The Phil Silvers Show 1.06

The Boxer

Sgt. Bilko tries to toughen up Dillingham, one of his men, who is supposed to represent the platoon in the company boxing tournament. Dillingham is more interested in flowers than in boxing even though he boxed golden gloves before he enlisted in the army.

This one is okay. It was a little too one note for me. I think a little too much is invested in the scenes where Bilko tries to toughen up Dillingham.

The Phil Silvers Show 1.05

A.W.O.L.

Bilko goes to Chicago to retrieve Nagy, one of his men who has gone absent without leave (AWOL). The plan is to go there and get back within 24 hours but it doesn't work out that way. Nagy's sister is getting married and Bilko winds up staying longer than he had planned

This one opens a bit slow. The opening scene felt like filler and had little to nothing to do with the rest of the episode. Once Bilko gets to Chicago it picks up and has some nice moments, including one (involving a card game) that my father used to tell me about. On the whole I don't love it but I like some of the moments including the ending.

The Phil Silvers Show 1.04

The Horse

Carter, one of Bilko's men, talks him into buying Bell Boy, an injured race horse. Carter convinces Bilko that he knows what's wrong with Bell Boy and can fix it very easily. Bilko sees dollar signs but things don't work out exactly as planned. It takes considerably more effort than they originally anticipated to get the horse what it needs.

This one was fun. I don't think I liked it quite as much as the last one but it still gets a thumb's up from me.

The Phil Silvers Show 1.03

The WAC

Sgt Bilko is gunning for a billet that includes a jeep. He uses a bit of trickery to convince the other Master Sergeants not to bother applying for the billet. He then discovers that a new Master Sgt has also applied for the job. The new MSgt turns out to be a woman. Bilko quickly discovers that she knows about him and his tricks. She also knows how to play those games at least as good as he does.

The Phil Silvers Show 1.02

The Empty Store

Bilko is broke. He has to cook up a scheme to win back the money he lost to the other sergeants. He is locked out of playing poker with them until he has some cash. He rents an empty store near Fort Baxter. He doesn't fill it with anything. The other sergeants get curious. They know he is up to something. They want in on the store venture.

Bilko doesn't seem to have any plans for the store but that doesn't dissuade the other sergeants from insisting that they be able to buy their way into the store. In the end he sells each of them a third of the store, which leaves them with an empty store.

The Phil Silvers Show 1.01

New Recruits

Sgt Bilko needs money. He lost all the money he had in a poker game, which included money he had borrowed from Corporal Barbella and Corporal Henshaw. The rest of men are very reluctant to fork over any money.

Things start to look up after the Col. Hall puts Bilko in charge of a squad of recruits who are very green and have plenty of cash. Bilko's conscience gets in the way of his vices when they trust him to look after their money

I think I saw an episode or two of this show way back when, probably in the late seventies or early eighties. The show originally aired in the mid-to-late fifties.