40 Fun Facts About Baa Baa Black Sheep (Black Sheep Squadron)

Robert Conrad, who played Pappy Boyington, was best known as a Secret Service agent in which 1960s series?

The Wild Wild West ran on CBS from 1965 to 1969, with Conrad doing most of his own stunts and fight scenes. He was later inducted into the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall of Fame.

John Larroquette, pilot Bob Anderson in Baa Baa Black Sheep, later won four straight Emmys on which sitcom?

Night Court cast Larroquette as prosecutor Dan Fielding. Bob Anderson had been his first regular series role, shortly after he narrated the opening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Which British rock guitarist, fresh from a best-selling live album, guest-starred in the Black Sheep Squadron finale?

Peter Frampton turned up in A Little Bit of England, two years after Frampton Comes Alive! became the top-selling album of 1976. The episode leaves downed pilot Boyle in the care of an English coastwatcher.

Which kind of Japanese vessel pulled the real Pappy Boyington from the sea when his fighter went down near Rabaul?

A submarine, the I-181, picked him up and delivered him to Rabaul as a prisoner, then was itself sunk 13 days later. Boyington spent the remaining 20 months of the war in Japanese camps.

Red West, chief mechanic Andy Micklin in Black Sheep Squadron, was a longtime bodyguard for which singer?

Elvis Presley had known West since their Tennessee school days, and West co-wrote songs with him. After being fired, West co-wrote a tell-all book that came out two weeks before the singer's death.

Which decoration did President Truman present to the real Pappy Boyington at the White House after his release?

The Medal of Honor had been awarded in March 1944, while Boyington was listed as missing, and was held in the capital until he could collect it. He was freed from a prison camp near Tokyo in August 1945.

Which gull-winged American fighter do Pappy Boyington's pilots fly against Japanese Zeros in Baa Baa Black Sheep?

The F4U Corsair fighters on screen were leased to Universal by private owners. The bent wing let the landing gear stay short while the huge propeller still cleared the ground.

Pappy Boyington's dog Meatball in Baa Baa Black Sheep is which breed, also the breed of General Patton's Willie?

Bull Terrier Meatball lives on the base against regulations, so Pappy pretends the dog belongs to General Moore, who flatly denies it. Patton bought his own, Willie, in England in 1944.

Larry Manetti, the Black Sheep's Bobby Boyle, went on to play Rick Wright for eight seasons of which detective series?

Magnum, P.I. reunited Manetti with fellow Black Sheep pilot Jeff MacKay, who played the hero's friend Mac. Manetti's Rick ran the beachside King Kamehameha Club.

Dirk Blocker, pilot Jerry Bragg in Baa Baa Black Sheep, later played Detective Hitchcock in which police sitcom?

Brooklyn Nine-Nine was Blocker's first regular series role since the Black Sheep, a wait of 35 years. He is the son of Dan Blocker, who played Hoss Cartwright on Bonanza.

Dana Elcar, the by-the-book Colonel Lard of Baa Baa Black Sheep, later played boss Pete Thornton in which series?

MacGyver wrote Elcar's glaucoma into Pete Thornton's story when the actor began losing his sight in 1991. On the Black Sheep set he had also directed four episodes.

Simon Oakland, Black Sheep Squadron's General Moore, played the doctor who explains the killer in which Hitchcock film?

Psycho ends with Oakland's character laying out Norman Bates's multiple personalities for the police. Oakland had started out as a violinist before turning to acting.

Which writer-producer, later behind The A-Team and 21 Jump Street, created Baa Baa Black Sheep?

Stephen J. Cannell wrote the two-hour pilot himself, despite dyslexia that often had him dictating whole scripts to his secretary. Bellisario, a future hit-maker, joined as a writer in season two.

Which network cancelled Baa Baa Black Sheep after one season, then reversed itself and brought the show back?

NBC revived the series after axing the sitcom Off the Wall, and relaunched it that December under the new title Black Sheep Squadron.

The Whiffenpoof Song, whose chorus opens Baa Baa Black Sheep, belongs to an a cappella group at which university?

Yale's Whiffenpoofs, founded in 1909, are the oldest collegiate a cappella group in the United States. A real Black Sheep pilot, Paul "Moon" Mullen, rewrote their song for the squadron.

The Whiffenpoof Song, heard over the titles of Baa Baa Black Sheep, adapts a poem by which British writer?

Rudyard Kipling's poem Gentlemen-Rankers supplied the words, reworked by two students into the song published in 1909. It later became a hit for Rudy Vallée and then for Bing Crosby.

Before leading the Black Sheep, the real Pappy Boyington fought over Burma with which American volunteer group?

The Flying Tigers fought for China, and Boyington resigned his Marine commission in 1941 to join them. The series pilot opens with him still serving there as Pearl Harbor is attacked.

In The Hawk Flies on Sunday, the Black Sheep join a secret mission to shoot down which Japanese commander?

Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of Japan's Combined Fleet, really was shot down in 1943, by Army fighters operating from Guadalcanal. The episode was directed by its star, Robert Conrad.

Which actor guest-starred in the Baa Baa Black Sheep episode where Japanese commandos try to seize General MacArthur?

George Takei, Star Trek's helmsman Sulu, appears in Up for Grabs alongside Yuki Shimoda. The commandos invade the squadron's own island, hoping to catch MacArthur while he is there.

In Sheep in the Limelight, the Black Sheep win unwanted fame by saving which famous passenger's plane?

