"How many times do I gotta remind you? This is still the Navy!" (McHale to his platoon, in a Hawaiian shirt, flowery sarong, and his officer's cap). While McHale's Navy often feels like a marine Bilko tribute in more classic sitcom form (and with canned laughter), it did start out as a serious teleplay called 'Seven Against the Sea,' introduced by Fred Astaire on Alcoa Premiere in 1962. That same year, it became an ABC comedy series, and the premise mostly stayed the same: a commander and his platoon 'gone native' in the middle of the WWII Pacific theatre, passively resisting orders from a superior. And in a way the humorous direction suits the theme far better. It has none of the anarchic brilliance of the Phil Silvers show but certainly draws from it in Quinton McHale (Ernest Borgnine) and hustling Gruber (Carl Ballantine) as the crew sleep in after reveille, sneak around with the nurses, make their own moonshine, keep their friendly POW safe, and try to make a penny washing their fellow servicemen's laundry with their PT boat drums (and you love them throughout). It also has the familial aspect of the ragtag crew (including Billy Sands as Tinkerbell, formerly Papparelli on Bilko), and a frustrated superior officer in Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn), not at all the overwhelmed Bassett hound that is Colonel Hall but a tense man seething with undisguised hatred for the crew of PT 73.
Its faithfully classic sitcom structure might seem dull to some, but it's another comfort watch, as the crew are adorable in their collective energy, the physical and plot humour is entertaining, and I still find it plays a good, quietly pacifist narrative as we find the enemy or the other is not who you'd expect - a running joke at its freshest and funniest in 'The Battle for McHale's Island,' as the men seriously enter into battle to defend their little island paradise - not against the Japanese or friendly native islanders, but Binghamton. A funny episode Xo
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