McHale's Navy [complete series box set] (1 Viewer)

[Wiseguy]

My father really likes Hogan's Heroes, and he watches it a lot on Sundance. I've tried to watch it with him (we used to watch older shows together), but I just can't get into that one. Not my cup o' tea, I guess.

All of this makes me unsure whether I'd need to buy McHale's Navy or not. I'm not too sure I'd like it and I really don't want to waste my money on something I'd never watch. I suppose if I didn't like it, I could always re-gift it to someone that would.

I've watched both McHale's Navy and Hogan's Heroes as a kid in reruns and I must say Hogan is the better series of the two. At least there was a point to it, sort of like a mini-Mission: Impossible set in WWII.*
All the crew of McHale's Navy seemed to want to do is sleep late, gamble and not do their jobs and hide it all from their commanding officer. As such, McHale's Navy seemed much more repetitive than Hogan's Heroes while it was on the air two fewer years. While most critics dismiss Hogan as a laugh fest during wartime, they did tackle a few real-life serious subjects such as the assassination attempt on Hitler, Germany's heavy-water experiments to develop the atomic bomb first, the Manhattan Project and the plans of D-Day.

Today I can easily watch an episode of Hogan either on DVD (I picked up two seasons cheaply at Big Lots a decade apart) or on MeTV. Apparently, I'm not the only one since MeTV has been showing it at the same time (two episodes every weekday) for several years. To me, watching any more than a few minutes of McHale's Navy on Antenna TV is a chore.

Conclusion: If you didn't like Hogan's Heroes you probably won't like McHale's Navy.

*There had been some talk recently about a reboot of Hogan's Heroes featuring the descendants of the prisoners today traveling around the world fighting injustice, etc. which sounds more like Mission: Impossible than Hogan's Heroes. Haven't heard anything about it lately.

 

[Emcee]

I've watched both McHale's Navy and Hogan's Heroes as a kid in reruns and I must say Hogan is the better series of the two. At least there was a point to it, sort of like a mini-Mission: Impossible set in WWII.*
All the crew of McHale's Navy seemed to want to do is sleep late, gamble and not do their jobs and hide it all from their commanding officer. As such, McHale's Navy seemed much more repetitive than Hogan's Heroes while it was on the air two fewer years. While most critics dismiss Hogan as a laugh fest during wartime, they did tackle a few real-life serious subjects such as the assassination attempt on Hitler, Germany's heavy-water experiments to develop the atomic bomb first, the Manhattan Project and the plans of D-Day.

Today I can easily watch an episode of Hogan either on DVD (I picked up two seasons cheaply at Big Lots a decade apart) or on MeTV. Apparently, I'm not the only one since MeTV has been showing it at the same time (two episodes every weekday) for several years. To me, watching any more than a few minutes of McHale's Navy on Antenna TV is a chore.

Conclusion: If you didn't like Hogan's Heroes you probably won't like McHale's Navy.

*There had been some talk recently about a reboot of Hogan's Heroes featuring the descendants of the prisoners today traveling around the world fighting injustice, etc. which sounds more like Mission: Impossible than Hogan's Heroes. Haven't heard anything about it lately.

I am not a big fan of Hogan's Heroes at all, so I think I'll just pass on McHale's Navy altogether. That'll probably be my safest bet. ​

 

[BobO'Link]

I am not a big fan of Hogan's Heroes at all, so I think I'll just pass on McHale's Navy altogether. That'll probably be my safest bet. ​

They're completely different shows. The only similarity is they both take place during WWII and are "ensemble" style shows. In a way they're also similar as both are somewhat a "caper" show in that they're trying to get away with something that's outside the norm/rules, bypassing authority to accomplish that goal. McHale's Navy is more like Sgt. Bilko (aka You'll Never Get Rich) in that they're normally trying to pull off some scam, usually involving gambling or getting leave, and keep their superiors from finding out what they're really up to.

I like Hogan's Heroes better than McHale's Navy but enjoy both and they play quite differently. Like I said earlier - find a way to sample a few episodes before you decide.

 

[Tony Bensley]

I wish they had made No Time for Sergeants into a show.

They actually did, but it didn't last very long.

No Time for Sergeants (TV Series 1964–1965) ⭐ 7.1 | Comedy

30m

www.imdb.com

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

I've got you beat. Dragnet was made into a feature film two years earlier in 1954.
(For those who would comment that Dragnet was not a comedy, the original poster stated "But supposedly McHale's Navy was the first television series to be made into a feature film...")

Not quite the same thing, but HERE COME THE NELSONS (1952) was released to theaters in February 1952, preceding THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE & HARRIET Television series by some 7 months, but during the airing of the radio series of the same name, which continued for a couple of years after its TV counterpart began!

