McHale's Navy
An Ensign for McHale
TV Flash files “An Ensign for McHale” as a desk essential hour — McHale's Navy (1962–1966) on ABC, season 1, episode 1, aired 1962-10-11, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E01: listed hour 1 of 138 in the McHale's Navy guide, first listed hour of season 1. It aired 1962-10-11 (30 min). No earlier hour is listed in this guide. Next is “A Purple Heart for Gruber” (S01E02).
Essential hour: “An Ensign for McHale”. An Ensign for McHale is the PT-boat contract: Borgnine's sneaky skipper, Tim Conway's Parker, Joe Flynn's Binghamton already apoplectic.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
McHale sees potential in a bumbling, klutzy young Ensign, whom Binghamton is trying to railroad, so he orders his crew to shape up, so that they can keep their new XO.
Viewer FAQ
Where does An Ensign for McHale sit in the McHale's Navy guide?
S01E01 is listed hour 1 of 138 — first listed hour of season 1, season 1 episode 1.
When did McHale's Navy S01E01 air?
An Ensign for McHale aired 1962-10-11 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
McHale's crew versus Binghamton is the farce circuit: Borgnine's schemes, Flynn's apoplexy, Conway's ensign. PT-73 as sitcom playground.
In the series
Why this series still plays
McHale's Navy is WWII as PT-boat farce: Ernest Borgnine's sneaky skipper, Tim Conway's Ensign Parker, and Joe Flynn's apoplectic Captain Binghamton losing every argument with the crew of PT-73. Borgnine's post-Marty comedy turn is the engine. Service sitcom comfort with a movie star slumming gloriously — Pacific-theater hijinks that never let the war get in the way of the gag.
The flash is a movie star in the skipper's chair treating the Pacific as a punchline. McHale's Navy is WWII as PT-boat farce: Ernest Borgnine's sneaky skipper, Tim Conway's Ensign Parker, and Joe Flynn's apoplectic Captain Binghamton losing every argument with the crew of PT-73. ABC, 1962–1966 — four seasons, 138 episodes — from Edward Montagne. Borgnine's post-Marty comedy turn is the engine; Conway broke out as the ensign. **They are not amicable, the schemes and the spit-and-polish.** Pacific-theater hijinks…
Filed against
- Ernest Borgnine as Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale
Ernest Borgnine’s Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale made McHale’s Navy a PT-boat farce with a movie star’s grin — 1960s catalog WWII as sitcom, then Airwolf stretching the hangar-dad warmth around a black supercopter. TV Flash files him as the…
- Joe Flynn as Capt. Wallace B. Binghamton
Joe Flynn’s Capt. Wallace B. Binghamton lost every argument with PT-73 on McHale’s Navy — WWII as PT-boat farce, Ernest Borgnine’s sneaky skipper, Tim Conway’s Ensign Parker, and Flynn’s apoplexy as the weekly punchline. Service sitcom…
- Tim Conway as Ensign Charles Parker
Tim Conway’s corpse-making ad-libs detonated The Carol Burnett Show — eleven CBS seasons, movie parodies, the charwoman, Korman trying not to go — after McHale’s Navy’s Ensign Parker drove Joe Flynn apoplectic on PT-73. Sketch variety at…