SYNOPSIS

Insult comic Don Rickles found the perfect vehicle for his humor in this situation comedy, in which he was cast as Chief Petty Officer Sharkey of the U.S. Navy. Sharkey, a 24-year veteran of Navy service, was stationed at the Navy Training Center in San Diego, California. He was in charge of a company of new recruits, and it was his job to make sailors out of a collection of diverse ethnic types, most of whom had never been away from home before. The various ethnic backgrounds and stereotypes were all targets of Sharkey's verbal barbs, but beneath that harsh, nasty exterior, was the heart of an old softie, especially when he sensed the suffering of a recruit who either could not take his bluster or was suffering the problems of adjusting to life away from home. Sharkey's immediate superior was the long-winded and over-bearing Lt. Whipple; the base commander was Capt. Quinlan, who was, of all things, an attractive woman.

When C.P.O. Sharkey returned in October 1977, to replace the short-lived The Sanford Arms, Sharkey had a new, and male, commanding officer in Capt. "Buck" Buckner.