How do you feel about the new slate of military themed TV shows coming?

SGT Dave Tracy — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 09:52:43 -0400

Not that I have great expectations for these shows to last long, but we seem to have a higher than normal crop of new shows with a military theme such as "The Brave," "The Long Road Home," "Valor”, & "SEAL Team." (Thanks Military.com)

Do they help the image of the military? Hurt it? Mislead the public about the military (even if unintentionally)? Pander to pro-military sentiments? Other? What are your thoughts?

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 25 at 2017 9:54 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 09:54:28 -0400

As I don't rightly watch tv anymore, other than the news, I have no idea what this show even is.

Response by SSgt Ryan Sylvester made Sep 25 at 2017 10:13 AM

SSgt Ryan Sylvester — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 10:13:40 -0400

I'm going to say Pander. Haven't seen any of these shows, so I don't know the quality. What I do know is the quality of newer shows that have come out more recently, and they will probably screw it up. I just don't have high hopes that these shows will amount to much, simply pander to the widest possible audience... which isn't us.

I mean, honestly, look at the show that swept the Emmys recently. I've watched its opening season. It's bad. Like, really bad. Just one SJW trope after another, crammed down your throat, in the most over-the-top scenario crafted. And part of me recognizes... that's exactly how they see the world right now. So yeah. Honestly, I don't put much faith in the creative minds of TV. Even in military-themed TV shows, I am going to bet we'll see the same SJW tropes presented in different ways.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 25 at 2017 10:58 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 10:58:12 -0400

The shows may end up being entertaining but I'm not planning on watching them so I won't know. What I do know is that the people who produce TV shows do so to make money. And in order to do that (at least in the amounts they hope to) they need to cater to a wide audience. So reality will take a backseat over fireball grenades, never changing mags, and units that never leave combat zones...ever. And I get it. Having an episode where the guys just stand guard, talk about which actress they'd like to make it with, no bad guys ever show up, and then they go play a video game would be TV suicide. But, if and when they start getting political and using the show to advance some agenda we could find the current tide of massive public support turning. Not overnight, but eventually.

Response by PO3 Phyllis Maynard made Sep 25 at 2017 10:59 AM

PO3 Phyllis Maynard — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 10:59:18 -0400

Do you think the public is forgetting that tv is make believe and maybe the men and women in harm's way will suffer more? Do you think the images are challenging the US enemies to test the men and women in harm's way? Things are different since I was in Beirut. This type of posturing is dangerous and may promote another fatal attack against the US all over again. Recall a discussion post citing military trainers using poecedural tv techniques to prepare the Afghan police; a collossial failure and 70 million dollars down the sewer. When President Eisenhower made a display, "The Great White Fleet", the US was received as a world power not to be fooled with. The worst thing that could have happened to our military strength was sometime in the 1990s the Marines Corps was under investigation/lawsuit ???maybe, and the strict protocols for boot camp training was scaled back considerably. My retired brother Master Gunnery Sergeant 30 years saw the result of that. TV is misleading the military itself, not to mention the public.

Response by Capt Dwayne Conyers made Sep 25 at 2017 11:17 AM

Capt Dwayne Conyers — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 11:17:07 -0400

I am part of a large group of veterans working in film and television. I know writers for some of these shows who served active duty. I trust they will help keep the balance.

Response by SSG Diane R. made Sep 25 at 2017 12:11 PM

SSG Diane R. — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 12:11:35 -0400

Overcoming the extreme left-wing bias of Hollywood would seem to be quite difficult in my opinion

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 25 at 2017 12:24 PM

Cpl Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 12:24:48 -0400

I personally have a hard time watching military movies/TV shows. It seems most of them have glaring mistakes from the uniform, to conduct and jargon. The cringe moments are laughable and it usually ruins it for me so I try to stay away from most of them, aside from the classics. This is why I think it misleads the public about the military. Not everything is tacticool and high-speed, there are jobs that aren't so glamorous and more than likely people enlisting will be doing these jobs.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 25 at 2017 3:44 PM

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 15:44:26 -0400

SGT Dave Tracy heck these shows don't even have Pentagon approval they so they do not officially represent the military but it will mislead the public seen the trailers and it's cringe worthy to be fair the characters are hot headed cowboys.

