Twelve O'Clock High (TV series)

Twelve O'Clock High
Paul Burke as Joe Gallagher, 1965
Also known as	12 O'Clock High
Genre	Military drama
Created by	Sy Bartlett Beirne Lay, Jr.
Starring	Robert Lansing Frank Overton Paul Burke Chris Robinson Barney Phillips
Theme music composer	Dominic Frontiere
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	78
Production
Executive producer(s)	Quinn Martin
Producer(s)	Frank Glicksman William D. Gordon
Running time	51 mins.
Production company(s)	20th Century Fox Television QM Productions
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	Black-and-white (61 episodes) Color (17 episodes)
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 18, 1964 (1964-09-18) – January 13, 1967 (1967-01-13)
Chronology
Related shows	Twelve O'Clock High

12 O'Clock High (also known as Twelve O'Clock High) is an American drama series set in World War II. This TV series was originally broadcast on ABC-TV for two-and-one-half TV seasons from September 18, 1964, through January 13, 1967; it was based on the motion picture Twelve O'Clock High (1949). The series was a co-production of 20th Century Fox Television (Fox had also produced the movie) and QM Productions (one of their few non-law enforcement series).

The series follows the missions of the fictitious 918th Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), equipped with B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers, stationed at Archbury Field, England (a fictitious air base). For the first season, many of the characters from the book and 1949 movie were retained, including Brigadier General Frank Savage, Major Harvey Stovall, Major Cobb, Doc Kaiser, and General Pritchard, albeit played by different actors from in the motion picture. In addition to these characters, several other infrequently reappearing characters were introduced, including Captain (later Major) Joseph "Joe" Gallagher, who appeared in two episodes (episodes 1 and 24).

At the end of the first season, the studio executives decided a younger-looking lead actor was needed. In the first episode of the second season, General Savage, played by Robert Lansing, was killed in action and replaced by Colonel Joe Gallagher, played by Paul Burke. (Burke, though considered more youthful-looking than Lansing, was actually two years older, a fact that TV critics were quick to point out.) The decision proved unpopular and the ratings began to drop.