Easy title this time.  

Oh, it's a reference to the title of the episode, don't worry, we aren't going anywhere.

It's directed by Jackie Cooper, and Mills Watson is guest starring, it's going to be good.

Many 70s character actors in this one.

This one says some stuff about PTSD and propaganda which I think is pretty great.  Indeed, the back half of season 1 had quite a few serious plots.

All military or military adjacent shows need a court martial episode.

BTW, a court martial means you are charged and tried, it's not a punishment...

The 5th marines have done some stuff and seen some things, let's say that.

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Episode 15 - Dave is Steve's Deadliest Enemy of All

It's a two parter, so next time it will be how Steve is my deadliest enemy.

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...

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Episode 13 - Dave and Steve

Easy title this month.

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.

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BOPNUS EPISODE - We Have the Technology - Episode 0

No this isn't about Pappy or French or Lard or even WW2.

It's not even about Hirachi or Micklin.

I did talk about Baa Baa Black Sheep in the podcast though!

This is from a new podcast I'm doing with my brother Dan!  It's called 'We Have the Technology' and it's about the classic 70s show the Six Million Dollar Man.

Every month or so Dan and I will talk about a couple of episodes. You know, like with Steve, except Dan isn't Steve as much as he's Dan Brodbeck, recordist.

We talked toys.

We talked bad effects.

We talked Farrah Fawcett.

We wondered who would want an Oscar Goldman doll.

Generally we just had fun.  

Oh, yeah, a link to the site (still under construction, I haven't even bought the domain yet) might be nice....

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Episode 11 - Dave and Steve on My Mind

This one has some great 70s guest stars.

The New Georgia campaign actually happened!

Pappy and the Black Sheep don't seem to get that in wartime the whole thing doesn't revolve around you.

The lack of military discipline in the show can usually be overlooked, but Steve and I are pretty sure enlisted men don't talk to officers like they do in this episode.

Coastwatchers were a real thing, JFK knew that. Oh so does Peter Frampton.

Generally this one was supposed to make me hate the marine raiders, but, umm, the 214 are just as bad as far as Steve and I are concerned.

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Episode 10 - Anyone For Steve and Dave?

I wonder if this episode title would be used today.

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....

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Episode 8 - A Steve and Dave Circus

Not a bad title this month.

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.

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Episode 6 - Prisoners of Dave and Steve

Nice title Dave, why thank you Dave.

This is one of the most highly rated by fans, according to IMDB anyway.

There is a strong 'war, what is it good for' vibe in this episode.

Gutterman is about to snap, even more than usual.

Ping pong/table tennis is not Japanese, though what would he be good at, baseabll?

Hutch shows us the NCO vs officer tension that exists in most militaries.

Wow, the Japanese are about to attack Mexico!

TASK FORCE!

We both like this one a lot, inaccuracies and all.

Pappy Boyington wouldn't commit war crimes.

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Episode 5 - Dave and Steve are Jinxes Who May Be High

Obligatory bad title comment.

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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Episode 4 - Dave and Steve Have a Small War

Jesus that's another awful title.

This is all about redemption.  Both Gutterman's and Hooper's.

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.

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Episode 3 - Best Steve Out of Dave

I'm sticking to the episode naming convention I have developed and there is nothing you can do to stop me.

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...

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Episode 2 - Dave and Steve Fit and Miss

My clever title game is weak this week.

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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Episode 1 - Steve and Dave are Misfits Who Have Flown

VMAF 214 Patch today

Yes yes, you knew it was coming.

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.

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