12 O'Clock High TV series

.....1964 - 1967..I never saw this before..but I'm watching it on YouTube....typical ''unbelievable'' stories....but I think it's enjoyable to watch .....
..it has some up and coming special guest actors - Wayne Rogers and Robert Blake in one episode ..Richard Anderson...etc
...one episode is about a mission to bomb a religious facility and they bring up Monte Cassino...then they use actual footage of the Cassino bombing
...in another episode, the main character parachutes out of a damaged plane and is captured by a Stauffenberg-like resistance group

 

I remember watching the series as a kid during the 60's. It had everything from actual combat footage and introduced me to the B17. During that time I also remember watching Rat Patrol and Combat. I am not sure if they were trying to be more patriotic because of the Vietnam War but it always was the evil Germans against the good wholesome Americans. I will definitely have to get my "Crusher Cap" on and re-live my youth.

 

..I remember Combat, and maybe Rat Patrol a little ...12 O'Clock was never on where I was
....that makes me wonder if the Germans have/had any WW2 shows? and what about all the WW2 PC games about the ''good'' Americans vs the ''evil'' Germans--the Germans must play those ....?

 

Started watching Twelve O'Clock High on youtube a while back, but never got past episode three. There's a limit to how many different ways you can tell more or less the same story every week.
Don't think it was ever on British tv; remember stuff like Combat!, Rat Patrol and Garrison's Guerillas though.

 

Maybe that's why it seemed like it was such a great show as a seven year old in the early 60's. I always remembered the top turret rotating around behind the pilot/copilot. Funny how the brain picks out certain things to focus on.

 

that's exactly what I see when they show cockpit scenes

 

Real combat footage was spliced-in around the staged scenes. Technically it was a snuff movie.

 

..I was thinking, wasn't Rat Patrol mostly about the desert? how could they come up with a ''variety'' of stories with that?

 

...I kind of like the real combat footage in the show.....Baa Baa Black Sheep did that...of course it was ridiculously out of context with what was happening ......

 

back in the day, you watched what was given to you.
we were happy to have any big budget, lousy script show.
try watching the love boat/6 million dollar man episodes from 1976.
we had 3 english channels and 2 french. no titty.

 

IIRC, Rat Patrol had someone in a re-occurring role as a "good German". COMBAT also had a few now and then. I think that if they portrayed all Germans as evil all the time, then people would start to ask, "If these people were so uniformly evil, why are they our allies?"

 

Only ever seen the first episode, but you're probably right.

 

I loved Combat! reruns when I was younger. I only saw one Twelve O'Clock High, maybe two. I know about Rat Patrol but never saw it.

I thought from synopses of Twelve O'Clock High that they touched on radar bombing like H2S, and shuttle bombing with the Russians. Did anyone see those?

 

..I just started watching a few on YouTube....appears they have a good variety of themes

 

Hauptmann Hans Dietrich IIRC. There was even an episode where the Patrol and Dietrich's unit had to fight together against Tuaregs or Bedouin or some such.

As I recall, some of the plot lines were pretty outlandish, in keeping with @bronk7's comment.

 

That's the one! I remember that episode too. A foretaste of reality, unfortunately.

 

..call me goofy, but I watch a lot of these shows like 12 O'Clock with the sound off...but, I'm going to have to watch the episode of the German Resistance sometime with the sound on ..if they have captions, I put those on

 

Love Boat 1976 had plenty of titty Pops...go and watch again. : ) Charlie's Angels was another show where bras were considered old fashioned...^ million dollar man was brilliant. (I think a remake 6 billion dollar man is coming out?) We didn't have 12o'clock high here either I don't think...Black Sheep Squadron yes though...Pappy Boyington with his extra tight pants showing way too much for a hetro boy like me!

 

Remember watching the TV series back in the 60's, in fact watched a couple episodes today on a large dvd set I bought years ago, sure beats running around catching that COVID-19 crap. But biggest mistake though for Twelve O'Clock High was dumping Robert Lansing after that first season, well actually in that first episode of Season Two they had him shot down and quickly listed as MIA. Sorry but Paul Burke wasn't as riveting or intimidating as Lansing..just something cool watching General Savage grab his zippo lighter, light up a cigarette and begin drilling some bombardier why he missed the target or going toe-to-toe with General Wiley Crowe about the next mission. Always liked actor Frank Overton as Major Harvey Stovall too, just something about his voice which spoke reasoning and some sanity in which you were lucky to make 25 missions.

 

I read it was because Lansing wanted more money or got sick of the part, so that's why they killed him off.