| Combat! episode reviews by Jo Davidsmeyer Episodes are rated from 0 to 4 bayonets
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ReviewOur beloved squad, worn-out and exhausted, receives four green replacements. In this tight, fat-free script by Esther and Bob Mitchell, we follow these four teenagers as they attempt to survive their first day on the front line. Among the newbies are: a high-school football star, a wise-cracking street- smart kid, a sweet country boy, and the clean-faced boy next door. Who will survive? This episode provides a little more background info on Doc. Here he claims to have been a grocery clerk before the war. He also shows familiarity with 4H, knowing what type of projects and info would be in a project book.  Georg J. Fenady, a
regular associate producer of "Combat!", makes a great debut behind the camera
as director of this episode. He makes sure the pacing of camera and actors matches the
pace of this first-rate script. I do have a bit of a problem with the initial premise of
the episode, though. The squad acts as if it's so unusual to have soldiers of this age. In
reality, many sol- diers who fought on the frontlines in WWII were between the ages of 18
and 20. These replacements were typical -- guys in their late 30s and 40s, such as
Saunders, Kirby, and Caje, were rarer than the teens.
Later in the season this same combination of writers, Esther and Bob Mitchell, and director Georg J. Fenady give us the flip side of this story, as three old men become the squad's replacements in the episode "The Old Men". I wonder if the Mitchells sold the two scripts as a package?
Oddities and Notes
See Production Schedule for filming "The First Day."
Cast CreditsRick Jason Jack Hogan as Kirby Dee Pollack ... McBride
Dialog Excerpts
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Other season four Combat! episodes:
