Garrison's Gorillas / The Dirty Dozen (the TV series)

Anyone else familiar with these two TV shows?

"Garrison's Gorillas" used to be a family event in our house on a Saturday night in the late '60s.

As a kid of primary school age (5 - 7 yrs, I think that's what you Yanks call 'grade school'?), I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

It got repeated in the UK nearly 20 years later (mid '80s) on Channel 4. I caught and taped a few episodes (foolishly I then taped over them again) and - while it wasn't as good as I remembered it from first time round - it was still enjoyable.

Then a couple of years ago - on the UK's then-new ITV4 channel - I found myself watching the "Dirty Dozen" TV series, which was shot in the late '80s on a shoestring budget in Yugoslavia and had Ben Murphy in the lead role of the lieutenant in charge of a bunch of US Army convicts sent off on hazardous missions. And a more mind-numbingly, embarrassingly BAD series I've seldom seen in my life (worse even than the "Dirty Dozen" made-for-TV movie spin-offs with a grossly overweight, far-too-old-for-the-role Telly Savalas that were made at around the same time).

I was just wondering if anyone else here has any memories of and thoughts about these two shows, both of which (sadly in the case of "Garrison's Gorillas", and mercifully in the case of "The Dirty Dozen - the TV Series") seem to have slipped very much into obscurity.

- Steve

 

Garrison's Guerillas replaced Combat. Combat still had another season or two, I think, before it would have gotten stale, but the cost of the show was getting too high and the network realized that it could cancel the show and do a new WWII drama with new cast members.

I have been looking for Garrison's Guerillas on DVD for the past 2 years but it has not been released, or scheduled for release, yet.

 

I vaugely remember watching Garrison's Gorillas as a kid.

Dgm, check the links out below...

Garrison's Gorillas DVD : TV Shows, TV Series on DVD Complete from DVDAvenue.Tv

Engale Marketing Garrison's Gorillas

 

John -- Many thanks for these links! I had never stumbled onto these sites.

Cheers!

 

I have fond memories of watching Garrison's Gorillas as a kid with my Dad. The show is like Mission Impossible set in World War II.

 

I heard of Garrison's Gorillas but never saw any. I also heard about the Dirty Dozen TV series, but do not recall watching any-probably because someone else always had control of the darn remote.

I'd be willing to watch them though-if ever aired?

 

I now feel quite ancient I had forgotten all about Garrisons' Gorillas I never missed an episode.

 

Warning! Garrison's Gorillas Ripoff.
This is not a spam promotion, but a warning.

I decided to treat myself to the complete 26-episode one-season of the TV show Garrison's Gorillas, which I loved as a kid. I found the series for sale on DVD at this site:

http://www.clickdvdmedia.com/product.php?productid=38630

As can be seen, the price was marked as 50% off, however, the shipping & handling was $17.00, which I reluctantly accepted. The product took a full three weeks to arrive.

The first obvious realization was the DVDs were not in the case that is shown on the website. Instead, 8-DVDs in cheap, two-pocket plastic holders were put into a large plastic case, the type used to hold VHS video tapes. The DVDs can rattle around inside this video case. A cheap home computer label was wrapped around this outer case; not a bad effort, but certainly not professional. The DVDs are also numbered in pen by hand on the disc labels.

The sound and picture quality was that of a second or third generation video recording. In fact, it is obvious these DVDs were burned from VHS tapes that someone recorded this series from rerun TV. The color is dull, tracking waves periodically flow across the screen, and split-second late editing from commercial breaks are evident. The episodes are viewable but certainly not the quality one would expect for that price.

I'll suck this one up, but I hope this heads-up saves anyone else from getting ripped-off by this seller.

Greg C.

 

I was told that G's G's was basically a rip-off of COMBAT. What ""Killed"" COMBAT-was going to Color.

 

garrisons gorillas,remember it well ....

 

Actually G's G's was a rip off of the Dirty Dozen. Even Telly Savalas guest starred in the first episode. BUT, G's G's was a Selmar Production as Combat! was, and many of the G's G's sets and California outdoor scenes were filmed at the same locales as Combat! Even the music soundtrack was identical.

As for color, my mother bought our first color TV set in 1967. I was 10, and to me, color TV was a whole new world. I can understand now the different feel of B&W and color, but at that time, I would have taken color over B&W any day.

Greg C.

 

As a kid, I enjoyed watching Garrison's Gorillas because its star, Ron Harper,
was from my home town.

Garrison's Gorillas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Dave

 

God, I remember that one! Cheers, Dave.
I never saw it's contemporary The Rat Patrol, since my old man is a North Africa veteran and refused to have it on his telly!

 

Hi Greg, thanks for the other info, I know a gent who will appreciate knowing that about a series that he always played "second Fiddle" to COMBAT. ;-))

As for B7W and Color goes, Im more of a "purist" and I prefer movies and Tv shows to stay in their original formats menaing keep all things B7W-B&W and all things Color-Color. As for COMBAT and its last season being in Color-i'd have and still do, prefer the opinion that itSHOULD have stayed in B&W.

One series I didn't mind going to Color-was Star Trek.

 

Hi mate, I wish I had known that you like The Rat Patrol, because I would have sent you both seasons on DvD-which I had till fairly recently-when I sent them to a friend of mine in Georgia. ;-))

My favorite characters on it were Christopher George (the Sgt. and Hans Gudegast (now known as: Erich Braeden) as the DAK offizier. ;-))

 

Just like dgm, I say thank you. My dad and I used to watch Garrison's Gorrillas regularly when it was rerun in Philippine TV. Combat still airs regularly in the late afternoon here.

 

No worries, Carl. I've never the programme at all unfortunately; I distinctly remember the channel getting turned the minute pater heard the theme tune!
Garrison's Gorillas was briefly repeated here in the mid 80s.

 

A wise decision Mate. When I first saw a few episodes of I wasn't collecting so much but, since then, being a collector and all, I can't stand the show even though I do like Christopher George, the UK Gent and hans Gudegast (aka) Erich Braeden on some damned soap opera.

 

As a kid, I thought the Rat Patrol was "cool." But as an adult, when I learned how historically inaccurate the show was, I lost interest. Based on the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), the show suggested the Rat Patrol was an American idea, whereas American units never fought in the Libian Desert. Saying the show was a distortion of history would be an understatement.

Greg C.