LJ Idol X - Week [5] - F Trump
Jan. 11th, 2017 02:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penpusherAs we are on the verge of a new presidential administration in the United States, many people are concerned, even fearful about what the look, the feel, the tenet of this next chapter of the American story will resemble. To me, a television trivia expert, the answer is very clear. It’s…
"F Troop"
“F Troop” was an American situation comedy which was broadcast on the ABC Television Network from September 14, 1965 to April 6, 1967.
As the US Civil War was concluding, a private named Wilton Parmenter (played by Ken Berry) was sent from the battlefront to accomplish a task suitable to his capabilities: retrieve the laundry of an unnamed Union General (who looked suspiciously like Ulysses S. Grant, but was never specifically identified).
Despite his lowly rank, Parmenter was a part of a very important military family - all officers and all named for gods: his brothers Achilles, Hercules, Jupiter and his father, Thor. How he got saddled with the name Wilton is just one unexplained element of the series.
Because of Parmenter’s spring allergies during his fateful laundry run, he sneezed at an opportune moment, a commanding officer overheard it, assumed the private yelled “Charge!” and got his troops to follow along into what was, we were told, The Battle of Appomattox Court House.
Parmenter, Mid-Sneeze
Having bumbled his way into military success (and likely because of his good surname), he was awarded a command: He would become the Captain of Fort Courage, a military post out west, often assumed to be in or near Kansas, because of their proximity to “Indian Territory,” or what is now known as Oklahoma - Although it was suggested that it might have been three time zones from Parmenter’s native Philadelphia (as they played “Reveille” at ten AM instead of the customary seven AM).
As a commander, Parmenter was a no-nothing, a greenhorn when it came to leading, and additionally was a clumsy oaf, needing to consult his military manual at every opportunity. He oftentimes tripped or fell over every obstacle in his way, sometimes specifically because he was reading that manual!
When Parmenter arrived at his new post, he met his two non-commissioned officers: Sergeant Morgan O’Rourke (Forrest Tucker) and Corporal Randolph Agarn (Larry Storch). These two were the most crooked members of Fort Courage, running a sideline business called “O’Rourke Enterprises” and siphoning off military funding to help support it, all as part of their get rich schemes.
Sgt. O'Rourke and Cpl. Agarn
Also, O’Rourke and Agarn were responsible for fabricating a war with a group of local Indians, the Hekawi tribe, even though the tribe’s chief, Wild Eagle (Frank de Kova) was actually O’Rourke’s business partner! It was another method of guaranteeing a constant flow of money and supplies from Washington DC into the fort. They covered this deception with constant flattery of the Captain’s ego, continually brownnosing Parmenter until he forgot what he intended to criticize or examine.
Chief Wild Eagle
(As an aside, by today’s standards it’s difficult to miss the political incorrectness that the “natives” on the program were all played by white actors… de Kova was Italian American and even long-time comedians Don Rickles and Milton Berle both made guest appearances as Indians on the show.)
Milton Berle as a Native American
Additionally, the soldiers that populated Parmenter’s troop were among the most unprepared and inept of any in the army, making the people he was charged to lead the absolute worst to accomplish any job to which they were assigned. Examples: A Bugler who didn’t know how to play his instrument. A lookout man who was severely myopic. And a translator who could speak with the local tribes fluently in their native tongues, but either spoke no English or spoke it with an unintelligible German accent.
Dobbs: the bugler who couldn't play, even without an arrow in his bell
Finally, there was one of the townsfolk who dealt directly with the fort personnel: Jane Angelica Thrift, (Melody Patterson) informally known as Wrangler Jane, who ran the trading post in town. Wrangler Jane adored Parmenter and felt he could do no wrong. Practically at first sight, she seemed intent on a romance with the Captain, and though he always reacted flirtatiously back, he managed to keep her at arm’s length for the duration of the series. Young, blonde, intelligent and an accomplished businesswoman with a tough as nails attitude, Wrangler Jane seemed far more prepared than the Captain to be a leader.
Wrangler Jane - What a pistol.
Typical plots centered on Parmenter’s ineptitude, providing moments of slapstick and/or wordplay, some high-ranking official coming for an inspection of Fort Courage, causing O’Rourke and Agarn to cover their conflict of interest business dealings, some new scheme O’Rourke hatched up with the Hekawi tribe to make even more money but was likely as illegal as their previous plots, or Wrangler Jane and Wilton dealing with someone or something that disrupted their chaste relationship.
