EPISODE GUIDES: F Troop Season One

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season One of F Troop! A reminder about my breakdown in ratings of episodes:

9-10: Exceptional

7-8: Strong

5-6: OK

3-4: Mediocre

1-2: Terrible

F TROOP: SEASON ONE
1965-1966
34 episodes

F Troop's first season is in black and white and definitely has a different feel. It seems like in its first season, it was trying a little harder to be more authentic to the time period of the post-Civil War US. The show takes some time to get its footing when it comes to the comedy and there are definitely some big stinkers here. The show gets zanier in season two and that suits it well.

Starring
Forrest Tucker as Sergeant Morgan Sylvester O'Rourke (34 episodes)
Larry Storch as Corporal Randolph Agarn (34 episodes)
Ken Berry as Captain Wilton Parmenter (34 episodes)
Melody Patterson as Wrangler Jane (34 episodes)
Frank de Kova as Chief Wild Eagle (32 episodes)

James Hampton as Private Hannibal Shirley Dobbs (34 episodes)
Bob Steele as Trooper Duffy (33 episodes)
Joe Brooks as Trooper Vanderbilt (27 episodes)
Don Diamond as Crazy Cat (18 episodes)

1. Scourge of the West (9/14/65)
Captain Parmenter takes the reins at Fort Courage and has to deal with an unusual group of troops and nearby Indians.

The first episode of F Troop actually shows us in a little more detail what the theme song will explain to us for the rest of the season. It does a good job of setting the scene and the characters in this small little Civil War era base. Parmenter, O'Rourke, and O'Reilly all feel much more defined than a lot of sitcom characters do in pilots now. I'm going to go ahead and get this out of the way now: of course some of the Indian stuff is dated and could be considered offensive by today's standards. This is not excusing it, but it is a product of its time and except when there is something especially glaring, I'm not going to keep bringing it up.
RATING: 6.5/10

2. Don't Look Now, One of Our Cannons is Missing (9/21/65)
O'Rourke makes a deal to temporarily give the Hakawai tribe the fort's cannon in exchange for making more blankets, but then has trouble getting it back in time.

This is a pretty thin plot to last the entire episode. It's hard to believe how single plot-focused 1960s sitcoms were. Today, sitcoms always have multiple stories happening and that was so rarely the case then. Sometimes that meant for some really great and well-developed plots but other times, like this one, the story was just too thin for a full episode. It's interesting that these early episodes featured someone playing Ulysses S. Grant. The show seemed to be more tied to its Civil War setting early on in its run.
RATING: 4.5/10

3. The Phantom Major (9/28/65)
F Troop is chosen as a location to test out a new way of fighting against the Indians and Washington sends a representative out to teach them.

This episode is pretty silly (what F Troop episode isn't?) and features frequent 1960s guest star - "Dr. Bombay" himself, Bernard Fox. One thing I like about it though is this show, while stereotyping Native Americans, rarely made them the fools. More often than not, they got the better of the Fort Courage guys. And here they are, working with O'Rourke and Agarn, to get the better of a bumbling Washington leader and it's the major who ends up looking foolish. I would have liked this episode more if it wasn't for Fox's presence and an unnecessarily long bit about them dressing up as trees and other things.
RATING: 5/10

4. Corporal Agarn's Farewell to the Troops (10/5/65)
Agarn is sick and confuses a doctor's diagnosis of O'Rourke's dying horse with himself.

This is a classic "misunderstanding" episode that was silly but quite delightful on so many sitcoms of the era. This is certainly a plot that could have happened to Barney Fife or Gilligan to name a couple, but Larry Storch commits to the bit and does a good job as a "woe is me" Agarn. It's also interesting that the show only uses that as part of the plot and then it evolves to the story of the wanted Colton Brothers. Although the first half is better than the second half, this is the best episode of F Troop's just-started run.
RATING: 7.5/10

5. The Return of Bald Eagle (10/12/65)
A wild and unpredictable Indian named Bald Eagle visits the camp and the troops have a tough time dealing with him.

