Series Description

The Combat TV show was a 60 minute war action series on ABC about the actions of the U.S. Army's second platoon of King's Company during World War II. The TV show's storyline began immediately following "D-Day" and realistically explored the day-to-day fighting necessary release Europe from Nazi control.

Broadcast History:

Tuesday Nights from 7:30 to 8:30 on ABC for the Combat's entire run

Combat Cast

Vic Morrow .... Sergeant Chip Saunders
Rick Jason .... Lieutenant Gil Hanley
William Bryant .... McCall
Tom Lowell .... Billy Nelson
Jack Hogan .... William G. Kirby
Dick Peabody .... Little John
Steven Rogers .... Doc (1962-1963)
Conlan Carter .... Doc (1963-1967)
Pierre Jalbert .... Paul "Caje" Lemay
Shecky Greene .... Braddock

Combat Trivia:

Rick Jason and Vic Morrow's contracts guaranteed that each would receive equal equal top billings in Combat's opening credits. By the end of the Combat, each had been listed first 76 times.

Pierre Jalbert played the role of PFC Paul "Caje" Lemay on Combat. In the pilot episode, however, his character's name was Caddy Cadron. It's unclear why the name was changed.

Shecky Greene appeared on only eight Combat episodes and he got captured by the Germans on two of those!

It was pretty common for the writers to do "Capture and Escape" scripts. Lieutenant Hanley was actually captured three times in episode #7, "Escape to Nowhere"!

The Combat TV show's cast was actually sent to one week of "Boot Camp" training before filming began so that they would be more familiar with military procedures.

There were some really terrific bloopers that survived the cutting room floor! Here are three of the best. In episode #44, "Ambush," a dead German is lying face down in the water ... until he lifts his head to take a breath that is! In another shot, one of the crew members can be seen walking behind a piece of German artillery. In episode #58, "What Are the Bugles Blowin' For - Part II" when Saunders is saying goodbye to the young French boy, modern-day cars and trucks can be seen in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. In episode #74 "The Impostor," Rick Jason says "Peabody, take the point." Dick Peabody is the real-life name of the actor that plays "Little John". He should have said, "Little John, take the point."

Lieutenant Hanley and Sergeant Saunders lost 118 men under their commands in combat during Combat's run.

Film sequences of real-life battle films were included in some of the episodes.