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Tour of Duty (TV series)

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Tour of Duty
Title card
Created bySteve Duncan
L.Travis Clark
StarringStephen Caffrey
Terence Knox
Kim Delaney
Tony Becker
Miguel A. Núñez Jr.
Ramón Franco
Stan Foster
Music byJoseph Conlan
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes58 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time60 minutes
Production companiesBraun Entertainment Group
New World Television
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 24, 1987 –
April 28, 1990

Tour of Duty is an American drama television series on CBS. It ran for three seasons from September 1987 to April 1990 as 58 one-hour episodes. The show was created by Steve Duncan and L. Travis Clark, and produced by Zev Braun.

The show follows an American infantry platoon on a tour of duty during the Vietnam War. It was the first television series to regularly show Americans in combat in Vietnam and was one of several similarly themed series to be produced in the wake of the acclaimed Oliver Stone film, Platoon. The series won an Emmy Award in 1988 for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series, and it was nominated again in 1989 and 1990.

Overview

Not simply an action program, Tour of Duty was also groundbreaking as it addressed the issues of politics, faith, teamwork, racism, suicide, fragging, terrorism, civilian deaths, drug abuse, and the shattered lives and confused feelings of those troops who finally made it home alive. The story focuses mainly on Bravo company's second platoon under the command of 2nd Lieutenant (1st Lieutenant from the start of season 2) Myron Goldman (Stephen Caffrey), and Staff Sergeant (later Sergeant First Class) Zeke Anderson (Terence Knox).

The first season was filmed on location in Hawaii at Schofield Barracks. For the second and third seasons the series was filmed around Los Angeles, California in order to reduce costs. This also enabled the producers to redress a studio backlot as Saigon. The move also meant reusing the same locations, notably a small river with grass on one bank and woods on the other which turns up in a number of episodes. A lot of filming was undertaken on the old set of M*A*S*H. Helicopter scenes with McKay were filmed on the ground with the rotors running.

The first season opens in 1967 and follows a standard light infantry platoon. In the second season, the troops found themselves relocated to a base near Saigon while conducting the typical "search and destroy" missions. Production staff interviewed in VIETNAM Magazine cited this change as a change in premise that doomed the series, as female characters were also introduced (in hopes of gaining more female viewership and because of the premiere of the ABC Vietnam Army Nurses drama China Beach which was aimed at a more female audience) and the show ceased to be a realistic chronicle of life in the field for the average line infantryman in favor of being more romance- and action/adventure-oriented.[citation needed] In the third season, the remaining female character was killed off and the platoon was transferred to a SOG (Studies and Observation Group) unit under the command of Colonel Brewster—played by Carl Weathers, conducting covert operations in Vietnam and in Cambodia, culminating in the fictional version of the raid on Son Tay Prison. The third season was the show's last.

In its third season, CBS moved the show to the Saturday 9:00 p.m. time slot. Being forced to compete with NBC's The Golden Girls and Empty Nest, the show's ratings dropped and the show was canceled at the end of the season.