I know I said I wouldn't do it often, and I will stay true to that, but this is an episode that needs to be pointed out for its very stereotypical portrayal of Indians. The reason is because of guest star Don Rickles. Full disclosure, I am just not a Rickles fan and never has been. I think his acting is more obnoxious than funny. That is certainly the case here where he plays the wildly stereotypical Bald Eagle. Putting him in that kind of costume and that kind of makeup is one thing but hey, it was the 60s. Then he plays an outrageous, bumbling character and it just doesn't sit well. I wonder how many people thought that in 1965 though or did they just find Rickles funny? Probably more of the latter.
RATING: 1/10

6. Dirge for the Scourge (10/19/65)
Jane encourages Wilton to close down the saloon, which upsets a gunfighter in town who vows to seek revenge.

I like this episode because it is very set in the time period of F Troop. Sometimes, especially in season two, F Troop will resort to 60s culture things and sitcom tropes of the era. But this is an episode that would not have worked on many other shows with its focus on saloons, gunfighters, etc. It also was a good showcase for Ken Berry and played up his clumsiness that is so prevalent in the first episode and the theme song. Too often the show just does some dumb sight gag with him but actually putting his clumsiness in a fight with a gunfighter was a better idea.
RATING: 6.5/10

7. The Girl From Philadelphia (10/26/65)
Captain Parmenter's former girlfriend from Philadelphia visits and tries to convince him to leave Fort Courage.

This is a fun episode that pits Wrangler Jane against a prim and proper lady. The transformation of Wrangler Jane into a proper lady herself is a good early showcase for Melody Patterson and guest star Linda Marshall plays the snobby ex role well. I do think the whole fainting bit that happens in the middle of the episode goes on too long and the idea of an Indian bride is a little bit of a bizarre resolution to the episode, but it's still a fun one to watch especially because it cements Parmenter's reason for being at F Troop.
RATING: 7/10

8. Old Ironpants (11/2/65)
Parmenter goes to a training command school and comes back as a very tough captain who nobody likes anymore.

This is a good episode for Ken Berry who seems to be channeling his inner Barney Fife in this episode with his sudden burst of trying to be a serious tough guy. The deal between Chief Wild Eagle and O'Rourke and Agarn is pretty funny and once again shows how the show upends the traditional opinion of Indians in its own, semi-racist 1960s way. What seems a little backwards now was actually in some ways probably humanizing a group back in those days as crazy as it sounds.
RATING: 8/10

9. Me Heap Big Injun (11/9/65)
Agarn's tour of duty is up and instead of re-enlisting, he decides to join the Hekawi tribe.

It's a little cringey to see "injun" in the title of the sitcom today, but again, it was a different time period (argh, I said I would stop talking about this). This episode has some funny moments with Agarn passing all the tests to become a member of the tribe and the tribe teaming up with O'Rourke to try to stop him. This is a good twist on what was already becoming a trope in F Troop where O'Rourke is the savvy one and the others are all a step behind him. Here, O'Rourke has a plan that backfires on him.
RATING: 6/10

10. She's Only a Build in a Girdled Cage (11/16/65)
Dobbs' mother comes to visit and O'Rourke is mistaken in thinking she's a famous dance hall singer.

F Troop sure loves its misunderstandings. This one starts decently, but is ultimately a very thin plot to do an entire episode about and it feels like it drags on and on before we finally have the arrival of Dobbs' mother and Laura Lee. I also know it was an F Troop thing, but we're on episode 10 and I'm already tired of seeing the watch tower fall over. Sometimes 60s sitcoms just didn't know when to stop with a good joke. Maybe it was because they didn't have to worry about people binge watching back then so it was easier to get away with repeated jokes. Oh well.
RATING: 3/10

11. A Gift from the Chief (11/23/65)
After saving Chief Wild Eagle's life, the Hekawi tribe rewards Parmenter by giving him an Indian baby.

