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We don't need one. Band of Brothers and The Pacific have aged extremely well and they are both currently available on Netflix.
A new WW2 series would need to focus on a new theater (N. Africa) or otherwise tell some story that has not received much attention.
Of course North Africa from an American perspective is interesting in being the first contact for the US against Germany but the action then went over to Italy and thus the European mainland you would think is covered by the Band of Brothers miniseries. But it would help remove the stink of having mostly Americans stand in for the British Long Range Desert Group on The Rat Patrol.
For a mostly unknown theatre I would nominated the engineering road and airfield building efforts in the China Burma India and not the large raid of Merrill's Marauders who had the early 60s movie
The Pacific missing the intimacy of the single paratrooper company and the Marines shown being more extreme in committing war crimes than their soldier counterparts along with the real world of Iraq affecting the audience reaction to the two shows.
With infantry combat with the two enemies and now the bomber campaign against the Germans getting the premium miniseries treatments I would think the next step would be focusing on the Navy. And where do you go from there? The floating city of an aircraft carrier (Enterprise surviving the war), a submarine or an escort ship in the Atlantic?
I would personally like to see a lesser covered conflict like Korea get the same treatment. Two of the most prolific motion pictures on the war are a dark comedy (MASH) and a film considered to be one of the worst movies ever made, so bad that it's never been re-released or released on home media (Inchon).
1. Keep in mind that not all Germans --- not even all German soldiers --- were "Nazis." Many were. But there were Germans (even officers) who loved Germany but hated Hitler and the Nazis.
2. Of the Germans on the show, the only one I'd even come close to calling "lovable" was Schultz. The rest were definitely buffoons, and I'm okay with that. In fact, I hope that is the ultimate legacy of Hitler and the Nazis: the butts of all our jokes. This actually came up as an issue with Mel Brooks years ago.
While the above may be true, I've never found WWII or anything peripherally Holocaust-related to be a source, let alone wellspring of humor.
With that being said, when it comes to a war-centric comedy or dramedy, I love M*A*S*H — both the film and series — and find the show to be one of the most rewatchable ever made. But that's a whole different ball o' wax.
When I was in North Korea a member in my unit had an occasion to visit a MASH unit in the rear where the nurse could make some side money.....enlisted was $50 while the Officers paid $100.....sad but true.
We don't need one. Band of Brothers and The Pacific have aged extremely well and they are both currently available on Netflix.
A new WW2 series would need to focus on a new theater (N. Africa) or otherwise tell some story that has not received much attention.
A third series has been made. The OP included it in his OP, "Masters of the Air" about the European daylight bombing campaign. I have no clue how it will be accessible after the initial run on Apple TV.
Masters of the Air: Everything We Know
The first two episodes of Masters of the Air will premiere on Apple TV+ on January 26, 2024, continuing weekly through March 15. If it’s anything like Band of Brothers, we’re in for something special.
A third series has been made. The OP included it in his OP, "Masters of the Air" about the European daylight bombing campaign. I have no clue how it will be accessible after the initial run on Apple TV.
Masters of the Air: Everything We Know
The first two episodes of Masters of the Air will premiere on Apple TV+ on January 26, 2024, continuing weekly through March 15. If it’s anything like Band of Brothers, we’re in for something special.
Judging by Greyhound Apple will hold their exclusive rights to try to force subscribers. So there won't be an aftermarket like HBO had unless there are major changes in the subscription services
To be fair the show mostly had Germans like the guards of Stalag 17 and The Great Escape and not the SS. Although I do remember a Gestapo reoccurring character
Yeah. The German's were portrayed as buffoons.
My dad (WW2 vet, Europe) and I watched it every week.
Apparently a lot of other dads and kids did too as it lasted six seasons and was broadcast during the "family viewing hours".
A bit of trivia......all the actors playing Nazis on the show were jewish!
I have the complete series on DVD ....and I still think it's a good show.
I was gonna point that out. Most of those actors lost family member in the Holocaust, too. In addition, actor Robert Clary who played French Corporal LeBeau on the show, was a survivor of Buchenwald himself. He was the youngest of 14 children, and 10 of his siblings plus his parents were murdered in the camps. I say if he was OK doing the show, that's good enough for me.
But I will say that my mother met a man who had been a POW of the Germans during the war, and he called the show "a disgrace".
To be fair the show mostly had Germans like the guards of Stalag 17 and The Great Escape and not the SS. Although I do remember a Gestapo reoccurring character
That would be Major Hochstetter played by Howard Caine. As it is, I do have the series, often watch it. On the other hand, just to say, MASH I don't have and it is not a fav of mine. Not hated but just not at fav. Of the military shows I do have in the library, there's
China Beach
The Rat Patrol
Baa Baa Black Sheep
F Troop (it's listed when I asked for war shows but I wouldn't say that)
Wonder Woman*
Foyle's War
SS-GB
Of course, there are lots of famous shows, I just don't have them.
On Wonder Woman: 1st season was WW II but 2nd and 3rd were modern times. Why? Well one thing is that doing a WWII show is more expensive than a current one.
Hogan's Heroes was a comedy and further, most of the people would not have been on it if the Germans won. Further, there were certain aspects of the show that were accurate to a degree. For example, when Tiger (Arlene Martel) is captured by the Gestapo or the SS, she says she is a member of Army Intelligence (maybe the Abwehr) and the two organizations are bitter enemies of each other, that it would take a long time to check out her story.......that was rather true.
And while I don't recall this happening in the show.....in the book Iron Coffins by Herbert Werner, there is a section where Werner's father has been arrested by the Gestapo. Werner, then a U-Boat XO, goes to see the head Gestapo man, tells that man that they are holding his father, that is unacceptable, and demands his immediate release. The Gestapo leader PALES.......but why?
Because at that stage in the war, a member of the U-Boat arm is closer to Hitler than Himmler was.
Little details here and there.....
But, hence two things. First, remember when shows are comedies and when they should be taken serious. Secondly, however, remember that TV shows are suppose to be entertaining.....and both audiences and what the audience likes often changes over time.
Finally, two movies that are known as bombs, First Family (Bob Newhart) and Deal of the Century (Chevy Chase). My Father loved those flicks because things that happened in those movies, like throwing the servant out of the airplane as a blessing for a good landing, had a great deal of similarity to how things actually worked with military assistance to other countries. Or take Deal of the Century where the drone has a nervous breakdown and the Air Force General tells the reporter....
General: This is a great day for the Air Force, Pete.
Pete: Why's that, General?
General: Because the Navy bought twelve of those disasters!
That kind of "appreciation" might be found in a military audience but it could be lost on a civilian audience.
Last edited by TamaraSavannah; 12-08-2023 at 03:17 PM..
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