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The Rat Patrol

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TV Series

The Resume

    (September 12, 1966-18, 1968)
    American TV series about a group of 4 Allied soldiers (three American, one British) dramatically fighting Nazis in north Africa during WWII from the back of jeeps armed with fifty caliber machine guns
    Loosely inspired by the exploits of the Long Range Desert Group patrols in northern Africa during WWII
    Starred Christopher George as Sgt Sam Troy, Gary Raymond as Sgt Jack Moffit, Lawrence Casey as Pvt Mark Hitchcock, Justin Tarr as Pvt Tully Pettigrew and Eric Braeden (then known by his real name of Hans Gudegast) as Captain Hans Dietrich

Why The Rat Patrol might be annoying:

    The action was often very unrealistic.
    It ran twice as long as the actual American involvement in north Africa during WWII.
    Despite its tiny regular cast, only Christopher George appeared in every episode.
    Eric Braeden was the only cast member to achieve stardom after the series ended.
    It had no final episode to wrap things up.
    The technical details, uniforms and equipment featured frequent mistakes.

Why The Rat Patrol might not be annoying:

    It was one of the earliest TV series to be shot entirely in color and when coming on the air was introduced as 'The Rat Patrol, IN COLOR!'
    The opening credits, featuring the jeeps leaping over sand dunes are among the best in TV history.
    The iconic jeeps with the machine guns mounted on the back were just too cool.
    Germans and Arabs were portrayed as real human beings and often sympathetically.
    Its 30 minute time period forced it into an almost all action format.
    It has done well in syndication and merchandising.

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 13 Votes: 7.69% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 13 Votes: 7.69% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 9.09% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 10 Votes: 30.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 114 Votes: 46.49% Annoying