This isn't a very strong episode of F Troop and it's another thin plot. There's far too much time spent on trying to get the crying baby to go to sleep. When it goes that long in an episode, that means there's not that much else. And yet, this show does seem to try to pack some plot in at certain points and that feels rushed (the middle of the night drills bit seemed like it could have gone longer). So basically, the pacing is all sorts of off-kilter in this episode.
RATING: 2/10

12. Honest Injun (11/30/65)
A conman comes to town and takes advantage of O'Rourke's scheme to make people think that gold has been discovered.

This is a fun and clever episode that keeps the suspense going throughout the episode. Similar to the previous episode, there is a lot of plot here. Unlike the previous episode, the pacing is much better and the episode stays engaging throughout. There's also a pretty hilarious line involving an owl, one that is a little more clever than the average F Troop joke. I do wish the resolution was as interesting as the setup, but it's a good episode nonetheless.
RATING: 7.5/10

13. O'Rourke vs. O'Reilly (12/7/65)
A beautiful woman comes to town with plans to open a new saloon that will compete with the existing one, secretly owned by O'Rourke.

This is another F Troop episode that is basically predicated on one on-going bit and in this case, the bit is that women are beautiful and put men under their spell. The idea of a beautiful woman coming in and competing with O'Rourke is not a bad premise, but too much of the episode is spent making joke after joke about every man in the camp being under the spell of Lily O'Reilly instead of really pitting O'Reilly against O'Rourke as the episode title suggests. What does help this episode is a solid guest turn by Lee Meriwether as O'Reilly.
RATING: 5/10

14. The 86 Proof Spring (12/14/65)
Under pressure from a superior, Captain Parmenter is determined to find the source of the whiskey that is being supplied to the fort.

This is a fun episode that keeps the action moving, even if the plot is again somewhat of a one-trick pony. The difference between this episode and the previous one is that there's a whole lot more happening so it feels a little less redundant even though I actually like the plot of the previous episode more (and they're both about alcohol!) Ken Berry has some good moments and there's a very funny gag with all the troop coming to drink from the well that is actually water instead of whiskey.
RATING: 7/10

15. Here Comes the Tribe (12/21/65)
Captain Parmenter must marry Silver Dove or else there will be trouble from the Hekawi tribe.

At the risk of sounding like a prude with today's sensibilities again, I don't know why F Troop so often had their army men dressing up like Native Americans. I never find it funny and in this particular episode, it doesn't even seem to aid the plot that much. The main plot involving Silver Dove and Captain Parmenter seems like it would work better without the scene with the "undercover" O'Rourke. Overall though, this is a pretty silly and dumb episode.
RATING: 2/10

16. Iron Horse Go Home (12/28/65)
When Captain Parmenter convinces the Hekawi to sell their land to a railroad, they set up camp inside Fort Courage.

This seems like an interesting episode even for 1965. We had the Native Americans being removed from their land in this episode despite the history of that happening and I'm sure people knew about that back in 1965 too. It's also interesting how much a fight between the Native Americans and the soldiers is played for laughs. I don't think that would be the case today given modern sensibilities. But F Troop continues to do a good job at not making the soldiers always in the right and letting the Indian tribe get plenty of zingers and wins in too.
RATING: 6/10

17. Our Hero, What's His Name? (1/4/66)
In an effort to impress a girlfriend back home, O'Rourke and Agarn come up with a story about Agarn slaying Geronimo which backfires when Agarn gets a medal of honor and Geronimo seeks revenge.

This is a fun episode with a ton of things packed into it. I like that the consequences of Agarn and O'Rourke's decision to paint Agarn as a hero has two separate repercussions that collide at the end of the episode. That's a little more advanced than a typical F Troop (or most 60s sitcoms, really). There is the fun contrast of the ceremony with the Secretary of War happening while a legitimately tense showdown with Geronimo is happening inside. I could have stood for less with the bear and tree bits throughout the episode, but it's still a good one.
RATING: 8.5/10

18. Wrongo Starr and the Lady in Black (1/11/66)
A private who is a natural jinx comes to town at the same time as a black widow who has had four husbands who have died mysteriously.

