The Unit

The Unit
The Unit title screen
Created by	David Mamet
Starring	Dennis Haysbert Regina Taylor Scott Foley Robert Patrick Audrey Marie Anderson Max Martini Abby Brammell Demore Barnes Michael Irby Nicole Steinwedell
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	69 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	approx. 42 minutes
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	March 7, 2006

The Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life Delta Force. The series originally aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009. After the network announced the show's cancellation, its producers announced the show would return as a syndicated series in the 2009-2010 season.

Production

The program features both the domestic lives of the team members and their missions abroad, in addition to the effect their careers have on their home lives, wives and girlfriends. It premiered in the United States on March 7, 2006, on CBS as a mid-season replacement. The second season debuted on September 19, 2006. The third season started on September 25, 2007, with a hiatus occurring after the 11th episode due to 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. The show was picked up for a fourth season by CBS on May 12, 2008. The fourth season began on September 28, 2008, and concluded an May 10, 2009. On May 19, 2009, it was announced that, after four seasons and 69 episodes, the series had been canceled by CBS. But on the same day, producers 20th Century Fox Television announced that the show would continue in syndication, with stations covering 56 percent of the country already committed to carrying the show, including the Fox Television Stations.

Premise

Based on show producer Eric Haney's book, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit (ISBN 0-440-23733-5), The Unit was created for television and executive produced by David Mamet and Shawn Ryan. The show is produced by The Barn Productions Inc., David Mamet Entertainment, and Fire Ants Films in association with 20th Century Fox Television.

Internationally, The Unit premiered on October 3, 2006, in the United Kingdom on Bravo; on October 11, 2006, in Australia on the Seven Network and on FOX8 Cable TV on Foxtel/Austar Cable network; on January 11 in Spain on La Sexta; on January 25 in The Netherlands on RTL 5; on March 7 in Germany on Sat. 1; on September 23 in Bulgaria on bTV; and on March 9, 2008, in Russia on DTV.

The theme music for the first and second season was "Fired Up", an adaptation of the United States Marine Corps running cadence song "Fired Up...Feels Good" by Robert Duncan. He also created "Walk the Fire", a 22-second segment used as a theme since season three.

Summary

File:303LogStudUnit.jpg

The Department of the U.S. Army emblem, occasionally thought to be the 303rd's Unit Insignia

The Unit is a U.S. Army organization similar to Delta Force. As with those of Delta Force, its members come from the United States Army and appear to be primarily tasked with counterterrorism. The unit's official cover is as the "303rd Logistical Studies Group". In the third season's premiere, an onscreen read-out specifically identifies the unit as "ALPHA Team 1st Special Actions Group".

The Unit is based at a fictional army post, "Fort Griffith". The location of Fort Griffith is never explicitly stated, but in Episode 303 "Always Kiss Them Goodbye", the storyline suggests that it is northwest of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and west/southwest of St. Louis, Missouri, which would place it in the vicinity of the real-life Fort Leonard Wood. The common sight of the Missouri license plate supports Fort Griffith's being placed in Missouri, as well as a flyer in Episode 206 "Old Home Week", handed out at an anti-war rally at the Fort Griffith gates, inviting fellow protesters to a seminar in Greenwood, Missouri.

The unit's immediate chain of command goes to the commanding officer, Colonel Tom Ryan—and, presumably, straight to the President of the United States. It is unknown if this bypasses the Secretary of Defense.

The wives of the unit's ALPHA team personnel are given minimal mission or operational information. They are responsible to maintain the "303rd Logistical Studies Group" cover in all interactions with anyone who is not a Unit family member. Their husbands are, in fact, still performing highly dangerous missions, but they are not permitted to know specifics, such as where their husbands are deployed, what their training routines consist of, how long their assignments will last - or even if their husbands are safe.

If a member of the Unit is killed in action, the family is told that he or she has been killed on a training mission. The wives themselves are encouraged to form a close, cohesive military family based on the common knowledge and strife this inevitably leads to.

