The Wackiest Ship in the Army (TV series)

The Wackiest Ship in the Army
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Danny Arnold Herbert Margolis, based on the story "Big Fella Wash-Wash" by Herbert Carlson, in the July 1956 issue of Argosy
Starring	Mark Slade Jack Warden Gary Collins
Theme music composer	Howard Greenfield Jack Keller Helen Miller
Composer	Nelson Riddle
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	29
Production
Executive producer	Harry Ackerman
Producers	Herbert Hirschman Joseph Dackow
Running time	45–48 minutes
Production companies	Herbert Margolis Productions Joseph M. Schenck Productions Screen Gems
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 19, 1965 (1965-09-19) – April 17, 1966 (1966-04-17)

The Wackiest Ship in the Army is an American comedy-adventure series that aired for one season on NBC between September 19, 1965, and April 17, 1966. Produced by Harry Ackerman and Herbert Hirschman, the series was loosely based on the 1960 film starring Jack Lemmon and Ricky Nelson, which itself was a fictionalized account of a real wartime vessel.

Although often referred to as a comedy series, the show violated three unwritten rules that unofficially defined TV sitcoms at the time; it was an hour in length (almost all comedy series were only a half-hour, and the few attempts at hour sitcoms were unsuccessful), it had no laugh track, and characters were sometimes killed in it.

Synopsis

The series is set in the Pacific theater of World War II and centers on the crew of the USS Kiwi, a leaky, wooden, twin-masted schooner whose mission is to place spies behind Japanese lines. Its old-fashioned, noncombatant appearance works in its favor, and it sails under false colors (the Swiss flag) when in enemy waters. The Kiwi is jointly commanded by Army Major Simon Butcher (Jack Warden), who is in charge of shore operations, and Navy Lieutenant, junior grade, Richard "Rip" Riddle (Gary Collins), who is in command when the vessel is afloat. The crew consists of:

• Mike Kellin: CPO Willie Miller (also in the 1960 film, and listed in the series opening credits)
• Mark Slade: Radioman Patrick Hollis
• Fred Smoot: Machinist Mate Seymour Trivers
• Rudy Solari: Gunner's Mate Sherman Nagurski
• Don Penny: Pharmacist Mate Charles Tyler, ship's cook

Notable guest stars

Guest stars included:

• James Hong: Agaki (three episodes)
• Jill Ireland
• Robert Loggia
• Harry Morgan
• Chips Rafferty (also in the 1960 film)
• George Takei
• Jack Soo

Production notes

The theme music and scoring were by Nelson Riddle.

Ship

The USS Kiwi was based on the real-life USS Echo, a 40-year-old schooner or scow that was transferred to the United States Navy from the government of New Zealand during World War II. It was returned to New Zealand in 1944.

In other media

A paperback based on the series, by Lee Bergman, was released in 1965.

Episode list

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Shakedown"	Unknown	Unknown	September 19, 1965 (1965-09-19)
2	"The Sisters"	Unknown	Unknown	September 26, 1965 (1965-09-26)
3	"Goldbrickers"	Unknown	Unknown	October 3, 1965 (1965-10-03)
4	"The Day the Crew Paced the Deck"	Robert Stevens	Sam Perrin & Arnold Belgard	October 10, 1965 (1965-10-10)
5	"The Colonel and the Geisha"	Unknown	Unknown	October 17, 1965 (1965-10-17)
6	"Bottoms Up"	Unknown	Unknown	October 24, 1965 (1965-10-24)
7	"The Stowaway"	Richard C. Sarafian	Jack Sher	October 31, 1965 (1965-10-31)
8	"Boomer McKye"	Joseph Sargent	Marion Hargrove	November 7, 1965 (1965-11-07)
9	"Vive La Kiwi"	Unknown	Unknown	November 14, 1965 (1965-11-14)
10	"The Lady and the Luluai"	Unknown	Unknown	November 21, 1965 (1965-11-21)
11	"A Shade of Kaiser Bill"	Unknown	Unknown	November 28, 1965 (1965-11-28)
12	"And Tyler, Too"	Murray Golden	Sam Perrin & Arnold Belgard	December 5, 1965 (1965-12-05)
13	"Last Path to Garcia"	Unknown	Unknown	December 12, 1965 (1965-12-12)
14	"I'm Dreaming of a Wide Isthmus"	Unknown	Unknown	December 19, 1965 (1965-12-19)
15	"The Lamb Who Hunted Wolves: Part 1"	Robert Totten	Story by : Robert Buckner Teleplay by : John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe and Robert Buckner	January 2, 1966 (1966-01-02)
16	"The Lamb Who Hunted Wolves: Part 2"	Robert Totten	Story by : Robert Buckner Teleplay by : John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe	January 9, 1966 (1966-01-09)
17	"What is Honor-a-Word?"	Harmon Jones	Story by : Danny Arnold Teleplay by : Julian Barry	January 16, 1966 (1966-01-16)
18	"Hail the Chief"	Unknown	Unknown	January 30, 1966 (1966-01-30)
19	"Liberty Was a Lady"	Mark Rydell	John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe	February 6, 1966 (1966-02-06)
20	"My Father's Keeper"	Unknown	Unknown	February 13, 1966 (1966-02-13)
21	"Brother Love"	Robert Totten	Herbert Margolis	February 20, 1966 (1966-02-20)
22	"And Two If by Sea"	Unknown	Unknown	February 27, 1966 (1966-02-27)
23	"The Ghost of Lord Nelson-San"	Claudio Guzman	Stephen Kandel	March 6, 1966 (1966-03-06)
24	"Voyage to Never Never"	E. W. Swackhamer	John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe	March 13, 1966 (1966-03-13)
25	"The Girl in the Polka-Dot Swimsuit"	Unknown	Unknown	March 20, 1966 (1966-03-20)
26	"Chinese Checkers"	Unknown	Unknown	March 27, 1966 (1966-03-27)
27	"My Island"	Claudio Guzman	Story by : Danny Arnold Teleplay by : Julian Barry	April 3, 1966 (1966-04-03)
28	"Fun Has More Blondes"	Unknown	Unknown	April 10, 1966 (1966-04-10)
29	"Routine Assignment"	Unknown	Unknown	April 17, 1966 (1966-04-17)

External links

• The Wackiest Ship in the Army at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• The Wackiest Ship in the Army at epguides.com