This episode marks the first appearance of Henry Gibson as jinx Wrongo Starr. This episode could have easily been entirely about his bumbling (which is basically the premise when he returns in season two). But here, it's a pretty clever premise that intertwines Wrongo's bumbling presence with the interesting storyline about the Black Widow who arrives with him. It makes for much more interesting storytelling and gives the episode more of a plot instead of a series of jokes. When F Troop heads in this direction, it's much more clever and funny.
RATING: 8/10

19. El Diablo (1/18/66)
The wanted Mexican bandit El Diablo is a cousin of Agarn's who looks identical to him and shows up at Fort Courage to cause trouble.

This episode is pretty obnoxious thanks to a very hammy performance by Larry Storch who is obnoxious not only as El Diablo but especially in the unnecessary scenes as other members of Agarn's family. He operates at an 11 as El Diablo throughout the episode and it gets tiresome quickly. Storch can be very funny but occasionally goes too far when he strays from Agarn's natural personality. Of course he was playing a larger than life character in this episode so the over-acting goes that much further.
RATING: 3/10

20. Go for Broke (1/25/66)
The Fort Courage pension fund is out of money so Jane's cousin helps O'Rourke win it back in a poker game with a card shark.

This is an episode that takes awhile to get itself going. The whole first part with Jane's bumbling cousin and the Fort being out of money in its pension is necessary setup, but it goes on too long. The episode doesn't really feel like it gets going until it gets to the card game and that is well into the episode. The card game does have some good moments but there are other sitcom card game episodes with "sharks" that do it better. A valiant effort by Ken Berry to be a different type of character helps it out a bit.
RATING: 4/10

21. The New I.G. (2/8/66)
An army major comes to Fort Courage with a plan to wipe out the Hekawis if they don't sign a very restrictive treaty.

This is an interesting episode because on the surface, there are some cringe-worthy statements about the Hekawis that are played for laughs by the Army major (such as wiping out the entire tribe which elicits an unfortunate laugh track when it is followed by a joke). But F Troop was capable of flipping some things on their head and the camaraderie shown between Fort Courage and the Hekawi is actually pretty sweet in its own little way. I'm not trying to suggest that F Troop was sending themes about prejudice in a silly 60s sitcom in the way Bewitched sometimes did, but I think a show that seems racist at times from the outside deserves a little credit for episodes like this.
RATING: 7.5/10

22. Spy Counterspy, Counter Counterspy (2/15/66)
After learning of a top secret mission occurring at Fort Courage, two competing spies show up to try to infiltrate the mission.

This episode has a Get Smart feel to it with the spy-driven plot (and it has a direct nod to the show with the character B. Wise being a knockoff of Maxwell Smart). It seems like the show was trying to capitalize on the spy trend of the Cold War era when it aired but it works organically on F Troop because of its military setting. As is so often the case with F Troop, the plot is fun but a little thin so the competing spies, especially the enraptured troops with the female spy (guest star Abbie Lane), go on a little bit too long. I'm a sucker for spy plots though, so this is an enjoyable one for me.
RATING: 7.5/10

23. The Courtship of Wrangler Jane (2/22/66)
Trying to get Parmenter to move off the post, O'Rourke and Agarn try to make him fall in love with Wrangler Jane and use Agarn to try to make him jealous.

