12 O'Clock High

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Burden of Guilt - Having failed to destroy a German U-boat base after multiple attempts, Colonel Hollenbeck is relieved of his command of the 52nd Bomb Group and reassigned to the 918th. However, he uses Gallagher's absence from Archbury to take command of the mission, only to fail yet again. Now under extreme pressure due to his repeated failures, Hollenbeck tries to divert attention from himself by bringing charges against Stovall. Based on his adjutant's sighting, Gallagher becomes convinced that they have been bombing the wrong location all along, but now he has to prove it and clear Stovall.
  • Saturdays at 1 AM Eastern/Pacific
Based on the 1949 movie of the same name, '12 O'Clock High' follows the exploits of the U.S. Air Force's 918th Bomb Group while stationed in England during World War II. Rife with action and intercut with actual wartime footage, the skirmishes between the 918th's behemoth B-17 Flying Fortresses and German dogfighters have a riveting realism that was seldom matched on TV.
  • Season

    S1/EP 1 - Golden Boy Had Nine Black Sheep

    Captain Joe Gallagher aborts twice consecutively, bringing him to the attention of General Savage.

    S1/EP 2 - Follow the Leader

    Savage wants the 918th to try a new technique for bombing on the leader.

    S1/EP 3 - The Men and the Boys

    Captain Wade Ritchie disobeys orders and flies cover with his B-17. Back on the ground, Savage tells Ritchie he is going to charge him with disobeying an order.

    S1/EP 4 - The Sound of Distant Thunder

    Andy Lathrop is flying as Savage's lead bombardier and saves Savage's life. Later, he gets promoted to 1st lieutenant and gets recommended for the DFC.

    S1/EP 5 - The Climate of Doubt

    General Crowe is waiting for Savage to return from a mission; he notices that when the aircraft "High Flyer" lands an ambulance rush out to meet it.

    S1/EP 6 - Pressure Point

    Senator Clay Johnson wants to shut down the long range bombing program because of high aircraft and manpower losses.

    S1/EP 7 - Decision

    Major Jack Temple leads the low squadron on a raid to bomb a V2 assembly plant.

    S1/EP 8 - The Hours Before Dawn

    The 918th is assigned in top secrecy to bomb Dortmund. The only one privy to the details is Savage.

    S1/EP 9 - Appointment at Liege

    Major Gus Denver returns to the 918th from the states. While he was away on special instructor duty at Langley, his original crew was shot down over Liege and none survived.

    S1/EP 10 - Interlude

    After losing his best friend, Joe Farrell, Savage goes on leave.

    S1/EP 11 - Here's to Courageous Cowards

    Ross Lawrence, a clerk in the group office, stows away with Joe Morse's crew and shoots down an FW.

    S1/EP 12 - Soldiers Sometimes Kill

    After losing his memory, Savage is found wandering around Berkley Square.

    S1/EP 13 - The Suspected

    Reporter Clifford Moran believes that Jim Driscoll is really a convicted killer from St. Louis by the name of George Kern Turner.

    S1/EP 14 - An Act of War

    The group returns from a bomb run on the air frame factory at Metz. The leader, Major Cobb, reports complete destruction of the target, but the intelligence officer, Major Herrick, says the factory is still operating.

    S1/EP 15 - Those Who Are About to Die

    The 918th draws a particularly tough mission: an aircraft plant in Rhone Valley.

    S1/EP 16 - In Search of My Enemy

    Major Peter Gray and his wife, Ann, arrive at the 918th. Ann was savage's ex-fiance.

    S1/EP 17 - The Albatross

    Kane completed his 25 missions and is going back to the states on a public relations tour. He will be performing in 'Winged Victory' and wants to resume his career as an actor after the war.

    S1/EP 18 - The Lorelei

    Crowe assigns Colonel Royce as deputy group commander. On his arrival he goes out to meet "Lorelei," piloted by Lieutenant Josephs, and finds all the crew dead.

    S1/EP 19 - Faith, Hope and Sergeant Aronson

    Before a big mission, Savage is injured by a piece of shrapnel that hits near his heart and consigned to the hospital.

    S1/EP 20 - To Heinie, With Love

    A new navigator displays personality traits that could endanger both missions and crews.

    S1/EP 21 - The Clash

    General Savage is shot down while on a bomb run to the sub penn's at Trondheim. He is the only survivor of his crew and ends up in a life raft with a Luftwaffe Me-109 pilot.

    S1/EP 22 - The Ticket

    A Kentucky farm boy takes risks and volunteers for all special missions.

    S1/EP 23 - The Trap

    While working on a plan to bomb Strasbourg, Savage finds himself trapped in a cellar during an air raid.

    S1/EP 24 - End of the Line

    A squadron commander, Major Joe Gallagher, scrubs himself from a mission and his replacement, Captain Larry Hollander, is killed. Gallagher feels responsible and goes to meet Hollander's girl, May.

    S1/EP 25 - The Threat

    Axis Sally is broadcasting some very accurate information about the 918th, and that Savage is going to be killed.

    S1/EP 26 - Mutiny at 10,000 Feet

    Major Andy Towson, an exceptional pilot and squadron C.O., cracks up after landing. He is a friend of Savage's and has flown about same amount of missions.

    S1/EP 27 - The Mission

    Savage and the "Piccadilly Lily" are given a special mission: the bombing of an oil line in the Saar Valley.

    S1/EP 28 - The Cry of the Fallen Birds

    Savage and the "Piccadilly Lily" are coming in damaged and low from a mission to Blaustadt. On the approach they almost hit something as they near the new runway.

    S1/EP 29 - V for Vendetta

    General Hoagland has just been assigned from the states. He accuses Savage of targeting because of a vendetta.

    S1/EP 30 - The P.O.W. Story: Part 1

    Savage is shot down and he and his officers, "Baby," "Doc" and "Moxey," are sent to Luftstalag 12.

    S1/EP 31 - The P.O.W. Story: Part 2

    Savage kidnaps Oberst Richter while escaping with Forrester, Regis, "Baby," "Doc" and "Moxey." "Baby," Regis and Forrester are killed. Savage, "Doc" and "Moxey" make it back to England via a ship with the resistance help of Dr. Erlich. Along the way Savage is forced to kill Richter.

    S1/EP 32 - The Hero

    A legendary World War I fighter ace acting as a ferry pilot arrives at Archbury on his way to Shaef headquarters.

    S2/EP 1 - The Loneliest Place in the World

    What is thought to be a straggler B-17 is granted permission to join the 918th group. Once in formation, the flying fortress, manned by Nazis, fires on the U.S. planes surrounding it.

    S2/EP 2 - R/X for a Sick Bird

    After a sabotaged aircraft that was supposed to drop a Polish resistance leader behind enemy lines goes down, a malfunction due to poor maintenance, an endemic problem for the 918th group, is blamed. However, this official explanation may change when a crew member believed to be killed in the crash resurfaces.

    S2/EP 3 - Then Came the Mighty Hunter

    The 918th bomber squadron has met extreme casualties in a futile attempt to bomb a target in Hagensburg. Having made three attempts without a direct hit, Col. Joe Gallagher is summoned by the brass for a meeting to change strategy. Meanwhile, a young gunner, Corporal Steve Corbett, has joined the squadron and displays an inordinate zeal to get into battle.

    S2/EP 4 - The Idolater

    Lt. Josh McGraw, an old friend of Col. Joe Gallagher and a first-rate but somewhat unprincipled bomber pilot, has been assigned to Gallagher's squadron. McGraw has known and idolized Gallagher since childhood, but always with a dangerous envy. Full for recklessness, McGraw's first gambit with Gallagher is to buzz the field as he arrives. On the ground, McGraw fabricates a story, and, in his pleasure at seeing an old friend, Gallagher lets it pass with a slight warning. The 918th has been assigned a special mission: to bomb a series of bridges in Poland.

    S2/EP 4 - Fortress Wiesbaden

    The RAF is getting pounded by very concentrated flak over Wiesbaden, the latest squadron has been wiped out. General Britt visits Gallagher to tell him that RAF Air Vice Marshal Kingsford is out for Gallagher's head. The target must be destroyed or Britt will replace Gallagher. On the next mission the 918th looses 11 aircraft out of 21. It turns out that there is a radar directed fire control station in the area.

    S2/EP 5 - We're Not Coming Back

    The 918th bomber squadron's planes drop their bombs on Wesselhaven and evade german fighters by heading south to North Africa instead of west back to England as Luftwaffe Col. Falkenstein had expected. Enraged, Falkenstein takes four fighters after Gallagher's squadron. In the meantime, Gallagher's plane has developed engine trouble and has been forced to ditch temporarily in Yugoslavia. On the ground, Gallagher and his crew are captured by a menacing band of Yugoslavian partisans.

    S2/EP 6 - Big Brother

    After making an emergency landing at Magadar, Col. Joe Gallagher finds that his brother, Pres, is in command. Puzzled by the strange behavior of his brother, Col. Gallagher soon learns that Pres blames the unplanned landing for subsequent German attacks and loss of men.

    S2/EP 7 - The Hotshot

    Col. Joe Gallagher's B-17 bomber squadron is to be met by a newly formed group of P-51 fighters over the last target of their raid, Saarbrucken. But confusion arises when P-51 fighters and the similar-looking German ME-109 fighters show up while the B-17s are dropping their bombs. One of Gallagher's gunners shoots down a P-51 and Co. Jerry Troper, leader of the P-51s, threatens to press an inquiry upon their arrival in England.

    S2/EP 8 - Show Me a Hero, I'Ll Show You a Bum

    As the 918th returns from a mission, Gallagher's plane is hit and both Gallagher and his co-pilot are wounded. T/Sgt. Sandy Komansky saves the plane by flying it back to Archbury. A home office information officer, Kirby Wyatt, has tipped off a BBC correspondent, Susan Nesbitt, and she has rushed to Archbury to scoop the story of the heroic sergeant who never flew a plane before. Komansky, confused by his hero's welcome, feels he was only saving his own neck.

    S2/EP 8 - The Pariah

    American bombers keep missing an important target in the heart of Germany, but Allied command produces an ace up their sleeve in the form of a German-American GI, Sgt. Reiniger, who knows the area well and can pinpoint the elusive objective. Although his attendance produces the desired result, Reiniger and Gallagher and crew are forced down at the Russian front, where they are captured by the Germans and interrogated. Now Reiniger becomes a liability as both the Americans and the Germans close in on his closely guarded secret that could get him and Gallagher's men executed.

    S2/EP 9 - Runway in the Dark

    During a practice run for a mission over Norway, Gallagher's navigator, Chub Willis, makes a slight miscalculation in timing for a crucial turn which he promises won't happen on the real flight. The next night, Gallagher's B-17 flies in over Norway to pick up Norwegian patriot and resistance leader, Arn Borg, at a secluded airstrip, and due to a navigational miscalculation, Borg insists that his 12-year-old son, Christian, accompany him.

    S2/EP 10 - I Am the Enemy

    German-born Major Kurt Brown, "The Iron Major," who has been the fanatical lead pilot for the majority of the 918th's missions over German submarine pens, has never shown a sign of fear or concern for himself or anyone else in the air. Gen. Britt comes to Archbury to consider placing brown in command of the 82nd group. Col. Gallagher's recommendation is reserved.

    S2/EP 11 - Grant Me No Favor

    The 918th has tried without success to blast a secret target in Norway, and on the last run Col. Bill Christy orders the squadron to abort the mission because of heavy losses. Joe Gallagher knows he will have to fight to save Christy from severe action by Wing, but he is angered by Wing's refusal to reveal the nature for the target. Gallagher gets a call from Gen. Britt to report to London immediately.

    S2/EP 12 - Storm at Twilight

    The day that Col. Joe Gallagher returns from sick leave to resume command of a shattered 918th, major Harvey Stovall, a 44-year-old executive officer, receives news of his son's disappearance in Africa. Feeling guilty about manning a desk while his son and others like him do the fighting, Stovall wants to fly again.

