Product Description

After accidentally leading a cavalry charge into victory, Private Wilton Parmenter becomes a hero and is given command of Fort Courage. Here, his group of cavalrymen bumble through fighting their enemies and working with the local Hekawi Indians to sell items to tourists.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7925 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-06-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 6
• Dimensions: .80 pounds
• Running time: 667 minutes

Features

• After accidentally leading a cavalry charge into victory, Private Wilton Parmenter becomes a hero and is given command of Fort Courage. Here, his group of cavalrymen bumble through fighting their enemies and working with the local Hekawi Indians to sell items to tourists.Running Time: 866 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN Rating: NR Age: 012569807747 UPC: 0125698

Amazon.com
F-Troop belongs to the ranks of television's great military slacker comedies, including Sgt. Bilko and McHale's Navy. Ken Berry was promoted from bit player to leading man with his role as clueless and clumsy ("I fall down a lot") Wilton Parmenter, who is put in charge of the frontier post Fort Courage after a display of inadvertent Civil War heroism. "He's the pigeon we always dreamed of," enthuses Sgt. O'Rourke (Forrest Tucker), who runs "O'Rourke Enterprises" with his sidekick Corporal Agarn (Larry Storch). Most episodes involve O'Rourke and Agarn's get-rich schemes that ultimately backfire. The show's great (albeit politically incorrect) comic conceit is the Hekawis, the decidedly un-bloodthirsty Indian tribe who makes tourist souvenirs, not war. "We invent peace pipe," proclaims Chief Wild Eagle (Frank DeKova), whose broken English and anachronistic vernacular (similar to Joey Bishop in Texas Across the River) provide most of each episode's biggest--and, in these more enlightened times, guiltiest--laughs.

F's troupe also includes Melody Patterson as Wrangler Jane, who has a hankerin' for "Will" ("I told you, Jane, not in front of the men"), James Hampton as bungling bugler Dobbs, Joe Brooks as nearsighted look-out Vanderbilt, cowboy star Bob Steele as gung-ho Alamo survivor Duffy, and venerable character actor (and Rocky and Bullwinkle's "Fractured Fairy Tales" narrator) Edward Everett Horton as Hekawi medicine man Roaring Chicken. Among the more memorable guest appearances include Zsa Zsa Gabor as a gypsy who attempts to fleece Agarn in "Play, Gypsy, Play," and Don Rickles (!) as Chief Wild Eagle's excitable, warlike son in "The Return of Bald Eagle." The episode, "Reunion for O'Rouke," contains the classic bit about how the Hekawis got their name. F-Troop debuted in 1965 and lasted but two seasons. It broke no television ground and was never nominated for an Emmy. A single-disc compilation of six episodes is also available, but Baby Boomers who remember F-Troop fondly will want to enlist for a full season. It's old school, flat-out funny. -–Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

"Take left at rock that looks like big bear, and right at bear that looks like big rock."
After 40+ years, They're back. The whole crazy bunch of misfits of Fort Courage return and they are funnier than ever.

Capt. Parmenter, Sgt. O'Rourke, Cpl. Agarn, Wrangler Jane, Chief Wild Eagle, Crazy Cat, and Troopers Hannibal Dobbs, Duffy, Hoffenmueller and Vanderbilt provide the laughs while parodying life between the soldiers of Fort Courage and the Hekawi Indian tribe.

It appears we have a nicely packaged set with single-sided picture discs containing all 34 episodes from season one. A great job from the good folks at the Warner Bros.!

How the west was fun!
I loved this show as a kid and I love it now. When I was a kid, this show was good clean stupid fun and I was a good clean stupid kid. Now I love it because it's good clean stupid fun in a world where sit-coms are crass, dirty, and most of the humor is pornographic in nature.

The reason that F-Troop works is that it had a great cast with great chemistry and timing. There was a lot of repetitive slapstick humor, maybe too much, but there were veteran actors making that humor happen.

Also, the sets were expansive for a sit-com. You had an entire fort, a western town, and an indian camp with not very politically correct indians. (In fact, the sheer non-PC part of the show is something I enjoy as an adult. This show probably couldn't have been made today.)

And, there were just a lot of people in the show. There were many supporting actors among the F-troopers and the indians, just a lot of people involved to interact with the main characters. Contrast this to so many sit-coms that for the most part take place in a living room or a restaurant, or a living room and a restuarant, but not much more.

The humor is probably a bit repetitive and I don't see myself watching more than one or two episodes in a sitting, but I'm thrilled to have this show back in my life in glorious DVD resolution. When my morale droops, I watch F-Troop.

Fantastic!!!
I purchased the 6 episode "TV Favorites" version of F Troop and it only whetted my appetite for full season releases. This was my favorite show in the mid-sixties. It is hilarious with a great cast and a list of guest stars that's a Who's Who of that long ago TV era: Milton Berle, Vincent Price, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Paul Lynde, Harvey Korman, Charley Weaver, Don Rickles etc., etc. Be forewarned though! There is no "message", no "social relevance" and there was never a "very special F Troop" episode. Buy it!!! So they will quickly release Season 2!!