I've been watching  the  1987-1990 series "Tour of Duty " about the Vietnam War on Soap Today  https://soap2day.ac/TczozMzoiMTEzNnx8MTA4LjIyNi4xMjUuMjAxfHwxNjU1MDAyOTgwIjs.html  and am really enjoying the historic  M16 Retro Goodness it provides.   I think I originally saw  it when it aired but maybe blurred it with "China Beach" for memories.  I've been  starting to rewatch it and I  am amazed all the details they seem to have right for M16 with no forward assists/no Brunton Bump showing up the Uppers,  the quality makes it hard but it looks like lowers are equally accurate, which has been pleasant surprised. Weapon cleaning scenes haven't let me see the buffer yet.  Thought I would give a hat tip if anyone wanted to see it , or maybe didn't know  of the series  being born after the broadcast dates.

The video quality is rough for all the 4k tv owners but if you watched TV back then this was normal quality. I also like how each episode starts with simple black screen with white text fact card shot giving you some history about what was occurring in the war.

Episodes are 48 minutes(47:59) instead of the current "1 hour" show  barely making 42 minutes due to commercials of today.

The  series has a  8.4 rating from IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092468 .  The gunfights aren't graphic(prime time broadcast limitations) but do make an attempt to look real, glad Alec Baldwin wasn't on the set ...     The M-16s seem to have better accuracy   then some of the Ak's seen on the VC.

Actors Terence Knox, Stephen Caffrey, Tony Becker, Miguel A. Núñez Jr. , more of the large ensemble cast is on the IMDB link.

Story Tagline: This series offers an unflinching look at the "tours of duty" of several members of a platoon during the Vietnam War. Death is inevitable in war, and major characters do die. The protagonists face the Viet Cong, social disapproval, and sometimes themselves over the course of the series.


Season 1 has 21 episodes
Season 2 has 16 episodes
Season 3 has 21 episodes

Figured it might be enjoyable for others for the retro goodness.

I picked up the entire series box set on DVD from my local Walmart's clearance bin several years ago and watched every episode. I don't really remember anything about it other than the episode where Sarge picks up a flamethrower and clears a bunker with it.

I remember watching this back in the day came on every Friday at 9pm. Had the tv loud as it would go when it came on with Paint it black pumping .

12, 13, 14 year old me watched it religiously as my dad fought in Vietnam before I was born. Paint it black is one of my favorite songs to this day because of that show.

I wish the contract could have kept the Stones for syndication.

The firefight frog was funny.  Had to have happened to someone, too bizarre to have been made up.

Loved that series as a kid.

As far as historical accuracy of the weapons, if you look close they look like MGC prop guns with some sort of pseudo forward assist looking thing.  During the timeline of the war the series depicts, a proper forward assist would be expected on the rifles.  Slick-sides were very early war time.

Attached File


Edit:  Looks like during the shooting scenes, authentic M16A1’s are used.  Episode I’m watching is “The Short Timer”

I recorded some shows on a VHF tape but how the hell do I watch that now?  

It was one of my favorite shows growing up.

Its on every sat from 8pm-10pm, on the Heros & Icons channel.

I liked it better than "China Beach", even with Dana Delaney. Too bad they don't use the original soundtrack. The SOG stuff was a nice addition.

Thought you were older.

My college roommate and watched it every week while drinking beer. Sometimes it was a keg to get the weekend started. Paint It Black rocks.

If anyone knows where to find the complete series with the original music let me know

I wore period correct stuff for Halloween in High School for Tour of Duty.

one of my history teachers was a bonafide Huey Door Gunner and he said I got it down correctly.

Liked the show but missed 1990 when I got deployed.

@cone256

Pm sent, let me know if you didn't get it.

Cool MGC prop gun.

Did you notice that the famous SEAL photo below also featured the MGC XM177 prop gun? This is the official description released along US DOD image. Whoever did it never know it was not a real machine gun.

"Boatswain's Mate 1ST Class Mark Blasen, foreground, and Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Peter Rogers, both members of Sea-Air-Land (SEAL) Team 4, participate in a training exercise. Blasen is armed with a 5.56 mm Colt Commando assault rifle/submarine gun. All Hands - April 1985"

It is on H&I for now.

That's what has kept me from ordering the DVDs from Amazon. I don't know that I would like it with farby music.
That was on when I was finishing high school and going off to ROTC. Many beer-fueled Friday nights started with that on the tube.

If I'm not mistaken the whole 3 seasons is on TUBI ... lots of retro goodness!

Watched every week when it was first aired.

Watched the og series too and was glad to see it on h&i a couple years ago too usually my sat night shows.Also can stream them on the plex app on roku.

After watching series again makes me want to really build a retro a1.First ar i shot as a kid was an a1 too currently have an a2 version and a 10.5 pistol.

I agree, I liked and watched both.
I was trying to remember the name of the show last week, wanting to watch it again.
Thanks OP!

Likewise, it was a must see TV show.

The weapon carried by Knox was cool as hell, I thought, back then.

Walked into a gun show many years ago and saw a clone sitting on a table.  Grabbed it up, started to look it over and the table owner grabbed it back from me and told me the gun was for sale, not to look at.  I almost walked away.  But didn't.  I told him I wanted to buy it so he handed it back to me to look at.  Then he told me I couldn't buy it because all I had for ID was my VA driver's license and concealed carry permit.  He told me I needed a copy of my birth certificate to prove I was a US citizen because it was an assault rifle.

Went home, made a copy of the BC and went back and bought the gun.  Only time in my life I ever had any gun dealer/FFL tell me I had to prove US citizenship to buy an "assault rifle."

My first AR.  Several have followed since.

GODDAMN, How old did you think I was?

I had to do that for several guns I bought while living in California.

Correction - on Plex

I loved this series back then when it was first available here in Germany in the early 1990s.

The CAR-15/XM-177 style carbine Cpt. "Rusty" Wallace was using before he got killed in the episode "Pushing too hard" got me hooked. Short barrel, 30 rd magazine. I liked this one more than the long barrel versions that were used later in the show.

The music never made it to syndication.  Usually the transition from TV to DVD required re-acquiring original music rights.

Only way to get original music is to find VHS tapes of when it originally aired.  My brother used to record it, but since then we've lost track of what happened to those tapes.

While it was done for budget restrictions, the move to SOG was interesting.  Carl Weathers was an awesome addition, but Lee Majors jumped the shark.  I figured if someone was in 20 years and busted down to a private, the powers that be would've forced his ass out of service.

I noticed on a few episodes Kelly Hu was an extra.  Back then she was a Miss Teen something, then later Miss Hawaii.  She's done several movies and TV shows since then.

The British version has original music. You can buy it from England Amazon and it has original music. I have a copy of all three seasons with original music.