Fighting Eagles

  

Fighting Eagles
Genre	Situation comedy Historical fiction
Created by	John Wild
Developed by	John Wild Mel Brooks
Written by	John Wild Ian McLain Walter Wright Mel Brooks
Directed by	John Wild Ian McLain Walter Wright Mel Brooks Leonard Nimoy Bob Saget
Starring	William Shatner James Avery Will Smith Don Adams Desi Arnaz Clancy Brown Tom Kenny
Opening theme	"The Eagle March"
Composer(s)	Jay Chattaway
Country of origin	United Commonwealth
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	150
Production
Executive producer(s)	Mel Brooks
Producer(s)	John Wild Mel Brooks
Location(s)	New York City
Production company(s)	WNBC
Release
Original network	NBC
Website
http://www.example.com/

Fighting Eagles is a Continental television sitcom created by John Wild about the the United Commonwealth's Local Defense Force during the Axis War. It aired on NBC from from 1986 to 1992. It ran for 6 seasons and 150 episodes total. The series regularly gained audiences of 10 million viewers, and is still shown internationally.

The LDF consisted of local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, either because of age or by being in professions exempt from conscription. Most of the platoon characters depicted in Fighting Eagles are over military age, and the series stars several older Continental actors, such as William Shatner, Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, DeForest Kelley, and James Avery. Younger members of the cast included Will Smith, Clancy Brown, and Tom Kenny. Other regular cast members included Mel Brooks as a rabbi, and Don Adams as a CRG officer.

The series has influenced Continental popular culture, with its catchphrases and characters being well known.

Plot

The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Harborville on the eastern coast of the Congregationalist States. Harborville, and it's LDF platoon, would be a likely candidate for invasion if the French decided to land in the northeast. The series follows this platoon, lead by Captain Jackson Miller, a well intentioned, but arrogant man, as they prepare themselves for conflict with the Axis. As the comedy in many ways relies on the platoon's lack of participation in the Second Great War, opposition to their activities has to come from another quarter. This generally comes from rival platoons, skeptical higher ups at the Continental Revolutionary Guard, and sometimes from the Harborville Women for the Continental Party, whose meeting place the platoon borrowed without asking. The group does have some encounters related to the enemy, such as escaping French POWs, Russian spies, saboteurs from within, and even reactionary organizations.

The humor ranges from the subtle (particularly the culture clash between the Chicago born Captain Miller, and the Cuban Sergeant Rodriguez), to the slapstick (the antics of Kennedy and Smith being noteworthy examples). The early seasons occasionally include darker humor, reflecting that, especially early in the war, the LDF was unprepared for a possible invasion, but were still willing to fight.

Cast and characters

Main

• Captain Jackson Miller (William Shatner): The brave, if noticeably pompous, housing manager. Currently in his 50's, Miller founded the platoon as an outlet for frustrations in the military, he had been an officer in the Continental Army during the first Great War, but had been injured prior to the Battle of Austin, in which Brazoria fell to the Landonists. He speaks with an Inland accent.
• Lieutenant Ronald Walker (James Avery): Miller's assistant. Walker served as an officer of the CRG during the occupation of Brazoria, before leaving to pursue his poetry dreams. Barely over the legal age for conscription, Walker generally questions Miller's judgement ("With all due respect, are you sure you know what you're doing?"). He is Private Smith's maternal uncle; speaks with a Virginia accent.
• Sergeant Bernardo Rodriguez (Desi Arnaz): Owner of the local Frita shop, born in Cuba in 1883. Claims to be one of the first men to enlist in the Revolutionary Army, and fought in the first Great War. Frequently waxes nostalgic about his younger days, when all the girls were attracted to him.
• Private Robert McDowell (DeForest Kelley): A cynical Georgian former medical officer for the Continental Navy. He works as a doctor during the day. Frequently offers his expertise to the platoon, if begrudgingly.
• Lucy Barker (Lucille Ball): A widow and leader of the Harborville Women for the Continental Party, and the most prominent female member of the platoon.
• Private Victor Andolini (Clancy Brown): A member of the Luciano crime family, Andolini is one of two able-bodied men of military age among the main characters (the other being Private Kennedy). He claimed he was not called up because of an illness, tough it's implied he simply lied to get out of service. The show frequently makes jokes about his occupation.
• Private Maxwell Kennedy (Tom Kenny): The other able-bodied men of military age, Kennedy is a socially awkward and inexperienced comedian. His peanut allergy is what saved him from conscription. Frequently struggles more than his peers, and is noted for his distinct New York accent.
• Private Jonathan Joseph "J.J." Smith (Will Smith): The youngest member of the platoon, too young for the army. He helps out his uncle with his work. Rebellious but well intentioned, J.J. does his best with the rest of the Platoon.

Recurring

• Major John Morris (Don Adams): The overseer of all LDF platoons in Harborville's area. Morris is harsh on the platoon, but tries to help them on their way. A running joke involves him having getting
• Melvin Kaminsky (Mel Brooks): a snarky yet loyal rabbi who has to share his synagogue with the platoon. Often serving as a commentator to the actions
• Mark Leonards (Leonard Nimoy): An intelligence officer of the counterintelligence agency SPY HUNTER, Mark Leonards frequently checks up on the platoon to search for spies, and occasionally tries to recruit an agent or two.
• Captain Walker Boone (Fred Gwynne): The leader of a platoon in the neighboring Port City. Boone was a rival of Miller's during their army days, even participating in the Battle of Austin. He appears to exist solely to live the life Miller wishes he could, though he's not without his virtues.
• Lieutenant John Henry Smith (Kevin Peter Hall): Walker Boone's second officer, a very tall African-Continental. Serving as a voice of reason to Boone's attempts to one up Miller, much of the humor surrounding relates to his height and his objections to Boone's schemes.

Production

Fighting Eagles was based partly on writer and creator John Wild's experience in the Local Defense Force. Wild was only 16 when he joined the 5th Buffalo Legion. His mother did not like him being out at night, and constantly tried to convince him to stay home, these experiences influenced the character of J.J. An elderly Cuban Sergeant in the 5th Chicago often referred to fighting in the Revolutionary Army, he was the model for Rodriguez.

See also

This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Dad's Army, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).