TV shows about the military go back to the very dawn of the medium. It makes sense that as TV found its way into every house in America in the years directly after the Second World War life in the military, the highs and lows, would be a popular subject. Just like the best war movies of all time, that popularity has never waned, either, so here are 32 shows about life in the armed services.
The Unit
Though it only ran for four seasons and 68 episodes in the mid-'00s, The Unit had a dedicated fanbase. Starring Dennis Haysbert, Scott Foley, Robert Patrick, and other great actors, the show followed a secretive special forces unit as they carried out clandestine operations around the world. It also gave a big glimpse into their lives at home and on their home base.
Private Benjamin
The huge success of the Goldie Hawn movie Private Benjamin, in 1980 - one of the best movies about women in the military - led directly to a short-lived, but actually decent TV show of the same name. The show starred Airplane! cast member Lorna Patterson as the titular army private and followed the hijinks of living on base in the army.
Army Wives
Army Wives ran for seven successful seasons on Lifetime and what makes it unique is that it is as much or more about the families of soldiers. Life in the military isn't just about the members themselves, but their spouses and children too. This is one of the few shows focusing on that and while it got a bit sappy at times, and even cheesy, it gets props for being unique.
Catch-22
Joseph Heller's book Catch-22 is one of the all-time great books mocking the idiosyncrasies of military life. The novel was first adapted into a movie in 1970, and in 2019 Hulu turned it into a mini-series with a star-studded cast that included Hugh Laurie, George Clooney, and Christopher Abbott as the main character of the novel, Yossarian.
JAG
On the heels of the success of A Few Good Men came the TV show JAG. The show focused on lawyers in the Judge Advocate General branch of the Navy, just like Tom Cruise's character in the hit movie that inspired the show. The show was a huge success, running for a total of ten seasons, one on NBC and the final nine on CBS. It also had a little spinoff called NCIS, which you may have heard of.
Homeland
One of the most harrowing shows in TV history has to be Showtime's Homeland. While most of the show is really about CIA analyst Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), the first three seasons, the ones with Brody (Damien Lewis), did give a great glimpse of his life in the military, as a soldier, a captive, a husband, a father, and a traitor.
MASH
There are few shows about life in the military as revered as MASH. Though the show famously ran for many more years than the Korean War that it depicted, it really was all about life in a military field hospital, though obviously very exaggerated with the level of humor and hijinks.
China Beach
In the late '80s, Boomer nostalgia was at an all-time peak and though there were a ton of classic Boomer TV shows rebooted for the era, China Beach wasn't a reboot. Instead, it was like a more serious version of MASH, set in Vietnam during that war. It depicted life in a military hospital during the war and was filled with '60s music and nostalgia.
Gomer Pyle: USMC
The idiosyncrasies of military life portrayed humorously have long been a TV and movie trope and no show highlights that better than Gomer Pyle: USMC starring Jim Nabors as the titular Pyle. Originally a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show, it followed the well-intentioned but extremely naive Gomer Pyle after he left Mayberry and joined the Marine Corps.
The Last Ship
For five seasons the TNT show The Last Ship followed the crew of a Navy destroyer whose crew were among the last survivors of a global pandemic. In 2018, when the show ended, Covid was still years away and the show, due to its prescient subject matter, found a new audience in lockdown, watching how the sailors went on with life in the new world.
Masters Of The Air
Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' third entry in the series of shows about life in World War Two was 2-24's Masters Of The Air. Like their previous two shows, Band of Brothers and The Pacific, the show not only shows the harrowing side of war, this time in the bombers over Europe but of what it's like living in the military during wartime.
NCIS
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is the investigative side of the Navy Military Police. Though most of the members of the team in NCIS aren't active military, most are veterans, and the show leans heavily into life in the military in all aspects of the cases they are investigating. The show's incredible success has seemingly spawned more spin-offs than there are ships in the Navy.
Victory At Sea
Victory At Sea is the lone documentary series on this list, but it's not your typical documentary, as it ran for more than 20 episodes in the early 1950s. It's a fascinating glimpse into the Navy during World War II and while it's certainly quite dated now, it is a worthy watch for any WWII buff or fan of history.
Band Of Brothers
Arguably the best television show about World War II and life in the army has to be Band Of Brothers. More than 20 years after it first aired on HBO it remains as great as it first was. With a stellar cast and an unbelievable story, not to mention the incredible production value, it's a true classic. The show focuses on the men of Easy Company from their training days as paratroopers to their last days of the war and it gives viewers everything from life in camp to life on the battlefield.
SEAL Team
The CBS show SEAL Team is known for its authenticity. Throughout its run, it employed veterans as cast members, writers, and crew members, and used many consultants to make the missions and lives of the members of the team as realistic as possible.
