''The Wackiest Ship in the Army'' is an American comedy drama adventure television series that aired for one season on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

between September 19, 1965, and April 17, 1966. Produced by

Harry Ackerman Harry Stephen Ackerman (November 17, 1912 – February 3, 1991) was an American television producer, credited with creating or co-creating twenty-one series, seven of which were at one time being broadcast simultaneously. Some of the sitcoms in ...

and

Herbert Hirschman Herbert Hirschman (April 13, 1914 – July 3, 1985) was an American television producer and director. He produced shows as '' Perry Mason'' and the fourth season of ''The Twilight Zone''. Hirschman died in July 1985 of an illness A d ...

, the series was loosely based on the 1960 film starring Jack Lemmon and

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

, which itself was a fictionalized account of a real wartime vessel. Although often referred to as a

comedy series Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first United States television ...

, the show violated three unwritten rules that unofficially defined TV situation comedies at the time: It was an hour in length (almost all comedy series were only a half-hour, and the few attempts at hour sitcoms were unsuccessful), it had no

laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...

, and characters were sometimes killed in it.

Synopsis

The series is set in the Pacific theater of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and centers on the crew of the USS ''Kiwi'', a leaky, wooden, twin-masted schooner whose mission is to carry out covert missions behind

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

lines. Her old-fashioned,

noncombatant Non-combatant is a term of art in the law of war and international humanitarian law to refer to civilians who are not taking a direct part in hostilities; persons, such as combat medics and military chaplains, who are members of the belligerent a ...

appearance works in her favor, and she sails under false colors (the Swiss flag) when in enemy waters. The ''Kiwi'' is jointly commanded by

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Major Simon Butcher (

Jack Warden Jack Warden (born John Warden Lebzelter Jr.; September 18, 1920July 19, 2006) was an American character actor of film and television. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Shampoo'' (1975) and '' Heaven Can Wait' ...

), who is in charge of shore operations, and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), ...

Richard "Rip" Riddle ( Gary Collins), who is in command of the vessel at sea. The crew consists of: *

Mike Kellin Mike Kellin (born Myron Kellin, April 26, 1922 – August 26, 1983) was an American actor. Early life Kellin was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Sophia and Samuel Kellin, Russian-Jewish immigrants. His younger sister, Shirley Ann ...

Chief Petty Officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi ...

Willie Miller (also in the 1960 film, and listed in the series opening credits) *

Mark Slade Mark Van Blarcom Slade (born May 1, 1939) is an American actor, artist, and author, particularly remembered for his role of Billy Blue Cannon on the NBC Western television series, ''The High Chaparral''.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of ...

Radioman Radioman (RM) was a rating for United States Navy and United States Coast Guard enlisted personnel, specializing in communications technology. History of the rating The rating was created originally in 1921. In 1997, under the direction of Chi ...

Patrick Hollis * Fred Smoot: Machinist Mate Seymour Trivers *

Rudy Solari Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...

Gunner's Mate The United States Navy and United States Coast Guard occupational rating of gunner's mate (GM) is a designation given by the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) to enlisted sailors who either satisfactorily complete initial Gunner's Mate "A" schoo ...

Sherman Nagurski * Don Penny: Pharmacist Mate Charles Tyler, ship's cook

Notable guest stars

Guest stars included: * James Hong: Agaki (three episodes) *

Jill Ireland Jill Dorothy Ireland (24 April 1936 – 18 May 1990) was an English actress and singer. She appeared in 16 films with her second husband, Charles Bronson, and was additionally involved in two other of Bronson's films as a producer. Life and ca ...

Robert Loggia Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...

Harry Morgan Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor and director whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both ''December Bride'' (1954–1959 ...

Chips Rafferty John William Pilbean Goffage MBE (26 March 190927 May 1971), known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until his death ...

(also in the 1960 film) *

George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...

Jack Soo Jack Soo (born Goro Suzuki, October 28, 1917 – January 11, 1979) was an American singer and actor. He was best known for his role as Detective Nick Yemana on the television sitcom ''Barney Miller''. Early life Soo was born Goro Suzuki on a s ...

Production notes

The theme music and scoring were by Nelson Riddle.

Ship

The USS ''Kiwi'' was based on the real-life , a 40-year-old schooner (or

scow A scow is a smaller type of barge. Some scows are rigged as sailing scows. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scows carried cargo in coastal waters and inland waterways, having an advantage for navigating shallow water or small harbours. S ...

) that the

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transferred to the

during World War II. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

returned her to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1944. The ''Echo'' was broken up in 2015 due to her poor material conditioning following her use as a bar which had closed in 2013.

In other media

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...

based on the series, by Lee Bergman, was released in 1965.

Broadcast history

''The Wackiest Ship in the Army'' premiered on

on September 19, 1965.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, Fourth Edition'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, , p. 889.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–present (Sixth Edition)'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, , pp. 1102–1103.Classic TV Archive ''The Wackiest Ship in the Army'' (1965–66) Accessed 11 November 2021
/ref> It lasted a single season, and the last of its 29 original episodes aired on April 17, 1966. Prime-time reruns of ''The Wackiest Ship in the Army'' followed in its regular time slot on NBC until September 4, 1966. The show aired at 10:00 p.m. on Sunday throughout its run.

Episode list

SOURCES Marshall, Andrew, The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1966): S01E29 – Routine Assignment, Military Gogglebox, January 11, 2019 Accessed 11 November 2021
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wackiest Ship in the Army 1965 American television series debuts 1966 American television series endings 1960s American comedy-drama television series English-language television shows NBC original programming Military comedy television series Military humor in film American military television series Nautical television series Live action television shows based on films Television series by Sony Pictures Television World War II television comedy series Television shows set in Oceania Television series by Screen Gems Television series about the United States Navy