''Roll Out'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

that aired Friday evenings on CBS during the 1973-1974 television season. Starring nightclub comedian Stu Gilliam and

Hilly Hicks Hilly Gene Hicks Sr. is an American character actor. Early life Hicks was born in Los Angeles, California. Biography The role for which Hicks is perhaps best known is Lewis Harvey (the younger son of Alex Haley's second great-grandfather Ch ...

, and featuring

Ed Begley Jr. Edward James Begley Jr. (born September 16, 1949) is an American actor and environmental activist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He played Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series ''St. E ...

and Garrett Morris, the series was set in France during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and was loosely based on the 1952 film ''

Red Ball Express The Red Ball Express was a famed truck convoy system that supplied Allied forces moving quickly through Europe after breaking out from the D-Day beaches in Normandy in 1944. To expedite cargo shipment to the front, trucks emblazoned with red ...

''. Actor

Jimmy Lydon James Joseph Lydon (May 30, 1923 – March 9, 2022) was an American actor and television producer whose career in the entertainment industry began as a teenager during the 1930s. Early life Lydon was born in Harrington Park, New Jersey on May 3 ...

, familiar as a juvenile lead in the 1940s, was cast as an Army captain. His character's name was Henry Aldrich; the same name he used in Paramount's comedy features of the 1940s.

Synopsis

In an effort to cash in on the success of ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker (auth ...

,'' CBS decided to air another Army comedy. Instead of Army medics, ''Roll Out'' highlighted the pratfalls of the supply drivers of the fictional 5050th Quartermaster Truck Company of the U.S. Third Army's

, whose staff was mainly

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

. The series attempted to use the World War II setting as a commentary on race relations, just as ''M*A*S*H's''

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

setting was also a commentary on the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. ''Roll Out'' aired opposite ABC's '' The Odd Couple.'' Subsequently, ''Roll Out'' failed to win its timeslot and was canceled halfway through its sole season. It was replaced on February 8, 1974, by ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first Afric ...

,'' a spin-off of '' Maude'' starring

Esther Rolle Esther Elizabeth Rolle (November 8, 1920 – November 17, 1998) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the CBS television sitcom '' Maude,'' for two seasons (1972–1974), and its spin-off series ''Go ...

and John Amos, which would run for six seasons.

Cast

Episodes

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0069622, Roll Out 1973 American television series debuts 1974 American television series endings 1970s American sitcoms 1970s American black sitcoms CBS original programming English-language television shows Military comedy television series Live action television shows based on films Television series by 20th Century Fox Television World War II television comedy series Television shows set in Paris