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[[File:FTroop.jpg|frame]]
{{quote|
''when quite accidentally
''a hero who sneezed abruptly seized
''retreat and reversed it to victory.
''His Medal of Honor pleased and thrilled
''his proud little family group.
''While pinning it on, some blood was spilled,
''and so it was planned that he command F Troop.
''Where Indian fights are colorful sights,
''and nobody takes a lickin'.
''Where paleface and redskin
''both turn chicken.
''When drilling and fighting get them down,
''they know their morale can't droop
''as long as they all relax in town
''before they resume with a bang and a boom. [[Title Drop|F Troop!]]'' }}
''[[F Troop]]'' was an American television sitcom that aired on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] from 1965 to 1967. It centered on the men and officers of Fort Courage, a fictional U.S. Army outpost in Kansas. The commanding officer is Capt. Wilton Parmenter, a good-hearted but accident-prone leader who [[Reassignment Backfire|fell into his rank]] after inadvertently instigating the final charge at the Battle of Appomattox. Due to his ineptitude, his superiors gave him command of Fort Courage, a dumping ground for the Army's useless soldiers.
Much of the show's humor came from the schemes of Parmenter's non-commissioned officers, Sergeant O'Rourke and Corporal Agarn. They often conspired with the [[Injun Country|local Indian tribe]], the Hekawis, as they operated their illicit business, O'Rourke Enterprises. Parmenter also had to fend off the marriage-minded plans of his girlfriend "Wrangler" Jane, a local shopkeeper/postmaster. The Hekawis watched their goings-on with bemusement, though they often got roped into their shenanigans.
{{tropelist}}
* [[Accidental Aiming Skills]]: Parmenter is notorious for his inability to hit a target. Instead, he wins gunfights by accidentally making ludicrously complicated trick shots, followed by his men pretending they were deliberate. He ends up with a [[Accidental Hero|reputation as a sharpshooter]] as a result.
* [[Actor Allusion]]: Agarn's distinctive hat is a [[Shout-Out]] to Larry Storch's standup comedy persona
* [[Action Girl]]: Wrangler Jane, obviously.
* [[Affectionate Parody]]
* [[All
* [[Alternate Company Equivalent]]: Some believe ''[[F Troop]]'' to be a [[Live Action TV]] copy of the Glenn Ford comedy film, ''Advance To The Rear''.
* [[Anachronism Stew]]: "That's Showbiz", which features a rock 'n' roll band at Fort Courage. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by O'Rourke, who notes they seem to be ahead of their time.
** A "rock" band was also seen in "Lieutenant O'Rourke, Front and Center", but the focus is on the Playbrave Club they appear at.
* [[Attractive Bent Gender]]: Agarn, dressed as an "Indian maid", to coax the Loco Brothers out of their cave. Made funnier by the fact that Wrangler Jane, an actual woman, had failed in an earlier bid to do the same.
** This was also the source of the clip shown on ''[[Freakazoid!]]''.
* [[Balloon Belly]]: Agarn acquires one at the end of "Survival of the Fittest".
* [[Blind Mistake]]: Happens regularly with Private Vanderbilt, thanks to his 20/900 vision. He once allowed two Indians wearing feather head-dresses to enter the fort unchallenged, and later explained "I thought they were turkeys." (
* [[Blind Without'Em]]: Private Vanderbilt, the fort lookout. Subverted in that his vision is horrible even when he ''is'' wearing his glasses.
* [[Captain Ersatz]]: B. Wise from "Spy, Counter, Counterspy" is essentially Maxwell Smart from ''[[Get Smart]]'' in an Old West setting. They even borrow a couple of his [[Catch Phrase
* [[Casting Gag]]: Trooper Duffy (Bob Steele) is an elderly cavalryman who claims to be the sole survivor of the Alamo, and regularly recounts his exploits there. Steele was previously a 1930s and '40s Western movie star, and had once been in a movie about meeting Davy Crockett at the Alamo.
** Sergeant O'Rourke is played by Forrest Tucker, who once portrayed a similar "O'Rourke" Cavalry Sergeant on ''[[Gunsmoke]]''. In real life, he also served as a member of the United States Army Cavalry under George S. [[Patton]].
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* [[Cowboy|Cowgirl]]: Wrangler Jane.
* [[Dawson Casting]]: Inverted with Wrangler Jane, a twenty-something woman played by 15-year-old Melody Patterson. She got the part by initially lying about her age. The truth was not revealed until an on-set tutor pointed out her real age to one of the producers.
** This gave the producers a bit of trouble, as once her true age had been found out and due to a host of ethical/legal/[[squick]] issues, they couldn't have Ken Berry perform normal romantic scenes (such as kissing or embracing) with
* [[Door Step Baby]]: Chief Wild Eagle leaves Captain Parmenter one after he accidentally saves the chief's life in "A Gift From the Chief".
