McHale's Navy: Summary
SUMMARY
- Airs Next:ABC at Thursday 9:30 PM (30 min.)
- Status:Ended
- Premiered:October 11, 1962
- Last Aired:April 12, 1966
- Show Categories:Comedy
A Lively, Light-Hearted Romp Through The Pacific Theater Of Operations
An experienced South Pacific sea dog, by the name of Quinton McHale, was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander into the U.S. Navy Reserve, at the start of World War II, and made the Skipper of the Torpedo Patrol (PT) Boat #73, stationed at the U.S. Naval Installation on the island of Taratupa, in the Southwest Pacific. Assigned to his command were 6 free-spirited, good-hearted Swabbies who loved to have fun, but who Though they usually ignored Navy regulations Did their jobs, and did them well, when duty called. The 73 'Family' included, among others, a con man and amateur Magician, a womanizing hunk, a dedicated Family man, a guitar-picking, moonshine-making Tennessee good ol' boy, and even a deserter from the Japanese Navy, who was an excellent cook. Second in command, was Ensign Charles Parker, a young spit-and-polish, by-the-book Officer from Chagrin Falls Ohio, who was somewhat of a klutz, but who always managed to come out on top of a situation, usually with the help of McHale and The Crew.
McHale and his men were under the command of Base Commander Captain Wallace B. Binghamton (Known as 'Old Leadbottom' to McHale and his men), in whose side, McHale and his Crew were a constant thorn. Most episodes centered around Binghamton trying to find way to get rid of McHale and his rule-bending 'Pirates' (One would be hard-pressed to see an episode of this series without the military term 'Court Martial' being mentioned, at least once), with McHale and his fun-loving 'Eightballs' scheming to keep Binghamton from doing so, their exemplary performance in battle, more times than not, getting them out troublesome situations.
McHale's Navy was first presented a straight action drama, on ABC's Alcoa Premiere anthology series, in April of 1962. The pilot episode Entitled Seven Against The Sea Found enough of an audience that it was converted to a comedy series, which premiered on the ABC Television Network on the evening of Thursday, October 11th 1962, at 9:30 p.m. EST. It got off to somewhat of a slow start, opposite NBC's popular Hazel, but held it's own, and gained a small following. It cracked the top 25 in it's 2nd season ('63/'64), on Tuesday nights, in the 8:30 time-slot, with a strong lead-in from ABC's Combat, landing at #23, with a Nielsen rating of 22.8. But, from that point on, it was all uphill for McHale. In it's 3rd ('64/'65) & 4th ('65/'66) seasons, in a losing battle with CBS's powerhouse Red Skelton Hour, it was soon on it's way out. An attempt to boost it's sagging ratings, by moving McHale, his Crew, and Captain Binghamton to a base in Italy, in it's 4th and final season, proved to do more harm than good, and resulted in the cancellation of the series, in 1966.
The series was popular enough with the public to prompt the production of two full-length theatrical-release motion pictures, during it's run. McHale's Navy, released by Universal Pictures in June of 1964, featured all the regular cast members from the series, and McHale's Navy Joins The Air Force, in July of '65, this one sans Borgnine. Both were 90-minute extended episodes of the series, and mildly popular, at best. A 1997 big-budget movie, based on the series, and with Tom Arnold as McHale, was a total flop. All three are available on VHS or DVD.
Lately, it's been tough to catch McHale's Navy on TV. Programming Managers don't seem to realize just how many loyal fans the show still has, and just how many new fans the show would doubtless make, were more people allowed to experience it. However McHale fans, rejoice! Shout! Factory came to the rescue, and began releasing McHale's Navy, on DVD, in boxed sets, beginning on March 20th, 2007, with Season 1. Season 2 was released on September 11th, 2007, Season 3, on March 18th, 2008, and Season 4 is due for release on November 18th '08.
With a highly talented cast including Academy Awardฎ winner Ernest Borgnine, comic genius Tim Conway, the one-of-a-kind comic talent of Joe Flynn, and a solid supporting cast, McHale's Navy was And is TV comedy at it's very finest. A Lively, Light-Hearted Romp Through The Pacific Theater Of Operations
An experienced South Pacific sea dog, by the name of Quinton McHale, was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander into the U.S. Navy Reserve, at the start of World War II, and made the Skipper of the Torpedo Patrol (PT) Boat #73, stationed at the U.S. Naval Installation on the island of...
An experienced South Pacific sea dog, by the name of Quinton McHale, was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander into the U.S. Navy Reserve, at the start of World War II, and made the Skipper of the Torpedo Patrol (PT) Boat #73, stationed at the U.S. Naval Installation on the island of Taratupa, in the Southwest Pacific. Assigned to his command were 6 free-spirited, good-hearted Swabbies who loved to have fun, but who Though they usually ignored Navy regulations Did their jobs, and did them well, when duty called. The 73 'Family' included, among others, a con man and amateur Magician, a womanizing hunk, a dedicated Family man, a guitar-picking, moonshine-making Tennessee good ol' boy, and even a deserter from the Japanese Navy, who was an excellent cook. Second in command, was Ensign Charles Parker, a young spit-and-polish, by-the-book Officer from Chagrin Falls Ohio, who was somewhat of a klutz, but who always managed to come out on top of a situation, usually with the help of McHale and The Crew.
