Operation Petticoat (1977-Pilot Movie) (John Astin, Jamie Lee Curtis)

The 1959 WW2 comedy movie "Operation Petticoat", starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis was remade in 1977 as a TV series on ABC that lasted a fraction over one season. It's pilot movie was a near-remake of the original movie and starred John Astin, Richard Gilliland, Jim Varney (later of "Ernest" fame) and in one of her early roles, Jamie Lee Curtis (just 19 at the time!) as one of the four Army nurses stranded aboard a rickety pink submarine. After the show's first season, almost the entire cast was fired and an attempt was made to retool the show with a new cast that proved unsuccessful.
While a number of episodes have aired on TV Land in the years since its cancellation and can be found on YT, the pilot movie remake is harder to come by. This was something I recorded from the WCBS "Late Late Show" in June 1985, where it aired under its syndicated title "Life In The Pink." I don't often upload this kind of material, but because of its rarity and because it was one of my very earliest VCR recordings, I'm including it here.
NOTICE-Any comments complaining about the video quality will be DELETED! This is a nearly 40 year old recording of a program that when it aired was using a 16mm quality print, not a pristine 35mm source element because that is how old television programs were aired back in the day which means even under the best conditions (as these were since my recording is an original recording with no generation loss and no dropouts) I'm not going to have a razor sharp remastered looking image. I have no control over that, and I have zero patience for people who fail to grasp that point and instead choose to bellyache over the video quality and waste my time.

[@timgega5930]

I'm 72 now. This movie takes me back to the good old days when life was fun.

[@TommyBackwater41]

Yep they have wrecked everything now

[@TheRetrostationTV]

54 and it was all downhill after kindergarten. Sad people only have about 3-5 years of happiness out of a regular lifespan.

[@timgega5930]

@@TheRetrostationTV you are either reading my mind, or my books for 50 years on the same subject. It's such a pity. Unfortunately, a preventable problem, but no one else cares.

[@TheRetrostationTV]

@@timgega5930send me info I’m a bit psychic but not that much ;)

[@TheRetrostationTV]

And a few care….

[@Neil-ru7kw]

John Astin , 93 and still smiling👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@davidmuckle599]

Cary Grant and Tony Curtis were the best.great movie.

[@FrankinJax]

Thank You for this posting. Operation Petticoat is a long time favorite. I did not know a TV serial was made. My other favorite movie is Father Goose. I am 72 and undergoing cancer treatments, which is pretty miserable. The film brought me some joy and laughter, which is hard to come by these days. Again, Thanks.

[@woof3598]

it didnt last, they replaced the whole cast 2nd season

[@dwaynedittoe2248]

both of those are on pluto tv often

[@dougearnest7590]

May your future be filled with much more joy and laughter.

[@Brian13356]

Good luck buddy, isn't old age a bitch ...

[@BarryHope-bj5um]

Old age ain't for pussies .​@@Brian13356

[@stevesloan7132]

This film has lots of great one liners. And Aston is pure comedy gold! Thanks so much for sharing this!

[@sjefhendrickx2257]

O yeah, american “ jokes”

[@RFKFANTS67]

I watched this all the time as a kid. At 57 I wish I could find a doorway back to that much better world 70's 80's,,, This world is lost.

[@johnhoffman2818]

Good movie. I remember the original and this one was just as much fun to watch.

[@Scott-hb1xn]

And it just occurred to me that Jamie Lee Curtis' father was Tony Curtiss, who played Lt. Holden in the original movie!

[@thomasmargolis6057]

There was a comment from Jamie for the nepo role and of her father and the impact in her career.

[@animespotbarbados82]

It's a family thing

[@CavemanCBB]

Thank you for posting this. I loved the orignal and never knew that there was a remake.

[@anthonylowder6687]

The submarine in this video is the U.S.S. QUEENFISH SS393 a Balao class boat

[@ianjones9498]

dug out a few vhs tapes and put them next to my laptop the video tape smell inhansed the viewing. time trip back to the 80s

[@rcgunner7086]

Yeah, thanks for sharing this. I vaguely remember it from being a child. WWII TV shows were a thing and some were pretty good.

[@ziffelpig9249]

One of the greatest lines ever heard in TV was by John Austin when he would say with a smile--"But I'm feeling much better now"

[@markh3271]

Jim Varney, seaman "doom and gloom" Broom became Ernest of movie fame years later.

[@drats1279]

redundant comment. Previously mentioned in the synopsis above.