The Unit has an unconventional structure. With the size of a company - approximately 130 operators - it is commanded by a Colonel (companies are usually commanded by Captains; Colonels usually command elements like regiments). The CO, Colonel Ryan, normally wears a "sanitized" uniform (bearing absolutely no tapes, such as his name, or even U.S. Army, or rank insignia).

File:303TomRyan.jpg

The Department of the U.S. Army emblem, occasionally thought to be the 303rd's insignia, is referenced by Colonel Tom Ryan

Whereas a Special Forces ODA (Operational Detachment—Alpha) is commanded by a Captain, the Unit sends five-man teams into the field under non-commissioned officers, such as the team lead by Sergeant Major Jonas Blane, the Unit's NCOIC of Alpha team. It is possible that their soldiers have the same Special Forces specialties as in Army Special Forces. An ODA, formerly known as an "A-Team", has weapons sergeants, engineering sergeants, medical sergeants, communications sergeants, etc.

The wives, if suspected of speaking about the Unit's existence, can cause their husbands to be expelled and returned to regular Army service. Colonel Ryan has stated, time and again, that this can ruin a soldier's career, as well as their marriage, and has also stated that he will not hesitate to destroy families in order to preserve the Unit's security. He has also threatened the wives with closing the Unit down, and restarting it somewhere else under another cover - forcing the uprooting of all families involved.

The Unit deploys throughout the world, and both the Army and United States government have the ability to deny the existence of the Unit and any of its members in order to prevent the onset of international incidents. Their uniforms are commonly not standard Army issue, which makes it easier to deny their connection with the US Army if they are killed or captured. They also carry weapons that are not always standard-issue, and the Unit's personnel are well-familiarized with weapons from around the world and can make themselves look like military personnel from other organizations.

The Unit's members will frequently use code names such as Mr. White, Mr. Black, Mr. Blue or Mr. Green. These are usually used when working directly with American civilians, other English speakers not trained for emergencies, or on counterterrorism missions. According to Jonas Blane, the order of precedence for his team after he is disabled, is, from top to bottom: Mack Gerhardt, Charles Grey, Hector Williams^†, and Bob Brown.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Unit episodes

Ratings

USA TV Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The Unit on CBS:

Season	Timeslot (EDT)	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	Tuesday 9:00 P.M.	March 7, 2006	May 16, 2006	2005–2006	#14	15.5
2	Tuesday 9:00 P.M.	September 19, 2006	May 8, 2007	2006–2007	#36	11.1
3	Tuesday 9:00 P.M.	September 25, 2007	December 18, 2007	2007–2008	#37	10.7
4	Sunday 10:00 P.M.	September 28, 2008	May 10, 2009	2008–2009	#28	9.15

1st Season

3/07/06 (series premiere):

• UNIT 18.19, 5.1

3/21/06:

• UNIT 15.27, 4.2

3/28/06:

• UNIT 15.90, 4.6

4/04/06:

• UNIT 15.28, 4.3

4/11/06:

• UNIT 13.93, 3.8

4/25/06:

• UNIT 13.75, 3.9

5/02/06:

• UNIT 13.91, 3.7

5/09/06:

• UNIT 14.18, 3.8
• UNIT (10pm) 12.33, 3.7

4th Season

Sunday, January 11, 2009: Timeslot/Household Rating/Viewers (millions)

• 7:00PM AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF: 19.6, 34.11 (Household Peak: 21.1)
• 8:02PM AFC DIVISONAL PLAYOFF POSTGAME: 12.6, 21.35
• 8:08PM 60 MINUTES: 9.2, 15.03 (Household Peak: 10.0)
• 9:08PM COLD CASE: 7.7, 12.3 (Household Peak: 8.2)
• 10:08PM THE UNIT: 6.3, 10.16 (Household Peak: 8.39)

Canadian Ratings

The series averages about 105,000 viewers.

UK Ratings

Shown Wednesdays 10PM on Virgin 1.

