Vacation Playhouse (TV Series) Coogan's Reward (1965) User Reviews

WWII can be fun!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 18 February 2024]

Willie Coogan is a WWII war correspondent who doesn't want the war to impair his having a good time. So, instead of being up on the front lines getting his stories, he secretly stays behind and enjoys his brandy and women. Then, when the soldiers have finished for the day, one of Willie's confidants who WAS in on the action reports to him what happened...and then he writes up stories as if he was there. After a while the other correspondents realize the truth and they set a trap for Willie...one that seems to have backfired. So will Willie ever get his comeuppance?

This is an enjoyable but slight episode. After all, WWII should NOT be fun...but the 1960s brought in several TV series which made it see like a ball, such as "Hogan's Heroes" and "McHale's Navy"! Worth seeing.

What Kept Tony Randall Busy Between Movies With Rock Hudson and The Odd Couple

[reprtr · 5/10 · 27 March 2021]

COOGAN'S REWARD was a busted pilot for a proposed series. Conceived and produced at the height of the networks' love affair with World War II subject matter, this offbeat comedy/drama cast Tony Randall as Willie Coogan, a war correspondent who finds his job -- and little matters like the Second World War -- getting in the way of his hedonistic pursuits. He's a philanderer and a conniver stuck in a bad situation (think of Catch 22's Milo Minderbinder-lite). The mood is an uncertain one, trying to make comedy/drama hay out of what was a dark and serious situation, and the pilot never seemed to find the kind of balance that series such as McHale's Navy (or its predecessor, Seven Against The Sea) and Mister Roberts managed to achieve, or what M*A*S*H parlayed into a decade of television. Watching it today, it's difficult to make out whether Willie Coogan is supposed to be a hero or an anti-hero, and while it might have made an interesting series, COOGAN'S REWARD was trying to thread one needle too many for its own good.