Combat! is 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 during World War II.
Regular cast members were: Rick Jason as 2nd Lt. Gil Hanley, Vic Morrow as Sgt. Chip Saunders, Jack Hogan as Pvt. William G. Kirby, Pierre Jalbert as Pfc. Paul "Caje" LeMay, Shecky Greene (first season only) as Braddock, Conlan Carter as "Doc," and Dick Peabody as Pfc. Littlejohn. (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.)
Guest stars appeared as additional squad members, French citizens or German soldiers. In the first season, the then little-known Ted Knight and Frank Gorshin made appearances. Other notable guest stars included Lee Marvin, James Coburn, Richard Basehart, Eddie Albert, Nick Adams, James Caan, Leonard Nimoy, Baseball Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, Mike Farrell, 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.
Cast
Rick Jason ... 2nd Lt. Gil HanleyVic Morrow ... Sgt. Chip Saunders
Pierre Jalbert ... Pfc. Paul "Caje" LeMay
Jack Hogan ... Pvt. William G. Kirby
Dick Peabody ... Pfc. Littlejohn
Conlan Carter ... "Doc"
Tom Lowell ... Billy Nelson (1st and 2nd seasons)
Shecky Greene ... Braddock (1st season)
Steven Rogers ... "Doc" (1st season)
Paul Busch ... (frequently played different parts, mostly Germans)
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 |
References
External links
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Last updated on Wednesday June 25, 2008 at 00:12:55 PDT (GMT -0700)
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