[@mikefagan6840]

First the soda commercials 😂😂😂

[@randynovitch6744]

Have you seen his classical Shakespeare bit, I was impressed 😮

[@warplanner8852]

​@@drats1279oh what the hell, let's enjoy ourselves, shan't we?

[@zxccxz164]

appreciate it : ) always a fan of john astin....the short lived tv show i decent too

[@Airpaycheck]

Ernest joins the Navy!

[@ghostrider88jinetedelfanta31]

If you're used to John Astin as Gomez Addams or Buddy from Night Court, it's surprising to see him playing a more serious role! He's playing it straight, although it seems tongue in cheek &/with twinkle in his eyes. This is a good remake w/a lot of the original plot points from the Cary Grant/Tony Curtis movie. Surprising & ironic to see a young Jamie Lee Curtis in it (Tony's daughter).

[@mobiousenigma]

i enjoy the movie and was doing the that aint right until i scrolled down and read tv show i had forgotten watching as a kid lol. thanks for the video

[@jeremymercer2518]

Haha Jim Varney with the guitar. "Hey Vern!"

[@clasicradiolover]

Thanks. I was trying to place him

[@dwbiggly6907]

It’s Evil Roy Slade!…one of my favorites. This too was good. Ernest on guitar😂

[@nikosatsaves3141]

Yeah, Slade was hilarious unlike Adams family which I despise.

[@mikefagan6840]

I remember this as a kid, mostly for John Astin, Gomez😂. I LOVED this show but wasnt able to watch much being just 10 years old and only 1 tv in our home 😂😂😂😂 THANK YOU ❤

[@blackdog542]

Fantastic video thank you so much

[@jamesbrown4092]

Thank you for uploading this. I watch the series when it originally aired, but never got to see this pilot movie. I didn't even know it existed until I saw it listed here.

[@ksr7271]

Very decently humorous. Thanks for the dedicated and sincere work to put the VHS on youtube. It is a treasure. I will see it again.

[@mind_of_a_darkhorse]

Great movie thanks for sharing!

[@MRL86_]

Amazing, thank you!

[@computeuser3084]

This is an excellent TV pilot. John Astin kept it real while the comedic situation unfolded naturally. Talented producer/director/actor.

[@brianjones7907]

who needs Cary Grant when you have Gomez (sorry) John Astin in Control , great tv show

[@DarioMelkuhn]

I loved the original, Cary Grant was an exeptional natural actor and made some great films. I never knew this even existed but then I am not American and this never reached British shores. Still, I did enjoy it, I did love John Astin in the Addams Family..

[@commando7844]

One point of interest. The Uniform Jamie Lee Curtis Wore was the same one Her father used. Picked this up on a comentary about the tv series.

[@Agnemons]

So, did Jamie Lee Curtis identify as male or did Tony Curtis self identify as female?

[@blockmasterscott]

Oh man, I remember watching this on tv!

[@karlprice9465]

You can't beat the original

[@valmikabeneteau7229]

Yeah, I agree. The laugh track in this just seemed out of place.

[@CaptainNavman]

yep

[@TowGunner]

You never can!

[@gruntforever7437]

@@valmikabeneteau7229 I always hated laugh tracks

[@mountainghost5044]

The script on this TV pilot is exactly the same as the Movie.

[@Ponykeg53]

It's very good for what you workin with even more surprised when I found out it's video tape. You kept in a very safe place and thank you I was unaware of it and enjoyed it like to see the first season if you have.

[@epaddon]

Thanks, I have random episodes from TV Land airings in the 90s (They never showed this pilot) but most of those episodes are already on YT from other accounts. Just type in Operation Petticoat TV series and they're easy to find (but avoid any episodes from the brief second season with the different cast). I haven't come across any recordings from the original airings in 77-78.

[@aliciawilliams7994]

Ty very much

[@BeckyWolfe-lg8fh]

I love them both. This one has added more details to the story.

[@tritom1955]

I enjoyed this movie....love to see the original....thanks for posting.

[@carolynlewis9019]

This movie is great, I do like the one of Carey Grant

[@akampfer]

I remember watching this when it was first aired

[@Standswithabeer]

me too.

[@normanalvarez5751]

Me too

[@TheEvertw]

That sure brings back memories!

[@rodfair5698]

2 thumbs up for the posters original post. If you don’t like what this gentleman is giving you free….piss off and freeload on someone else’s channel !. To the poster…thank you and God bless !

[@blackdog542]

Thank you so much for posting, I loved this show as a teenager. I don't suppose you can do a video on how to transfer VHS tapes play digital media. I have some classics that I'd love to save the original version of. Not to mention some family stuff that would be cool too.

