Boyington's B*st*rds Podcast

Hey, the Iceman!

The Iceman is based on an actual Japanese pilot, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, at least it seems that way.

For one of the second half of season 2 episodes, this one is fine. Not much Jeb, and not much 'Pappy's Lambs' either.

Lard is cool again. It's a shame what they did to the show, as Lard's character is finally getting dimension.

Speaking of Lard, Dana Elcar directed this one.

No newsreel this week.

What's next, Pappy to be replaced by John Forsyth?

The real story of US Navy nurses during WW2 is one of bravery, selflessness, heroism, professionalism and over all bad assery.  Unlike say Pappy's freaking Lambs.

Micklin and Lard are real marines.

We like both Micklin and Lard in this episode.  They have something to do and are competent, unlike everyone else.

Steve and I kinda have soured on the series if you've noticed....

OK, why are th...

Anderson, gone.

TJ gone.

"Pappy's Lambs" in (blech)

Jeb the eith year old pilot with feathered hair, in (blech)

This was obviously done to go after younger people and the jiggle tv market.

It didn't work.

Many of these people cannot act.

Micklin is at least a bit funny.

I just hate that this was done to my show.... (that's how I felt then, I mean now, I'm an adult, I will live, I've...

Conrad directed this one.

This one is about supply.  

This one is about profiteering.

This one is about capitalism in general.

Some nice Catch 22 references noticed by Steve.

Amateurs study tactics, professionals study supply.

This one is about scamming.

This one has a classic Black Sheep heist, which we all enjoy.

There's some really nice aerial footage this week.

As usual we have interlopers on 'Pappy's' island.

Another decent season 2 episode.  

That changes shortly, as season 2 gets weird in two episodes.

Wait, was that Battle of the Network Stars?

Either way Conrad got to take his shirt off...

Some nice misdirection to the audience.

'It tastes like wax'.

There's a reason for that Pappy.

Micklin and Dutch are pretty funny.  Andy Micklin is always funny actually.

Once more we have decent Col Lard this season.

Tommy is...

TIM MATHESON!

Boy the wolf thing got really old, really fast.

Interservice rivalry was a thing, still is.

Remember these guys are mostly just draftees.

Steve found a nice recording for this week.

Jon will not be Fonzieing™ this podcast.

I wonder why they are invading the Thousand Islands.  Maybe they needed salad dressing.

Micklin is great in this one.  Lots of fun lines.

In keeping with early season 2, Lard...

P51!

This one is pretty much the poster child for 'don't lean your history from a tv show'.  

As much as Steve and I love the P51 Mustang, Yamamoto was shot down by P38s.

I can see some real MASH connections this week, like two different episodes too!

I don't think Yamamoto was called the Hawk.  

Andre Dawson was, however, the hawk.

Hal Holbrook, in a robe, in Midway.

TJ is a creep.

...

Ahh yes, the old 'enlisted man who does not want to be an officer' trope.  It's hard not to love though, the idea of Andy as an officer is great.

Directed by Dana Elcar.

I'm kind of warming to Lard on this rewatch.

We get a Red Buel reference.  No autocomplete, not the freaking drink, stop it...

We talk a bit about Tokyo Rose.

The running jo...

SEASON 2!.

John Laroquette is really good in this one.

A bit heavy on the Orientalism this week.

Oh now it is officially called the Black Sheep Squadron.

Yup, we're back with more European theatre bombing runs passed off as Pacific, more useless brawls and more, let's face it, awesomeness from the Black Sheep.

"If Soon Teck Oh looked at m...

It's the Christmas season.

We're doing a Christmas show, if you don't like it, well, first off, bah humbug, secondly, what did you pay for the podcast?

Steve, Jon and I welcome some guests this episode:

Those guests are, in no particular order: 

Anthony Marco from Best Episode Ever.

Jeff Andrews from the 70s TV Detectives.

Chris Cooling from the Forgotten TV podcast.

All three now join my brother Dan from the We Have the Technology Podcast a...

It's between seasons 1 and 2 of Baa Baa Black Sheep.

That means it's 1978!

We decided to invite a couple of our friends on to tap about 1978 in tv, including Best Episode Ever's Anthony Marco and the 70s Detectives' Jeff Andrews.

