12:00 High episode guide and reviews (2023)

Dear friends,
Well, it had to happen. We don't have any new episodes of the airline series to tell you about this week. Three color episodes are left over from Year Three, and we're back to the black-and-white beginning, with Robert Lansing and John Larkin, and no Paul Burke or Chris Robinson. Being your field reporter every week since early December last year has been SO much fun. I've gotten used to the newer color episodes as I was with the Combat 5 series for the first time in the late 90's. So when Thursday's airing started in black and white, I had a depressing feeling. So, for the last time, until History, in a stroke of genius, resurrects the GARRISON GORILLAS and/or returns the RATS PATROL to similar reports, the last three as follows...

. An Allied ground attack breaks into a key German facility, finding crates of Luftwaffe files but no translators. Gallagher and Komansky aer were sent to oversee the translation of the documents and their return to England. Including more-Fight!In the styling episode, Martin Milner leads a ground unit alongside Garrison's future Gorilla RUDI SOLARI. The interpreter's attempts to fly are thwarted by German shells and fighter attacks, so Gallagher has to rely on a teenager allegedly played by GERALD MICHENAULD from THE CITY THAT WENT FAR to do the translation, while his little brother is usually injured early in the episode. During radio communication with ground and armored units, references are made to individual LOVE COMPANY and KING!! And Milner's helmet is a good copy of Vic's camouflage helmet. LAWRENCE MONTAIGNE stands on the side of the Nazis. And at Wing in Archbury is JAMES SIKKING from A LONG WAY HOME. RICHARD ANDERSON reprises his short-term role as Brigadier General Phil Doud. Why the title 6 Feet Under? Well, most of the main events take place in the basement, where they found the files and safely hid them with more Nazi gadgets, and the local teenagers were trapped in a grenade explosion and fire on the surface.

no reflector on or off the cameraFight!people, but he told of the rivalry that existed between the Air Corps and the Navy when the 918th was asked to work with the Navy to arrest an elusive group of U-boats. Screen legend RALPH BELLAMY as Commodore clashes a bit with Gallagher, all because of something that happened between Bellamy's character and Joe's father.

Okay guys and dolls, that's all. Now go back to your regularly scheduled posts.

All the best,
Douga Peltona

Dear friends,
Greetings from spring heading to Mississauga, Ontario....

We're still getting new color episodes of the show three months after Story went on its first cable run. The published mentions indicate a total of 78 episodes for the entire series, but I feel that this total has already been surpassed.

focused on the rogue "robot bomb" V1, as it was called in the script, ending in Sweden. Our boys must run to the site, get to the fallen rocket and find out where the individual parts are made in order to bomb these individual factories, further destroying the Nazi rocket project. They must rely on a British expert on the enemy's fledgling missile technology, whose nerves are shot and soothed by a bottle. His drinking problem complicates matters when they arrive in Sweden to retrieve an Allied rocket recovered from the Gestapo. Elen Willard of ANY SECOND NOW appeared as Sgt. Komansky is the one protecting the Brit after going crazy without a license.

features the ever-absorbed DON GORDON's CROSSFIRE as the leader of the Mustang pilots who pave the way for the 918th, his assimilation to the bomber crew concept revealing forged credentials and blatant disregard for the discipline of the 918th.

had Matthew Broderick's father JAMES as a powered pilot who is on the carpet of General Britt and Colonel Gallagher for bombing raids that miss the U-boat's critical pen on the Nordenohm.

he is an old friend of Gallagher who has a reputation as an excellent point bomber who did so in the Pacific and in Italy. The pilot played by JAMES WHITMORE of CASSOCK uses a DAM BUSTER style delayed fuse bomb to aim his attacks. The focus of the episode is a building in a German village where scientists working on a possible Nazi atomic bomb live. They use armor around the building of captured Allied officers, hence the need for this structure to be nailed down to prevent nearby POW buildings. The aerial photos and the model of the village are at odds with reality. Since some landmarks have been changed since the information was collected, the first attempt hits a building in the BEN WRIGHT from THUNDER FROM THE HILL appeared as an adviser to the British Army. JOE MAROSS stars as Major Ken Chandler, a character who continues in...

....

. Lilia is shot down, the crew bails out and ends up in a Nazi-taken compound manned by two American soldiers, one of whom changes identities. At the same time, a Luftwaffe pilot, played by JON VGHT, falls. This episode features three prominent black actors: OSSIE DAVIS as a pacifist changing identity, LAND OF THE GIANTS DON MARSHALL as the second in this complex on an Italian island guarding several captured Nazis. LLOYLD HAYNES from ROOM 222 appears as a fighter squadron commander. Voght's presence changes the control of power in this base. complicating rescue attempts. RegularFight!German soldier actors CHRIS ANDERS and HORST EBERSBERG summed up the case.