[@stephenfarthing3819]

Hmmm! Intriguing! First time I have heard of this film and series.

[@winonamassingill7895]

I love the music 🎼 played in this movie. 🍿🍿🍿💕🙃🙃💕🙃🥰🥰🥰😅😅😅

[@DeValiere_]

Wait... so Jamie Lee Curtis starred in the remake of her Dad's old film? Huh.

[@BrianRPaterson]

Spot on! Tony was excellent in the original. So was Cary Grant.

[@epaddon]

Yep. She played the character Dina Merrill played in the original (whom Tony romances).

[@Mediatech492]

He's ordered to Manilla in August of 1942. Apparently someone missed the fact that the Japanese had taken control of Manilla seven months earlier.

[@pressureworks]

Love how planes without bombs magically drop bombs

[@DeValiere_]

Well I mean...given they're probably North American T6 Texan trainers pretending to be Japanese planes they're already struggling. But the cheesy sound effects of diving planes and explosions made it so much more believeable (not).

[@epaddon]

@@DeValiere_ And yet I still prefer it to CGI fakery simply because they use real planes for it.

[@lavern007]

Safer to use stationary charges than actually drop bombs. I see the name Jim Varney in the credits. Considering his voice…doom and gloom. Nothing about the uniforms being wrong?

[@epaddon]

@@lavern007 I'd just note that this was made at a time when Universal had been doing a lot of WW2 Pacific stuff, first with the movie "Midway" and then the TV series "Baa Baa Black Sheep". Doing another WW2 Pacific show based on a property they owned probably seemed like a good way to keep getting use of all the props/costumes and other things they had on hand at that point. The one goof that annoyed me though was having Commander Sherman report to Manila for his new assignment four months after the surrender of the Philippines took place!

[@patriot692]

Some of the Schtick & Gag lines may have influenced the MASH series (?) This corny movie's growing on me, after the engine start w/ witch Dr's 😄

[@Paladin1873]

It's nice to see Jamie Lee Curtis in this film since her father costarred with Cary Grant in the original movie.

[@davidrobinson8337]

Jackie Cooper WAS a honest to god Naval Officer. He was a captain in the Naval reserve.

[@lancomedic]

I forgot about this show but I recognized the Nurse Major from Archie Bunker's Place and Lt. Watson from Barney Miller.

[@markadams7597]

Clever...

[@goldgeologist5320]

It is appalling that Hollywood does not get someone to teach actors to salute correctly!

[@y00t00b3r]

Yeah, they're atrocious. But at least it gives us something to complain about over the ridiculous haircuts!! Haha! Such warm memories of this series.

[@ethics3]

Wait , what !? Are you saying Hollywood films are not accurate ? Godzilla is not real ??? OMG !! Lol

[@ciabattatom521]

@@ethics3 I am certain that Godzilla is real but that Godzilla was never taught to salute correctly.

[@JJJBRICE]

Someone can correct me if I am wrong but was all three sitcoms with John Astin as the star were ABC series ?

[@robertmccoy9323]

I was just waiting for Lurch to manifest somewhere, or was that the optimistic sailor.

[@pressureworks]

41:39 Gilligan's Island !! So it wasn't uncharted afterall.

[@drlong08]

Lots of borrowed footage!! Gotta keep the TV budget under control!

[@billotto602]

Excellent movie. Too bad they don't make them like this anymore.

[@robertd.carver6240]

Much better than I expected. The writing is clever--though it repeats much of the original screenplay which starred Cary Grant and Tony Curtis--and the cast is B/C level rather than A-plus. The third act plot twist is a genuine improvement over the original.

[@randylucas2458]

I personally think this is better than the original and the original was great.

[@patrickbureau1402]

Gumez Getz Drafted !🇨🇦

[@Paladin1873]

Many of the scenes portrayed in this film are based on real events, though they took place aboard different submarines at different points in the war. These include the TP story, sinking a vehicle (bus) by a pier, painting a sub pink, and rescuing military nurses from Corregidor (13 Army and one Navy by the USS Spearfish) in Manila Bay just before its surrender. An even more harrowing tale partially covered in the John Wayne sub movie, Operation Pacific, was the 12-day journey conducted by the USS Angler in 1944 when it rescued 58 refugee men, women, and children from certain death by the Japanese on the island of Panay (Philippines).

