Black Sheep Squadron

Black Sheep Squadron is a series that is fascinating to watch, over and over. I first started watching it on the History Channel and have numerous tapes that are wearing out from use. These are quite interesting since they contain the comments of the original Black Sheep members, as well as some by Conrad.

The stories, for the most part, are quite interesting and the acting is top-notch. Conrad is a seasoned actor going back many years and does very well in all sorts of roles, including this one. Clyde Kusatsu in his role as a captured Zero pilot was believable and has been in many other movies since. The regulars...Dana Elcar, Robert Ginty, W. K. Stratton, Simon Oakland, James Whitmore, Jr. were well-placed in their roles.

With the passing of Robert Conrad and H&I showing the show again I wanted to comment on it. This is one of the first shows I remember watching because my Grandfather served with the actual Boyington during WW2 and we watched several eps shortly before he died.

I read Boyington's autobiography when I was a young teen. Needless to say the show isn't accurate, and was said by former members of the unit in the 80s at a reunion and the former members expressed great displeasure at Boyington. My Grandfather's overlap of service was limited as he was in the Army Air Corps and knew him from base overlap and because he was a mechanic which was as important as pilots because of limited replacement parts.

So while the show was inaccurate, it was generally inspiring (I believe one of the reasons I enlisted when I was 17) and entertaining. Today if I want history, I've got the History and Military Channels, so all one needs to do is expect it to entertain which it does. I'd make it akin to MASH which certainly wasn't real either, but was entertaining.

What a lot of people won't remember is the time period when this was on being post-Vietnam and there was a negative attitude towards the service that post 9/11 isn't remembered by many (I served in the late 80s and Desert Storm and the military was viewed positively in my opinion by most then, but not as high as after 9/11).

so watch it for what it's meant to be, entertainment.

The tales of Boyington's Black Sheep may not have been the most historically accurate, best written, or even best acted WW II series on television.

What it WAS, however, was an entertaining hour in front of the tube, with a likable cast & easy to like/care about characters.

The Bellisaro hand in the casting in easy to see, with a number of familiar faces that returned to become regulars or recurring characters on Magnum P.I.

In short, a usually enjoyable show that never failed to deliver exactly what you expected from it.

I watched Baa Baa Black sheep for the first time in 1983. I really liked the dislikable characters like Miklin and Colonel Lard who were good in their roles. The Japanese actor who played the ace Arachi was excellent. The atmosphere between the black sheep is often rivalry, humor, boxing fights against each other sometimes, teamwork with sense of duty and responsibility, also all the black sheeps share a big interest in women. Pappy is a hero like there have been a few during the second world, Conrad portrays him as a man liking his crew men and with sense of responsibility and huge courage.It is a great TV series for those interested in the aerial combat in the South Pacific.

I watch this every day on the History Channel. Great show, maybe not the most historically accurate, but you get a sense of what life was like for these young pilots in the Pacific. Gutterman and Pappy are my favorite characters. Most everyone with a speaking role in the series carved out a nitche for himself and made his character fairly memorable. This is a show the whole family can watch together and learn a little about WW2. One thing I like about the History Channel is that each commercial break has a blurb from a real member of the Black Sheep Squadron giving insights into areas where the show is not accurate.

Why did they cancel this show?? The show went WAY down hill with the addition of the T&A factor (aka Pappy's Lambs). What was a pathetic attempt to boost ratings further detracted from the historical accurateness of the show by depicting woman with no acting talent, often scantily dressed, with 70s hairstyles positioned on the front lines in WW2. Pappy Boyington was a technical advisor to the show and should have put a stop to this!!!

Attention Hollywood: Pappy Boyington and his brave men would make an excellent feature film. The TV series just scratches the surface of the adventures of the Black Sheep.