Best tv shows like McHale's Navy
Last updated March 2024
Looking for tv shows similar to McHale's Navy? Leverage your knowledge to help others toward tv series and movies you've viewed previously that they might like too. Help broaden the cohort of people suggesting videos to each other. We appreciate your engagement!
Plot Summary:
McHale's Navy is an American sitcom that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the ABC network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated from an hour drama called Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962. Universal commissioned the colorization of the series in the 1980s for syndication in hope of reviving its popularity.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, semi serious, humorous, realistic, tense, captivating, slapstick
Best tv shows and movies like McHale's Navy (1962):
Similar in 79%
It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974)
Plot Summary:
The comic adventures of a group of misfits who form an extremely bad concert party touring the hot and steamy jungles of Burma entertaining the troops during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, entertaining, controversial
Similar in 82%
Private Benjamin (1981)
Plot Summary:
Private Benjamin is an American sitcom based on the movie of the same name. The show aired on CBS from April 6, 1981, to January 10, 1983. Eileen Brennan, who reprised her role from the film, won an Emmy and Golden Globe Award for her work on the series.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 349
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, feel good, humorous, realistic, not serious
Similar in 84%
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
Plot Summary:
A by-the-book Captain is ordered to capture a strategic village in Italy. The Italian soldiers are willing to surrender, if they can have a festival first. The lieutenant convinces the Captain this is the only way. Because of aerial reconnaissance, they must look like they are fighting. To sort this out an intelligence officer is sent in. Meanwhile the festival gets complicated with the Mayors daughter.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: black comedy, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, cult film
Similar in 82%
C.P.O. Sharkey (1976)
Plot Summary:
C.P.O. Sharkey is an American sitcom which aired from 1976 to 1978 on NBC.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 420
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom
Similar in 77%
Bluestone 42 (2013)
Plot Summary:
Bluestone 42 is a comedy drama about a British bomb disposal detachment in Afghanistan. So what’s the average working day for a hero? Make your keen young colleague deal with the boring paperwork? Wind up your fellow employees? Flirt with the new girl on the team? Or deal with an unseen enemy who’s trying to blow you up? Bluestone 42 is a comedy drama about a bunch of soldiers who just happen to be risking their lives diffusing hidden bombs. But who says they can’t have some fun alongside the serious professional stuff? This hilarious and often surprising series follows the adventures of a bunch of diverse characters living and working together at an army base in Afghanistan. This is a show about something easily forgotten; soldiers really enjoy being soldiers, but it’s not just a show for soldiers and it’s not just about the Army: it’s also a show for anybody who has ever fallen in love, experienced status battles at work or had a fear of failure. It is packed with the lively workmate banter and relationship minefields that most people will recognise. Even if they don’t face danger on a daily basis.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, realistic, sitcom, dark comedy
Similar in 75%
Dad's Army (1968)
Plot Summary:
Introducing the Walmington-On-Sea home guard. During WW2, in a fictional British seaside town, a ragtag group of Home Guard local defense volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, hilarious, realistic, not serious, slapstick, fun
Similar in 80%
Enlisted (2014)
Plot Summary:
Enlisted is an upcoming American television series that is set to premiere on Fox on January 10, 2014. Fox placed a 13-episode order for the single-camera comedy.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, not serious
Similar in 86%
Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)
Plot Summary:
It is 1917, and lunatic General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett is leading the British troops at the front lines against the Germans, while everyone waits for Field Marshall Haig's big push. There are various emotions throughout the camp about it. For Captain Kevin Darling, Melchett's bull-dog-like right-hand man, it makes no difference, as it appears he will be safe and sound with the general when the big push occurs. For Lieutenant George Colhurst Saint Barleigh, he is overly excited at thrashing the Germans. For Private S. (probably for Sod-Off) Baldrick, it's a terrifying experience he is not looking forward to. For Captain Edmund Blackadder, however, it's something he's too cowardly too face. Self-centered, arrogant, and sarcastic, Blackadder is always constantly searching for a way out of this silly war, and will try various, often crazy, variations on escape, all of which will take a turn he never expected. Sharing a dugout with George and Baldrick, his main obstacle for.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 175 min
Plot tags: humorous, political, controversial, hilarious, offbeat, realistic, witty, not serious, sitcom, dark comedy
Similar in 88%
A Man Called Sarge (1990)
Plot Summary:
In the midst of WWII, a group of half-witted soldiers lead by a slightly smarter sergeant, battle the Germans and especially Von Kraut in the desert.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 542
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: parody, independent film, offbeat, humorous, realistic, not serious, biting, spoof, suspense
Similar in 86%
How I Unleashed World War II (1970)
Plot Summary:
How I unleashed World War II is a Polish feature film made in 1969, based on Kazimierz Sławiński's novel "Przygody kanoniera Dolasa" (The adventures of Dolas the cannoneer). The film was divided into three parts: Ucieczka (The escape), Za bronią (Following the arms) and Wśród swoich (Among friends).