    S2/EP 13 - The Jones Boy

    Having been AWOL the night before a mission, young Lt. Jaydee Jones is a scared pilot who freezes up at the controls during take-off, causing the plane to crash, killing the bombardier and fatally wounding the co-pilot. Colonel Hunter from G-4 participates in Gallagher's investigation of the incident to determine whether the fault lies in the pilot or in the plane. Meanwhile, Jaydee's flight engineer, T/Sgt. Vern Chapman, has stolen three .45 pistols and is selling them to a British black market contact in Archbury.

    S2/EP 14 - Between the Lines

    While returning Brig. Gen. Krasker, Maj. Gen. Stacey and his clerk, M/Sgt. Trask, from Russia with important troop support information concerning D-Day plans, Col. Joe Gallagher's B-17 is severely damaged over enemy lines by German fighters. Gen. Krasker and the crew bail out, while Gallagher and his crew stay with the plane and crash land near the Russian lines.

    S2/EP 15 - Target 802

    Capt. Pollard of the 511th fighter squadron and Maj. Coefield of the 918th have been downed in France and are being harbored by a small resistance force led by Pierre Lecamp and his spirited, widowed daughter, Claudine Corbelle, in the coastal village of Sainte Monique. Meanwhile, Gallagher's plane, badly damaged during a bombing run, has turned back to drop its load in the channel before enemy fighters can get it.

    S2/EP 16 - Falling Star

    When Col. Joe Gallagher is wounded during an unsuccessful bombing run over a vital German underground installation, Col. Gus Wexler is assigned to command the 918th while Gallagher is recuperating. Lt. Gen. Pritchard is trying to decide between Gallagher and Wexler for appointment to the vacant wing commander's slot. When the casual, un-military Wexler suddenly becomes gung-ho and puts military screws on the 918th, the consensus is that he is trying to out-do Gallagher in order to get the wing commander's job.

    S2/EP 17 - The Slaughter Pen

    After a number of unsuccessful attempts at bombing a highly advanced underground German radar center, Col. Gallagher is brought by Gen. Pritchard to Gen. St. John Keighley's English commando school at Brwyncore Manor to coordinate a joint sea, land and air raid on the target. The plan is to parachute commandoes and a radar expert into enemy territory to attack the radar center and ascertain the equipment's secrets.

    S2/EP 18 - Underground

    While bombing a vital German target, Gallagher realizing that his squadron hit only a decoy after spotting the real target 2,500 yards northeast. Before he can radio the information back to Gen. Britt, Gallagher's plane is hit and the entire crew is forced to bail out. Gallagher lands in neutral Switzerland and is immediately captured and faces internment for the duration of the war. Desperate not only to get back into the fight, he must also get the target information back to England.

    S2/EP 19 - Which Way the Wind Blows

    The 918th has suffered critical casualties, both to men and aircraft, in a series of abortive bombing attempts over an important enemy target when weather hazards, contrary to reports, have thrown the B-17's at the mercy of German fighters. Col. Joe Gallagher is skeptical when Gen. Britt brings in a young and pretty WAC weather expert from Washington, Capt. Patricia Bates.

    S2/EP 20 - The Outsider

    While on a bombing run over German fuel dumps, Gallagher's squadron is hit hard by German fighters. Lt. Harley Wilson, flying wing for the P-51 escorts, hits Gallagher's B-17 by mistake while firing at the enemy.

    S2/EP 21 - Back to the Drawing Board

    With consistently foul weather thwarting a series of bombing runs over Germany, Col. Joe Gallagher's 918th is chosen to test a new radar device, known as the BTO (bomb through overcast), which can pick up a ground target from a plane in the heaviest overcast. Having installed their instruments in one of Gallagher's B-17's, Dr. Rink and his assistant, M/Sgt. Ray Zemler, go aloft with Gallagher and two other planes in a short run over the Marshalling Yards at Durondc.

    S2/EP 22 - Twenty-Fifth Mission

    Returning from his 25th mission, the allotted number for a bomber pilot before being rotated stateside, ebullient but inwardly troubled Maj. Tom Parsons is greeted by an old friend and fellow pilot, Capt. Bruce Cowley, who is somewhat concerned about the girl Parsons is stringing along, Naomi Rockford.