Parmenter, Jane and his always handy handbook
Yes, this parallel of a long-ago TV comedy won't really resemble the incoming governing body. How our reality will progress and where we will be at the end of it, none of us can say with any certainty. That’s why we have to laugh, we have to treat this fear with humor and love. It’s up to us, now. And that’s why “F Troop” does provide us with these final hopeful points:
First, Captain Parmenter was trying to be a good leader. Of course, he wasn’t prepared and he was an excruciatingly slow learner. So, he was taken advantage of by many of the people around him, most especially his sergeant and corporal, who were knowingly breaking the law for their own benefit and constantly did things permitting the deception to continue. Parmenter never took serious notice of his staff’s shortcomings. Instead, he just accepted them, which kept the fort functioning at a high level of incompetence. In other words, the Captain’s own personality traits allowed the worst to occur.
See? Captain Parmenter is paying attention just as much as he can!
But, perhaps the most important observation is that “F Troop” was cancelled after its second season, meaning that the American public tired of this exercise in futility almost as quickly as it began. When the time came, ABC filled its timeslot with a much more believable and much more down to earth show…
Sally Field in “The Flying Nun.”
This thinkpost was written for LJ Idol X using the prompt: Fear is the heart of love
"F Troop"
“F Troop” was an American situation comedy which was broadcast on the ABC Television Network from September 14, 1965 to April 6, 1967.
As the US Civil War was concluding, a private named Wilton Parmenter (played by Ken Berry) was sent from the battlefront to accomplish a task suitable to his capabilities: retrieve the laundry of an unnamed Union General (who looked suspiciously like Ulysses S. Grant, but was never specifically identified).
Despite his lowly rank, Parmenter was a part of a very important military family - all officers and all named for gods: his brothers Achilles, Hercules, Jupiter and his father, Thor. How he got saddled with the name Wilton is just one unexplained element of the series.
Because of Parmenter’s spring allergies during his fateful laundry run, he sneezed at an opportune moment, a commanding officer overheard it, assumed the private yelled “Charge!” and got his troops to follow along into what was, we were told, The Battle of Appomattox Court House.
Parmenter, Mid-Sneeze
Having bumbled his way into military success (and likely because of his good surname), he was awarded a command: He would become the Captain of Fort Courage, a military post out west, often assumed to be in or near Kansas, because of their proximity to “Indian Territory,” or what is now known as Oklahoma - Although it was suggested that it might have been three time zones from Parmenter’s native Philadelphia (as they played “Reveille” at ten AM instead of the customary seven AM).
As a commander, Parmenter was a no-nothing, a greenhorn when it came to leading, and additionally was a clumsy oaf, needing to consult his military manual at every opportunity. He oftentimes tripped or fell over every obstacle in his way, sometimes specifically because he was reading that manual!
When Parmenter arrived at his new post, he met his two non-commissioned officers: Sergeant Morgan O’Rourke (Forrest Tucker) and Corporal Randolph Agarn (Larry Storch). These two were the most crooked members of Fort Courage, running a sideline business called “O’Rourke Enterprises” and siphoning off military funding to help support it, all as part of their get rich schemes.
Sgt. O'Rourke and Cpl. Agarn
Also, O’Rourke and Agarn were responsible for fabricating a war with a group of local Indians, the Hekawi tribe, even though the tribe’s chief, Wild Eagle (Frank de Kova) was actually O’Rourke’s business partner! It was another method of guaranteeing a constant flow of money and supplies from Washington DC into the fort. They covered this deception with constant flattery of the Captain’s ego, continually brownnosing Parmenter until he forgot what he intended to criticize or examine.
Chief Wild Eagle
(As an aside, by today’s standards it’s difficult to miss the political incorrectness that the “natives” on the program were all played by white actors… de Kova was Italian American and even long-time comedians Don Rickles and Milton Berle both made guest appearances as Indians on the show.)
Milton Berle as a Native American
Additionally, the soldiers that populated Parmenter’s troop were among the most unprepared and inept of any in the army, making the people he was charged to lead the absolute worst to accomplish any job to which they were assigned. Examples: A Bugler who didn’t know how to play his instrument. A lookout man who was severely myopic. And a translator who could speak with the local tribes fluently in their native tongues, but either spoke no English or spoke it with an unintelligible German accent.
Dobbs: the bugler who couldn't play, even without an arrow in his bell
Finally, there was one of the townsfolk who dealt directly with the fort personnel: Jane Angelica Thrift, (Melody Patterson) informally known as Wrangler Jane, who ran the trading post in town. Wrangler Jane adored Parmenter and felt he could do no wrong. Practically at first sight, she seemed intent on a romance with the Captain, and though he always reacted flirtatiously back, he managed to keep her at arm’s length for the duration of the series. Young, blonde, intelligent and an accomplished businesswoman with a tough as nails attitude, Wrangler Jane seemed far more prepared than the Captain to be a leader.
Wrangler Jane - What a pistol.
