Yes, I had also noticed that the Ensign seemed to old, but I just figured that maybe he was previously an enlisted man who later went to Officer Candidate School (OCS). However, I think you are right, they should have had a younger man play that role to make it more believable.
The other quirky thing I noticed about the scene with the Captain and Ensign, is that the Captain is eating a catered dinner with wine in front of his sailors while they are busting their humps, on Christmas Eve, no less. This is not good leadership (bad for morale) and is not done.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)
So we watched this one last night, due to the current "season" and because Larry had never seen it (or couldn't remember ever seeing it).
First of all, I was horribly embarrassed for Rick. He was getting free transportation, and all he did was bitch and whine relentlessly! I wanted to slap him! He was NOT very likeable in this episode!
I thought it was cute when Rick and TM sneaked up on TC while he was singing and chimed in. I think this could have been "played" more as TC sang again later.
Also, from that scene, when they went running to try to flag down the Coast Guard chopper, Rick reasonably dropped his wood and went running for the beach. TM CARRIED his wood with him to the beach while running, then drops it on the beach. What was THAT all about? Looked sort of dumb.
Then Larry spotted this: While they were at the campfire that night, suddenly TM was wearing a camp/khaki shirt. He'd been in his tank-type tee shirt in all other scenes. Where did he get another shirt? Or did they all have luggage for an overnight stay wherever they were going? I wouldn't call this a "shocking flub," more a continuity issue, I think.
And on that note, TC was dropping them off then going back and going home to New Orleans. How were they going to get back to Oahu if TC was gone? If that were the case, wouldn't they all have gone to their destinations in the first place by local aircraft? Why would they have imposed on their good friend TC to fly them somewhere when he was trying to get home to the States? That seemed awfully selfish of them, at least to me it did.
Also, if you look closely, when they crash-land, you can see one of the struts break, or crack at least, right at the juncture with the fuselage (James, can you get a screenshot of this?). I would think this would be a major problem for lifting off again, with these pretty solid four guys in the aircraft. That isn't touched on. As for the frequency display lighted numerals on the radio, frankly, if the sun were shining on it at the right angle (and it appeared to be in the sunlight), you probably couldn't see a lighted display -- you'd have to shade it with your hand to see the numbers anyway. So I think they can get away with not showing any display in this circumstance.
And on what little island did they crash? I Google-Earthed it to check my thoughts, and there's nothing between Oahu and Molokai
Also, I'm not the expert in this area -- I'm sure someone else here can help me with this, but for the idea of the crash itself, why wouldn't TC have cut power and done an autorotation, over which he would have pretty good control, if he's as good a heli pilot as he is indicated as being, instead of trying to come in and land with the power still running and being compromised by the ineffective tail rotor? Helicopter experts here, does this make sense?
Don't mean to pick on the episode since what I'm picking on is the basis for the entire scenario of the episode. And I did love TM's coming up with a little Christmas tree (correctly a Cook pine, usually called a Norfolk Island pine, which is really isn't, it's a Cook -- and these trees are prolific all over the Hawaiian islands), but where did he get the silver/aluminum star he put on top of it?
I just wish in eight years the show had done more Christmas shows, even if Hawaii doesn't really have the weather for it, as discussed by TM in the introductory narrative to this episode.
And with Higgins trying to use the Japanese airplane as a boat -- that sure reminded me anachronistically of "Six Days, Seven Nights," where the floats on the plane in that movie DID work. But then Harrison Ford was doing the "construction," not JQH!
Then their lifiting off just as the bombing starts -- after working all day on the heli, suddenly after dark, TC gets it conveniently fixed? This episode across the board was just a little TOO contrived for me, just one of them that was "trying too hard." Sorry, guys!
golfmobile wrote:And on what little island did they crash? I Google-Earthed it to check my thoughts, and there's nothing between Oahu and Molokai
In "Magnum World" it's "Frenchman's Island". In the real world they filmed it at Kahoolawe Island ("The Target Isle"), which is located 7 miles SW of Maui.
