Season 1 • Episode 32
LatestEnsign O'Toole is a military comedy that aired on NBC from September 23, 1962, to May 5, 1963, with 31-year-old Dean Jones in the title role of a nonchalant United States Navy ensign during the early 1960s. Jones, born in 1931 in Alabama and a Navy veteran of the Korean War, played an officer aboard the fictional U.S. Navy destroyer USS Appleby, which roamed the Pacific Ocean.
Acting
Dean Jones's effortless deadpan — the man was born to wear that uniform.
Writing
Snappy Navy banter that predates McHale's Navy by a year.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Dean Jones was a actual Korean War Navy veteran, lending his slouch some authentic military insouciance.
This show premiered exactly one year before M*A*S*H and got steamrolled by the draft-era appetite for sharper military satire.
US