* [[Double Vision]]: Used no less than ''five'' times on the show. Because Larry Storch was good with accents, he played three of Agarn's "long lost" cousins, one from Mexico, one who was French-Canadian, and one from Russia, in three separate episodes. Forrest Tucker and Ken Berry also got one episode each where they had to play opposite themselves.
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* [[Ensign Newbie]]: Captain Parmenter
* [[Evil Twin]]: Kid Vicious, the outlaw who happens to resemble Captain Parmenter who shows up in "Wilton the Kid".
* [[Expository Theme Tune]]: A seen in the page quote.
** Except for the first episode, that was done rather
▲** Except for the first episode, that was done rather 'newsreel' style right at the start, where they gave the intro story without the lyrics. Makes more sense also if it's mentioned that Parmenter's family were all high-ranking military types. Captain (Wilton) Parmenter was the lowest ranker in the family, at least until then.
* [[Forgotten Theme Tune Lyrics]]: For the second season, the show switched from black and white to color, and the opening title sequence was redone as a result. Inexplicably, the original [[Expository Theme Tune]] was replaced with a lyrics-free instrumental version.
* [[Friendly Enemy]]: Ostensibly, Fort Courage's mission is to "keep the peace" against the Hekawi Indians. In reality, the Hekawis are pacifists and the two factions tend to leave each other alone (except for the Hekawi's business deals with O'Rourke).
* [[Gilligan Cut]]: One instance of this was [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkGVhmw7x9Q&t=6m45s referenced in] ''[[Freakazoid!]]''.
* [[The Gunslinger]]: Wrangler Jane, the best shot in Fort Courage.
** In the battle in the first episode, all the troopers in the fort combined shot seven Shugs. Wrangler Jane got ''seventeen''.
* [[Honest John's Dealership]]: Sergeant O'Rourke, whose get-rich-quick schemes [[Status Quo Is God|tend to fail]]. He manages to maintain secret ownership of the local saloon, though.
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* [[Ice Cream Koan]]: Chief Wild Eagle has an old Indian saying for every occasion, though their applicability varies wildly. Lampshaded on occasion when he admits he doesn't know what a saying is supposed to mean.
* [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy]]: Most of the men at Fort Courage graduated from there. This is made clear in an episode where Agarn was brought before a firing squad and all the soldiers instead shot the water tower he was standing next to.
* [[Injun Country]]: Averted
* [[The Klutz]]: Captain Parmenter, aided by Ken Berry's excellent [[The Pratfall|pratfall]] skills.
* [[Large Ham]]: Larry Storch as Corporal Agarn, who shamelessly mugs the camera and chews the scenery at every opportunity.
* [[Maintain the Lie]]: A recurring plot in the series, usually when the Hekawis have to feign being savage
* [[Meaningful Name]]: The full name for Wrangler Jane, who runs the town's general store, is Jane Angelica Thrift.
* [[Military Moonshiner]]: Sergeant O'Rourke, who technically gets around it by paying the Hekawis to make his whiskey for him. He does provide the raw materials and parts to repair the still, and distributes the finished product at the local saloon, which he secretly owns.
* [[The Pratfall]]: Captain Parmenter demonstrated the technique frequently.
* [[Punch Clock Villain]]: Literally, with the Hekawis. They have no time for villainy when they're busy making souvenirs for O'Rourke to sell (at a 50% cut) and distilling
* [[Punny Name]]: This is how the Hekawi tribe got their name:
{{quote|
:(Which is based on an old, much less TV-friendly version of the same joke involving the Fukawi Indians.) }}
* [[Rambling Old Man Monologue]]: Often attempted by Private Duffy, when he gets going on his tales of the Alamo. He's usually interrupted.
* [[Reassignment Backfire]]
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* [[Theme Naming]]: When listing the troopers, many background ones were named after famous pairs: i.e. Lewis and Clark, Gilbert and Sullivan, Stanley and Livingston, and so on.
** Many of the Parmenter clan, who had names like Hercules, Thor, Achilles...and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Wilton]].
* [[Took a Level
* [[Truth in Television]]: "The Day They Shot Agarn" was based on an actual rule that appeared in post-Civil War army manuals; if a soldier lost a prisoner in transport, he was expected to carry out the prisoner's sentence.
* [[Unsuspectingly Soused]]: A sick Captain Parmenter accidentally imbibes one too many "cures" for his cold in "The Majority of Wilton". [[Hilarity Ensues]].
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[[Category:F Troop]]
[[Category:TV Series]]
[[Category:TV Westerns]]
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