Last night we had the last S.A.G. awards on local TV. inside, they filmed a montage of guild members who died last year. Surprised to see RON SOBLE who has MORE THAN A SOLDIER and A NUMBER OF WORK with the rest of the dead.

Obs… as the series moves from heaven to earth with soldiers from both sides, the uniforms appear very clean and well pressed as if the wearers never soiled them, just like the dirty combat GIs looked like jackets, shabby helmets, worn boots. And those gunshot sound effects!!! One sequence actually used the sound effect used when Saunders fired his famous Tommy pistol.

Okay, this is funny and serious stuff. See you at 7.
Doug

it was a mix of I Swear on Apollo and Cry in the Ruins where the 918th had to send an evacuation order from another CONVENT on the hill below the Kraut anti-aircraft battery. Our boys and local Germans are doomed to the opposite. we had Joe
Campanella as the chaplain, Richard Anderson at home waiting for the bomb to drop, EMILE GENEST's trusted secret contact, the still concerned JOHN MILFORD of Billy The Kid and Horst Ebersberg.

had Jack Lord playing a heavy duty commander living high in Italy with LUCIANNA PALUZZI! and buddyFight!-bulging PHILIP PINE. Peter Hellman was there like a German. Lord's character gained strength from Gallagher's flight training and that's what the "chip" is all about! Directed by Dick Peabody's favorite Richard Benedict.

it was a far-fetched plan by the German military who planned to kill the mad Adolf in Berlin. This was all before D-Day.Fight!veterans JOHN VAN DREELEN, SASHA HARDIN were in this POW camp started for Gallagher because after the war he bonded with this old german navy veteran and family friend and took him with important papers back to london to confirm the conspiracy and give up . Horst Ebersberg was also involved. The man in the POW camp was JAN MERLIN.

Instrument Flight Evaluator ROY THINNES faces the realities of air combat after a troubled pilot under his control, played by ROBERT BLAKE!, dies in combat. WAYNE ROGERS arrived as a member of the crew.

mixes up CELEBRITY and MAIN EVENT as the ready-made football hero enters the 918th Century with an annoying manager, and just like his role in THE RINGER, MART HULSWIT goes out of his way to prove he can do it in a fight , to the dismay of his entrepreneur in this publicity thing played by NORMAN FELL. You know, "Don't hurt my son!"

Happy Saint Patrick's Day,
until next weekend
Doug

DEAR FIGHTING COMrades...
Normally I wait until Saturday to run the 918 Bomb Group's weekly report, but tonight I have the computer alone, straight out of five consecutive WWII dramas...

it was a B-17 where RODDY MCDOWALL from THE LONG WALK was the technical sergeant. Remember, he and his crew had reached the 50-mission ceiling and the aircraft was about to be recommissioned as pr. tools back to the United States. But things evolved, leading him to believe, as did his crew, that the plane KNEW what was going on. LEE PATTERSON, CAPTAIN OF THE HIDDEN BASE, HOWARD OF THE 9TH PLACE, WAS ALSO A VENDEE
it's "possession!"

The Gallagher was used with MICHAEL CALLAN when they got stranded on a piece of rock in the North Sea as bait for a U-boat intending to torpedo help there after being shot down and forced to land belly-up in alcohol. No C! people, but a new story that moved on two fronts.

he was a pilot who had just returned to the 918 after several years of traumatic POW status. PAUL CARR OF HILLS was something of a "connected" to the issues this pilot had to adapt to. The SS officer conducting the interrogation was CURT LOWENS, an ordinary Nazi officer. I can't find it in Jo's help book. GUSTAVE FIELD co-wrote the screenplay.

he handled the failure of JAMES FRANCISCUS' flight training at DECISION, making room for the 918th to prove to himself that he could hack it if he did and didn't suffer before. ROGER PERRY from THE MASQUERS and H.M WYNANT from Counterplay and POINT OF VIEW where those from the team he came with on the missions who were suspicious of his behavior from the beginning. Which was played nervously by Jimmy, as he did with the demon on DECISION. Stepping into a conspiracy, trying to hide something that might get him into trouble along the way.

had regular Nazi WWII players HANS GUDEGAST and JOHNNY VAN DREELEN leading a brazen bombing mission - target - 918th airfield!! After causing significant deaths and destroying our familiar buildings and jumping over the airfield, they spend the rest of the hour trying to evade capture, hijacking GI uniforms, planning to attempt to destroy a bomb cache with stolen ammo. JAN MALMSJO from A SUDDEN TERROR and CHAPEL AT ABLE-FIVE also came out of the rescue. The security guards explained, among other things,Fight!vets WILLIAM CORT and......ein Rosenman snare drum please....WALT DAVIS!!! Yaaaa!!!! And faithful to yoursFight!Lucky Walt was never recognized for his few appearances with a rifle in his hand. This episode and CROSS HAIRS were directed by ALAN
CROSLAND, JR, who played a role in episodes of our series.

