Posted on Dec 30, 2014
What Is Your Favorite Military Television Show or Station RallyPoint Nation?
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I like the Military History station on cable and Mail Call is my favorite program, because you learn so much history on all aspect of the military. I actually met Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey at Fort Benning, Georgia in 2007 when I was a Senior Drill Sergeant.
Mail Call was a television program that appeared on the History Channel and hosted by R. Lee Ermey, a retired United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant, (given the honorary rank of Gunnery Sergeant in May 2002). The show debuted on August 4, 2002 as part of the 'Fighting Fridays' lineup. Most episodes were 30 minutes, but from 2007 through the show's end in 2009 some episodes were 60 minutes.
During each episode, Ermey read and answered questions submitted by viewers regarding weapons and equipment used by all branches of the U.S. military now or in the past, as well as by other armed forces in history. Ermey often took his viewers on location to military training areas to film demonstrations and consult with experts. When not on location, Ermey broadcast from a set resembling a military outpost, including a tent, a Jeep, and various other pieces of military gear which changed throughout the series. At times, he would also have a bulldog - usually symbolic of Marines, especially drill instructors - on his show as well.
Comic relief was provided as Ermey inflicted DI-style verbal abuse on his viewers or tests the effects of various weapons on watermelons (the host's "sworn enemy") and paint cans, as well as occasional appearances of "Mini-Lee", an action figure styled in Ermey's likeness, often seen berating a luckless G.I. Joe figurine. His demeanor as host was similar to the character "Gunnery Sergeant Hartman" portrayed by Ermey in the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket, though this attitude was shown only towards his viewers (e.g., ordering viewers to return after a commercial break) and not the military special guests. Older viewers might compare him to Sergeant Vincent Carter, a character in the Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. television program.
The program had several DVD video releases, including selected episodes from seasons one through seven, as well as a blooper video called Mail Call: S.N.A.F.U..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_Call
http://military.history.com/schedule
Mail Call was a television program that appeared on the History Channel and hosted by R. Lee Ermey, a retired United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant, (given the honorary rank of Gunnery Sergeant in May 2002). The show debuted on August 4, 2002 as part of the 'Fighting Fridays' lineup. Most episodes were 30 minutes, but from 2007 through the show's end in 2009 some episodes were 60 minutes.
During each episode, Ermey read and answered questions submitted by viewers regarding weapons and equipment used by all branches of the U.S. military now or in the past, as well as by other armed forces in history. Ermey often took his viewers on location to military training areas to film demonstrations and consult with experts. When not on location, Ermey broadcast from a set resembling a military outpost, including a tent, a Jeep, and various other pieces of military gear which changed throughout the series. At times, he would also have a bulldog - usually symbolic of Marines, especially drill instructors - on his show as well.
Comic relief was provided as Ermey inflicted DI-style verbal abuse on his viewers or tests the effects of various weapons on watermelons (the host's "sworn enemy") and paint cans, as well as occasional appearances of "Mini-Lee", an action figure styled in Ermey's likeness, often seen berating a luckless G.I. Joe figurine. His demeanor as host was similar to the character "Gunnery Sergeant Hartman" portrayed by Ermey in the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket, though this attitude was shown only towards his viewers (e.g., ordering viewers to return after a commercial break) and not the military special guests. Older viewers might compare him to Sergeant Vincent Carter, a character in the Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. television program.
The program had several DVD video releases, including selected episodes from seasons one through seven, as well as a blooper video called Mail Call: S.N.A.F.U..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_Call
http://military.history.com/schedule
Posted in these groups: 
Military History
TV
Military History TV
Edited 10 y ago
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 17
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I had to think long and hard about this one. So many have come and gone, some that I enjoyed at the time but they look awful if I view them now. Many more that I've forgotten. Strangely, I'm drawn back to Combat with Vic Morrow. We watched it on Armed Forces Radio and Television in Vietnam. I believe that we enjoyed it because it portrayed the kind of war that we wished we could have fought. That's not to say that ours was less of a war, less of a purpose, less of a struggle. It's just that soldiers who fought in WWII didn't have to measure success in bodies counted. We did...
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
CPT Jack Durish, I appreciate the post from the Vietnam Era, interesting to see what the times were back then. Very humbled from the yester-years going forward into the future.
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Different shows for different seasons.
As a boy, Combat. then Baa Baa Black Sheep, Tour of Duty. and then the Last Ship.
If you are looking for a historical show, I hope you had the H2 channel and were able to watch Full Metal Jousting. Really like toward the end when they kept sending the 'winners' to the hospital.
As a boy, Combat. then Baa Baa Black Sheep, Tour of Duty. and then the Last Ship.
If you are looking for a historical show, I hope you had the H2 channel and were able to watch Full Metal Jousting. Really like toward the end when they kept sending the 'winners' to the hospital.
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SFC Mark Merino
Poor SGT Saunders. By my count, by the end of season 3, he had earned about 47 Purple Hearts.
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ABSOFREAKINLUTELY AWESOME R. LEE ERMEY Mail Call SNAFU Xtra Salty bloopers reel wombat23 USMC...
Couldn't find this for a long time, so I wanted to share. Wish all the history/science/discovery/natgeo stuff was here for everyone to watch. I wouldn't mind...
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