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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Drama
    Drama TV Shows - 1980s 3 Mins Read

    Dirty Dozen, The

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    1 9 8 8 (USA)
    1 x 120 minute episode
    12 x 60 minute episodes

    The struggling FOX network turned to a tried-and-true property in an effort to build a new ratings hit for its weak Saturday night schedule with this weekly series based on the blockbuster 1967 movie of the same name. None of the familiar faces from the original film (or the three NBC made-for-TV sequels) took part in the new show, which was filmed in Yugoslavia.

    Lieutenant Danko (Ben Murphy) is a military prisoner during World War II who has been busted to Private and jailed for attempting to kill a superior officer whose refusal to provide covering fire led to the loss of 80 men in Danko’s battalion.

    When the US Army decides to form a group of soldiers to infiltrate enemy lines in Europe on off-the-record suicide missions, Major General Worth (Frank Marth) approaches Danko and offers him a deal – his freedom for leading the specialised unit.

    Danko accepts, is given the rank of second lieutenant for the duration of his assignment, and visits the (fictitious) Marston-Tyne Military Prison to choose his squad: expert forger Dylan Leeds (John Slattery); Cajun demolitions expert Jean Lebec (John D’Aquino), who was unjustly accused of being a rapist by his mistress when her officer husband discovered them; Hungarian-born Nazi hater Janosz Feke (Jon Tenney); expert marksman Vern Beaubuff (Mike Jolly); Vern’s sharp-tongued bother, Roy (Glenn Withrow); Dana Jankowski (Jamie Koss), a woman who killed the man who raped her; Irwin Moskowitz (Daniel Roebuck), a Jew seeking revenge; Anglo-hating Mexican Paco Fuentes (Michael DeLorenzo); Mexican-hating Anglo Kale Brody (Pat Skipper), and – oddest of them all – Jonathan Farrell (John Bradley), a former male model and aspiring actor who assaulted a captain for borrowing his shampoo. He signs on for the suicide mission because it would be “good publicity” for him.

    Unlike the original movie, there aren’t many real creeps in this lineup, and all are offered complete pardons when the war ends.

    Plenty of A-Team style violence ensued, with thousands of rounds of ammo fired but very little blood spilt on camera. The writers did what they could to make killing fun.

    Despite the title of the series, the two-hour pilot was the only episode in which the team had twelve members.

    A number of them died during the pilot’s climactic battle, and for the rest of the series, the regular team comprised Danko, Leeds, Feke, Lebec and Farrell, with guest actors rounding out the group each week – usually to be killed off by the hour’s end.

    Lieutenant Danko
    Ben Murphy
    Jean Lebec
    John D’Aquino
    Dylan Leeds
    John Slattery
    Janosz Feke
    Jon Tenney
    Jonathan Farrell
    John Bradley
    Vern Beaubuff
    Mike Jolly
    Roy Beaubuff
    Glenn Withrow
    Dana Jankowski
    Jamie Koss
    Irwin Moskowitz
    Daniel Roebuck
    Paco Fuentes
    Michael DeLorenzo
    Kale Brody
    Pat Skipper
    Master Sergeant Cutter
    Barry Cullison
    Sgt Butts
    Lanny Flaherty
    Major General Worth
    Frank Marth

    Video

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