Episode Number	Episode	Air Date	Viewers	Ranka
1	Sacrifice	March 18, 2009	324,000	#1
2	Sudden Flight	March 25, 2009	279,000	#2
3	Sex Trade	April 1, 2009	227,000	#8
4	The Conduit	April 8, 2009	211,000	#9
5	Dancing Lessons	April 15, 2009	286,000	#2
6	Inquisition	April 22, 2009	290,000	#2
7	Into Hell, Part 1	April 29, 2009	260,000	#2
8	Into Hell, Part 2	May 6, 2009	254,000	#2

^a Ranks are for Virgin 1 weekly, not for overall TV.
^* Overnight ratings.

DVD releases

DVD Name	Region 1	Region 2	Region 3	Region 4
The Complete First Season	September 19, 2006	April 30, 2007 France: July 4, 2007 Belgium: August 8 2007	April 18, 2007	April 18, 2007
The Complete Second Season	September 25, 2007	October 22, 2007	TBA	March 4, 2008
The Complete Third Season	October 14, 2008	October 20, 2008	TBA	April 8, 2009

Cast

Actor	Role	Callsign	Season
Dennis Haysbert	Sergeant Major** Jonas Blane	Snake Doctor	1–4
Regina Taylor	Molly Blane		1–4
Scott Foley	Sergeant First Class** Bob Brown	Cool Breeze	1–4
Audrey Marie Anderson	Kim Brown		1–4
Max Martini	Master Sergeant** Mack Gerhardt	Dirt Diver	1–4
Abby Brammell	Tiffy Gerhardt		1–4
Michael Irby	Sergeant First Class Charles Grey	Betty Blue	1–4
Bre Blair	Joss Grey*		4–4
Demore Barnes	Sergeant First Class Hector Williams†	Hammerhead	1–3
Robert Patrick	Brigadier General** Thomas Ryan	Blue Iguana*	1–4
Nicole Steinwedell	Warrant Officer One Bridget Sullivan	Red Cap	4
Wes Chatham	Staff Sergeant Sam McBride	Whiplash	4
Kavita Patil	Sergeant Kayla Medawar		1–4
Susan Matus	Sergeant Sarah Irvine		2–4
Rebecca Pidgeon	Charlotte Ryan		1–4
Summer Glau	Crystal Burns		2
Daniel Wisler	Jeremy Erhart		2
Alyssa Shafer	Serena Brown		1–4

Main crew

• David Mamet
• Shawn Ryan
• Carol Flint
• Vahan Moosekian (Showrunner / Head Writer)
• Paul Redford
• Lynn Mamet
• Eric L. Haney
• Sharon Lee Watson

Notes

^** There are continuity errors regarding the rank of Jonas Blane. In "Pandemonium, Part 2", Blane states his rank as Command Sergeant Major, while his uniform rank is Sergeant Major. In the United States Army, however, soldiers are often laterally transitioned between the ranks depending on their assignments. Command Sergeants Major are also addressed as "Sergeant Major" when in conversation, not "Command Sergeant Major". This is similar to the rules where a Staff Sergeant or Sergeant First Class are addressed simply as "Sergeant".

^** Promoted from Staff Sergeant during "Side Angle Side".

^** Although this might have just been dirty talk, a similar continuity error exists regarding the rank of Mack Gerhardt. In the season 1 episode "True Believers" his wife says to him "come here Sergeant Major, and give me a report," but his rank is later established as Master Sergeant.

^** Promoted from Colonel during "Unknown Soldier".

^* There has been confusion concerning Ryan's callsign. Dog Patch is the callsign for the TOC with the 06 designator referring to its commander (see the US Army section in Call Signs for more detail on this name-number structure). Blue Iguana is the callsign used to identify Ryan when he is out on operations.

^* Formerly Morgan; married Grey in "Unknown Soldier".

^† Killed in action, Beirut, Lebanon during "Five Brothers".

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External links

• The Unit - Seven Network site (Australia)
• The Unit - Bravo site (United Kingdom)
• The Unit (Hungary)
• The Unit at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• The Unit at TV Guide