F Troop has hinted quite a bit at the romantic sparks between Wrangler Jane and Captain Parmenter, but this is the first episode to deal with it directly. Unlike contemporary shows like Friends and The Office that have a slow and steady build up of romantic tension, there wasn't as much development back then so we go from just playful hints for the entire season so far until we get an episode dedicated to the plot (and then it goes back to being almost nothing). This is a pretty thin plot that isn't nearly as entertaining as the thin plot in the previous episode. The Parmenter-Jane story is better as a side thing than a main plot.
RATING: 3.5/10

24. Play, Gypsy, Play (3/1/66)
A group of traveling gypsies visit and declare Agarn as their long lost prince.

I must admit, I am not a Gabor fan. I don't like Zsa Zsa Gabor in anything I've ever seen her in and I don't like Green Acres, starring her sister Eva. Zsa Zsa appears in this episode (the same season that Green Acres premiered) and I think I've pinpointed why I don't like them. It's always the same and there's very little acting that occurs. They built their entire career based on their looks and their accent. In addition to Zsa Zsa not impressing me, this episode seems built on the idea of the writers trying to get Larry Storch to look silly and that never really works.
RATING: 2.5/10

25. Reunion for O'Rourke (3/8/66)
The troop celebrates O'Rourke's 25 years in the army with a surprise party for him.

This episode is two sitcom tropes put together in one episode. The first part of the episode deals with the troop trying to put together a surprise party for O'Rourke and keeping him from finding out. The second part is a little bit of a "This is Your Life" party for O'Rourke. Neither one is particularly interesting so this episode feels a little long and boring. I also don't have much of a need to see Forrest Tucker singing.
RATING: 2/10

26. Captain Parmenter, One Man Army (3/15/66)
The soldiers learn they were not enlisted legally so they all leave Fort Courage and leave Parmenter alone to man the fort.

This is a fun premise and it works on both ends. Both Captain Parmenter manning the fort by himself and the rest of the troops trying life outside the fort are funny premises. Seeing all the troops dressed to the nines in suits was a funny sight gag. My only complaint is I wish F Troop didn't so often resort to Agarn or O'Rourke dressing as Native Americans. That joke isn't that funny to begin with and gets old when it's done so often.
RATING: 6.5/10

27. Don't Ever Speak to Me Again (3/22/66)
Just as Fort Courage is set to receive an award for morale, a slew of arguments break out across the fort.

This episode feels a little bit like an I Love Lucy episode. That might usually be a compliment, but it's not really here. One of the things Lucy occasionally fell victim to was changing character traits abruptly to suit a premise. That seems to be the case here. We've never really seen the troop fighting or some of these simmering feuds ever developed before. But here it erupts so that they can have the ironic plot of Fort Courage about to receive a morale award. It still has some funny moments, but I wish it was organically set up a little bit more. I know that may be a lot to ask of a 60s sitcom, it was just the nature of most sitcoms at the time.
RATING: 6.5/10

28. Too Many Cooks Spoil the Troop (3/29/66)
Agarn takes over as cook of the troop when their cook is transferred.

I'll be honest with this one, I had a very hard time staying with it. It just did not hold my attention at all. I think the premise is a decent one, it seemed like it should provide Larry Storch with some funny comedic material. But the execution just didn't work here. This was an episode where I think F Troop actually needed to go a little broader. Sometimes they have the reverse problem, but it just felt like this episode never quite figured out the humor that seemed to be fairly easy to find. Jamie Farr has an odd little cameo here several years before he made it big in another military sitcom, M*A*S*H.
RATING: 3/10

29. Indian Fever (4/5/66)
Agarn is convinced he keeps seeing Indians when no one else in the troop does and they become convinced he has developed "indian fever."

This "boy who cries wolf" episode is a great example of F Troop not knowing when to stop. They spend at least half of the episode following Agarn around while he thinks he sees Indians. The episode just treads water for quite awhile. I know this might be typical of some 1960s sitcoms but we had shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, and early seasons of Bewitched that were able to have some very detailed plots all the time so I'm not letting F Troop off the hook when they do things like this. They have shown in other episodes that they are capable of being more creative than this.
RATING: 1.5/10

30. Johnny Eagle Eye (4/12/66)
O'Rourke and Agarn enlist Chief Wild Eagle's nephew to participate in a shooting contest on behalf of F Troop.

