McHale's Navy
War, Italian Style
TV Flash files “War, Italian Style” as a desk essential hour — McHale's Navy (1962–1966) on ABC, season 4, episode 1, aired 1965-09-14, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E01: listed hour 109 of 138 in the McHale's Navy guide, first listed hour of season 4. It aired 1965-09-14 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Make Room for Orvie” (S03E36). Next is “The Bathtub Thief” (S04E02).
Essential hour: “War, Italian Style”. War, Italian Style is the late-run location door — PT-73 farce touring, Binghamton still losing the brief.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Binghamton, Carpenter, and the 73 crew are transferred to Voltafiore, Italy. McHale and his men soon run afoul of the mayor, who is is almost as big a conman as they are.
Viewer FAQ
Where does War, Italian Style sit in the McHale's Navy guide?
S04E01 is listed hour 109 of 138 — first listed hour of season 4, season 4 episode 1.
When did McHale's Navy S04E01 air?
War, Italian Style aired 1965-09-14 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…