Boy NBC sucked then.

Lots of stuff sucked then.

Jon reminds us that WKRP did start then!

Habs won the cup, so there's that.

Mostly we just hope you liked our little trip down memory lane.  Migh...

Here are the best episodes.

Here are the worst episodes.

Here are the best guest stars.

We might even get Jon's thoughts!  (Those thoughts essentially tuned out as 'I dunno, planes are cool').

Look, I write these things before we start, and usually I have notes, but we're just going to talk about season 1 ok.

I'll miss Hutch.

The show transitioned about half way through and got a tad serious, which we both li...

Season finale!

The director, Phillip DeGuerre, took some neat chances this week.

Micklin is taking over from Hutch.

Steve and I talk a bit about the idea of 'knights of the air'.

What's with captain sgt. Bilko?

Efficiency experts are now called industrial organizational psychologists.

I love Hirachi throwing 'rice ball' back at Pappy.

TJ reads Japanese as well as he flies.

'You got American chocolate?'

'You got Japanese rice...

This might be, at least to me, the best episode of the series.  It is certainly the best episode of season 1.

To quote Steve 'once you get Red West, the character of Hutch is unnecessary,  Joey Aresco is gone.'

Muted Micklin is a bit different, I liked it.

Indeed, Red West showed a side of his acting I didn't know existed.

Col. Lard does what he can here, as does Gen. Mo...

Oh yeah, welcome Dan, of Six Million Dollar Man fame.  

(Also, don't tell anyone, but Dan is kinda sorta famous).

The WASPS were real, they were amazing, and they were brave.  They were finally recognized as veterans in 1977.  Thirty seven WASPS died in the line of duty.

They were not military pilots, so their commander in the episode could not be a major.

The second half of the season has dealt with things more seriously.  

Still, every...

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 ki...

Lots of use of stock footage this week, much of it over Europe.

The B17 was not that big a deal in the Pacific theatre.

Inter service rivalry is a thing.

So general Moore just leaves....

Col Lard working together with Pappy, as much as he can, is a nice twist.

There's still this sense that everything can be cured with a fistfight, though, I suppose that sort of dispute resolution kind of comes t...

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 co...

This one is fun because the actors are given the opportunity to, you know, act.

Jeff MacKay was really good in this episode.  Indeed, as noted this one was full of very strong performances.

It's a Jackie Cooper directed outing, so it will be good.

The importance of war propaganda cannot be overstated.

The hair still bugs me.

This is one of the best episodes of the season.

Communalism vs individualism.

Kenneth Mars was a l...

RED WEST!

We also get Tommy Hirachi, Pappy's nemesis in the show (not so much in real life).

Some real exploration of Gutterman's PTSD.

Ginty's best work of the series so far.

Wait, you can't solve everything with a punch?

OK, well you can solve some things.

I am warming up to Col. Lard.

This is a crossover episode with WKRP

Andy Micklin is...

I think that Robert Conrad really showed some range here.

I don't want to, however, hear his kissing noises.

Rabaul was certainly an important base for the Japanese.

It was eventually just bypassed.

The use of Tora Tora Tora footage was really good in this one.

What's the deal with Bobby Boyle's hair?

I love Gutterman, but sometimes I want to yell at him.

Nurses still...

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...

Wait, what did you pay for the podcast? Nothing.  I retract my apology.

JAMES DARREN!  I love Jimmy Darren.  I loved him in the Time Tunnel, I loved him in DS9, and he plays 'movie star' really well.  Of course Jimmy died on Sept 3.  If you get a chance, check out the interview with him on the Shuttlepod podcast.  It's excellent.

Hollywood stars did joined the armed forces, as did pro athletes etc.

Who?  Oh, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Glenn Miller...

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...

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 m...

Hey this one has not one, but two made up islands!

The 'well if we could just get a mission we won't get court martialled' trope continues.  (Also, is it martialled or martialed?). OK, turns out it must be the double l one right?

This one was broadcast on December 7, 1976.  You may not know this, but, a pretty big thing happened on  December 7, 1941, just saying.

I don't put my feet up on my desk much, but if Admiral Nimitz says it's a good ide...