Response by SGT Patrick Reno made Sep 25 at 2017 4:52 PM

SGT Patrick Reno — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 16:52:53 -0400

I hate watching them. All I do is pick out all the things they get wrong.

Response by SFC Jim Ruether made Sep 25 at 2017 5:02 PM

SFC Jim Ruether — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 17:02:25 -0400

I personally think that the stories of the SF, Seals, Marine Force Recon, Air Force PJ's should remain just that. Stories told in private. I think Hollywood can and does overstep its artistic license and sometimes shows off to much in weapon systems, procedures, mission capability etc. Maybe not top secret but they can and do show to much. I don't plan on watching them myself.

Response by LT Brad McInnis made Sep 25 at 2017 5:17 PM

LT Brad McInnis — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 17:17:11 -0400

I was a surface warfare officer (Ship driver). When I tell people I was in the Navy, they automatically think I was a SEAL, because they think everyone in the Navy is a SEAL. The shows are usually not bad for those that haven't served. I'll watch them, though...

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 26 at 2017 5:33 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 05:33:33 -0400

If they begin to portray any aspect of military service positively or honorably, the show will be cancelled, just as Last Man Standing was cancelled for respecting American values and traditions. Hollywood is intent on continuing the narrative that the US 'military industrial complex' exists solely to destroy the world so that corporations can make money. This obvious stupidity has become a closely held belief in a vast number of American (sheep) citizens and is exacerbated by the vastly reduced strength of the force and the fact that more than 70% of Americans do not know even a single person in the military. There is a huge disconnect between our military and the general population, and Hollywood seems to be thriving on it.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 26 at 2017 8:55 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 08:55:55 -0400

I don't watch much TV so I don't know much about any of these shows. I can't help but think that Hollywood will inject some of its liberal nonsense into the shows somewhere. Either way they won't do anything but mislead the public since... you know... everything you see on TV is true...

Response by SPC James Anderson made Oct 2 at 2017 6:16 PM

SPC James Anderson — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 18:16:20 -0400

They are pandering to a highly respected Military and making as much money as they can from it. I wouldn't expect anything else from them.

Response by CW5 Sam R. Baker made Oct 2 at 2017 6:21 PM

CW5 Sam R. Baker — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 18:21:09 -0400

Well having watched it last night in lieu of the NFL, I must say that I wish the guys would have their NVGs on while flying the helicopter. The ground guys were flipped up and down during different stages of the night assault on the compound, and even some of the color 180 NVGs that were experimental for me a while back. The largest thing was the Vietnam helmet without NVGs mounted and the awesome white landing lights while going deep across populated areas. Entertaining for the masses, so expect those questions when you are found out to be a veteran.

Response by SFC David Fullmer made Oct 2 at 2017 6:55 PM

SFC David Fullmer — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 18:55:02 -0400

If the actors don’t wear reflectorized belts, it’s pure hogwash.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 2 at 2017 7:07 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 19:07:29 -0400

Exterene left wing bias???

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 2 at 2017 7:08 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 19:08:10 -0400

They bend over backwards to put people that believe in crazy stuff on television shows

Response by Cpl Mark Crabtree made Oct 2 at 2017 9:13 PM

Cpl Mark Crabtree — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 21:13:16 -0400

While these shows are ultimately meant to entertain. They always blow up what military is really like. Let's face it no one wants to watch a show about people showing up early waiting around all day. People cleaning and standing duty....

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Oct 3 at 2017 12:43 AM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 00:43:29 -0400

I Would Like Believe that they Give a "Fair and Balanced" Perspective but I Know Better. No Way In Hell to Give a Fair and Balanced Perspective to What I did for 21 Years as a Navy Spook. LOL!

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Oct 3 at 2017 12:46 AM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 00:46:37 -0400

If they would stick to reality, maybe ok, but then it would be boring to the general public. No fireball grenades. We all know what real explosions look like. No I have no plans on watching them. I did my time in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq.