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, War
Country: Poland
Duration: 224 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 84%
Which Way to the Front? (1970)
Plot Summary:
Brendan Byers III (Jerry Lewis), one of the richest men in America, has been pronounced 4-F and can't serve his country in it's war against Hitler. Byers does not takes "No" for an answer and recruits other 4-F's to fight against Hitler.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: slapstick, exciting, humorous, realistic, not serious, slapstick comedy, cult film
Similar in 89%
The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961)
Plot Summary:
Two Air Force friends have fun during their enlistment.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 443
Genere: Comedy, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: independent film, humorous, realistic, semi serious, psychotronic
Similar in 87%
The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968)
Plot Summary:
When 5 allied generals are captured in Italy in WWII, it is a propaganda nightmare for the allies. The generals are all 1 star and refuse to take orders from each other in order to plan an escape. Harry Frigg is a private who has escaped from the guard house dozens of times. He is promoted to Major General and ordered to get the generals out once he is captured. Harry is willing to escape, but then he meets the countess.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, exciting, feel good
Similar in 75%
The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962)
Plot Summary:
An American Infantry officer assigned to a cloak-and-dagger role in Rome uses homing pigeons for outside contact, with humorous results.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 464
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, realistic, semi serious, freeze frame
Similar in 85%
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964)
Plot Summary:
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy Griffith Show on May 18, 1964. The show ran for five seasons and a total of 150 episodes. In 2006, CBS Home Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD. The final season was released in November 2008. The series was created by Aaron Ruben, who also produced the show with Sheldon Leonard and Ronald Jacobs. Filmed and set in California, it stars Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, a naive but good-natured gas-station attendant from the town of Mayberry, North Carolina, who enlists in the United States Marine Corps. Frank Sutton plays Gomer's high-octane, short-fused Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter, and Ronnie Schell plays Gomer's friend Gilbert "Duke" Slater. Allan Melvin played in the recurring role of Gunnery Sergeant Carter's rival, Sergeant Charley Hacker. The series never discussed nor addressed the then-current Vietnam War, instead focusing on the relationship between Gomer and Sergeant Carter. The show retained high ratings throughout its run.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, not serious
Similar in 75%
McHale's Navy (1964)
Plot Summary:
The crew of PT-73 get into trouble when they back the wrong horse in a race. Now they have to come up with a way to raise the money to pay off the winners.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Best Defense (1984)
Plot Summary:
Wylie is a lazy engineer. Landry is a Sergeant specialising in Armour. They have never met but their lives become entangled when Landry must take the tank Wylie designed into combat. Wylie is waiting for his employer to go out of business when he meets another engineer who gives him a disk with the plans for a system that will save his employer. The other engineer is dead moments later leaving Wylie with the disk and credit for the design. Suddenly Wylie is no longer a hack, but the saviour of his company and finds his life is no longer the same.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: melancholic, humorous, semi serious, tense, spy comedy, realistic, biting, fast, parody, funny
Similar in 88%
Hogan's Heroes (1965)
Plot Summary:
Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to July 4, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II. Bob Crane starred as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, coordinating an international crew of Allied prisoners running a Special Operations group from the camp. Werner Klemperer played Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the commandant of the camp, and John Banner was the inept sergeant-of-the-guard, Hans Schultz. The series was popular during its six-season run. In 2013, creators Bernard Fein through his estate and Albert S. Ruddy acquired the sequel and other separate rights to Hogan's Heroes from Mark Cuban through arbitration and a movie based on the show has been planned.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, parody, offbeat, realistic, surreal, witty, not serious, spoof, vintage
Similar in 86%
Ensign Pulver (1964)
Plot Summary:
1945, on an old cargo ship somewhere deep in the Pacific ocean: Captain Morton strives to become commander, so he demands the maximum quality of work from his crew, without granting them any freedom or favors - ignoring that they're thousand of miles away from the front. In one word: he drives his crew crazy. They are near mutiny, but no-one dares to do the first step. Until Ensign Pulver plays a prank on the captain that triggers fatal consequences.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, homoerotic
Similar in 83%
Privates on Parade (1983)
Plot Summary:
It is 1947, the year of the communist rebellion in Malaya and the British army's SADUSEA (Song And Dance Unit South East Asia) are called to the Malayan Jungle to entertain the troops. The eccentric, bible-bashing Major Giles Flack (John Cleese) is in command of the unit. Flack is accompanied by an ageing, theatrical drama queen, Terri Dennis (Denis Quilley) who hopes to entertain the troops with his flamboyant impressions, but the bored troops find other ways to enjoy themselves.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 977
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, entertaining, independent film
Similar in 80%
Dad's Army (2016)
Plot Summary:
A cinema remake of the classic sitcom Dad's Army (1968). The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon deal with a visiting female journalist and a German spy as World War II draws to its conclusion.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: not serious, humorous, funny, light, feel good, captivating, entertaining, realistic
Similar in 88%
Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes (2019)
Plot Summary:
Dad’s Army is Britain’s favourite sitcom but 3 of the original 80 episodes have been lost. Now, using the original scripts by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, those three episodes have been recreated as faithfully as possible and come to the screen for the first time since 1969. The brilliant new cast includes Kevin McNally as Captain Mainwaring, Robert Bathurst as Sergeant Wilson, Kevin Eldon as Lance Corporal Jones, David Hayman as Private Frazer, Mathew Horne as Private Walker, Timothy West as Private Godfrey and Tom Rosenthal as Private Pike.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 258
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: light, feel good, funny, humorous, captivating, entertaining, sitcom
Similar in 89%
How I Won the War (1967)
Plot Summary:
An inept British WWII commander leads his troops to a series of misadventures in North Africa and Europe.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: clever, humorous, witty, black comedy, parody, realistic, semi serious, dark comedy, thought provoking, intellectual
Similar in 80%
Run of the House (2003)
Plot Summary:
Since mom and dad have made a temporary move from the frigid winters of Grand Rapids to sunny Arizona to protect dad's health, you'd think it'd be pretty sweet at home for 15-year-old Brooke Franklin. Well, think again. Brooke's brothers, Kurt and Chris and her sister Sally are in charge. Though there is the usual bickering about household responsibilities and personal lifestyles, Brooke's siblings share more than a common gene pool; they also share a real concern about Brooke's well-being and the intention to raise their youngest sister correctly. Unfortunately, they just can't agree how to do it.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 249
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, sitcom, light, feel good, captivating, realistic, semi serious, sexual
Similar in 77%
M*A*S*H (1972)
Plot Summary:
The 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is stuck in the middle of the Korean war. With little help from the circumstances they find themselves in, they are forced to make their own fun. Fond of practical jokes and revenge, the doctors, nurses, administrators, and soldiers often find ways of making wartime life bearable.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, clever, cynical, realistic, witty, parody, funny, retro, atmospheric
Similar in 75%
F Troop (1965)
Plot Summary:
F Troop is a satirical American television sitcom that originally aired for two seasons on ABC-TV. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965 and concluded its run on April 6, 1967 with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was filmed in black-and-white, but the show switched to color for its second season.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, funny, humorous, realistic, not serious, spoof, parody
Similar in 88%
Gallipoli (2015)
Plot Summary:
As dawn breaks on April 25, 1915, ANZAC troops go into battle on the beaches of the Gallipoli peninsula. Landing in the dark chaos, Tolly, Bevan and their mates struggle to establish a tenuous foothold on the treacherous slopes and deep ravines. They endure the next eight months on the peninsula learning lessons of survival. By the time of the final evacuation they have also learned the skills of combat and what it means to be a young man in war.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, stylized, period drama
Similar in 88%
Two Men Went to War (2002)
Plot Summary:
Comedy drama based on the true story of two British Army dentists who in 1942, eager to see action, go AWOL and invade occupied France on their own.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 934
Genere: Comedy, War, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, entertaining, captivating, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 76%
Combat! (1962)
Plot Summary:
Combat! is an American television program that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American soldiers fighting the Germans in France during World War II. The program starred Rick Jason as platoon leader Second Lieutenant Gil Hanley and Vic Morrow as Sergeant "Chip" Saunders.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: retro, serious, realistic, vintage
Similar in 88%
Life with Bonnie (2002)
Plot Summary:
The host of the local morning talk show Morning Chicago creatively balances family commitment—to her husband John, a hard-working family practice doctor, and their three young children— and career obligations.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 653
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, semi serious, funny, light, feel good, captivating, entertaining, realistic