Characters

Character Actor Rank(s)/Job Seasons
1 2 3
Clayton Ezekiel "Zeke" Anderson Terence Knox Staff Sgt./Sgt. 1st Class Main Cast
Myron Goldman Stephen Caffrey 2nd Lt./1st Lt. Main Cast
Daniel "Danny" Percell Tony Becker Cpl./PFC./SP4. Main Cast
Alberto Ruiz Ramón Franco Pvt./PFC./SP4. Main Cast
Marcus Taylor Miguel A. Núñez Jr. Pvt./PFC./SP4./Sgt. Main Cast
Marvin Johnson Stan Foster SP4./Sgt. Main Cast Main Cast (11 episodes)
Scott Baker Eric Bruskotter Pvt./SP4. Main Cast Guest Star (1 episode)
Roger Horn Joshua D. Maurer Pvt./PFC./SP4. Main Cast
Randy "Doc" Matsuda Steve Akahoshi SP4. Main Cast (13 episodes)
Rusty Wallace Kevin Conroy Captain Main Cast (11 episodes)
Nikki Raines Pamela Gidley 2nd Lt. Recurring Guest Star
Dalby Bruce Gray Lt. Col. Recurring Guest Star
Johnny McKay Dan Gauthier 1st Lt. Main Cast
Alex Devlin Kim Delaney Reporter Main Cast Main Cast (2 episodes)
Dr. Jennifer Seymour Betsy Brantley Civilian Contracted Psychiatrist Recurring Guest Star
Darling Richard Brestoff Major Also Starring
Marion Hannegan/ Putman Charles Hyman Master Seargent (as Hannnegan), SFC (as Putnam) Recurring Guest Star
Francis "Doc Hock" Hockenbury John Dye PFC./SP4. Main Cast
Carl Brewster Carl Weathers Colonel Special Guest Star
Thomas "Pop" Scarlett Lee Majors Private Special Guest Star
William Griner Kyle Chandler Pvt. Recurring Guest Star
Duke Fontaine Patrick Kilpatrick CIA Agent Recurring Guest Star
Joseph "Skip" Beller Greg Germann 1st Lt. Recurring Guest Star
Mike Duncan Michael B. Christy Major Also Starring
Sister Bernardette Maria Mayenzet Nun (Civilian) Also Starring
Stringer Alan Scarfe Colonel Also Starring
Jack Elliot Peter Vogt General Also Starring
Edward Higgins Michael Fairman Major General Also Starring

Awards

The series won an Emmy Award in 1988 for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series, and it was nominated again in 1989 and 1990.

Emmy Award nominations:

  • 1989: Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series (for "I Wish it Could Rain")
  • 1990: Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series (for "And Make Death Proud to Take Us")

Eddie Award nominations

  • 1988: Best Edited Episode from a Television Series (for the pilot episode)

International broadcasts

In Australia, Network Ten originally aired the series at 7:30 pm. In recent years, repeats have returned to Australian television with the Seven Network repeating the series in 2006 in late night Thursday timeslots airing at 11.30 pm then later bumped to 12:00 midnight. Repeats also returned with Channel Ten repeating the series in 2010 in late Sunday nights airing at 1.30am. FOX Classics started airing the first series on the 17 September 2012.

In the Netherlands it was broadcast by Veronica on the national television network.

In the United Kingdom Tour of Duty was screened on ITV on Friday nights at various times, usually around midnight. It was later broadcast on the FX channel.

The French-speaking version was called "L'Enfer du Devoir" (The Hell of duty), and aired in France and the Province of Québec (aired on the Historia channel in Québec Monday through Thursday at 5pm, in July and August 2005).

In the Philippines it was weekly aired in English on GMA 7 every Monday night at 9:00 pm. The American service members stationed in the Philippines routinely watched it on the local network because the episodes were newer than the ones on Armed Forces Radio and Television Service's Far East Network.

In Costa Rica it was aired by channel 9 and then by channel 7 as "Misión Vietnam" (Mission Vietnam).

In New Zealand the show was aired by TVNZ. It was a very popular show in New Zealand and re-runs were also shown on the Orange TV network throughout the 1990's.

In Mexico it was aired by Televisa's canal 5 as "Misión del Deber" (Duty Mission).

In Argentina it was broadcast by TELEFE as "Nam: Primer Pelotón" (Nam: First Platoon).

In Spain, Telecinco aired the show as "Camino del Infierno" (Road of Hell) in late night hours Wednesday, and later, on C+ as "Tour of Duty" at 12.00 M.

In Italy the show was aired by a local TV Network Italia7 with the title "Vietnam Addio" (Goodbye Vietnam) in the form of a TV-movie. It was also aired on the national network Italia1.

In Israel the show aired in the mid-2000s on the now-defunct local version of the AXN cable channel under the name "Sherut Kravi" (Combat Service). It was also previously broadcast on the METV channel.

In Germany the show was aired by RTL with the title "NAM – Dienst in Vietnam" ("NAM – Service in Vietnam").