I did an interview with VIC in 1965. I liked it a lot, I could hear his distinctive Brooklyn voice drawing behind every sentence. Thanks........

Have fun and see you next week. Perhaps we are entering the color season that ended the whole series.

P.W.O.R.
Doug

UNDERGROUNDhad Gallagher returning to England with a bus filled with combat friendly types, ROBERT WALKER JR, our G.I. The perfect OLLIE JOE was a so-called German defector, CLAUDINE LONGET as the wife of an invisible contact, SASHA HARDIN as another underground in a German outfit, MAURICE MARSAC from a handful of C-eppies, EMILE GENEST and NORBERT MEISEL from the end credits... Ugh!

OUTSIDEit was Jimmy Macarthur from ENCOUNTER as a P-51 pilot who didn't quite fit in, he tried too hard to kill his first kill, a bit of a cross between OLLIE JOE and Culley's character inFight!outside. Common plot format. A small cameo in one scene was LEE MILLAR "German radio operator" from OP FLY TRAP. Also the return of future Catwoman LEE MERIWETHER which made me salivate…

BACK TO THE WHITE DRAWINGhad a long-tested on-board radar system developed by Burgess Meredith, Batman's number two supervillain this week on the show. The Germans at their own radar station were commanded by ALF KJELLIN, who made it very PERSONAL between him and the 918th. Meredith was replaced by ROBERT DOYLE, a familiar face I can't get rid of, fighting or not. And some other people in the heavyweight guest casting episode that make it hard to get a name right in the face and in two or three seconds!

guest stars in the 1960s and 1970s drama BRADFORD DILLMAN as a pilot with anxiety attacks under stress and BEFORE stress. Tommy SKERIT reappears with ANTOINETTE BOWER, our little girl enchanted by BATTLE OF THE ROSES.

SURVIVORfeatures the vet's first directorial appearance in the second half of Combat ALAN CROSLAND JR. Directing DON GORDON from the restless antisocial CROSSFIRE type, basically playing his tense and intense type
man. His on-air and off-duty behavior continued to be controversial. JILL IRELAND was the widow of her only friend, whom she blames for letting him die.

Today on our SPACE channel (SciFi) The classic episode of OUTER LIMITS was O.B.I.T. episode featuring ALAN BAXTER who played the short-lived KAPT. CHEAT ROBERTS.

It's from here. Wherever you live, I hope you get rid of the blizzards that have passed through your "front line"! We are now getting one that will require SILVER SERVICE snowshoes.

Until the Ides of March...
Hugs, Doug Pelton

GREET TO FRIENDS!,
Greetings from Mississauga Ontario, cold worse than Mickey Rooney's feet from SILVER SERVICE. Can relief come? We need warmer weather here as much as Hanley needed a) artillery support to attack the bunkers and b) a tank or two to locate the operation. Through HISTORY Television, I ordered an updated edition of Jo's much-used book above. He arrived on February 13, the day before Vic Morrow's supposed birthday. Imagine that. S2 must have something to do with it. Reused and cropped photos seem to be printed on better paper this time. I like the episode reviews and the bayonet scale. But half a bayonet? Broken while fighting? What would have to happen for an episode to score a total of five? One gets the impression that there are more and more turkeys as the seasons go by. Loved having the INDEX but there are notable omissions like Norbert Meisel on the show, Kurt Landon, Hank Brandt, Chris Howard also make a lot of appearances as well as Lisa Pera recently on 12OH…

Speaking of 12OH.....with the program..

he dealt with brothers in ministry and the conflicts that went from family to ministry. Peter Mark Richman was an Allied officer, Andrew Prine one of the Jones boys, often the German ED DEEMER appears as MP and Burt Douglas.

Major Stovall, 44, FRANK OVERTON, declined to return to active air combat after learning that his son was missing in action on the ground. This one had elements of MAIL CALL and THE LETTER as it focused on the stress, fear of the unknown and helplessness that these two episodes of COMBAT experienced for Saunders. Anthony Spinner wrote it, TED KNIGHT, Kraut's regular officer, was interim wing commander until Gallagher returned from injury. WILLIAM CORT, who was Pvt. Harmon also appeared in A WALK WITH THE EAGLE. Our traditional favorite artillery sound effect, used dozens of times inFight!managed to appear in 88 review sessions and in the next episode...