Eleanor Roosevelt really did visit American troops in the South Pacific on a morale-building tour in August 1943. In the episode, the rescue brings a crowd of reporters down on the pilots.

The Black Sheep Squadron season-two opener Divine Wind takes its title from the meaning of which Japanese word?

Kamikaze joins kami, for god or spirit, and kaze, for wind. In the episode the pilots meet the first suicide attacks while a chaplain helps Anderson face his premonitions of death.

Which wartime women's pilot organisation moves onto Vella la Cava in a season-one episode of Baa Baa Black Sheep?

The WASPs, or Women Airforce Service Pilots, were civilian fliers, and in the episode their leader bans all fraternising with the Marines. Colonel Lard actor Dana Elcar directed it.

A Navy squadron billeted with the Black Sheep in season two brings along Sheba, which unusual kind of pet?

A wolf named Sheba gives the episode its title, Wolves in the Sheep Pen. The rival units bicker until they have to work together to destroy a Japanese radar ship.

In The 200 Pound Gorilla, Black Sheep mechanic Andy Micklin starts a bar-clearing brawl to avoid which fate?

A promotion to warrant officer is the last thing Micklin wants, so he picks a fight to dodge it. Red West, who played the short-tempered sergeant, had been a real Marine.

Which Black Sheep mechanic, played by Joey Aresco, is killed when Japanese planes strafe Vella la Cava?

Hutch, in full Sergeant John David Hutchinson, dies late in the first season, and the damage from the raid nearly gets the grounded unit broken up. Andy Micklin replaces him as chief mechanic.

Which Japanese ace, Pappy Boyington's nemesis in Baa Baa Black Sheep, survives being shot down by T.J. Wiley?

Tomio Harachi, known as Tommy, comes back in The Fastest Gun to hunt Boyington personally. Byron Chung played the Imperial Navy captain in both seasons.

The real Pappy Boyington, technical adviser on Baa Baa Black Sheep, made three cameo appearances as which character?

A visiting general was Boyington's walk-on part in two first-season episodes and one in the second. He was blunt about the scripts, saying no regular character except himself had really existed.

Pappy Boyington Field is the airport of Coeur d'Alene, the real ace's birthplace, in which state?

Idaho's Coeur d'Alene renamed its air terminal for him in 2007, after a grassroots campaign backed by local veterans. Boyington grew up in the logging town of St. Maries before moving to Tacoma.

The Japanese fighters in Baa Baa Black Sheep were really which American trainer, modified for Tora! Tora! Tora!?

The T-6 Texan trainers had been rebuilt to pass for Zeros in the 1970 Pearl Harbor epic, and were afterwards bought up by collectors.

Which island group provided the South Pacific backdrop for the aerial scenes in Baa Baa Black Sheep?

The Channel Islands, off the coast of Southern California, stood in for the Solomons. Airfield scenes were shot at the now-closed Indian Dunes Airport in Valencia.

Which Hollywood stunt pilot supplied most of the aircraft for Baa Baa Black Sheep, including his own Grumman Duck?

Frank Tallman kept the Duck at his Tallmantz Aviation museum in Santa Ana, California. He died in a crash in April 1978, the same month the series aired its final episode.

In the pilot film, which real Navy dogfighting tactic does Pappy Boyington teach his men to counter the Zero?

The Thach Weave was worked out by Navy aviator John Thach using matchsticks on a table. Two fighters weave across each other's paths so that one can fire on whoever chases the other.

Which wartime nickname for New Georgia Sound in the Solomons appears in a Baa Baa Black Sheep episode title?

The Slot earned its name from its shape and from the stream of warships that passed through it. The episode Devil in the Slot introduces hard-nosed chief mechanic Andy Micklin.

Which real Marine fighter squadron does Robert Conrad's Pappy Boyington command in Baa Baa Black Sheep?

VMF-214 produced nine aces in 84 days of combat under Boyington and earned a Presidential Unit Citation. Its pilots chose a badge showing a black sheep on a shield.

Before a squadron song made it Pappy, which nickname did Greg Boyington's younger pilots first give him?

Gramps came first, because Boyington was about a decade older than most of the Marines serving under him. War correspondents then picked up the Pappy of the squadron's rewritten college song.

Which sport did the real Pappy Boyington compete in at the University of Washington and later referee professionally?

Wrestling brought him a Pacific Northwest intercollegiate middleweight title, and he also swam for the Huskies. After the war he refereed and took part in professional bouts.

At Japan's Ofuna camp, the real Pappy Boyington was held with which Olympic runner, later the subject of Unbroken?

Louis Zamperini ran the 5,000 metres at the 1936 Games, finishing eighth. He was captured after drifting on a life raft for 47 days when his bomber went down in the Pacific.

The real Black Sheep offered to shoot down a Japanese Zero for each of which gifts from World Series players?

Baseball caps duly arrived, 20 of them, and the squadron shot down more than that number of enemy aircraft.

Which star of Forbidden Planet and Honey West played the head nurse Pappy falls for in Baa Baa Black Sheep?

Anne Francis played Lieutenant Commander Gladys Hope in the two-part story The Deadliest Enemy of All. The real Boyington makes one of his cameos in the second part.

The real Pappy Boyington's final tally of 28 victories topped the 26 of which American ace of the First World War?

Eddie Rickenbacker's 26 made him America's ace of aces in that war. Boyington was seen to down his 26th on the very mission from which he failed to return.