Shark Bytes

I loved Robert Lansing and hated Paul Burke. Lansing played the roll like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. In the book "Letters from England" a real bomb group commander said something to the effect that he had "never worked so hard, slept so little, worried so much , or was more proud" than when he took over the 100th Bombardment Group. That is the way Lansing played this roll.
If you watch several of Robert Lansings other rolls you will never see a bit of General Savage. Lansing took his rolls seriously and studied the background behind the characters so that he could be more convincing.
He learned to fly a plane, ride a horse ,studied martial arts and scuba dived in preparation for different rolls.
I thought that killing General Savage was uncalled for. Although quite realistic since there was little or no future in flying a B17. To quote another writer , " Like flying a tin can full of TNT and high octane gasoline while others threw fire crackers at it.
If you go to Robert Lansing.Com and read the fan fiction story "Crippled Eagle" you will find an alternate story to what "really" happened to the General when he was "killed".

I was 11 yrs.old when 12 O'Clock High came on the air and was an instant fan, I really enjoyed Robert Lansing as Gen. Savage and was pissed to read that he was being replaced with Paul Burke and I do feel the show was a joke in the 2nd Season.

Lansing was very intense! His letting Gallagher "have it" in the first episode was incredible!
When I was a teenager I liked the Burke episodes, but as I got older I appreciated the Lansing episodes.

Yes, 12 O'clock High is on DVD. The only QUALITY DVDs are on www.12oclockHighTV.com.

It jumped when Paul Burke replaced Robert Lansing! Burke may have been a decent actor, but next to Lansing and Franciscus, he was strictly, second rate, bush league!

Robert Lansing was wonderful as General Savage, yes. No one argues that. But give Paul Burke credit where it's due, damn it! As far as I'm concerned, he can do no wrong ... those idiots who "think" he's "second-rate" can shove their opinions where the B-17s don't fly! in other words: GO TO HELL!!!

Robert Lansing was a fine dramatic actor and was the ideal pick to portray Brig. Gen. Frank Savage. His character should be a case study in leadership; not afraid of mixing it up with the brass when the 918th was at risk. Also, he had a vulnerable side and cared for his men. Paul Burke is definitely a fine supporting actor and played a fine part in the original Thomas Crown Affair. Since QM was intent on whacking Savage, he should have scripted a more noble death than the one he gave the general.

I watched the Gregory Peck version recently with my granddaughter. Since I, her Grandmom, was in the Air Force for 23 years, I wanted her to understand a little about war and flying. I remember as a kid watching the tv series avidly (I had not seen the movie) and it ruined it for me when Robert Lansing left. My real life military experience has not changed that opinion. Paul Burke might make it in Hollywood but Robert Lansing WAS the military commander we would have followed.

Martin was less than honest...wanting a younger actor to replace Lansing to attract a younger audience??? Burke was actually older than Lansing at the time! No...he screwed the pooch. He ruined the series by replacing Lansing.

I agree with all the comments above concerning that great actor Robert Lansing! I am so glad that I am not the last Lansing fan out there!

Paul Burke was definitely secnod rate!

I was a TOTAL Robert Lansing fan & couldn't watch this once fantastic show after they replaced him. Are there any copies of just Season 1 available for purchase that anyone could direct me to? VHS or DVD would be fine. THANKS!

I watched this show as as a kid in the 60s.I was 7 or 8.Today I'm still not tired of it. I can still see the continuty errors.Gen. Savage was a great charecter.(both in the series and movie).

If anyone still have the series on tape or dvd write to me at the above.I can supply a po box.

thanks.

Jumped when Paul Burke replaced Robert Lansing. Lansing was fantastic in the Gen. Savage role. He portrayed a clear image of being a true leader and figure of military authority -- certainly a much more believable authority figure than Burke was able to protray. Burke is supposedly a "nice guy" and may very well be in real life, and that comes across in his performance. But it comes up short here. Quinn Martin just took a very quick, if not immediate dislike, to Robert Lansing. Martin later admitted that replacing Lansing was the biggest mistake Martin ever made. It's too bad. Especially because Lansing was great in this role and greatly enjoyed the role and character. Twelve O'Clock High would have lasted a couple more seasons if the change had never been made.

Robert Lansing gave one of the great series performances as Brigadier General Frank Savage. Its hard to know who gave the better performance, Gregory Peck (in the movie) or Robert Lansing-and that is high praise for Lansing. Quinn Martin firing the magnificent Robert Lansing (because they didn't get along) was one of the greatest shark-creating moments of all time. But it didn't have to be. Killing off an extremely sympathetic, brilliant hero could have made for a devastating dramatic moment and emotionally emphasized the incredible cost of war. But to make it work they shouldn't have killed Savage off screen. Savage should have been the center of the story, again trying to pull off a dangerous mission (as he had the whole first season) but this time failing and dying. Killing Savage might even have even made the series more interesting-if a strong enough new character was brought in to replace Savage. Paul Burke was a first rate dramatic actor, maybe as good as Lansing. But he just didn't register as strongly here. One problem was that he was about Lansing's age and had a similar bearing. (Apparently Quinn Martin wanted to replace Lansing with somebody almost totally the same except easier to work with. He hoped the audience wouldn't notice the change.) If they were going to replace Lansing, they needed a character and actor who were different but equally compelling. That would be tough casting, but they might have pulled it off since Quinn Martin's biggest strength was casting series leads. Maybe it would have been interesting to watch a younger actor like Roy Thinnes, Michael Parks, Clu Gulager or Bruce Dern struggle to fill Savage's shoes. And maybe the new hero doesn't live forever either. If you got to the point where you felt no one was safe, "12 O'Clock High" would have resembled a real war and would have been an even finer series.

This series was based on an exhilarating, beautifully acted 1949 movie. Gregory Peck gave one his finest performances as General Frank Savage, receiving an Oscar nomination but losing to Broderick Crawford ("All the King's Men"). Hugh Marlowe was also superb as the cowardly Lt. Colonel Ben Gately, whose father was a general. Gately's cowardice earns him the command of "The Leper Colony", a plane all the group's misfits are assigned to. The rehabilitated Ben Gately takes control of the group when General Savage (Peck) has an emotional break-down at the end of the film. Hugh Marlowe's Ben Gately becomes Captain Joe Gallagher (Paul Burke) in the series, who eventually replaces General Savage (the irreplaceable Robert Lansing)-similar to what happened in the movie. Dean Jagger won an Oscar playing Savage's middle-aged ground exec Harvey Stovall in the movie (the role played by Frank Overton in the series). Gary Merrill played group-leader Colonel Keith Davenport in the movie, who General Savage fires and replaces. The TV series could have tipped its hat to the movie by using the marvelous Hugh Marlowe, Dean Jagger, and Gary Merrill as guest stars on the series (they were all available). Hugh Marlowe could have played Gallagher's general father (the role played by guest-star Barry Sullivan.) Gary Merrill could have been a series regular as Colonel Gallagher's commanding officer General Britt (the role played by Andrew Duggan.) The brilliant Dean Jagger would have been fine as a general, a politician, or a doctor. Talented Richard Anderson and Don Gordon, who had uncredited bit parts in the movie, did appear in the series-but it probably was an accident rather than a tribute to the movie. I loved both the movie and the series, and both were acted to perfection.

When the powers that were decided to kill off General Savage, and replace him with Paul Burke, ostensibly to attract "a younger audience." I was 14 at the time, and stopped watching the show after Burke took over.