Typical plots centered on Parmenter’s ineptitude, providing moments of slapstick and/or wordplay, some high-ranking official coming for an inspection of Fort Courage, causing O’Rourke and Agarn to cover their conflict of interest business dealings, some new scheme O’Rourke hatched up with the Hekawi tribe to make even more money but was likely as illegal as their previous plots, or Wrangler Jane and Wilton dealing with someone or something that disrupted their chaste relationship.
Parmenter, Jane and his always handy handbook
Yes, this parallel of a long-ago TV comedy won't really resemble the incoming governing body. How our reality will progress and where we will be at the end of it, none of us can say with any certainty. That’s why we have to laugh, we have to treat this fear with humor and love. It’s up to us, now. And that’s why “F Troop” does provide us with these final hopeful points:
First, Captain Parmenter was trying to be a good leader. Of course, he wasn’t prepared and he was an excruciatingly slow learner. So, he was taken advantage of by many of the people around him, most especially his sergeant and corporal, who were knowingly breaking the law for their own benefit and constantly did things permitting the deception to continue. Parmenter never took serious notice of his staff’s shortcomings. Instead, he just accepted them, which kept the fort functioning at a high level of incompetence. In other words, the Captain’s own personality traits allowed the worst to occur.
See? Captain Parmenter is paying attention just as much as he can!
But, perhaps the most important observation is that “F Troop” was cancelled after its second season, meaning that the American public tired of this exercise in futility almost as quickly as it began. When the time came, ABC filled its timeslot with a much more believable and much more down to earth show…
Sally Field in “The Flying Nun.”
This thinkpost was written for LJ Idol X using the prompt: Fear is the heart of love
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2017-01-11 08:52 am (UTC)Also, the leader may have been inept but he was definitely not mean-spirited. I think maybe F-Troop was more like the G.W. Bush administration than the incoming one.
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Date: 2017-01-11 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-11 12:37 pm (UTC)Now that you said it, yeah, I see the similarities. I suppose one could say the same for McHale's Navy -- they were a bunch of profiteers too.
I'm just sitting back and watching this fiasco of a supposed *administration* unfold. I'm really not a political sort so I let others more versed in it say what I feel.
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Date: 2017-01-11 06:39 pm (UTC)But I rejected it because the theme of the show was to admire McHale and his sailors for breaking the rules and tricking the Captain.
I am willing to give this a chance but based on the first Press Conference, I really don't know where we're going!
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Date: 2017-01-11 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-12 04:31 am (UTC)Now, we can say that we respect the jobs those people do, but they are still people doing a job, some of them better than others, some of them more successfully than others. In a way, it feels like Trump is expecting to be raised to a level, simply because of his office, that he cannot be criticized. I guess he forgot all of the things he said about the outgoing White House resident.
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Date: 2017-01-11 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2017-01-13 09:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-14 03:12 pm (UTC)I tried to be hopeful too, but as he has appointed these made people to his staff, it has disappeared. I think, and I'm not generally a fatalistic person, that we all might not make it out of the next four years.
My husband said he doesn't want to live in fear of that. I responded that I'm not afraid. I plan to keep doing what I'm doing, giving my kids a great life, being a good librarian, making my patrons happy...But I'm not going to lie to myself about what's to come.
I hope you are right though, maybe he will be impeached fairly quickly before too much damage is done. However, was your mention of The Flying Nun to say his replacement isn't so hot either? Lol!
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Date: 2017-01-15 10:01 am (UTC)In a way, that makes things easy: this will be one president who you don't have to listen to, because nothing he is going to say will matter. He will say one thing on one day, and something completely opposite, the next day... or as was the case in his first Press Conference, he said one thing that day and something completely opposite the same day.
There's still so much toxic waste swirling around with the whole Russia hacks and the lack of clarity about the election and his Putin commentary... it feels like some bizarre motion picture plot.
As for "The Flying Nun," if nothing else, it was a program that featured more women as castmembers than pretty much every other show on television at that time, combined! Even since then, there haven't been a lot of programs like that... maybe "Ally McBeal?" And that was about 20 years ago.
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Date: 2017-01-15 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-15 10:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-15 08:22 am (UTC)I certainly think we've already seen a few foxes appointed to guard the henhouse, and I expect there will be a lot of profiteering going on. I can only hope this show gets cancelled after one 'season' too. :O
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Date: 2017-01-15 10:14 am (UTC)Foxes in charge of the hen house for sure... thanks for your thoughts here... and hope that, if we're lucky, things will go as smoothly as F Troop!
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Date: 2017-01-16 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2017-01-17 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-17 12:12 pm (UTC)And thanks for your wonderful comment!
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Date: 2017-01-18 03:42 am (UTC)How our reality will progress and where we will be at the end of it, none of us can say with any certainty. That’s why we have to laugh, we have to treat this fear with humor and love. I really liked this statement. Can easily be made 'Life's mantra'. Nice take!
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