C.P.O. Sharkey

C.P.O. Sharkey

Sharkey winds up in a Tijuana jail after trying to bail out his men.
Genre Comedy
Created by Aaron Ruben
Starring Don Rickles
Peter Isacksen
Elizabeth Allen
Harrison Page
Richard X. Slattery
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 37
Production
Executive producer(s) Aaron Ruben
Producer(s) Aaron Ruben
Gene Marcione
Running time approx. 0:30 (per episode)
Release
Original network NBC
Original release December 1, 1976 (1976-12-01) – April 28, 1978 (1978-04-28)

C.P.O. Sharkey is an American sitcom created by Aaron Ruben that aired on NBC from December 1, 1976, to April 28, 1978. The series starred Don Rickles in the title role, with Peter Isacksen, Elizabeth Allen, Harrison Page and Richard X. Slattery as supporting players.

Premise

The series starred Don Rickles as U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Otto Sharkey, an abrasive, sharp-tongued veteran in charge of a company of new seaman recruits on a San Diego naval base. Rickles (who in real-life served in the Navy during World War II) is famous for his jokes about various ethnicities, and the program provided him with a vehicle for his politically incorrect humor. Sharkey, however, was really a nice guy beneath his harsh exterior and often went to extreme measures to help his recruits with their problems.

The young company consisted of Daniels, an African-American; Kowalski, a Polish-American; Skolnick, a Jewish-American; Mignone, an Italian-American; and Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican. Sharkey's best friend on the base was C.P.O. Dave Robinson (Harrison Page), who was African-American. Sharkey's assistant, Seaman Lester Pruitt (Peter Isacksen), was a 6' 7" Southerner who shared his simple-minded homilies to the uninterested C.P.O. Sharkey's immediate superior was the smug and buck-toothed Lt. Whipple (Jonathan Daly). The base commander in the first season was the female Capt. Quinlan (Elizabeth Allen), whom Sharkey never insulted to her face. In the second season, Capt. Quinlan was replaced by Capt. Buck Buckner (Richard X. Slattery), a by-the-book former submarine captain.

The series featured an early American prime time TV depiction of punk rock, with San Fernando Valley punk rock band, The Dickies, making a guest appearance.[1]

Coincidentally, Rickles portrayed a different C.P.O. in the 1961 episode "Professional Sailor" of the CBS military sitcom/drama, Hennesey, starring Jackie Cooper.

Running gags

The cigarette box incident

The series is often remembered for an incident that occurred on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson during December 1976. Rickles appeared on The Tonight Show, speaking with guest host Bob Newhart. During the segment, Rickles slammed down the cigarette box Carson kept on his desk while joking with Newhart, and broke the box when he was doing a routine where he was pretending to stamp passports while pretending to be an immigration agent, using the box as the stamp. When Carson returned the following night to the show and discovered the broken box, he took a camera crew to the adjacent studio where Sharkey was being taped. Carson disrupted the taping in order to tease Rickles about it, to the delight of the studio audiences of both shows. Carson imitated Rickles' insult comedy style by calling him a "big dummy" and teasing Harrison Page by speaking to him in an exaggerated jive accent. As Carson prepared to exit the stage, Rickles looked at the audience and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Johnny Carson!" With mock exasperation, Carson glared at Rickles and stated, "They know who I am!"

The incident was often replayed in Tonight Show retrospectives and was considered a highlight of the 1970s era of the show, and the incident was also featured in the documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project.

Reruns

Reruns aired on Comedy Central in the early 1990s.[2]

DVD release

On May 19, 2015, Time Life released C.P.O. Sharkey - The Complete Season 1 on DVD in Region 1.[3]

On September 22, 2015, Time Life released C.P.O. Sharkey - The Complete Season 2 on DVD in Region 1.[4]

Episodes

Season 1 (1976-77)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
11"Oh Captain! My Captain"TBATBADecember 1, 1976 (1976-12-01)
The chauvinistic chief must adjust to the fact that his new commanding officer is a woman.
22"Shimokawa Ships Out"TBATBADecember 8, 1976 (1976-12-08)
An enlisted man thinks Sharkey is discriminating against him because he's Japanese.
33"The Dear John Letter"TBATBADecember 22, 1976 (1976-12-22)
Chief Robinson suspects that Sharkey is a real ladies man when he accidentally sees a "Dear Jane" letter in the typewriter.
44"Goodbye Dolly"TBATBADecember 29, 1976 (1976-12-29)
The men try to hide an inflatable female doll in the barracks without Sharkey's knowledge.
55"Skolnick in Love"TBATBAJanuary 12, 1977 (1977-01-12)
Shy recruit Skolnick decides to marry a cocktail waitress after a two-day courtship, much to everyone's surprise.
66"Mignone's Mutiny"TBATBAJanuary 19, 1977 (1977-01-19)
Recruit Mignone's unhappiness with the rigors of boot camp spreads to the other men.
77"Kowalski, the Somnambulist"TBATBAJanuary 26, 1977 (1977-01-26)
Recruit Kowalski experiences repeated bouts of sleepwalking, which Sharkey desperately tries to find a cure for, or the young man may face a medical discharge.
88"Sunday in Tijuana"TBATBAFebruary 9, 1977 (1977-02-09)
Sharkey's romantic plans with Natalie are wrecked when his recruits get arrested in Tijuana, Mexico.
99"Rodriguez and His Mamacita"TBATBAFebruary 16, 1977 (1977-02-16)
Recruit Rodriguez is just one of the sailors who get in trouble with Sharkey and the top brass for sneaking women into the barracks.
1010"Sharkey Boogies on Down"TBATBAFebruary 23, 1977 (1977-02-23)
Chief Robinson takes Sharkey to a disco to celebrate his 45th birthday.
1111"Sharkey Finds Peace and Quiet"TBATBAMarch 2, 1977 (1977-03-02)
The chaos of barracks life leads Sharkey to dream of moving off-base to his own apartment.
1212"Sharkey the Marriage Counselor"TBATBAMarch 9, 1977 (1977-03-09)
Sharkey attempts to help a fellow sailor with his marital problems.
1313"Sharkey's Secret Life"TBATBAMarch 16, 1977 (1977-03-16)
The recruits are convinced Sharkey is gay after his clandestine meeting with an effeminate toupee salesman.
1414"The Pizza Party"TBATBAMarch 23, 1977 (1977-03-23)
Pruitt plans a pizza party to celebrate the end of boot camp, but does not consult Sharkey.
1515"A Wino is Loose"TBATBAMarch 23, 1977 (1977-03-23)
Sharkey must remove a wino who spent the night in the barracks right before a major inspection.