McHale's Navy
The sitcom McHale's Navy is like Gilligan's Island meets Hogan's Heroes. Like other military sitcoms, it is really more about the lighter side of life in the military, poking fun at the rules and regulations. The show, led by actor Ernest Borgnine, was very popular in its day and spawned three movies, including a remake in the '90s that was... not so great.
Rome
Life in the Roman army in the early days of the Roman Empire was brutal. Military campaigns lasted years, the shifting politics meant almost endless civil war and armies were expected to live off the land for months and years. HBO's ill-fated show Rome shows much of this through the eyes of two soldiers. Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson), as well as from the top down with characters like Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar.
North And South
The American Civil War was one of the most brutal conflicts of the 19th Century and North and South, a three-installment miniseries that ran on ABC in the late '80s and '90s portrayed just how horrifying and personal it was. The story follows two soldiers played by Patrick Swayze and James Read in the years before, during, and after the war. Best friends before the war, and enemies during it.
Hogan's Heroes
Like other sitcoms on this list, Hogan's Heroes really shows the lighter side of military life, even in a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany during World War II. While it's greatly exaggerated and played for laughs, as with all the shows, there is a certain amount of biting truth, sarcasm, and irony in army life and this show does it as well as any.
The Pacific
After the huge success of Band of Brothers, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg returned with The Pacific, also on HBO. While not quite as good as its companion show, it still shows the harrowing, brutal nature of the United States campaign against the Japanese in World War II, but from a number of Marine units, rather than one company as Band of Brothers depicts.
Shogun
FX's Shogun, based on the best-selling novel by James Clavell, is a look into the highly militaristic society of feudal Japan as it transitioned into the Edo Period around 1600 CE. It's a fantastic show based on a wonderful book of historical fiction and can't be recommended highly enough if you are interested in military history and what was life like for those serving in this time period.
Major Dad
Silly sitcoms showing the funny side of life in the military are as old as TV itself. In the late '80s and early '90s, this type of show was represented by Major Dad. While it's hardly the best show on the list, it is nice to see the family side of life on a military base with an important father in the military.
Generation Kill
Alexander Skarsgård stars in HBO's Generation Kill which was one of the first depictions of the War in Iraq. The show is based on the book of the same name about a journalist embedded with the Marine Corps during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It's still one of the best depictions of that war, many years removed from its release in 2008.
The Terminal List
The Terminal List, starring Chris Pratt, isn't exactly the most realistic show on this list, and it was subject to some bad reviews by critics, but it found its audience in fans of military shows and revenge plots, of which it has in spades.
Reacher
The character of Jack Reacher, created by writer Lee Child has been adapted for the screen multiple times. First in a film series starring Tom Cruise as Reacher, but later, and more faithfully, by Amazon Prime simply called Reacher. Though Reacher is a military vet, most of the stories in the books are about his life after the military. This is true of the first season of the show, but the second includes a lot of flashbacks to his time in the service and fits this list well.
Pensacola: Wings of Gold
Okay, okay Pensacola: Wings of Gold is on this list because it's actually a fairly poor representation of life in the military. There are glaring inaccuracies all over the place in this short-lived syndicated show starring James Brolin from the '90s. It's a lesson in how wrong shows can be, which can be just as enlightening, don't you think?
Strike Back
Cinemax's Strike Back stuttered and skipped over its eight-season run, always seeming to be on the verge of being canceled, but fans kept it alive over and over. It's a good thing too, because it was a great show that the fans obviously loved and it. Each season was unique, but all focused on secret agents and military forces performing clandestine operations.
The A-Team
This one, we admit, is a bit of a stretch, but The A-Team was just so fun, that it's impossible to leave it off. The show, about a misfit crew of soldiers of fortune operating in the Los Angeles underground, brought real spectacle to '80s prime time and the former soldiers-turned-outlaws were constantly getting into scraps with the US Army who wanted them arrested.
Turn: Washington's Spies
The American Revolution was unlike any war that come before it. It was almost unheard of at the time that a colony would successfully throw off the shackles of the empire that controlled it. A big reason for the American victory was the spy network built by General George Washington. This under-told story comes to life in Turn: Washington's Spies and gives a fascinating glimpse into this aspect of the way.
12 O'Clock High
Years before Apple TV+ produced Master Of The Air, ABC aired two and half seasons of 12 O'Clock High, about bombers over Europe in World War II. The show, based on a movie of the same name released in 1949, never really found its footing with multiple cast changes happening over its brief run and is hardly remembered today.
Valor
Valor was a short-lived show on The CW that lasted only 13 episodes, but it's worth mentioning because it's one of the rare shows that portrays a female lead. Christina Ochoa plays Chief Warrant Officer Nora Madani, a pilot and Special Operations soldier. Both are far too rare in real life and on TV.
Foyle's War
Foyle's War, a British crime procedural is really more about life during wartime, than it is about life in the military, but there is enough crossover and depictions of military life in World War II Britain that it's worth including on this list.
