7.9 rating for 3,700 votes
I would agree. I gave it a 9 which may be a bit high. As good as the show was for depicting soldiers in Iraq, the home front melodrama was tedious and pretty much unwanted on my part.
I know that it is 100% NON PC to omit the "loved" ones at home, and what they go through. That is what shows like Army Wives is for. Even "The Unit" kept the home front drama interesting for the most part.
My shows about combat that I like best to least:
1) The Unit
2) The E Ring
3) Over There
4) Combat!
100) Tour Of Duty
I quite like Combat!. To this day I still watch episodes.
Tour Of Duty is a travesty of tropes, poor acting, poor writing, poor directing, and abysmal tactical military realness. The director openly admitted that his sole purpose was to denigrate the Vietnam War even if it meant disrespecting many soldiers in the process. Trope after trope after trope. Black and white...Good and Evil...horrible "bad" American characters that did not, could not exist in reality. Dayum that show sucks.
I found "Over There" to be fascinating. Did it fail because of all the unwanted, over done home front drama? IDK. Anyone who did not wonder what it was like for our guys in Iraq are crazy. It does not matter if you were against or for the conflict.
I remember Bochco saying they took great pains not to be Lib-tards OR Hawks. The end result was pretty much anti war, but it was not constantly in your face like Tour Of Duty anti war message.
The Unit and The E Ring were kick ass shows run (advised) by REAL Delta Team operators. Those shows were totally unapologetic and are my favorite. No message except to show what and why these highly trained Special Forces do what they do. I am still in awe over both those shows.
Combat is amazing for what it accomplished with almost no budget and bone tired actors who did over 30 episodes per year. The writing was generally superb. I love how the writer showed how War has so many grey areas. That, to me, is great TV. LIFE in general cant be labeled and crammed into a bottle. I dont want my TV shows about war/combat to be 100% cut and dried (like Tour Of Duty...hated the writing!)