Call to Glory
Call to Glory
| 13 August 1984 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Season 1 : 1984 | 24 Episodes

    EP1 pilot (1) Aug 13, 1984

    Col. Raynor Sarnac is a pilot with the right stuff—he's flown missions in two wars and has risen to command a reconnaissance wing at Laughlin AFB, Texas, where he pilots his fliers and his family through the turbulent Cold War of the early 1960s. In October 1962 Sarnac's wing is ordered to fly continuous U-2 missions over Cuba—to obtain conclusive evidence that the Russians are installing offensive missiles. Meanwhile, Sarnac's wife Vanessa, who lives in constant dread of 'the knock at the door,' is baffled by her youngest son who won't speak to anyone but his sister; and has difficulty coping with a headstrong 16-year-old daughter who's taking flying lessons from her grandfather against her mother's orders.

    EP2 pilot (2) Aug 13, 1984

    Craig T. Nelson stars in this critically acclaimed, gripping two hour premiere presentation that launched the exciting weekly CALL TO GLORY, television series. The year was 1962. John F. Kennedy was president, Nikita Krushchev ruled Russia, and the world held its breath as the Cuban missle crisis pushed the two superpowers to the brink of war. Behind the scenes, Air Force pilots flew dangerous spy missions over Cuba to monitor the volatile situation. Many men answered the CALL TO GLORY and many of them never made it back. This is the story of those brave pilots and their families.

    EP3 The Move Aug 20, 1984

    The entire Sarnac family is thrown into turmoil when Raynor receives a lucrative job offer in the private sector.

    EP4 Blackbird Aug 27, 1984

    Raynor faces one of his toughest missions as he tries to prevent a bitter ex-pilot from exposing the details of a top secret mission.

    EP5 A Nation Divided Sep 03, 1984

    The violence spawned by the Civil Rights Movement hits home when Wesley and a black friend are beaten by teenage racists.

    EP6 Paper Tiger Sep 17, 1984

    A dangerous top-secret mission takes Raynor over Red China to see if the Chinese have developed an Atomic Bomb.

    EP7 Go / No Go Sep 24, 1984

    On a mission into the heart of Saigon, Raynor bears personal witness to the horrifying brutality of the government.

    EP8 Call It Courage Oct 01, 1984

    Raynor's involvement in a bitter political controversy could cost him a valued friendship...and ruin his military career.

    EP9 A Wind from the East Oct 08, 1984

    Forced to bail out of a crippled plane, Raynor and a Japanese Air Force officer struggle to survive in a dangerous wilderness.

    EP10 A Moment in the Sun Oct 22, 1984

    Raynor is torn between duty and friendship when an Air Force buddy suddenly develops a crippling fear of flying.

    EP11 Cover Story Oct 29, 1984

    While testing a new flight system, Sarnec is hounded by an investigative reporter probing for revelations about defense spending.

    EP12 Realities Nov 12, 1984

    Raynor and Vanessa are so involved in their friends' marital problems, they don't notice Carl is facing a crisis of his own.

    EP13 The Wake Nov 19, 1984

    Tension mounts in the Sarnac household as Raynor prepares for a mission that has already claimed the life of one of his best test pilots.

    EP14 Medals All of Brass Nov 26, 1984

    Raynor is forced to face the harsh truth that an old friend is really a spy for the KGB.

    EP15 A Wind of Change Dec 03, 1984

    A flight over Vietnam turns into a journey of terror when Raynor is shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese.

    EP16 Give Unto Caesar Dec 17, 1984

    Stiff penalties await a pilot who disobeys orders and brings a Russian defector back to America.

    EP17 Moonchild Jan 15, 1985

    The news that a child is on the way puts a wedge in the Sarnacs' marriage as they both try to cope with feelings of doubt and guilt.

    EP18 Images Jan 22, 1985

    Plot of this episode is not specified yet.
    Please check back later for more update.

    EP19 Fathers and Sons Jan 29, 1985

    Plot of this episode is not specified yet.
    Please check back later for more update.

    EP20 Just in Time Feb 12, 1985

    Plot of this episode is not specified yet.
    Please check back later for more update.

    EP21 The JFK Years (1) Jun 30, 1985

    Raynor has to fly this top secret mission and go to Washington DC

    EP22 The JFK Years (2) Jun 30, 1985

    Raymor meets with President Kennedy. The family goes with him.