This is a fun episode even though we have the whitest of white boys, Paul Petersen (of The Donna Reed Show), being passed off as a young Indian. Despite that, the concept is pretty funny and well developed unlike the previous episode. The sharp shooting contest between Johnny Eagle Eye and Vanderbilt is funny (despite my reservations about Vanderbilt as a character) and that's because the episode set up the climax well. It's all in the execution because F Troop generally has solid premises and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. This one works.
RATING: 7/10

31. A Fort's Best Friend is Not Her Mother (4/19/66)
Captain Parmenter's mother arrives to F Troop and is convinced that he needs to be tougher on the troop or be transferred.

I think this is a key episode for F Troop to have for character development even though the execution is mixed at best. The idea of the show needing to once again reinforce Parmenter's importance in the camp (as well as his clumsy nature) is something the show needs to address once in awhile. Here, we see the troop all come to Parmenter's defense and work tirelessly to keep him in charge. While I could have done without yet another scene where Agarn dresses as an Indian, the objective of this episode is good.
RATING: 5.5/10

32. Lieutenant O'Rourke, Front and Center (4/26/66)
A major visits and wants to promote O'Rourke to lieutenant, which upsets O'Rourke and the rest of the troop.

While most of this episode deals with O'Rourke's potential promotion to lieutenant, it is worth noting that this is one of the first times that F Troop really dives into a 60s-style parody set in the Old West. This became more common during season two, but the scene at the Hekawi camp with the type of music they were playing and the playboy club atmosphere was clearly not time period specific. There's probably two camps of F Troop fans: ones who really like the post-Civil War setting and want to keep it a screwball comedy set there and those who like it more as a full-on farce in the style of Batman or Get Smart. I think I am more in the latter camp so I found that scene funny.
RATING: 6.5/10

33. The Day the Indians Won (5/3/66)
The Hekawis are forced by higher-ups to go to battle with someone so they come up with a deal to "fight" Fort Courage.

This episode feels like a whole bunch of things that have been done all season thrown together in one episode. We have O'Rourke scheming to help O'Rourke Enterprises. We have Vanderbilt making a fool of himself because he can't see. We have an arrangement between the Hekawi and O'Rourke. There's nothing new in this episode, but it is redeemed a little bit by a decent scene at the fort once the Indians "attack." If shows did actual season finales like they do now, this seems like it might have made sense to be a wrap-up of the season.
RATING: 4/10

34. Will the Real Captain Try to Stand Up? (5/10/66)
After manipulation by O'Rourke, Captain Parmenter is temporarily replaced by the town drunk to impress the drunk's visiting daughter.

This episode is told with an interesting convention as it starts with Parmenter reprimanding O'Rourke and then switches between the fall-out from that and the events leading up to it. The convention is cool, but the episode itself is only alright. I wish the stakes were a little higher that lead to O'Rourke's troubles. The plot of the town drunk taking over as Captain is a little too silly to match up to the opening scene that had a decent amount of "what happened?" feeling to it. But props to the different way of telling the story!
RATING: 6/10

AVERAGE RATING FOR SEASON ONE:
5.2/10

The Best Episodes
1. Our Hero, What's His Name? (#17) - 8.5/10
2. Old Ironpants (#8) - 8/10
3. Wrongo Starr and the Lady in Black (#18) - 8/10
4. Honest Injun (#12) - 7.5/10
5. The New I.G. (#21) - 7.5/10

The Worst Episodes
1. The Return of Bald Eagle (#5) - 1/10
2. Indian Fever (#29) - 1.5/10
3. Here Comes the Tribe (#15) - 2/10
4. Reunion for O'Rourke (#25) - 2/10
5. A Gift from the Chief (#11) - 2/10

Tomorrow: The Friday Five - Top 5 TV news stories of the week!

Next Thursday: A look at Season Two of F Troop!