[@Renshen1957]

There in trouble! Ernest is on board

[@bminusconstruction4212]

What a Fun Movie 😊

[@dasboot5903]

Yes !! >> It is !!

[@BBQFanNo1]

This TV series should have lasted much longer than it did.

[@sceptre1922]

Wait a minute, there's a 1959 verison of this movie also. That one was starring Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, and more; same scenario.

[@eugenecbell]

I’m watching from Pocatello.

[@robertkustos2931]

Yvonne wilder died 2021 aged 84 at home in Los Angeles.

[@debtompkins5363]

I've long been a fan of the movie and of John Astin, but i never knew this pilot had been made, quite delightful, I recognized many of the lines, Did it ever go any further? or was this pilot the end of it ?

[@epaddon]

It was a regular series on ABC in 1977-78 in a half-hour sitcom format. You can find a half dozen episodes or so from the regular run on YT. Ratings were only fair, and then when it came back for a second season, ABC abruptly decided to fire 95% of the cast including Astin, Gilliland, Curtis etc. retaining only Melinda Naud, Jim Varney and the Yeoman Hunkle character. The idea was that the old crew had been transferred to a new sub, the new crew (including Randolph Mantooth) was going to use the Sea Tiger with permanently stationed nurses (including holdover Naud) to rescue downed fliers as an "ambulance sub" but fans like me who resented the firing of the cast tuned out and the "revamped" version of the show was cancelled just five episodes into its second season.

[@robertpolityka8464]

Just think the Captain of the Base, would later become the Editor of The Daily Planet

[@epaddon]

Cooper had served in the Navy and had once been the star of his own sitcom with a navy setting, "Hennesey" (1959-1962).

[@andrewstackpool4911]

It's a pity that the film doesn't end per the original. Years after the war, the Captain, now an Admiral, comes to farewell the boat with Hogan now a Commander and CO, is taking her out for her last dive. They are firm friends'.

[@epaddon]

That's because the show became a weekly series for the 77-78 season and as a pilot film for a TV series had to set up the premise of what the series would be like with the nurses constantly stuck aboard the sub and never able to get off because of all the hijinx going on around them (and with more hijinx taking place aboard the sub). After one year, the entire cast was basically fired and the show made over in which it was established that the Sea Tiger was getting a new crew and having proved that nurses could serve aboard a sub they then put new nurses (with Crandall the only holdover) on to help the Sea TIger act as a "hospital sub" to pick up downed flyers (this to solve the dubious premise that the nurses could never get off the sub). But viewers didn't appreciate the wholesale cast changeover with Astin, Gilliland and everyone else gone (Varney''s Broome and Yeoman Hunkle were the only other holdovers along with Crandall) and a new CO and exec brought in so the show was cancelled just four episodes into its second season (with six unaired ones burned off the following summer).

[@michaelhollingsworth9209]

This is funny movie to watch

[@kandkpop]

Thanks for posting this. It's an interesting reflection of the 1970's era. The video quality is actually pretty good for a VHS transfer. I have a lot of old VHS tapes that don't look this good. How did you get it from the tape to a digital file?

[@epaddon]

I simply transferred the VHS to a DVD years ago and then ripped the DVD to my computer. I had edited the commercials when making the transfer to DVD since I wasn't staying up late originally at 3 AM when this aired in 1985 on the WCBS "Late Late Show" (the typical graveyard for a lot of old TV movies and pilot movies of series that didn't make it into syndication back then).

[@JPSE57]

Only four shows of season two were aired.

[@Paladin1873]

Aside from wearing the wrong helmets, all the dates are off by six to eight months. Did the producers and writer not know that the Philippines were attacked on 8 Dec 41 (local date) and that Corregidor, the last holdout of US forces, fell on 6 May 42?

[@deliveryguy7402]

I think this movie started the series"The Pink Submarine".

[@epaddon]

The series was just called "Operation Petticoat" like the movie.

[@rcgunner7086]

Yeah, not having enough primer to paint the thing. The real Sealion wasn't as lucky. She suffered the same fate and didn't get recovered. One of the USN's forst submarine losses in WWII.

[@stephenfarthing3819]

I think I prefer the original one! This is a rehash of the 1959 film of the same name!

[@epaddon]

Universal was using a close (but not completely identical) remake of the original movie as a launching point for a weekly series (the gimmick being the nurses are still stranded aboard the sub and the neverending hijinx. Basically a chance for ABC to do another late 70s "jiggle" type sitcom that they were specializing in by that point).

[@sherrie-deejenkins6504]

Me,too.

