Black Sheep Squadron

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In World War II, Marine Corps Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington commanded a squadron of fighter pilots. They were a collection of misfits and screwballs who became the terrors of the South Pacific. They were known as The Black Sheep. —(Baa Baa Black Sheep opening theme)

Robert Conrad as "Pappy" Boyington

Very Loosely Based on a True Story, Black Sheep Squadron (the syndication title; it was called Baa Baa Black Sheep in its first broadcast run) follows the adventures of a United States Marine fighter squadron (inspired by the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214) based somewhere in the Solomon Islands during World War II. Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington rode herd on a group of misfits and oddballs who became a crack flying team.

The series ran for two seasons between September 23, 1976 and April 6, 1978, for a total of 36 episodes. (The pilot was split into two episodes in syndication.)

Tropes used in Black Sheep Squadron include:

• Ace Pilot
• Bring My Brown Pants - Movie star Rod Towers telling a reporter "I need to change my drawers."
• Butt Monkey - TJ Wiley.
• Captain Obvious - "What are you flying?" "AN AIRPLANE, YOU IDIOT!!"
• Catch Phrase: "Hey Boyington!"
• Celebrity Star - Peter Frampton
• Child Soldier - Jeb Pruitt
• Cool Plane : The squadron flies Corsairs which in Real Life were the terror of the Pacific and looked suspiciously like bats.
• Do a Barrel Roll - makes for pretty action shots. Subverted with the landing gear malfunctioning on TJ's plane, a barrel roll or flying upside down was the only way he could get the landing gear to retract.
• Fan Boy - Harachi, who even named his toucan Major Boyington.
• Fan Service - Pappy's Lambs.
• Friendly Enemy: Harachi
• Go-Karting with Bowser:
  • Pappy and Harachi
  • Pappy and Micklin
  • Ping-pong with Rocky Araki
• Hospital Hottie - The Lambs
• Grease Monkey: Hutch and Micklin
• Japanese Ranguage - Harachi: "Hey Boiintaan! Where you hidiin? Come up and pray!" "You drraahnk! You prane no fry. I sink you chicken! I get you on ground."
• Jerkass: Micklin
• Put on a Bus
• Sitting Duck: Lampshaded in one episode by the narrator while discussing how a new pilot was both very good and very foolish. While the airfield is being strafed, he jumps into a plane and somehow manages to out-turn a Zero and shoot him down while taking off. That is to say, the Narrator lampshaded the trope, explaining it as why most pilots don't try to take off while actively being strafed, and Averted by the pilot, who manages to succeed despite it.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: The minor-key quote from the Whiffenpoof Song sung by an noncomedic offkey male chorus. These poor little lambs will kill you.
• The Squad
• Stock Footage: Actual WWII air combat footage, including archived footage of German warbirds. TPTB figured nobody would notice.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story: There was a USMC fighter squadron nick named the Black Sheep and it was lead by Greg Boyington, and the true part ends there!
• You Look Familiar: Japanese characters were played by an unvarying group of Asian actors.