Customer Reviews

Combat! A Viewer's Companion to the WWII TV Series (revised)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I searched for this book for years and finally located it on Amazon.com. The last time I spied COMBAT! A VIEWER'S COMPANION TO THE WWII TV SERIES, it was in a Cleveland bookstore. At that time, COMBAT! was not available on any of the cable television stations available in my area, so I left the book on the shelf.

With the recent release of the COMBAT! on DVD, I renewed my effort to find this volume. I am glad I found it because this guide is more than a bunch of episode summaries. The book is packed with behind the scenes information. The cast interviews are priceless. Please note that trivia from this guide is also used in the special features of the DVD series.

Until I read the VIEWER'S COMPANION, I always assumed COMBAT! was canceled due to the public's growing concern over Vietnam -- essentially that Cowboy and Cop shows were in, and Army shows were out. In reality, COMBAT! was canceled due to the financial mismanagement of the production company. Rick Jason's commentary clearly relates the motive for the show's demise.

Author Jo Davidsmeyer clearly has a passion for COMBAT! as this guide has been carefully assembled. If you have the opportunity to buy this book, add it to your collection.

This well-written book takes the reader into every avenue of detail on the 1960s groundbreaking television show. Biographies, filmographies, episode detail, you name it this book has it. My favourite part of course are the actors' memories of what they liked and did not like about a particular episode, director, or guest star. You really get a feel for what is was like to make this weekly drama series.

I recently bought season 1 - campaign 1 from Amazon and to my delight the show was just as brilliant as I remembered it as a kid. It was my favourite show when I was growing up in Australia, but when it went off the air here in the 1970's, alas it never returned.

Jo Davidmeyer's book is a great read & each time I watch an episode I read the review afterwards & it certainly adds to the experience. Its packed full of info, bloopers, photos, stories & quotes from the actors and directors.

The author has a keen sense of humour and is passionate about the show and the actors and no fan of the show should be without this wonderful book.

Jo Davidsmeyer has improved on the first edition. All those wonderful details that fans can discuss ad infinitum are in this book. Lots of trivia about the cast and the show along with reviews that take apart each episode and evaluates the script, the directing as well as the cast performance. A must-buy for any Combat! fan!!

Each time I sit down to watch an episode I read about it before hand in the guide book, and then check it off. My goal is to have them all checked off. Greatly improves viewing pleasure to have Jo Davidsmeyer's background info on each episode. You would not catch certain things unless she pointed them out. Take the point !

Indispensable to keep by the TV stand as you watch this classic TV show. Besides great articles and in-depth history of the show and how it came to be, has complete episode guide of all 152 episodes with lists of things to watch for and bloopers. Lots on interviews with the cast and great color pix of the collectibles. Definite five stars, or, as they rate the episodes in the book, I give it 5 bayonets

For Combat! fans, Jo has written a must-have book. Every aspect of the actors' skill is there, the drama found in each episode is brought to life. No detail is too small for her attention. Her research is extensive.

When the squad moves out on yet another patrol Sgt. Saunders will check his orders, get a quick OK from Lt. Hanley and looks up to make sure Jo is ready to go. She is a valued member who has earned her place along side of Doc, Kirby, Caje and Littlejohn.

There's nothing like an avid fan to author a great book to an already epic tv show. Jo's affection really lends itself nicely to the anecdotes given by the former cast members.
Also, if you're ever in the LA area, you can still visit Franklin Canyon where a lot of episodes were filmed. There's a road near the corner of Cold Water Canyon Dr. and Mulholland Dr. that takes you right there (can't remember the exact name,sorry). Anyway, the same trees and water still exist that were in the episodes (this is also the same place where the opening of The Andy Grifith Show was filmed, where Opie skips a rock across the water while the theme is playing). It's now a recreation area and is a nice place to hike and stow down a few beers...

This is everything you could want as a fan of the show. The author does a great job of giving us a reasonable amount of insight to move us from season to season. This blended nicely with the information about each episode.

I wish there had been a bit more room to expand the information about each episode, but, then again, I'd like to have had a bit more information about the participants lives outside of "Combat!". But I do understand the limitations publishers impose.

I would have preferred the author not to attempt to give each episode a rating (0-4 bayonets), or a least put this in an appendix. Critics can give ratings, but fans just really shouldn't try to tell another fan he's wrong (and charge them for it)!

This is a great book for all those fans of the "COMBAT!" TV show, produced in the 1960's. I highly recommend it if you have invested in the "COMBAT!" DVD's or if you just want to understand why this series was, and indeed still is, so popular. Ms. Davidsmeyer even included her hand written autograph in my copy!--A wonderful and unexpected surprise!!! Indeed, this entire book is "A wonderful and unexpected surprise! You'll enjoy it without a single doubt!