Yanks Go Home
{{Short description|British ITV sitcom (1976–77)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Yanks Go Home.jpg
| caption =
| alt_name =
| genre = Comedy
| creator =
| developer =
| writer = H.V. Kershaw
John Stevenson
Anthony Couch
| director = Eric Prytherch
Roger Cheveley
| creative_director =
| presenter =
| starring = Meg Johnson
Bruce Boa
Stuart Damon
Catherine Neilson
Peter Sallis
David Ross
Harry Markham
Freddie Earlle
Alan MacNaughton
Lionel Murton
Richard Oldfield
Norman Bird
Jay Benedict
| judges =
| voices =
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| composer = Derek Hilton
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| num_series = 2
| num_episodes = 13
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer =
| producer = Eric Prytherch
| editor =
| location =
| cinematography =
| camera =
| runtime = 30 minutes
| company = Granada Television
| channel = ITV
| first_aired = {{Start date|1976|11|22|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1977|9|19|df=y}}
| related =
}}
Yanks Go Home is a British sitcom about U.S. Army Air Forcemen stationed in Lancashire, England in the Second World War. It was produced and directed by Eric Prytherch for Granada Television and broadcast on ITV between 1976 and 1977. The series ran for 2 series and 13 episodes in total before its cancellation.{{cite web |author=Memorable TV |title=Yanks Go Home |url=http://www.memorabletv.com/sitcomsxyz.htm |work=UK Sitcoms - Yanks Go Home to Yus M'Dear |publisher=MemorableTV.com |year=2002 }}
Plot
The series focused on a group of U.S. Army Air Force pilots stationed in a small northern town in Lancashire, England during the Second World War and their sometimes tense relationship with the local men, most often over the attentions of the young women in the town. The early interactions and friction between British civilians and the U.S. military during WWII, best summed up by the wartime slogan of American servicemen "over paid, over sexed, and over here", was intentionally played up for humorous effect in the series.
Characters
- Phoebe Sankey (Meg Johnson)
- Sgt. Gus Polaski (Bruce Boa)
- Cpl. Vince Rossi (Stuart Damon)
- Doreen Sankey (Catherine Neilson)
- Harry Duckworth (David Ross)
- Bert Pickup (Harry Markham)
- Cpl. Pasquale (Freddie Earlle)
- Col. Ralph Kruger (Alan MacNaughtan)
- Col. Irving (Lionel Murton)
- Pfc. Burford Puckett (Richard Oldfield)
- Leonard Chambers (Norman Bird)
- Pvt. Floyd Tutt (Jay Benedict)
- Randell Todd (Peter Sallis)
Episodes
=Series 1=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:98%;" | ||||
| width="20" | # | Title | Writers | width="120" | Original airdate | width="120" | Series No.
{{Episode list |Title=Series One Episode One (Somewhere in England) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|11|22|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#1.01 |EpisodeNumber=1 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series One Episode Two (Off Limits) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|11|29|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#1.02 |EpisodeNumber=2 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series One Episode Three (Dear John) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|12|6|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#1.03 |EpisodeNumber=3 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series One Episode Four (Open Day) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|12|13|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#1.04 |EpisodeNumber=4 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series One Episode Five (Brooklyn's Uncle) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|12|20|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#1.05 |EpisodeNumber=5 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series One Episode Six (Rossi Keeps His Cool) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|12|27|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#1.06 |EpisodeNumber=6 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series One Episode Seven (The Liaison Committee) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|1|3|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#1.07 |EpisodeNumber=7 |ShortSummary= }} |
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=Series 2=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:98%;" | ||||
| width="20" | # | Title | Writers | width="120" | Original airdate | width="120" | Series No.
{{Episode list |Title=Series Two Episode One (Cooke-Cooke) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|8|8|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#2.01 |EpisodeNumber=8 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series Two Episode Two (The Game of the Name) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|8|15|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#2.02 |EpisodeNumber=9 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series Two Episode Three (Bed of Roses) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|8|22|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#2.03 |EpisodeNumber=10 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series Two Episode Four (Alarm and Despondency) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|9|5|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#2.04 |EpisodeNumber=11 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series Two Episode Five (Some of Our Coal Is Missing) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|9|12|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#2.05 |EpisodeNumber=12 |ShortSummary= }} {{Episode list |Title=Series Two Episode Six (The First of the G.I. Brides) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|9|19|df=y}} |Aux1= |ProdCode=#2.06 |EpisodeNumber=13 |ShortSummary= }} |
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Reception
Upon the premiere of the first episode, originally aired on 22 November 1976, the show's title "Yanks Go Home" raised some mild controversy as the United States had celebrated its bicentennial months before. The show received considerable publicity from the network and appeared on the cover of TV Times.
The show failed to meet the network's expectations however, mostly due to the concept already having been touched upon in Dad's Army (such as in the episode My British Buddy, 3 years and 15 days broadcast before the first episode) but also because of the lack of a regular writing staff. Nearly each episode was written by a different writer which created noticeable inconsistencies as the series progressed. The studio-based setting and canned laughter {{Citation needed|reason=Granada, in common with the vast majority of British television companies recorded their sitcoms in front of a live studio audience. What evidence is there that this programme used "canned laughter"?|date=December 2013}} also lessened the feel in comparison with Dad's Army. The show was cancelled a year later, the final episode airing on 19 September 1977, and was never brought back for a third.
One of the breakout stars of the show was Freddie Earlle (who was in Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi!) whose character Corporal Pasquale was favourably compared to Sgt. Bilko. The series also featured Stuart Damon of The Champions, who also wrote one episode.
DVD releases
The Complete Series was released on 5 March 2012 by Network DVD.{{cite web |title=Yanks Go Home - The Complete Series DVD - British Comedy Guide |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/yanks_go_home/shop/2664/the_complete_series_dvd/ |access-date=18 May 2025}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0074075}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20210121181254/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7bd40624 Yanks Go Home] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
Category:1976 British television series debuts
Category:1977 British television series endings
Category:1970s British sitcoms
Category:World War II television comedy series
Category:Military comedy television series
Category:British aviation television series