"The Rat Patrol" (1966) TV series 1966-1968

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Creator:

Tom Gries

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

12 September 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Adventure | War

Plot:

Set in North Africa during World War II, this series chronicles the adventures of a 4-man team of commandos within the Long Range Desert Group...

Plot Keywords:

North Africa | Commando | Army | Cult TV | North Africa Campaign

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Christopher George	...	Sgt. Sam Troy (56 episodes, 1966-1968)
Gary Raymond	...	Sgt. Jack Moffitt (56 episodes, 1966-1968)
Lawrence P. Casey	...	Pvt. Mark Hitchcock (56 episodes, 1966-1968)
Eric Braeden	...	Capt. Hans Dietrich / ... (53 episodes, 1966-1968)
Justin Tarr	...	Pvt. Tully Pettigrew (53 episodes, 1966-1968)

Runtime:

30 min (58 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

Amargosa Valley, Nevada, USA

Company:

Mirisch-Rich Productions

Trivia:

The hat pin worn by Christopher George (Sgt. Sam Troy) is the pin for the Australian Commonwealth Military Forces, which also served in North Africa during WWII.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The half-track used by the Germans is clearly a U.S. M3A1 half-track. The German half-track of the era, the Sdkfz 7, had eight drive wheels. The one used in the show has two drive wheels. (Unless Hauptman Diedrich was using a captured vehicle)

Quotes:

Sgt. Sam Troy: Let's shake it!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Godzilla vs. Megalon (#3.12)" (1991)

Neato! Not only is THE RAT PATROL in color,its also on DVD!

This show is escapist entertainment because it is supposed to be escapist entertainment. And that just happens to be why I like this show so much. The plots were short and simple. They HAD to be since the show was only a half hour long (not a full hour like COMBAT or 12 O CLOCK HIGH). So in a nutshell, the Rat Patrol came, they raided and then they were off. In 30 minutes, there was not much more they could do in the time allotted. True, some of the episodes are kind of silly but other episodes are really good.

Unlike most war related features of the time (tv shows, movies, etc), the Germans were not depicted as villains, but as the opposing force. The Germans were lead by Captain Deitrich, who actually respected the Rat Patrol and on more than one occasion, teamed up with the Rat Patrol on a truce. One truce, for example, was declared to rescue an Arab girl who had fallen into a well.

The main selling point of this show was that it was in color! Another selling point was to promote one of the stars (Lawrence Casey) as a sort of teen-zeen idol. It was a tactic that would work until 1968, when the public would quickly lose interest in anything war related and THE RAT PATROL would drop suddenly in the ratings war and get the cancellation ax later that year.