...James Daly [who played] Major Cole of ENCOUNTER was a World War I dogfighting legend basically out of place in the current war. Directed by Laslo Benedek, it had a similar echo as DOUGHBOY, when the character played by Eddie Albert turned out to be dependent, despite mental failures, to save the episode's bacon at the end. Paul Comi was also involved.

featured John Van Dreelen once again practicing his generally bland Nazi officer at an irritating radar station enduring Allied bombing, earning the episode title its name. A joint attack by Allied ground commandos and the 918th was organized, all coordinated by MICHAEL RENNIE and Harry Guardino. JOHN ALDERSON, who was the handsome Sgt. Rawlings on BUGLES leads the British. At the radar station we had half-Fight!- series regular PETER HELLMAN, who was a "German truck driver" in LUCK WITH A RAINBOW, among other guest roles. There were others on this station that I remember from our show, but
was uncredited as far as I could tell from the credits. As one of the Germans, Saunders and GARY LOCKWOOD are captured in OPERATION LUG TRAP.

featured Diane Merrill trying to stay afloat in the ordinary world of macho warfare despite the circumstances of the time. She was a meteorological research officer recruited to help the 918th hit a critical target. Her "struggles" were similar to those encountered by LIZ ALLEN in NO HALLELULIAHS FOR GLORY.

That's all, it needs to be sealed...
Doug

Dear friends,
I've had a busy weekend so I'm archiving this a few days after I usually do... while the week just ended is fresher in my memory...

centered around an attack deep into Germany, with the unit heading south to encourage the Luftwaffe to give chase. However, German pilot GUNNAR HELLSTROM and his subordinate SASHA HARDEN are in hot pursuit. Lily is shot and forced to flee in Yugoslavia, where she encounters local resistance fighters led by MICHAEL FORREST, an artillery commander who has denied HANLEY's requests for anything during HILLS ARE FOR HEROES. BottomFight!- The Nazi HANS HEYDE was also in it

directed by RICHARD DONNER had a plot centered on sabotage at the base 17 years before the launches. Gallagher had to work with J.D. CANNON from THE QUIET WARROIR and a Yugoslavian officer played by HANS GUDEGAST (aka ERIC BRAEDEN). The character of HANSA turned out to be the leader of this infiltration network GIA SCALA, the Italian actress from GUNS OF NAVARRONE was the main guest star. Someone named JAMES BROLIN showed up as an aviator. During R/X FOR A SICK BIRD, a ring of infiltrators is surrounded. The good guys raid GUDEGAST's hideout with radio tapping. The soldier opens fire with the M1 CARBINE, HANLEY and CAJE rifle, but the types of sound effects are synchronized with the RAPID FIRE MACHINE GUN sound effects.

was almost a plagiarized episode of THE SHORT DAY OF A PRIVATE PUTNAM, featuring BEAU BRIDGES as another underage recruit, displaying the same characteristics and saving Lily's bacon at the end before being sent back to the States. TOM SKERITT was like someone bullying a kid into it. It was directed by LASLO BENEDEK. What's more, Bridges' character finds solace and shelter with an elderly local woman, this time the daughter of an English pub owner.

was written in part by ANTHONY SPINNER, co-author of THE MORAY TREE

GARY LOCKWOOD was a childhood friend who came back to try to prove something to Gallagher, like airshows and individual attacks on disorderly targets. GIDEON ARMY concentration camp survivor ALBERT SZABO appeared at the end as a Russian officer congratulating the episode's bomb squad. It was co-written by Gustave Field, who wrote THE GENERAL AND THE SERGEANT.

So I started reading my MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE guide from the 80's and came across a lot of combat! people have spread out over the years that the show has run. From the 1972-73 episode titled TWO THOUSAND had VIC in heavy makeup playing a nuclear physicist. The tour guide has a photo of VIC under a fake beard and latex, with the show's co-star, GREG MORRIS, looking at it. And then there's another episode I'd look for again for the next half hour where PIERRE guest stars. Next time I will get the title and the year.

I have to go, thanks
Doug

Ok everyone, have a great New Year full of joy
and more weekly reports like this one. In 2003....:-}

It's your plane!
Doug Pelton (alias Canloan 53)

I'd like to take this moment to wish everyone on our front lines a Merry Christmas and Hanley's New Year tomorrow.

That's it for now, contact me, react to it, that's what Jo wants, so...

Taking up the subject again,
Douga Peltona CANLOAN53