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By D. K. Holm
Special to MSN Entertainment

War seems like a big-screen thing. It requires the scope of the imposing, towering white frame of the movie screen to capture the landscapes, the violence and passion of men (and now women) in mortal combat. But warfare, like television itself, is adaptable. And the small screen has proven to be a worthy and entertaining home for shows about war. In celebration of Armed Forces Day, here's a look at some of the notable military programs produced over the years.
 
"The Phil Silvers Show"
After a career in vaudeville, theater and movies, Phil Silvers ended up on television in 1955 as Sgt. Ernest G. Bilko in this military comedy. Moving to television may have been viewed as a terrible comedown at the time, but in hindsight it's clear that "The Phil Silvers Show" was one of the best shows of the era, thanks to Silvers, the cranky supporting cast, and its creator, the brilliant and influential Nat Hiken. Both this show and Hiken's later series "Car 54, Where Are You?" are true situation comedies, wherein the humor lies in established characters whose parallel schemes eventually mesh in a hilarious conclusion. "Seinfeld," for example, is unimaginable without the existence of Hiken's work. And, like the "Seinfeld" characters, Bilko and his men never learn -- and never hug -- as they bound from one get-rich-quick scheme to another each week. Silvers, who has a face like a cookie jar with dimples, is simply brilliant as the hustler to end all hustlers.
 
"Combat!"
Airing on ABC from 1962 through 1967, "Combat!" took the rare realistic approach to warfare, as producers were unafraid to kill off regular characters. The show also told a chronological battle story, in which Vic Morrow's Sgt. Chip Saunders and his squad made their way slowly through France, village by village, after D-Day. The French countryside was portrayed as a series of lone wall fragments strewn with rubble or roofless houses with exposed beams, sites where the squad would rest for occasional C rations. The tales were also realistic, concerning cowardice, leadership incompetence, and ambivalence among the "liberated." Morrow's battered handsomeness was made for the steel helmet, and his slightly mush-mouthed line delivery, in the tradition of Aldo Ray, humanized him for working-class viewers.
 
"A-Team"
Another brainchild of the prolific Stephen J. Cannell, the "A-Team," which lasted on NBC from 1983 to 1987, was a comical adventure hour with an overly complex backstory about a group of former United States Army special forces members led by Col. John "Hannibal" Smith (George Peppard), who came to the aid of the less fortunate while staying on the run from military police. If nothing else, the show introduced the eccentric Mr. T as Bosco "B.A." (Bad Attitude) Baracus, the air flight phobic tough guy. Though highly formulaic from week to week, the show was notable for its numerous in-jokes, such as its sly homage to "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," reminiscent of the show's campy approach to the material. With its show-ending battle scenes, "A-Team" was a war program through other means.
 
"M*A*S*H"
After a steady stream of unfunny military comedies in the '60s ("Hogan's Heroes," "McHale's Navy"), "M*A*S*H" was a relief. Based on the hit movie, the show carried over its anarchic spirit leavened with a more explicitly liberal antiwar spirit, especially as the series carried on through its 11 seasons on CBS, from 1972 to 1983. What's amazing is that even up to the end, energy never flagged and (despite several potentially disastrous cast changes) the show was just as funny -- and moving -- as it was at the beginning. Developed for television by Larry Gelbart with the aforementioned Hiken, "M*A*S*H" managed to ring numerous variations on the static situation of a medical unit in Korea, and keep the wisecracks coming every 15 seconds. And they wear well. The show is just as fresh -- and funny -- today as it was more than 20 years ago.
 
"China Beach"
For some reason, the Vietnam War-set "China Beach" didn't catch on with viewers despite the tenacious loyalty of ABC, which kept it on the air from 1988 to 1991. It probably still wouldn't attract much interest if it started today, what with its unusual storytelling techniques (reverse chronology, cartoon sequences) and odd casting (if you were ever wondering where "CSI's" Marg Helgenberger came from, it was this show). But "China Beach" was an interesting attempt to take a liberal, feminist approach to the war, focusing on the reactions of nurses, nonfighting personnel, and civilians on the periphery of the action, mostly at the "Five and Dime," as the 510th Evacuation Hospital and R&R facility was nicknamed. The show's main character was played by the underrated Dana Delany, the moral center of the show and one of television's few truly admirable (if flawed) characters.
 
"Major Dad"
One of those sitcoms that began life jumping the shark, "Major Dad," which aired on CBS from 1989 to 1993, was an overpopulated show about Maj. John D. "Mac" McGillis (Gerald McRaney). He was married to a liberal reporter with three kids from a previous marriage (who always called him "Major"), and had to deal with the dunces at the various bases he worked at during the life of the series. The episode "Over Here," which aired Feb. 4, 1991, dealt with Mac's psychology -- his desire to serve both "families," the one at home and the Marines over there -- in a serious way, and was one of the more successful episodes in an otherwise convoluted and sappy series.
 
"Over There"
One of the few programs to chronicle a standing war, "Over There" was a 2005 series produced by Steven Bochco on the envelope-pushing FX network. Though not without controversy (it was accused of being politically neutered), and cast with unknowns, "Over There" told of a unit of the United States Army's Third Infantry Division as it faced surprise attacks, physical injuries and stress during the Iraq war. The show also incorporated issues such as alcoholism, going AWOL, separated spouses and mothers, and other rarely scrutinized aspects of wartime. "Over There" might have continued, but low ratings finally condemned the series to death after just 13 episodes.
 
"JAG"
Like its spin-off "NCIS," "JAG," ostensibly a legal drama, was really a means of portraying the military and warfare in a slightly removed format. Conservatively oriented, the series, which ran mostly on CBS for a decade, emphasized duty, honor and adherence to the Uniform Code of Military Justice without deviation and regardless of the cost. But the real reason viewers of all political stripes really watched the show was for Catherine Bell, the willowy, British-born, half-Iranian ex-model who played Lt. Col. Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie from the second season forward. One of dozens of British actors posing as Americans on network television, Bell's wry starchiness made the never-consummated, under-the-radar romance between her and series main character Capt. Harmon "Harm" Rabb (David James Elliott) an entertaining variation on a typical network cliché.
 
"Foyle's War"
One of the best mystery shows on television, this irregularly broadcast British series about crime in and around Hastings during WWII is the creation of Anthony Horowitz, whose extensive research into wartime Britain has resulted in a series that portrays many interesting and forgotten aspects of the war at home. The stolid Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) is the series hero, solving intricate murder cases against a background of local fear of invasion, resistance to government mandates, and outbreaks of looting. Its regular characters are admirable without being sappy, its authenticity is detailed, and the resolution of its puzzles are almost always a clever surprise.
 
"The Unit"
Half war story and half soap opera, "The Unit" is unusual for spending half its time with the wives and domestic problems of the Army's top secret counter-terrorism unit, led by Sgt. Maj. Jonas Blane (Dennis Haysbert). A collaboration between Shawn Ryan ("The Shield") and playwright David Mamet, "The Unit," which began its run on CBS in 2006, is also an unusually emotional and gripping drama, with starkly realistic action scenes. As "JAG" did, it goes mostly unnoticed, except to its loyal fans.

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