In Japan the show with the title "Good Luck Saigon" was aired through the Wowow, a paid satellite broadcast around 1991. By this reason the show is least known by Japanese public.

In Zimbabwe the show was broadcast in the early nineties, showing on the national television channel ZBC TV1 (Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation Television 1) at nine o'clock pm on Thursdays and developed a cult following, becoming a hit television series throughout its screening.

In South Africa the show was aired with the title "Sending Vietnam" (Mission Vietnam) in Afrikaans by the SABC.

In Sweden the show was originally scheduled by the public service SVT network as "Pluton B i Vietnam" (Platoon B in Vietnam). In the late 1990s, the show was picked up by Kanal 5 under the same name.

In Norway the show was broadcast with the title "Pliktløpet" (Run of duty) by "TV Norge" in the 1990s.

In Denmark the show was broadcast in the 1990s as "Platoon B" on various local-TV networks, mainly on "Kanal 2".

In Brazil the show was broadcast by SBT with the title "Combate no Vietnã" ("Combat in Vietnam").

In Colombia and Chile the show was aired with the title "Misión del Deber" ("Duty Mission"), based in the Mexican dub of the series.

In Poland the show was never aired, but there was a VHS release with the title "Rok w Piekle" ("Year in Hell").

In Sri Lanka the show has been aired at least twice, once in 1990s and once in 2007/8 by MTV.

In the United Arab Emirates it was aired on Dubai's channel 33.

In Korea (Republic of Korea) the show was aired with the title "머나먼 정글" ("Faraway Jungle") by MBC from 1990. It had been aired on Monday 11:00 PM at first. But it became popular program, so it does on Sunday 6:00 PM, later.

In Taiwan (Republic of China) the show has been aired on China Television Company, Ltd. (CTV) as 霹靂神兵. The Ministry of National Defense (Republic of China) also purchased the series, renamed 天降神兵 and aired it on Chinese Television System (CTS) and CTS Education and Culture.

In Saudi Arabia, it is currently (as of July 2013) being shown with the original title and in English with Arabic subtitles. It is broadcast on the "MBC Action" channel.

Music

The opening theme song was an abbreviated version of The Rolling Stones hit "Paint It, Black" that had featured in the end titles of the 1987 Vietnam War film Full Metal Jacket, this was removed for the US DVD release. The closing consisted of an instrumental, synthesized tune with a distinctive Asian sound mixed in with acoustic guitar; it was performed by Joseph Conlan, and was never released for public consumption other than in the series. That music was used as background music for most of the series. On the US release DVD most of the Vietnam War era popular music was replaced by instrumental bits to cover the blank spots of music.

All 3 seasons that have been released in the United Kingdom, has the complete original soundtrack including "Paint It, Black".

The show was known for its classic American rock soundtrack including Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix, and Jefferson Airplane. One first-season episode, "USO Down", used "live" versions of "Wooly Bully", and "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" as performed by a USO band, the latter song being used also for ironic comment. The songs in this episode were retained in the DVD soundtracks. But for copyright reasons, the VHS and DVD soundtracks of the majority of episodes were replaced with sound alikes—a move which was widely protested by buyers, and resulted in a significantly lower sales volume for the third-season DVD set than for the first two.

In the Netherlands, amongst other European nations, a total number of seven albums were released, containing most of the songs featured on the show. As a result, "Paint It, Black" was re-released as a single, again hitting the number 1 position in the Dutch top 40 popchart in May 1990.[citation needed]

The original soundtrack albums

The Tour of Duty television series soundtrack was released by CBS on Columbia Records as four different compilation albums during 1988 and 1989. The original albums are now out of print. Their track listings are as follows:

Tour of Duty Soundtrack, Volume 1 (1988)
  1. "Baby Love" – Diana Ross and The Supremes
  2. "Here Comes The Night" – Them
  3. "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" – The Animals
  4. "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" – Procol Harum
  5. "Itchycoo Park" – Small Faces
  6. "All Along The Watchtower" – Jimi Hendrix
  7. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" – Donovan
  8. "Time Of The Season" – The Zombies
  9. "And When I Die" – Blood, Sweat & Tears
  10. "War" – Edwin Starr
  11. "Ball Of Confusion" – Temptations
  12. "What's Going On" – Marvin Gaye
  13. "Time Has Come Today" – Chambers Brothers
  14. "I Want To Take You Higher" – Sly & The Family Stone
  15. "Groovin' Is Easy" – The Electric Flag
  16. "Oye Como Va" – Santana
  17. "Ball And Chain" – Janis Joplin
  18. "Ballad Of Easy Rider" – The Byrds
 Tour of Duty Soundtrack, Volume 2 (1988)
  1. "Paint It Black" – Chris Farlowe
  2. "Tin Soldier" – Small Faces
  3. "Stone Free" – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  4. "Sunshine Of Your Love" – Cream
  5. "Born To Be Wild" – Steppenwolf
  6. "Reach Out I'll Be There" – The Four Tops
  7. "People Get Ready" – The Impressions
  8. "Jennifer Juniper" – Donovan
  9. "Your Precious Love" – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
  10. "Groovin'" – The Rascals
  11. "Eight Miles High" – The Byrds
  12. "Cloud Nine" – The Temptations
  13. "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" – Gladys Knight & The Pips
  14. "Piece Of My Heart" – Janis Joplin
  15. "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" – Al Kooper & Stephen Stills
  16. "Ring Of Fire" – Eric Burdon & The Animals
  17. "Spinning Wheel" – Blood, Sweat & Tears
  18. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" – Aretha Franklin
Tour of Duty Soundtrack, Volume 3 (1989)
  1. "White Room" – Cream
  2. "Highway Chile" – Jimi Hendrix
  3. "Lazy Sunday" – Small Faces
  4. "Gloria" – Them
  5. "Sky Pilot" – Eric Burdon & The Animals
  6. "Natural Born Bugie" – Humble Pie
  7. "White Rabbit" – Grace Slick & The Great Society
  8. "The Weight" – The Band
  9. "Go Now" – The Moody Blues
  10. "San Francisco" – Scott McKenzie
  11. "Draft Morning" – The Byrds
  12. "Evil Ways" – Santana
  13. "Dance To The Music" – Sly & The Family Stone
  14. "Tell Her No" – The Zombies
  15. "Barabajagal" – Donovan
  16. "Killing Floor" – The Electric Flag
  17. "Black Night" – Deep Purple
  18. "Paranoid" – Black Sabbath
 Tour of Duty Soundtrack, Volume 4 (1989)
  1. "This Wheel's On Fire" – Julie Driscoll
  2. "Rag Mama Rag" – The Band
  3. "On The Road Again" – Canned Heat
  4. "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" – Chicago
  5. "American Woman" – Guess Who
  6. "Race With The Devil" – The Gun
  7. "Down The Dustpipe" – Status Quo
  8. "Living In The Past" – Jethro Tull
  9. "Bird On The Wire" – Leonard Cohen
  10. "Tears Of Rage" – Bob Dylan
  11. "Save The Country" – Laura Nyro
  12. "To Love Somebody" – The Bee Gees
  13. "There Won't Be Many Coming Home" – Roy Orbison
  14. "Melting Pot" – Blue Mink
  15. "Hi De Ho" – Blood, Sweat & Tears
  16. "Chestnut Mare" – The Byrds
  17. "Sweet Baby James" – James Taylor
  18. "Listen To The Music" – The Doobie Brothers

Compilation soundtrack CDs

In 1992, Sony Music released a compilation CD titled The Best of 'Tour of Duty'. It contains only twenty of the songs featured in the four original Tour of Duty Soundtrack albums.