Season 2 (1977-78)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
161"The New Captain"TBATBAOctober 21, 1977 (1977-10-21)
The new captain proposes to shape up "the chief with the biggest beer belly," a pretty fair description of the outraged Sharkey.
172"Operation Frisco"TBATBANovember 4, 1977 (1977-11-04)
Being assigned to submarine duty interferes with Sharkey's plans to have fun in San Francisco.
183"Sharkey Flies over the Cuckoo's Nest"TBATBANovember 11, 1977 (1977-11-11)
A case of mistaken identity ensues when Sharkey reports to the base hospital for his routine physical and is mistaken for a mental patient.
194"Don't Make Waves"TBATBANovember 18, 1977 (1977-11-18)
Comic chaos ensues as Sharkey's barracks is chosen for an experiment in coed Navy living.
205"Natalie's Ultimatum"TBATBADecember 2, 1977 (1977-12-02)
Sharkey' long time girlfriend, Natalie, tires of waiting and gives him an ultimatum about marriage in their relationship.
216"Sharkey the Actor"TBATBADecember 9, 1977 (1977-12-09)
Sharkey lands the lead in a Navy training film.
227"Barracks Baby"TBATBADecember 30, 1977 (1977-12-30)
Sharkey must hide a pregnant Mexican woman from INS officials in this Christmas themed episode.
238"Seven-Eleven Sharkey"TBATBAJanuary 6, 1978 (1978-01-06)
Sharkey turns to the dice to help recruit Kowalski win back the money for his Mother's trip to Poland that the young man had lost in a craps game.
249"Forget Pearl Harbor"TBATBAJanuary 13, 1978 (1978-01-13)
The behavior of a visiting CPO from the Japanese Navy causes Sharkey to think that he may be a spy.
2510"Close Encounters of the Worst Kind"TBATBAJanuary 27, 1978 (1978-01-27)
Sharkey's girlfriend, Natalie, accuses him of being insensitive.
2611"Pruitt's Paradise"TBATBAFebruary 10, 1978 (1978-02-10)
Pruitt has been showing signs of lethargy and Sharkey suspects it is due to a wild night life.
2712"Sharkey Meets Pruitt's Sister"TBATBAFebruary 17, 1978 (1978-02-17)
Sharkey and the men try to scrounge up a woman to represent their barracks in the Navy's Miss Topside beauty contest.
2813"Sharkey's Back Problem"TBATBAFebruary 17, 1978 (1978-02-17)
Sudden back pains lead Sharkey to worry that he will be ineligable for the "CPO of the Year" competition.
2914"It Happened One Night"TBATBAMarch 3, 1978 (1978-03-03)
A bomb scare in the female recruits barracks forces them to be housed in Sharkey's building.
3015"Tell It to the Marines"TBATBAMarch 10, 1978 (1978-03-10)
Visiting Marines cause havoc at the training base as their behavior tests the patience of Sharkey and the other sailors.
3116"Sharkey and the South American Way"TBATBAMarch 17, 1978 (1978-03-17)
Sharkey must instruct a visiting South American sailor in the ways of the United States Navy.
3217"Punk Rock Sharkey"TBATBAMarch 24, 1978 (1978-03-24)
Sharkey ventures into a punk-rock night spot to stop a fight, and comes out with a loose filling and the affections of a teen-age runaway.
3318"Pruitt, the Russian Flu-Carrier"TBATBAMarch 31, 1978 (1978-03-31)
Pruitt infects Sharkey and most of the recruit company with Russian flu and Sharkey is overwhelmed by home-spun remedies.
3419"Captain's Right Hand Man"TBATBAApril 7, 1978 (1978-04-07)
Much to both of their chagrins, Captain Buckner is forced to make Sharkey his personal aide.
3520"Fear of Flying"TBATBAApril 14, 1978 (1978-04-14)
Sharkey reveals that he has a fear of flying and is terrifed at an upcoming flight he is required to take because of Navy business.
3621"The Even Couple"TBATBAApril 21, 1978 (1978-04-21)
Sharkey moves off-base into an apartment in order to spice up his social life. His plan backfires when the recruits all show up just before a "last chance" date with Natalie yelling loud enough about problems that Sharkey gets tossed by his landlord.
3722"The Used-Car Caper"TBATBAApril 28, 1978 (1978-04-28)
Sharkey must come to the rescue when his recruits are swindled by a sleazy car salesman into buying a lemon.

References

External links

Further reading

Brooks, Tim; Earl Marsh (2003). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.