Provided by Lee Russell, a military researcher/advisor for Tour of Duty from 1987-1989
The following is some information graciously supplied to us by Mr. Lee Russell who worked as a military researcher on Tour of Duty from 1987 to 1989. He served in a US Army Combat Engineer Battalion in II Corps and I Corps during 1967-68
In what capacity were you involved with the making of Tour of Duty?
Did you ever meet Stephen Caffrey or any of the cast of Tour of Duty?
No, I never met Stephen Caffrey or any of the other actors. (Except Ramon
Franco, who had a role in the off-Broadway play "Wasted", to which I had
been military advisor.) At the time I was living in New York City, the
show was being produced in Hollywood and shot on location in Hawaii and
(second season) California. I did all my work over the phone & by Fed Ex.
My chief function was to assist the writers with military details for the
show, suggest themes and provide documentation, where necessary, to answer
issues brought up in the media, or by viewers. As part of this, I had the
privledge of reading some of the viewer mail to the show, those letters
which commented on military aspects of the production.
What kind of mail did they get?
I didn't see all the mail, just letters concerning military issues or
things the staff thought I might find interesting. A lot of veterans wrote
in with technical comments which I responded to. Many people wrote in with
how powerfully they were moved by some episodes. Some of these were
actually negative criticisms of the show, such as: "How DARE you make me
cry! I just wanted entertainment! I'll NEVER watch your show again!
What kind of questions can you help us with?
I can answer questions about the writing of the first two season's
scripts, abandoned projects etc. For example, did you know that the second
season opener, the two-part Tet Offensive episode, was originally written
as a pilot for a non-Vietnam project of New World Productions?
I can't beleive they took Tour of Duty off the air when they did but I did
hear that they had financial problems because of the huge cost involved in
making it. Is that true?
Yes. Most TV shows are shot on sound stages but
TOD was always shot on location which costs way much more money. New World
had taken a SERIOUS financial setback in the stock market crash of 1987,
just as the show was going into production. New World was always trying to
cut costs, but they stuck by the concept nevertheless.
Most people like the first season the best however my favorite was the
second, probably because it had more of soap opera type theme to it sort
of, with LT & Alex etc.and being a Caffrey fan I really enjoyed it.
One of the original proposals I made, and some others did too, was to do the
show
in a sort of soap opera format, like "Hill Street Blues" or a lot of other
cop shows are done now. This was much more like how the soldiers lived it,
day by day, and would have allowed more character development and
interaction. But it had priviously been decided to do it the usual way,
episode by episode.
I recently purchased a few of the original scripts from a site on the
internet and found them very interesting in the fact that they deviated
from the actual shows so much.... Who actually makes the changes and
why do they deviate so much?
I have a complete set of "final" scripts from the first two seasons, but I
never
tried to save the changes. Basically what happens is that a concept is
assigned
to a writer, and basic issues settled. Then a preliminary script is written
and sent
out for review, both for dramatic quality and technical detail. As far as
military matters went, I was one reviewer, the Army Public Affairs Office was
the other. Problem
areas were identified and suggestions made. Meanwhile, the dramatic issues
were
being settled between the writer and the producer.(Sometimes a second writer
would
be called in to assist.) The original writer then produces a working script,
which then
needs final approval by the producer. Once this happens, the script is sent
to the
actors, prop and costume people to start work on. Another company (I forget
it's name) also reviews the script from a legal point of view, making sure,
for example, that character names don't inadventently match names of real
people. Smaller issues come up and
are resolved. This is done by issuing "changes" on different color paper. For
example,
the "working script" would be done in white, and the next series of changes
would be on green paper. You would be instucted to throw away White Pages
22-30, for example, and substitute Green Pages 22-30. Further issues would be
resolved and Green Pages 28-29 would be replaced with Pink Pages 28-29.
Finally Pink Page 28 would be replaced with Blue Page 28. The "shooting
script" often looked like a rainbow. If the script was extensively rewritten,
a "new" white script would be sent out. Changes could occur up to the day of
shooting.
Do they actually shoot the scenes many different ways and then decide
which one to use?
No.
One script in particular "Angel of Mercy" was almost entirely different from the actual show.
You must have bought an earlier version.
What was the secret of the show to make it so realistic?
I would like to think it was me, since I helped write every script for the
first two years! I also suggested some of the themes for episodes too
(this was part of my job.) Seriously, only one of the TOD writers had even
served in the military. That was Steven Smith, helicopter door gunner in
the elite 1/9th Air Cavalry in Vietnam, and author of the novel "American
Boys". The other writers were all just ordinary Hollywood television
writers, who had written for shows like "Charlie's Angels" and "The A
Team". However they were very receptive to my input After I left the show,
the
then-current set advisor, MAJ Mike Christie, a retired Army officer and
Vietnam
veteran, also took over advising the writers. I think he did a really good
job with the third season.This was a cost-cutting decision by New World and
coincided with
my own desire to leave the show for personal reasons (I was getting married
and relocating to another city.)
But the real credit goes to New World
Productions that insisted on a high standard for the show and was willing
to pay for it. Tour of Duty was a very expensive show to produce, because
everything was shot on location and not on sound stages like most TV
productions.
I became very interested in the Vietnam War and its history through this
show. Do you think that is typical of most viewers?
The war really tore the United States apart in the 1960's. When the
war ended in defeat for South Vietnam in 1975, the country wanted to
forget all about it. If you told anyone that you had been in Vietnam, most
people thought you were either stupid to have gone, or that you had been
on drugs and killed babies. Or both. The building of the Vietnam Monument
("The Wall") in Washington, some movies like "Platoon" (on which I also
worked) and some television programs like "Tour of Duty" helped create
respect for the soldiers who had served in the war. I am proud of the
small part I had in this.
I know that the U.S. army supported the first season of Tour of Duty and
that the set was in Hawaii. Is this true?
The second and third season were
filmed in California on two outdoor locations. (Hawaii was just too
expensive.) One represented Firebase Ladybird (and later the SOG base) and
another downtown Saigon. Some locations were rented. For example, the
ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles was rented to serve as the
US Embassy in Saigon for one episode. The Army objected to some of the
themes of the second season, which the actors called the "Psycho of the
Week" season, and, as the show was moving to California anyway, TOD
decided not to press for official assistance. However the Army Public
Affairs Office in Los Angeles continued to review the scripts as a
courtesy, and I spoke with them almost every day. One of the problems the
show had was that Bravo Company was an INFANTRY unit, whose job it was to
go out and kill people. In 1989, the series "China Beach" came out on
another network. It was also about Vietnam, but it was about a medical
unit. It also had female characters. American television is commercial,
which means that everything is paid for by advertising. This, in turn,
means that, not only do a LOT of people have to watch the show, but they
have to be THE people that advertisers want to sell stuff to. TOD had a
mostly male audience. "China Beach" also attracted women viewers, which
made it a better seller to advertisers.
I think you had a very interesting job and you everyone involved with the
show should be very proud of your work.
I think we all did a really good
job with the show, given the limitations of the television medium.