The show also imagined three fictional islands just north of Maui (complete with a map shot) in "Kapu".
I think your other observations can be explained - They had luggage, T.C. was available for a one-way flight (so why not), the star was made out of tin foil. A good heli pilot/mechanic always carries some tin foil on board. Not sure about the landing.
This episode has become a Christmas tradition for my family. We watched it again on Christmas Eve.
Is it just me, or has anyone noticed that the bridge or command center on the Navy ship, does not look like any type of naval vessel at all. In fact it looks more like a poorly prepared set, complete with curtains. Although I never was in the Navy, did they use curtains on their ships? Were they color coordinated with the carpeting?
Also, I agree about the captain eating & drinking wine in front of his crew.
Just found this on another site. If this is correct, then this should be a "shocking flub"?
In episode #70, "Operation: Silent Night", footage is used which shows the Navy destroyer, "U.S.S. Wren". That episode aired in 1983 and the "Wren" was scrapped in 1975! Oops!
The site where I got the above also lists all the episodes with the date each originally aired. I don't know if James has that information here, so I apologize if this is "old news." But if we need it here, it can be found here:
I found it by looking for the answer to Tral's good trivia question -- was looking for an episode that aired on 12/29/86 (there wasn't one on that date, if you're wondering).
I found the location of the beach shots. The place is Puaena Point, the northern tip of Waialua Bay, on the north shore of Oahu. Here's where Higgins write his will and talks to TC. And here's where they launch Higgins' doomed "sailing" craft.
Some more info: In the interview Sam posted, of David Romas interviewing Roger Mosley, Mosley mentions Operation: Silent Night stands out as one of his favorites.
MOSLEY: Well, obviously, okay, take the obvious ones out, the ones that I wrote and directed. But the one that stands out is the one that we did about the Christmas show where the helicopter broke down on this island.
....
MOSLEY: And we had so much fun because we literally went to the back of the island and we stayed there. We stayed there, like, maybe three or four days and shot that. And there was nobody but us, the principals. And all the rest of the stuff was shot "second unit," you know, about the boat and the guys planning to bomb the island and stuff like that. The four of us worked that whole show. And we were sort of isolated.
....
MOSLEY: Well, that was my favorite show, that one right there, 'cause we went around Turtle Bay. And, uh . . .
....
MOSLEY: He builds a boat and goes marching out . . . [Chuckles]
1) There is no alcohol on naval vessels.
2) The captian would've been in the wardroom or his stateroom.
3) An Ensign would not have been clearing the captians plate.
4) That ship had too much open space and glass. A real navy ship is much more closed quarters.
Love this episode. It's my favourite next to LIMBO. Yes, it's contrived and it really doesn't need the 'Jeapordy' plotline but as a character study it's brilliant.
The Higgins/TC relationship is great in this episode (I always liked the TC/Higgins stuff - they seem to have a lot of respect for each other), the comedy is genuinely funny and it's just such a fun episode. My kids all liked this one as well so there's a vote of confidence for you.
IKnowWhatYoureThinking wrote:Didn't Manetti say somewhere that this was his favorite episode?
I don't know about Larry Manetti, but Roger Mosley basically said this was his favorite besides the ones he wrote and directed (more in my post on the second page).
Golf, The landing is easily explainable. Hughes MD 500 series helicopters don't have hard mounted skids. They're mounted to Hughes' shock absorbing system. What you saw was simply the mechanisim doing what it was designed to. This was a revolutionary safety item that Hughes aircraft pioneered.
Last edited by N1095A on Fri Dec 26, 2008 6:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
lutherhgillis wrote:Also, isn't the ensign a little old to hold such a rank. He appears to be late 30s at the least. Maybe he is in his 40s.
Bruce French who played Ensign Jensen (anyone see the humor in the character name?) according to IMDB was born 4 July 1945 making him 38 in this episode. Of course we know how the MPI series played around with peoples' age.
This is not good leadership (bad for morale) and is not done.
