The Good
A great show that presents the military in a very light hearted manner.
The Bad
A paltry amount of extras. Come on, Shout! Factory!
McHale’s Navy: Season Two gives fans of this show 36 episodes with which they can laugh along with McHale and his men. Stationed on the island of Taratupa during World War II, the men of PT-73 are led by Quinton McHale (Ernest Borgnine) and Ensign Parker (Tim Conway). While Parker tries to keep the group walking along the straight and narrow (as much as he can, although he often goes off course himself), it isn’t always easy as McHale is the first to raise hell. However, the person that McHale and Co. have to really watch out for is Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn), who always thinks that PT-73 is up to something (and the truth is, they usually are). In fact, there is so much internal combustion between PT-73 and others that the war with the Japanese seems to be all but nonexistent. As I stated in my other review of this show, McHale and his men like to have a good time but when the chips are down these men always manage to step up their game and get the job done.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
It would be easy to see Borgnine, Conway and Flynn as the chief architects behind the comedy of this show. That would be true probably 75% of the time. However, the supporting cast who can always be counted on for a quick quip or or idea, also make this show well worth watching. McHale’s Navy: Season Two is yet another great edition to the TV on DVD universe.
Features
Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway Remember
Placed on the first and second discs, respectively, we get Borgnine and Conway separately reminiscing about the making of this show. They discuss the effect that this show had on people, how it was a great tool for the Navy to recruit soldiers, and they each talk about their experiences along the way. I particularly liked hearing what Borgnine had to say about his past. At 90 years of age it is amazing how sharp and lucid this man is. He discusses getting into the service during the Great Depression, how once he got famous in movies he didn’t want to do TV (even turning down the role of McHale), and how at first the navy supervisor on the show didn’t get what Borgnine and Co. were trying to do.
Video
Full Screen. The black and white textures of this show looked really good on my TV screen. In fact, the black and white was so sharp and the contrast so strong in its presentation, that it actually looked somewhat blue at times. Aside from occasionally getting weird patterns on the screen here and there, things looked really solid. These shows are from 1963 to 1964 and while that isn’t as old as some of the shows that pass through my DVD player, I must give Shout! Factory credit for making these things look so good.
Audio
Surprisingly, I didn’t see the audio being listed out on this DVD box. While I have to assume that it is probably mono, I really can’t be 100% sure. Things sounded good and I only had to level my set about halfway up. There was a crispness to the dialogue and I was actually thinking that Shout! Factory might have done something to the audio to make it sound so good. Unfortunately, I can’t find anything on the box that says anything about this.
Package
This color slipcase (as I have stated the show itself is in black and white) gives us a funny picture of the main cast on the front cover, while the back gives us a very solid description of what this set contains. There are three images from the show laid out across the right side, a Special Features listing and some very minor technical specs. All 5 discs are housed in 3 slim cases with all of them focusing on the three main characters from this film. The back covers list out all the episodes and their airdates, and there more images from the show laid out all around it. There is a nice booklet accompanying this release which goes through each episode and in the third slipcase you can even find a McHale’s Navy e>
Final Word
As I was watching this show, I was taken with how often the characters liberally use the word “nip.” As many people know, this term is a derogatory piece of slang that is used when referring to our Asian Brothers and Sisters. What is so interesting to me is that this show, which for all intents and purposes has its heart in the right place, was really a product of its time. This is how people talked back then. We were at war with the Japanese. They were our enemy so having a name to call them was yet another way to denigrate these people (and also hurt the Asian Americans living in our country). At the same time, I am actually glad that that they haven’t edited this show for TV or DVD. No, it’s not because I am a racist or I like hearing people being called names. I just agree with the idea that to erase them from a historical show like McHale’s Navy, would be acting as if the racial problems never existed in the first place.
In a very special way McHale’s Navy: Season Two serves both as a great piece of classic television and as an informative piece of history.