McHale and his men were under the command of Base Commander Captain Wallace B. Binghamton (Known as 'Old Leadbottom' to McHale and his men), in whose side, McHale and his Crew were a constant thorn. Most episodes centered around Binghamton trying to find way to get rid of McHale and his rule-bending 'Pirates' (One would be hard-pressed to see an episode of this series without the military term 'Court Martial' being mentioned, at least once), with McHale and his fun-loving 'Eightballs' scheming to keep Binghamton from doing so, their exemplary performance in battle, more times than not, getting them out troublesome situations.
McHale's Navy was first presented a straight action drama, on ABC's Alcoa Premiere anthology series, in April of 1962. The pilot episode Entitled Seven Against The Sea Found enough of an audience that it was converted to a comedy series, which premiered on the ABC Television Network on the evening of Thursday, October 11th 1962, at 9:30 p.m. EST. It got off to somewhat of a slow start, opposite NBC's popular Hazel, but held it's own, and gained a small following. It cracked the top 25 in it's 2nd season ('63/'64), on Tuesday nights, in the 8:30 time-slot, with a strong lead-in from ABC's Combat, landing at #23, with a Nielsen rating of 22.8. But, from that point on, it was all uphill for McHale. In it's 3rd ('64/'65) & 4th ('65/'66) seasons, in a losing battle with CBS's powerhouse Red Skelton Hour, it was soon on it's way out. An attempt to boost it's sagging ratings, by moving McHale, his Crew, and Captain Binghamton to a base in Italy, in it's 4th and final season, proved to do more harm than good, and resulted in the cancellation of the series, in 1966.
The series was popular enough with the public to prompt the production of two full-length theatrical-release motion pictures, during it's run. McHale's Navy, released by Universal Pictures in June of 1964, featured all the regular cast members from the series, and McHale's Navy Joins The Air Force, in July of '65, this one sans Borgnine. Both were 90-minute extended episodes of the series, and mildly popular, at best. A 1997 big-budget movie, based on the series, and with Tom Arnold as McHale, was a total flop. All three are available on VHS or DVD.
Lately, it's been tough to catch McHale's Navy on TV. Programming Managers don't seem to realize just how many loyal fans the show still has, and just how many new fans the show would doubtless make, were more people allowed to experience it. However McHale fans, rejoice! Shout! Factory came to the rescue, and began releasing McHale's Navy, on DVD, in boxed sets, beginning on March 20th, 2007, with Season 1. Season 2 was released on September 11th, 2007, Season 3, on March 18th, 2008, and Season 4 is due for release on November 18th '08.
With a highly talented cast including Academy Awardฎ winner Ernest Borgnine, comic genius Tim Conway, the one-of-a-kind comic talent of Joe Flynn, and a solid supporting cast, McHale's Navy was And is TV comedy at it's very finest. A Lively, Light-Hearted Romp Through The Pacific Theater Of Operations
An experienced South Pacific sea dog, by the name of Quinton McHale, was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander into the U.S. Navy Reserve, at the start of World War II, and made the Skipper of the Torpedo Patrol (PT) Boat #73, stationed at the U.S. Naval Installation on the island of...
all episode list »
LAST EPISODE
Wally For Congress
Aired: April 12, 1966
Binghamton must quickly lose his 'desk jockey' image, and become a fearless fighting man, in order to try to impress a Washington Political Boss, who has a reputation for turning war heroes into politicians.
BLOG
Sorry, no blogs exist at this time.
NEWS
Sorry there is no news for McHale's Navy at this time.
- Ernest BorgnineLt. Cdr. Quinton McHale (photos)
- Joe FlynnCapt. Wallace Burton Binghamton
- Tim ConwayEnsign Charles Parker (photos)
- Carl BallantineLester Gruber
- Gavin MacLeodJoseph "Happy" Haines (1962-1964)
add a review
USER REVIEWS
- The Bottom Line: "Classic"02/21/07 08:27pm | report abuse
One of the all-time classic tv shows. I joined the Navy because of this show (well this and the movie Operation Petticoat). The actors and writers did a fantastic job. Even tho the story lines were far fetched at times they were funny. ...Continue »
- The Bottom Line: "Classic"11/11/06 04:03pm | report abuse
One of the funniest shows...EVER!! ...Continue »
- The Bottom Line: "Bring it back!"02/20/06 11:24am | report abuse
McHales Navy was a great entertainment show with lots of laughs and some lessons to be learned. ...Continue »
Show Score
7.1
good
- Show Statistics
-
4,458 of 17,819 Rating Rank
-
6 Reviews
-
93 Tracked by
-
134 Votes
complete listings »
TV-TONIGHT
-
Dancing With the Stars
8:00ABCHouse
8:00FoxNCIS
8:00CBSThe Real Housewives of Atlanta
8:00BRAVOBrotherhood
9:00SHOWDancing With the Stars
9:00ABCPrivileged
9:00CWThe Mentalist
9:00CBSThe Real Housewives of Atlanta
9:00BRAVODexter
10:00SHOWLaw & Order: Special...
10:00NBCThe Real Housewives of Atlanta
10:00BRAVOThe Shield
10:00FXWithout a Trace
10:00CBSEli Stone
10:02ABC
top contributors
bohn007
- user score: 1754
- last online: Nov 17, 2008
rleedham
- user score: 176
- last online: Nov 17, 2008
rustle49
- user score: 28
- last online: Nov 18, 2008
char2renee
- user score: 25
