# Will tv ever again have military comedies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2016, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190 "2016-02-15T06:11:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190/41 "2016-02-16T06:57:39Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Military physicians get commissioned officer rank (Captain in the Army/Air Force, Lt Commander in the Navy) right off the bat, and a lot only signed up to pay for medical school without any intention of going career after their contracts up. IIRC this is true for a lot of nurses and other medical personnel too. A lot of room for humor there. In the Navy, they get Lieutenant, not Lt Cdr. A Navy Lt is the same grade as an Army/Air Force Capt, O-3. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190/42 "2016-02-16T06:58:30Z")
Most romcoms I saw in the 50s to the 60s had a war setting. I still think it has something to do with a large viewership of war veterans. Now that’s a segment that can laugh about any aspect of a war, or military life. We baby boomers grew up watching tv beside our parents, so we’re just extensions of that viewership. I must add, though, that Vietnam war movies in the 70s to 80s had a strong impact on a generation that never knew war. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190/43 "2016-02-16T16:00:33Z")
The things come and go in trends, so as I general answer I’ll say that of course they’ll try one again. If I’d have to bet, it would be an ensemble cast of recruits trying to make it through Basic along with their DIs, who are angered by all the hijinks. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190/44 "2016-02-16T16:45:26Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > FOX showed the episodes out of the order in which they were produced, thereby destroying any continuity: > > [Enlisted (TV series) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlisted_(TV_series)) Hmm… Fox seems to like to do this sort of thing. _cough_ Firefly _cough_ ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190/45 "2016-02-18T17:32:25Z")
I feel like some of you are being a bit too “Liberal-y” with your “the Conservatives won’t let you make fun of the troops!” First of all, no one wants to watch a show ridiculing US soldiers any more than people want to watch a show ridiculing rank and file office workers. The Office ridicules management and the jerky coworkers that we all hate working with. Silicon Valley ridicules the entitled billionaire startup venture capital culture. But the protagonists are always portrayed as a somewhat relatable “everyman” who acts as our proxy. Military comedies don’t ridicule the enlisted soldiers (other than the platoon fuckups who everyone can relate to hating). They ridicule the officers and political bureaucracy. The clever ones (i.e. Team America World Police) do it in such a way that the thick-headed don’t realize they are being ridiculed. The reason you can’t really do a true military comedy (IMHO) is that you either end up with a bunch of soldiers Gomer Pyling around base doing nothing or it becomes cartoonish if no one ever gets seriously hurt (ergo A-Team). At best, maybe you could do a dark comedy in the tone of The Brink, Jarhead or Three Kings. Then again, I’m not a writer. It’s possible that someone could come up with something totally out there I haven’t thought of. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190/46 "2016-02-18T20:13:45Z")
There is another possibility: rework _Good Morning, Vietnam_ into a series as had originally been intended. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190/47 "2016-02-18T20:18:42Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > A couple of years back, Fox tried with [Enlisted](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3515078144/tt2741950?ref_=tt_ov_i). > > Not a very successful attempt, though. I really liked it. Saw the first few episodes and then it seemed to disappear. > [@bump](#): > > …I always wondered why there hasn’t been a show set in either Iraq or Afghanistan cut broadly in the MASH mold (although not necessarily medical-oriented), and that mostly pokes fun at Frank Burns types, has a Henry Blake type, or the everyday absurdities inherent in the military, and some of the surreal oddness present when deployed. There’s no reason to treat the servicemen and women on the whole as anything but competent and dedicated, except for the Burns types, and even there, show him as at least competent or dedicated… Agreed. I’d like to see a show like that. > [@mbh](#): > > If you aren’t sanctimoniously pro-military, you will get flak from right-wingers. > If you aren’t sanctimoniously anti-war, you will get flak from left-wingers. > > I’m not sure there are enough people in the middle to allow a show to find an audience. Well, there is that. I bet someone could do a pretty good comedy set aboard a U.S. Navy warship or Coast Guard cutter. Most of it could be done in the studio, with establishing shots at sea, and occasional location shoots for shore leave or missions ashore. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190/48 "2016-02-18T20:33:04Z")
Yes, I can see a Coast Guard cutter busting a freighter full of pot, and then the whole crew getting stoned. Something like that happened on _The Brink_ among the flight crews with amphetamines. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190/49 "2016-02-18T20:40:00Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > You can’t cause they’re all heroes and anything less than on screen worship will be seen as disrespecting “the troops.” Perhaps if we thanked them for their service before each episode? mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-tv-ever-again-have-military-comedies/746190.md?page=2)