Article Type: Review
Article Date: September 17, 2002
Military, Reality Style
Reality television is the current rage with networks, and public interest in the military has only been helped by current events. The History Channel has two new weekly series that capitalize on this. The first is “Mail Call”, hosted by former U.S. Marine drill instructor R. Lee Ermey, who has made quite a name as an actor. The second is “Basic Training,” a documentary that follows a class of Army recruits through boot camp.
Email the Sergeant
Who can forget Ermey's magnificent performance reprising his real life role as a drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket? He again played a Marine in the television series “Space: Above and Beyond,” and has appeared in several other movies and television programs. Although medically discharged from the service in 1971, the Corps recently awarded him an honorary promotion for his continued work in promoting the Marines. He's even got his own 'motivational' doll that you can buy and have scream at you in the mornings to get off your ass and on to work. He joins Dale Dye, Ed McMahon, and Harvey Keitel former Marines that have made it in show business.
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| I said 'DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY!' |
That makes him a strong candidate for the host of “Mail Call”. Ermey certainly brings his gruff demeanor and sense of humor to the show. Viewers send in questions via email, and Ermey takes a few each week and visits with experts to answer them. For example, the debut episode answers the question, "How do you drive a tank?" Ermey gets help from a historian and together they drive an old M5 Stuart tank through a field of watermelons. He also attacks watermelons for a later question about samurai swords, where he gets to demonstrate the sharpness of the blade. And we learn that folks selling a vintage sword could set a minimum bid on eBay of a million dollars. That's some heavy metal. Watermelon's rights activists can take some solace, for none are harmed in the segment where Ermey answers a question about gattling guns.
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| Ermey has an American Revolutionary soldier demonstrate his rate of fire. |
Ermey brings important personality to the show, which could get drab without him. At times though, his shtick can get old, and without the crusty Marine's cussing and perverse topics, his one liners certainly lack the edge of some of the cannonballs he spit out in Full Metal Jacket. More intriguing for most is the fact that the show is somewhat interactive. The chance to have your questions answered and your name acknowledged on television is certainly as interesting as the questions themselves. Interested parties can visit The History Channel to send a question to the sergeant.
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| 'Yeah, three rounds per minute is impressive, but did you hit the target?' |
You're in the Army Now
“Mail Call” is a thirty-minute show, followed by “Basic Training,” also thirty minutes. If one were to ask Ermey, "Which branch of the American military has the toughest boot camp," the unbiased Ermey would most certainly answer, "The Marines! The rest of those cupcake services don't have boot camp, they have country clubs!" It's commonly known that the Marines do have the longest boot camp of the US military services, but “Basic Training” shows that the kids in the Army grunt factory also get to suffer considerably.
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| Recruit takes aim on a new career. |
The Army granted “Basic Training” unprecedented access to the camp at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Many viewers may empathize with the recruits, who are often confused as they're herded from one processing station to another in rapid succession while being given new rules to live by. As with most boot camps, the procedures at Fort Jackson assault everything the fresh recruits know. They are not allowed to bring personal effects, stereos, or drugs, and are given an opportunity to turn them in with no questions asked in a place called the "amnesty room." An interesting statistic flashed on the screen tells viewers that the amnesty room's most common spoils include tobacco implements and adult magazines.
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| Shoot over there! |
The military is coed, and both men and women are in the recruit pool. The program actually selects four men and two women to highlight during the camp. One of the men is an older recruit, who claims he hopes to provide guidance to the others, and that he wants to make the rank of general someday. Some viewers, especially veterans, may roll their eyes at that one and think, "Oh boy, a careerist." Another man, however, seemed to be in good physical shape since he's a boxer, and his headstrong personality could make for some interesting altercations with the instructors. One of the young female recruits said she joined because she sat at her desk at work one day and realized she had tired of the corporate grind.
The recruits learn a new vocabulary. "Hoah" or "hooah" is a standard acknowledgement utterance (you may have heard it in movies like Black Hawk Down or Courage Under Fire), and every direct response to a superior is something like "Yes, Corporal." They are verbally hounded until they get these standards right. They have their feet analyzed for arch curvature so they can get proper footgear, and then learn how to dress a military bunk. The first day of processing and the first episode of the show don't end until 3:30am, with the recruits weary and only hours away from an even harsher day.
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| Locked. Loaded. Ready for anything. |
The program is more immediately engrossing than “Mail Call”. You know they are seeing the real deal unfolding before them. By the end of the series, of course, you know that some of the recruits will have failed, and thus without the goofy shenanigans of shows like “Survivor”, “Basic Training” benefits from a comparable attrition effect and the residual suspense.
Both programs air on Monday nights on The History Channel, starting at 8 P.M. Eastern.