Here Come the Nelsons (1952) ⭐ 6.5 | Comedy

1h 15m | Approved

www.imdb.com

CHEERS!

 

[borisfw]

I'm a fan of both Hogan's Heroes and McHale's Navy. Both shows were wartime comedies but that is the only connection. Hogan's had a great cast and had some great guest stars. As did McHale's Navy. I find both shows enjoyable. I probably like Hogan's better. But not by much.

 

[rmw650]

Unfortunately, Hogan's Heroes was part that CBS purge of shows that got abruptly CXLed to go in a whole different direction as it never got a proper send-off or conclusion after 6 seasons, but to me, jumped the shark when Ivan Dixon left the show, whereas McHale's Navy did after 4 seasons and they also had two movies released as well during its time Never cared for the last season of McHale's after moving its setting to New Caledonia.

 

[bmasters9]

Unfortunately, Hogan's Heroes was part that CBS purge of shows that got abruptly CXLed to go in a whole different direction as it never got a proper send-off or conclusion after 6 seasons

You mean that when Hogan's had its last episode, it was just that, no more? That's far unlike Barney Miller, where the last episode of that ABC police comedy in 1982 had a wonderful sendoff with Barney reminiscing over all the memories of 8 remarkable years, before Hal Linden (last remaining) exited the 12th Precinct set at ABC Television Center in Hollywood, and turned out the lights (there was extended applause after that).

 

[bmasters9]

You mean that when Hogan's had its last episode, it was just that, no more? That's far unlike Barney Miller, where the last episode of that ABC police comedy in 1982 had a wonderful sendoff with Barney reminiscing over all the memories of 8 remarkable years, before Hal Linden (last remaining) exited the 12th Precinct set at ABC Television Center in Hollywood, and turned out the lights (there was extended applause after that).

 

[bmasters9]

Double-posted! Hit the wrong button; thought I was editing.

 

[rmw650]

Double-posted! Hit the wrong button; thought I was editing.

Same what happened to a lot of those shows in the 1960s into the 1970s...CBS just decided to finish them up (aka cancel) no matter if the show had an ending to it or not and just a damn shame to boot as those shows were still doing decent ratings before the purge by their idiot executives at the time took place, because they wanted to go in a "different" direction.

 

[MartinP.]

no matter if the show had an ending to it or not

Of course, most all long running shows didn't have any endings back then. They didn't have cliffhanger episodes season to season, either. The Fugitive was probably the first with a notable ending, but the producers later on stated they probably lost money and foiled some profitable syndication rights to the series because of that.

 

[ScottRE]

Of course, most all long running shows didn't have any endings back then. They didn't have cliffhanger episodes season to season, either. The Fugitive was probably the first with a notable ending, but the producers later on stated they probably lost money and foiled some profitable syndication rights to the series because of that.

Man, I never understood that. It wasn't a mystery series and people watched reruns of episodes daily - that's how these series became classics. So I never got how people could watch individual episodes of a show repeatedly - KNOWING the endings - yet they didn't watch The Fugitive as much because "they knew how it (the series) ended"?!! Kimble was always said to be innocent. What was ruined?

Personally, when a quest show ends without resolution, I tend to shy away from it.

 

[bmasters9]

So I never got how people could watch individual episodes of a show repeatedly - KNOWING the endings - yet they didn't watch The Fugitive as much because "they knew how it (the series) ended"?!!

That's what I don't understand either-- why some viewers want shows that just "end" (the last episode is just that), as opposed to having a true wrapup.

 

[Emcee]

That's what I don't understand either-- why some viewers want shows that just "end" (the last episode is just that), as opposed to having a true wrapup.

Well, sometimes having an ending isn't all it's cracked up to be.

 

[bmasters9]

Well, sometimes having an ending isn't all it's cracked up to be.

True-- it depends on the general makeup and storyline of the series, IINM.

 

[Capt D McMars]

It's a rarity but great when it happened!!

 

[Emcee]

It doesn't bother me that a show like Gilligan's Island never had a true finale, although they tried their hand at rectifying that a decade after the show got cancelled with the pretty bad TV reunion called Rescue from Gilligan's Island. The magic was gone, and Judith Baldwin was a poor substitute for Tina Louise.

The only TV series that I personally liked how they wrapped it up was The Golden Girls. The show is easily my favorite television sitcom, and even though I would've liked it had the finale been "fleshed out" a little more and been seeded throughout the season, I like that Dorothy (Bea Arthur) got a good sendoff. She deserved happiness after all of life's curve balls being thrown at her, and the tear-stained goodbye at the end always tugs at my heartstrings. ​

 

[ponset]

Rest In Peace Yoshio Yoda.

McHale's Navy Star Yoshio Yoda Dead at 88

Actor Yoshio Yoda starred in all 138 episodes of the '60s show McHale's Navy before moving on to a career in business

people.com