*WARNING! THIS COMMENT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!* F-Troop has to rank right up there with McHALE'S NAVY and M*A*S*H* as one of the all-time great military comedies. Ken Berry was great as Captain Wilton Parmenter, Fort Courage's bumbling idiot of a commander, though his intentions were good. Whenever Parmenter would get into a sticky situation with visiting brass, it was always Sgt. O'Rourke and Cpl. Agarn (Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch) who saved the day and made their Captain look good. Tucker and Storch were a great comedy team. James Hampton (who would go on to play Burt Reynolds' sidekick in THE LONGEST YARD and Michael J. Fox's father in TEEN WOLF) was hilarious as Trooper Hannibal Dobbs, the company Bugler who couldn't play a note. The addition of Dobbs to F Troop is a somewhat curious one because since Dobbs was a Southerner and the Civil War had just ended, Hannibal Dobbs would have, in reality, been ineligible for service in the United States Army. Ineligible or not, Dobbs was still hilarious and I even liked his back and forth banter with Agarn ("I'm Warning you, Dobbs!") If I were Captain Parmenter, I would have finished, "Jane. How many times have I told you? Not in front of the men." with "Why don't we go into my bedroom?" (Note: during the Second Season, Melody Patterson was, in fact, of legal age.) I also liked the entrepreneurial Hekawis, Wild Eagle and Crazy Cat. They weren't your typical Indians. They were opportunistic Capitalists with good heads for business - almost as good heads as O'Rourke and Agarn. My favorite episode has got to be "Our Brave in F Troop". The one where Chief Wild Eagle has a toothache and he has to visit the Army Dentist. Unfortunately, there are a number of delays in getting the Chief's tooth pulled. Most of them were courtesy of General Sam Courage (after whom Fort Courage is named), who keeps promoting him through the ranks. He ends up with the rank of Major before his "disappearance" is conveniently arranged by O'Rourke and Agarn with a little assistance from the befuddled General Courage.
