I’ve never actually watched the original McHale’s Navy. I’m ancient, so I was around when it was floating about in syndicated reruns, but the show never caught my attention like, say, Bewitched or The Monkees did. I believe David Alan Grier was playing the character that Tim Conway played on the original show, I’m not sure.
This flick came out in the era when every Hollywood producer was saying, “Let’s turn this old TV show that we grew up watching into a movie!” See also the Beverly Hillbillies, Car 54, Where Are You? and Brady Bunch movies, which all came out around the same time. If there’s a Phoning It In award, then Tom Arnold should’ve won it hands-down for his performance in this.
I remember watching McHale’s Navy in syndication as a kid. A few of those local and UHF stations back in the day would run themed blocks of old shows – for example:
– War time: McHale’s Navy, Hogan’s Heroes and F-Troop
– Supernatural: Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie, and My Favorite Martian
– Kids: The Brady Bunch, Dennis the Menace, Leave it to Beaver, Lassie
– Spooky: The Addams Family and the Munsters
Anyway, they would also run a bunch of these on Nick at Night. It’s kind of strange to think kids of my era were exposed to so much of stuff from the previous generation’s era. Cartoon time used to always feature blocks of old theatrical shorts like Popeye, Looney Tunes, and Mighty Mouse.
Anyway, enough waxing nostalgic. The McHale’s Navy TV show was mostly entertaining thanks to Ernest Borgnine as the amiable scoundrel, and a supporting cast of great character actors that never took itself seriously. Predictable, but enjoyable, the plots almost always revolved around the PT-103 crew getting involved in some kind of hijinks frowned upon by the Navy (gambling, boozing, etc…), then McHale and crew tricking their buzz-kill commanding officer into not finding out.
Yeah, as a kid I encountered the Addams Family/Munsters and I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched combos a lot in syndication; those pairings even aired on what was then SuperStation TBS for a time.
ECKTCHUALLY, I thought the joke was that he was uncomfortable giving women medal pins because it entails touching the area of the breast. There, now that I’ve explained it pedantically, the joke is hilarious!
There really was an excess of old 60s-70s-television-to-screen adaptations at this point in the 90s. Besides “The Flintstones” in ’94, how many of these actually turned a profit?
I can’t think of a single movie starring Tom Arnold that that has attained legendary status. He’s just not a very memorable lead. In fact, I couldn’t really name any movie he’s had a starring role in, other than The Stupids, which was another box office bomb.
Oh, well. From what Brad Jones said in his Midnight Screenings, it still doesn’t seem as bad a remake of an old series as Chips.
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I’ve never heard of this movie or its source material. Heck, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Tom Arnold before.
I’ve never actually watched the original McHale’s Navy. I’m ancient, so I was around when it was floating about in syndicated reruns, but the show never caught my attention like, say, Bewitched or The Monkees did. I believe David Alan Grier was playing the character that Tim Conway played on the original show, I’m not sure.
This flick came out in the era when every Hollywood producer was saying, “Let’s turn this old TV show that we grew up watching into a movie!” See also the Beverly Hillbillies, Car 54, Where Are You? and Brady Bunch movies, which all came out around the same time. If there’s a Phoning It In award, then Tom Arnold should’ve won it hands-down for his performance in this.
I remember watching McHale’s Navy in syndication as a kid. A few of those local and UHF stations back in the day would run themed blocks of old shows – for example:
– War time: McHale’s Navy, Hogan’s Heroes and F-Troop
– Supernatural: Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie, and My Favorite Martian
– Kids: The Brady Bunch, Dennis the Menace, Leave it to Beaver, Lassie
– Spooky: The Addams Family and the Munsters
Anyway, they would also run a bunch of these on Nick at Night. It’s kind of strange to think kids of my era were exposed to so much of stuff from the previous generation’s era. Cartoon time used to always feature blocks of old theatrical shorts like Popeye, Looney Tunes, and Mighty Mouse.
Anyway, enough waxing nostalgic. The McHale’s Navy TV show was mostly entertaining thanks to Ernest Borgnine as the amiable scoundrel, and a supporting cast of great character actors that never took itself seriously. Predictable, but enjoyable, the plots almost always revolved around the PT-103 crew getting involved in some kind of hijinks frowned upon by the Navy (gambling, boozing, etc…), then McHale and crew tricking their buzz-kill commanding officer into not finding out.
Yeah, as a kid I encountered the Addams Family/Munsters and I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched combos a lot in syndication; those pairings even aired on what was then SuperStation TBS for a time.
ECKTCHUALLY, I thought the joke was that he was uncomfortable giving women medal pins because it entails touching the area of the breast. There, now that I’ve explained it pedantically, the joke is hilarious!
There really was an excess of old 60s-70s-television-to-screen adaptations at this point in the 90s. Besides “The Flintstones” in ’94, how many of these actually turned a profit?
Yes, my jokes also tie in to the fact he can’t put a pin on her chest. 😉
You should have the custom forum level of Steffy Love, ’cause we all know who wears the glitter pants in that relationship! Ba dum
You’ll have to forgive me, then; I watched this review at 3 AM and I wasn’t all there at the time [commented after the fact]
Speaking of not being all there, ignore the accidental comment report there.One more comment: Allison looks super cute in the nautical themed outfit.
It’s a win.
I can’t think of a single movie starring Tom Arnold that that has attained legendary status. He’s just not a very memorable lead. In fact, I couldn’t really name any movie he’s had a starring role in, other than The Stupids, which was another box office bomb.
Oh, well. From what Brad Jones said in his Midnight Screenings, it still doesn’t seem as bad a remake of an old series as Chips.