The Rat Patrol: The Complete First Season

Although it came at the tail-end of a cycle of World War II-themed TV shows (remember Garrison's Gorillas?), The Rat Patrol is more fondly remembered than most of its predecessors, and not without good reason. Set in North Africa, where Allied forces waged a lengthy struggle against Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps, the series focused on the titular four-man commando team, working under the auspices of the Long Range Desert Group. The pilot, “The Chase of Fire Raid” (each episode has the word “raid” in its title), found Sergeant Sam Troy (Christopher George) and privates Mark Hitchcock (Lawrence Casey) and Tully Pettigrew (Justin Tarr) joining forces with British Sergeant Jack Moffitt (Gary Raymond) in an attempt to find and destroy a cache of German ammunitions and fuel hidden at an oasis. Their chief opponent—in this and most episodes—is Nazi captain Hauptmann Dietrich (Eric Braeden, billed as Hans Gudegast), who over the course of the series comes to respect his fast-moving, quick-striking adversaries. Other highlights in the 32-episode set from the 1966-67 debut season include “The Fatal Chase Raid,” starring future Love Boat star Gavin MacLeod as crafty, cowardly Sergeant Archie Gribs; “The B-Negative Raid,” in which Troy infiltrates a German field camp to steal blood for the badly wounded Moffitt; and “Bring ‘Em Back Alive Raid,” which finds Troy holding a German scientist and negotiating with Dietrich for the lives of his captured comrades. Well-produced and crammed with action, The Rat Patrol delighted late ‘60s viewers and holds up surprisingly well four decades later. Boasting a fine image but no extras, this compilation is recommended. (E. Hulse)