The Best of Tour of Duty (1992)
  1. "Born To Be Wild" – Steppenwolf
  2. "Tin Soldier" – Small Faces
  3. "This Wheel's On Fire" – Julie Driscoll
  4. "Barabajagal" – Donovan
  5. "Time Of The Season" – The Zombies
  6. "The Weight" – The Band
  7. "Get Together" – The Youngbloods
  8. "Chimes Of Freedom" – The Byrds
  9. "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" – Procol Harum
  10. "Piece Of My Heart" – Janis Joplin
  11. "Evil Ways" – Santana
  12. "25 Or 6 To 4" – Chicago
  13. "Killing Floor" – The Electric Flag
  14. "Dance To The Music" – Sly & The Family Stone
  15. "And When I Die" – Blood, Sweat & Tears
  16. "On The Road Again" – Canned Heat
  17. "American Woman" – The Guess Who
  18. "Race With The Devil" – The Gun
  19. "Shapes Of Things" – The YardBirds
  20. "Sky Pilot" – Eric Burdon & The Animals
Tour of Duty Top 100 (2008)
  • Disc 1
  1. "I Can Hear Music" – The Beach Boys
  2. "White Room" – Cream
  3. "Are You Ready" – Pacific Gas & Electric
  4. "Eight Miles High" – The Byrds
  5. "Hush" – Deep Purple
  6. "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" – CCR
  7. "Question" – The Moody Blues
  8. "Reflections – Diana Ross & The Supremes
  9. "Here Comes the Night" – Them
  10. "Son of a Preacher Man" – Dusty Springfield
  11. "Lady Willpower" – Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
  12. "Black Magic Woman" – Santana
  13. "Death of a Clown" – Dave Davies
  14. "It's the Same Old Song" – The Four Tops
  15. "You Wear It Well" – Rod Stewart
  16. "Mannish Boy" – Muddy Waters
  17. "I'd Rather Go Blind – Chicken Shack
  18. "All Right Now" – Free
  19. "Roll Over Beethoven" – The Electric Light Orchestra
  20. "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag (Parts 1 & 2)" – James Brown
  • Disc 2

DVD releases

Sony released all 3 seasons in the USA for the very first time in 2004-2005. All original music was replaced with sound-alike versions. These releases have been discontinued and are out of print.

On August 27, 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library including Tour of Duty.[1] They subsequently re-released the first season on DVD on September 16, 2014.[2]

On April 21, 2015, Mill Creek released a budget priced complete series set, an 11-disc set featuring all 58 episodes of the series.[3]

On November 7, 2011 Fabulous Films (licensed from Fremantle Home Entertainment) in the United Kingdom released the complete first season as a region 2 PAL boxed set. This release has improved sound and picture quality and the complete original soundtrack, including "Paint It, Black". The release consists of 5 DVDs covering all 21 episodes. The fifth disc contains extras including hundreds of behind the scenes stills and images and a brand new documentary that runs for 55 minutes. Fabulous Films filmed a series of interviews in Los Angeles in July 2011 with 7 of the key cast: Terence Knox, Josh Maurer, Steve Akahoshi, Tony Becker, Eric Bruskotter, Kevin Conroy and Miguel A Nunez Jr. and key members of the production crew that included Zev Braun (producer) Bill Norton (writer/director), Steve Smith (writer/producer), Steve Duncan (creator) and Paul Sinor (military advisor). Additional documentaries are being produced for the season 2 and 3 releases.

The complete second season was released on May 14, 2012 in the UK. Featuring a brand new making of documentary 'The Story of Tour Of Duty' Part 2 (30 mins) featuring Cast and Crew, Character Biographies, Original Cast Biographies, Original Crew Biographies, Action Stills, Behind The Scenes Stills, Publicity Stills, Synopses and Glossary of Tour of Duty Military Terms.[4]

On November 26, 2012, Fabulous released the complete third season on DVD in the UK, along with the complete series set which was released simultaneously. The third instalment of the documentary features Dan Gauthier AKA Lt. Johnny McKay

References

  1. ^ Mill Creek Entertainment Signs Deals With Sony Pictures Home Entertainment To Expand Their Distribution Partnership
  2. ^ Mill Creek to Re-Release 'Season 1' of the Vietnam Drama
  3. ^ Mill Creek Announces a Re-Release for 'The Complete Series'
  4. ^ "Tour of Duty – The Complete Second Season". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
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