Six O’Clock Follies, The

1 9 8 0 (USA)
6 x 30 minute episodes

This military comedy from NBC was set in Saigon just before the big Tet Offensive in 1967 and revolved around the production of a nightly evening TV news and sports show produced by the US Army for the Armed Forces Vietnam Network (dubbed “the six o’clock follies” by the GIs).

Sam Page (AC Weary) was white and had never been in combat. Corporal Don “Robby” Robinson (Laurence Fishburne) was black and had been in the field with the troops until Page – a former friend and co-anchor from Chicago – rescued him so he could fight communism as an anchorman.

The two newscasters – who delivered the news in their fatigues – were joined by miniskirted weather girl Candi LeRoy (Aarika Wells). In one episode, a puritanical congressman from Indiana wanted to send Candi home because she was undermining the boys’ morale by bending over during the news!

Other characters included their irascible but gentle cigar-chomping commanding officer Colonel Harvey Mann (Joby Baker); Lt. Beuler (Randall Carver), an idiotic and racist southerner; and Midas Metcovich (Philip Charles MacKenzie) – an enlisted man making a healthy buck out of the war (and running the local bar where the gang spent most of their off-air time) – the only character with any real humorous dimension.

Closer to WKRP in Cincinnati than M*A*S*H in style, the short-lived series was created by Marvin Kupfer and Norm Steinberg. But with a script that made Supertrain seem like Twelfth Night, the only laughs came from the insipid laugh track.

The theme song was by Joe Cocker.

Sam Page
AC Weary
Cpl. Don “Robby” Robinson
Laurence Fishburne
Midas Metcovich
Philip Charles MacKenzie
Lt. Beuler
Randall Carver
Col. Harvey Mann
Joby Baker
Candi LeRoy
Aarika Wells

Episodes

Welcome, Robby | Ol’ Yeller | Goodbye, Candi | Rumors of Peace | The Medal Winner | The Surprise Party