    EP23 Fathers and Daughters Jan 01, 0001

    This episode mainly concentrates on the relationship between Raynor and Jackie. Jackie is growing into womanhood and Raynor is comming to grips with it.

    EP24 The End, the Beginning Jan 01, 0001

    This episode had the return of Raynor home after the Viet Nam war. Every one had grown up Jackie had a baby. Wesley became a draft dodger and fled to Canada and at the end of the episode he came home to see his father. It was clear that this series was going into a different direction if only ABC would have stuck with it for another season.
    Reviews
    cirvin1258

    I was just out of high school and just into the USAF when this series aired, and I was totally blown away.Being an airplane fanatic, I can't describe what it was like to see a series about an officer that flies U-2 spy planes, then moves to California, and begins flying SR-71's! It was something that you just didn't find on television then, and you won't find it now.The chain of events taking place in the era in which the series took place (the early 1960's), and the Sarnac family's involvement in them, the actual newsreel footage added in to partially tell the story, the music, this was amazing stuff. From the Cuban Missile Crisis to the Civil Rights Movement, to our entry into Vietnam, it was all there, as was the characters' involvement/reactions to those events.Unfortunately, with most great television shows, the cost of production often outweighs the profit - and that was the case with this one. U-2's, and especially SR-71's are ungodly expensive aircraft to feed (one of the reasons SR-71's were finally retired - a SR-71 usually took on fuel at least 6 times just doing a routine training flight, they used so much fuel!), and being able to shoot on the flight line only when the USAF says you can, never mind transforming a modern town into a 1960's town during production, adds up to a series that was dead before it could take off.Keep in mind, this was in the era when television shows didn't have mega-budgets the likes of The X-Files.If you happen upon this series somewhere, watch it!

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    Joseph Harder

    About a year ago Professor Paul Cantor of the University of Virginia, who wrote that interesting book Gilligan Unbound, wrote an article for the Claremont Review of Books arguing that this was the true "Golden Age of TV", citing wonderful shows such as Deadwood,Lost, Rome, and Mad Men( I'm surprised he didn't mention "Friday Night Lights.) One of the reasons for the huge number of excellent TV programs nowadays is the existence of Cable networks which provide outlets for shows that appeal to "niche" audiences. As recently as the late eighties, a show had to succeed on the "big three " networks, or, as Timothy Leary once called them in one of his lucid moments, ABCBS. The annals of TV history are littered with very fine shows that were "brilliant but canceled": The Westerner,The Rogues, My World and Welcome To it, East Side West Side, Slattery's People- and the list goes on and on.Any of those shows would have found a "niche audience" nowadays on a cable channel. I know of most of those shows by reputation alone, as none of them is available on DVD. Here is yet another instance. This, In contrast, is a show I remember fairly well, since it aired in 1984( Which incidentally was perhaps the strangest year in my life-but thats another story.) The Call To Glory was set on an Airforce base in the early nineteen sixties, and was apparently originally intended as a "historical drama' akin to British historical soap Operas like the maginificent Upstairs Downstairs. ( Which incidentally inspired an American ripoff called Beacon Hill which may have been one of the worst, most stilted, TV shows ever made.)It would have followed the Sarnac family and its friends through the glory years of Camelot and the years of upheaval that followed. Sadly, the show never got around to the Vietnam war years( though at least one episode foreshadowed Vietnam.) This was a well acted, well written and stirring series. I would compare it to other "brilliant but canceled " shows from the eighties, All Fly Away and Home Front.

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    yenlo

    This TV series was heavily hyped during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the Pilot/Movie which launched it was quite good. The series however just couldn't seem to get off the ground. It appeared to have one to many characters which tends to spoil many shows. The writers it seemed were constantly messing with Cindy Pickett's Vanessa Sarnac and it left the viewer getting fed up with her in the end. The show was possibly a little ahead of it's time and perhaps if viewed today would come off better.

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    dana-27

    This tv show was so far ahead of it's time, not even the Open Records Law could protect it.There is one episode that tells the depth of how much the writers knew and what they should not be telling.Raynor makes his first trip to Viet Nam, at the request of RFK, to report back the fitness of the goverment there to receive aid from the USA to the president.What he learns there summarizes the whole Viet Nam war. And explains the astonishment of 99% of the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who served in that theater.But, I will not name the episode, because the series can only be really savored if you see them all.A 10, really, a 10.

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