[@thomasmargolis6057]

The script writers expense was decreased, where the creativity of hollywood on display.

[@debbirbodner5358]

I enjoy the first movie more that was made in the 1960s

[@leslieclanton348]

Is this a knockoff of the movie with Cary Grant & Tony Curtis ????

[@epaddon]

It was the pilot for a TV series remake of the 1959 movie. The series ran for one whole season with Astin and the cast you see here on ABC 1977-78 (you can find episodes from the regular run on YT). ABC then decided that for the second season they would fire Astin and almost everyone else and bring in an entirely new cast and it got cancelled with the new group just four episodes into the second season.

[@andrewstackpool4911]

This lot are in the wrong Navy; Back in the 60s, away from authority and regulations, the RAN used to sort its problems used to resolve operational issues its own way, ship by ship and boat by boat.

[@michaelcombs24]

My sea time in the Navy was Submarine duty (Independent duty Corpsman). I have seen THE original letter sent to supply. It's on display at the museum there. I severed on, at the time (1975-1985) Diesel boats, Fast attack and Boomers (missile boats). I retired in 2009. I enjoyed sub duty as much as to me with the Marines. The movie, Operation Pettycoat, is funny

[@stefanbumann9919]

Operation Petticoat a Curtis has to be on the team.

[@GeorgeRuffner-iy7bm]

Should have been a multi-year show, but, unfortunately, most programming people have no idea of what good quality entertainment is. 🙈🙉🙊 😎 🇺🇸

[@drlong08]

Looks like some of the 1959 footage of Japanese attacks, etc on the sub were reused.

[@epaddon]

Yeah, along with the great "We sunk a truck!" footage.

[@Renshen1957]

@@epaddonWhich was also used before on McCale’s Navy

[@danieltonnessen656]

All I keep thinking is holden was the pilot for face from ATeam

[@michaelsullivan9500]

Town in Idaho is my town.

[@andrewstackpool4911]

Read Holden, spellcheck error

[@ronsindric4241]

As good as the Hollywood version !

[@gruntforever7437]

Have not seen this since it first came out, Of course it pales in comparison to the original but it was not bad. Astin is a comedy great and Jackie Cooper and some of the others were excellent. they just had to contend with trying to match up with a classic

[@andrewstackpool4911]

Sou d's lime a major screw up. But I'm not surprised. When the original is working, forget follows up.

[@bethgott9768]

Asphalt jungle....a patch of blue ..

[@BarryHope-bj5um]

Has anyone caught on that Jamie Lee is the daughter to Tony Curtis.😊

[@pingpong5000]

I am a big fan of Gomez and all his films and TV, but feel that some films should not be remade, sadly this is a poor attempt at the Cary Grant and Tony Curtis's masterpiece.

[@paulbrownett3673]

Prefer the original

[@kennethhanks6712]

Unfortunately the revised ending from the movie is a cropper. Anyone in the water ANYWHERE near exploding depth charges will be killed from the explosion shock waves basically pulping their internal organs.

[@epaddon]

True, but I think they felt for purposes of a weekly series they were more interested in getting the Holden character to do something heroic that would justify his continued presence etc. in contrast to the original version where the mere sight of the nurse's lingerie makes them stop. One of those creative decisions that I suspect writers/producers get trapped into when they have to meet the demands of getting something on the air and being fully accurate isn't always an option (especially in a sitcom).

[@RicktheCrofter]

I was thinking the same thing. But this was a comedy. It wouldn’t do to pulp one of the male leads. Besides, this movie exhibited another common error in WWII submarine movies. Depth charges exploding that close to a submarine would have sunk it.

[@brucewmclaughlin9072]

Evil Roy Slade 1:35

[@dougwalker4944]

love your disclaimer ...you dont like? get off... ...fond memories.

[@jimclercx4208]

omg, remeber when this was on ABC.. dang..even I knew it was a rip off....like hollywood started to do for the next 50 years

[@epaddon]

Actually TV versions of old movies were more common in the 60s and 70s because it's important to remember that in the pre-home video days, the movie didn't linger forever in the public consciousness. Most people like me in 1977 didn't even know this had been a movie in 1959 because it didn't play on TV often.

[@HildaJones-jp4pv]

Communications fault happens all the time

[@davidhewitt6868]

Good not as good as the original

[@woof3598]

odd show, completely new cast season 2 and a more serious show

[@margodevlin5163]

There was a "casting couch," on this show.

[@donscheid97]

A little corny... but funny. Not the one I remember watching years ago so I guess it's a remake.