The trials of a weary nurse, her friends and colleagues in a Vietnam War field hospital.The trials of a weary nurse, her friends and colleagues in a Vietnam War field hospital.The trials of a weary nurse, her friends and colleagues in a Vietnam War field hospital.
- Won 5 Primetime Emmys
- 26 wins & 46 nominations total
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- TriviaDue to the frequent use of popular recorded songs in many episodes, as of June 2023, the series hasn't been made available for streaming since re-releasing the rights to all of those songs would be very expensive.
- GoofsMcMurphy's pilot boyfriend is a Captain (wearing two silver bars on each shoulder) and has Command Pilot wings on his flight suit name tag (pilot's wings with a star surrounded by a wreath). To earn Command Pilot wings you have to be a rated pilot for 15 years and have 3,000 hours of flight time. No pilot in the USAF would be a rated pilot for 15 years and amass 3,000 flying hours and still be a Captain. Besides, assuming he graduated college at age 22 and flight training at 23, and then flew for 15 years he would be 38 years old. Clearly he isn't that old. [See Wikipedia article on "U.S. Air Force aeronautical rating" for rating criteria]
- Quotes
Colleen McMurphy: Sex is a bad word, but it feels good. Love is a good word, but it hurts.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 40th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1988)
- SoundtracksReflections
(Theme)
Written by Brian Holland / Lamont Dozier / Eddie Holland
Recorded by Diana Ross & The Supremes
Featured review
I was eleven when I started watching this show, and it left an indelible impression on me. I was watching a lot of shows back then that I was probably too young to watch(!), and there was a lot of stuff I didn't get, but I knew, even as a middle schooler, that "China Beach" was something special. A few months ago I started borrowing videotaped episodes from a friend (thank you, History Channel!), and re-experiencing it. While, at times, it's cheesier than I remembered it (and that was mostly just in some season 1 episodes), you can't do better than Marg Helgenberger and Dana Delany and Jeff Kober as K.C., McMurphy, and Dodger (respectively). The dialogue is great, but there's so much said in just a look, and that, my friends, is acting. There was really something special going on in that show. I think it was partly the subject matter and the shooting everything(?) on location (as opposed to a sound stage -- I know it wasn't shot in Vietnam ;)), but it felt so deceptively REAL... Anyway, I couldn't love it more, and I've never seen another show like it. My thanks to the producers and writers and crew (and, of course, the actors!) -- you all should be really proud of what you did.
- Summadonna
- Nov 6, 2005
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