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(More customer reviews)Season five was COMBAT!'s final year as a prime time ABC television series. By its fifth season, COMBAT! was in color. For that reason alone these DVDs are a must. Never has the show appeared in such glorious format as the digitally restored fifth season. The cinematography is excellent and equal to any of the war movies filmed today.
Comments have been made to the effect that color contributed to the demise of COMBAT! in that the show lost its gritty World War Two look. Not really. Remember that in 1967, the majority of family television sets in the United States were still black and white. For most of us growing up in the 1960s, COMBAT! was viewed in black and white whether it was color or not. Additionally, COMBAT! turned to color about the time most television series also made the transition. Remember that other series of the day, also had their first episodes or seasons in black and white.
What eventually killed the show was its production company's budget. Selmur Productions was looking to syndicate COMBAT! before too many households acquired color television sets. In those days, a prime time television series could not be syndicated until it finished its run. As such, Selmur Productions launched a COMBAT! spinoff, GARRISON'S GORILLAS, to replace Vic Morrow and Rick Jason.
The budget affected COMBAT!'s fifth season in other ways. Filming at MGM studios became too expensive, so the COMBAT! crew moved to CBS studios -- albeit, with a handful of returns to the MGM French village for camera shots that could not be procured anywhere else. As CBS did not have a wooded backlot, COMBAT! was shot more often in Franklin Canyon, the Korbel winery, and other locations. A demolished building complex in downtown Los Angelos also provided a backdrop for shooting.
Between seasons four and five, Vic Morrow reportedly demanded a hefty increase in salary. As Morrow shared star billing with Rick Jason, Jason's salary increase automatically matched Morrow's raise. The other squad regulars also received modest raises. Unfortunately, the salary increases and use of color did not increase the budget for the show. Cutbacks had to be made. You will see in season five there are very few episodes that include the full squad. Morrow and Jason were paid whether they appeared or not. For the other actors, if they did not appear in an episode, they were not paid.
Season five also suffered a drop in the number of episodes. There are less than thirty shows in the fifth season. Still, thirty 50-minute episodes is better than the average 21 season episodes today's televison series.
COMBAT! was the BAND OF BROTHERS of its day. The only two things that separate COMBAT! from BAND OF BROTHERS are that the COMBAT! scripts are fictional and the color is not washed out.
Season five has some great episodes. The show could have lasted another one or two seasons had it not been replaced with GARRISON'S GORILLAS. On the other hand, COMBAT! successfully stretched the 1944 battle of France into five years. Not bad for a military televison series.
One of the things I was looking forward to was the pilot of GARRISON'S GORILLAS. During COMBAT!'s fifth season, the GARRISON'S GORILLAS pilot was shot in two versions. The first was as an episode of COMBAT! featuring Rick Jason as the familiar Lt. Hanley. Alternate takes were filmed that did not include Jason. The Selmur Productions plan was to screen the pilot for network executives. If they okayed the pilot, then the non-COMBAT! version would be aired. If the pilot failed to get approval the pilot would have ended up as an episode of COMBAT! Ultimately the stand-alone version of GORILLAS was broadcast. GARRISON'S GORILLAS could hardly be dubbed the successor to COMBAT! except that it occupied the latter's time slot. GARRISON'S GORILLAS was a television version of THE DIRTY DOZEN and used the same production crew, stuntmen, and uniforms. Though GARRISON'S GORILLAS is inferior to COMBAT!, it would be nice to see the solitary season of the show released on DVD to fully complete the collection.
One of things I did miss about the final COMBAT! season episodes is that when these shows originally premiered, the first shows began with a brief teaser stating, "COMBAT! In Color." In the 1990s when the last season of COMBAT! was re-broadcast on Armed Forces Network the teaser was included. This announcement is missing in the DVD release. In enjoying this final half of the season make sure you do not skip the two-part special feature on the making of COMBAT! It makes up for the short season.
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One of television's most popular series, the groundbreaking Combat! offers a gritty, unflinching look at American soldiers battling in Europe during World War II, confronting imposing odds and demonstrating remarkable levels of ingenuity and courage.
Click here for more information about Combat - Season 5 Invasion 2 (1962)
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