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 3 at 2017 2:07 AM

Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 02:07:24 -0400

I am biased because I am working on "The Brave," doing aerial drone shots for it, so I think its great! Disclaimer: I have not seen a single episode, so I have no idea what its actually like. Shooting it was cool though. I did some of the "Plates" that would be used for mock Predator footage, that was interesting since I actually flew the Predator. I also did principal aerial photography for a bunch of stunt shots for the shows artistic aesthetic. Some shots won't look like drone work because I was 6 feet off the ground screaming by the mock-up convoys.

Despite my bias I think they can be a good thing if they give a fair look at what we do. Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don't. Of course it is going to be dramatized to appeal to wide audience other than us. So we have to be big picture about that. It has to get ratings and make money or it gets chopped in the vault to never see the light of day outside the executive screening room.

Will some writers have a bias one or the other? Of course. Will some things be technically inaccurate? It depends on the budget of the show. Sometimes it depends on the aesthetic if the military is the primary focus of the story line. I worked on a show once, I won't call it out. They screwed up. They had a Air Force Captain in blues wearing Army Aviator Badge. I brought that up to the producer, when that character reappeared in a subsequent season he was wearing the proper AF wings designed by Hap Arnold. In this case the military theme was a very small of the story line. When I brought it up to producer, jokingly he was actually embarrassed. Some actually do want it right. A producer is busy doing other things at the top level. He is not in the weeds making those decisions 99% of the time, that's not his job. That's like a wing commander telling an airman to clean the shitter better.

Here is the irony two weeks later after I brought that up. I went to drill. We had a new hire. An AF Captain who was a former Army Blackhawk pilot, who was only sporting the Army aviator badge because he never flew for the Air Force. Haha the jokes on me.

Since I do this for living I know the inside very well. I was a tech adviser for a military movie. I can tell you why sometimes an inaccuracy is purposely done, due to IP and copyright laws. There is misunderstanding of them, as well as a popular urban legend that uniforms need to be jacked up as to not impersonate an actual military person. This is never been the case but is an alive myth in the industry.

If you have questions feel free to ask.

Response by SSG Ralph Watkins made Oct 3 at 2017 9:26 AM

SSG Ralph Watkins — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 09:26:07 -0400

It's Hollywood. They have to glamorize things. Even do some product promotion. Kids are going to see all of those patches on their uniforms & then want one like that. My unit did missions with the SEALs for 9 months in Iraq. They are really good but very human too. They tend to be professional & relaxed at the same time. Like many special ops teams, it's not always the highest ranking person in charge of the mission either. It's who understands the mission the best. Not everything is perfect & they do get themselves fouled up at times. This show looks like a good recruitment tool for young folks to get interested in joining the military. A few may actually make it to become SEALs.

Response by SP5 Peter Keane made Oct 3 at 2017 11:33 AM

SP5 Peter Keane — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 11:33:57 -0400

I always like the line "One shot to the head from 7 miles away, probably military."

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 5 at 2017 5:47 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 17:47:22 -0400

Watched Navy Seals last night. Ouch! Hurt my head just trying wrap my head around all of the inaccuracies. I've never been a SEAL but been in the Army over 3 decades and was an NBC NCO before I commissioned, among other things. Examples; the planning meeting: No graphics, casual room and atmosphere, people walking around talking about nonsensical and political issues, no OPORDs, FRAGOs, WARNOs. No actual planning or any of the other boring crap that happens in planning meetings. Complete BS. Lots of other bogus stuff after that and then they come in contact with VX. Really? So, I guess SEALs are immune to nerve agents since they can handle, treat, and decontaminate VX victims without wearing any protective gear but a pro-mask? SEALs carry decon kits for 24 people in their combat load? Oh, and they bring a friggin' noncombatant chemist PhD with them and NOT a CBRNE expert? SEALs drop into a combat zone by HAHO and magically have up-armored M1151s sitting outside the building for their escape a few hours later? The only realistic part was that Green Berets came to their rescue. Ow. Ow. OOOWWW! It just hurts to watch these things...