    S2/EP 23 - The Survivor

    Capt. Bradovich arrives at the 918th as a replacement pilot. He immediately gains a reputation as an arrogant, by-the-book officer who has no interest in making friends or participating in the camaraderie of the group. His dubious standing is seriously worsened when he is apparently the only survivor after his bomber is shot down. As it becomes harder to find crewmen willing to fly with him, Col. Gallagher must get to the bottom of Bradovich's exclusionary attitude or risk dangerously undermining the morale of his command.

    S2/EP 24 - Angel Babe

    Major Budd and Sergeants Marven and Prinzi, members of a public relations film unit, are sent to cover the retirement from battle of one of the 918th's most famous fortresses, "Angel Face." The next mission will be her 50th and last, and Budd, Marven and Prinzi will film it for documentary purposes.

    S2/EP 25 - Decoy

    After a conference in Scotland, Col. Joe Gallagher rushes to the airstrip to get a flight back to Archbury to hoist a cover mission for a british commando landing on the continent. Ironically, his pilot is Capt. Anthony Powell, a rich boy "foul ball" he scrubbed from the 918th some time ago. Powell smarts under Gallagher's company, but when the B-17 is attacked by German fighters, Powell panics at the controls.

    S2/EP 26 - The Hollow Man

    Upon his escape from a grueling five months in a German prison camp, B-17 pilot Lt. Bolen is greeted by Ken Shaw, a correspondent who wants to do a story on the hero who got away from the Nazis, and, by a promotion from Col. Gallagher, who wants information from Bolen on a target near where he was interned. The 918th has been unable to hit an oil plant at Bodenheim, and Bolen knows exactly where it is. Bolen, however, wants to fly again, and Gallagher considers assigning him to the low-level incendiary pathfinder run to mark the target for the rest of the squadron.

    S2/EP 27 - Cross-Hairs on Death

    Having been washed out of flying school some years ago, Thomas Gaines Carpenter, whose real name is Stone, sank deeply into trouble until he was finally dishonorably discharged from service. He is now determined to fly at least one effective combat mission to make up in some way for his previous failure. Carpenter double-talks his way into temporary orders at Air Corps headquarters as a replacement pilot to Col. Joe Gallagher's 918th bomber squadron.

    S2/EP 28 - Day of Reckoning

    Chaplain Archer, pretty Winifred Broome, who is in love with Archer, and Sgt. Komansky conduct the orientation of a dozen young recruits while Col. Gallagher leads the 918th squadron on a bombing run. Gallagher's planes pass a German bomb group, commanded by Majors Bentz and Schindler, as it heads for England. But the Germans are not after London; they are after the bomb dump at Archbury.

    S2/EP 29 - Siren Voices

    Col. Joe Gallagher's 918th squadron is badly chewed-up by German fighters while trying to bomb the crucial Focke-Wulf aircraft factories. The Geman Luftwaffe operations commander, Col. Halland, is pleased as he visits his loved-one, Pat Conboy, an english traitor who broadcasts a German propaganda program under the name of the Danzig Lady.

    S3/EP 1 - Gauntlet of Fire

    The 918th group has just finished 21 missions in the 30 days since May 1, 1944. They have been bombing for operation point, the lead up to operation overlord, the invasion of Normandy. A 10-day leave is authorized then cancelled and instead they are to drop leaflets all over the French coast. Everyone is exhausted from Gallagher on down. General Pritchard tells General Britt that they need all groups in the air, warning that this could be the "real thing."

    S3/EP 2 - Massacre

    A shuttle raid is planned by 8th Air Force commander Lieutenant General Harry Owen.

    S3/EP 3 - Face of a Shadow

    The 918th is now temporarily part of the 15th air force. They fly to a base at Bellagio Foggia Italy commanded by Colonel Yates.

    S3/EP 5 - Distant Cry

    A flight instructor goes to war.

    S3/EP 6 - Practice to Deceive

    Gallagher is shot down in a mustang on a secret mission. Col Gibbons takes over command of the 918th. A conspiracy is led by Admiral von Kreuter to kill Hitler and negotiate a separate peace.

    S3/EP 7 - The All-American

    Ted Masters is an all-American athlete assigned to the 918th. He wants to fly, and is assigned to Captain King's aircraft operating the bomb run camera. During a mission most of the crew is wounded, including the pilot, and it's up to Masters to land the burning plane and save the crew.

    S3/EP 9 - The Fighter Pilot

    Straight from the Pacific, a trio of hotshot fighter aces roar into Archbury field, instantly making a bad impression with Col. Gallagher. Their leader, Capt. Dejohn, a seasoned veteran with a burning desire for combat and little discipline, bristles at his new commander's reprimand. Things only get worse after Gallagher flies rings around Dejohn in a simulated dogfight in an effort to acclimate him to the differences in the European air war. Dejohn takes the lesson as a personal affront and launches a vendetta against Gallagher. The situation approaches critical as evidence starts to appear that the new pilots arrived at the 918th under scandalous circumstances.

    S3/EP 10 - To Seek and Destroy

    A V-1 rocket crashes in Sweden and the Allies want it. They recruit rocket expert Anthony Carmichael. On the mission, Gallagher, Carmichael and Komansky fly to Sweden in an unmarked plane. They have engine trouble and the compass fails so they follow a German plane in. The german plane is a diplomatic courier carrying the designers of the V-1 guidance system. They are also there to retrieve the rocket. Carmichael drinks too much and reveals his mission to a German operative.

    S3/EP 11 - Burden of Guilt

    Having failed to destroy a German U-boat base after multiple attempts, Colonel Hollenbeck is relieved of his command of the 52nd Bomb Group and reassigned to the 918th. However, he uses Gallagher's absence from Archbury to take command of the mission, only to fail yet again. Now under extreme pressure due to his repeated failures, Hollenbeck tries to divert attention from himself by bringing charges against Stovall. Based on his adjutant's sighting, Gallagher becomes convinced that they have been bombing the wrong location all along, but now he has to prove it and clear Stovall.

    S3/EP 12 - The Ace

    The Germans have surrounded a secret atomic research facility with a prison camp full of high-profile POWs, believing the Allies will never bomb for fear of a major public relations fiasco. The Americans have an ace up their sleeve, however, in the person of Colonel Harry Connelly, a wizard at pinpoint precision bombing with 43 successful missions under his belt. But, unbeknownst to his comrades, Connelly is feeling the fatigue from so many crucial missions.

    S3/EP 13 - Six Feet Under

    During a lightning strike deep behind German lines, the Americans capture a forward operations base for the Luftwaffe in a small Belgian village that contains a trove of potentially valuable documents. Gallagher and Komansky are sent in to evaluate and retrieve the information, but they have three major problems; their assigned translators have been killed, an enemy survivor has emerged to cause trouble and the Germans are mounting an all-out counteroffensive to retake the base.

    S3/EP 14 - Duel at Mont Sainte Marie

    Gallagher parachutes onto a mountain to get a group of nuns to move so the mountain can be bombed.

    S3/EP 15 - Graveyard

    Gallagher and Komansky bail out over a recently liberated Italian island with a small airfield manned by just two African American soldiers and a handful of German POWs. Komansky is suspicious of Major Luke, the commander of the base, with good reason. Luke turns out to be an AWOL private who doesn't mind serving as long as he doesn't have to shoot anybody.

    S3/EP 16 - A Long Time Dead

    Captain Dula has earned a reputation as a jinx pilot, and Gallagher restricts him to non-pilot duties. But when Gallagher and Stovall are wounded, Dula takes over the piloting and gives Komansky an order, which he ignores. Dula demands that an entry be made to the log noting Komansky's "mutiny." On their next mission, however, Komansky is seriously hurt, and his very survival may be in Dula's hands.

    S3/EP 17 - The Hunters and the Killers

    The 918th is picked to assist the Navy in an operation to find and destroy a German U-boat wolfpack operating in the Atlantic. Gallagher is concerned to learn that he will be working with and taking orders from Commodore Crompton, an old nemesis of his father. Crompton is even more upset by the arrangement, but grudgingly accepts the pact in order to recharge his failing career.