What went wrong episode 3: the tragedy of enlisted

Growing up, one of my folk’s (and subsequently my) favorite series was mash, a series that promised to assuage your fears of war by injecting a healthy dose of comedy into it. So naturally, I was elated when I discovered fox was creating a new series in that same vein but the sad truth is, though it turned out to be a big hit with the fans, it was not long for this world.

Premiering January 10, 2014, the semi-autobiographical series follows Geoff Stults, Chris Lowell and Parker Young as the Hills, three brothers trying to navigate life as soldiers after they get assigned to the rear detachment of the A company, 2nd battalion, 618th infantry regiment, 1st brigade combat team, 18th infantry division at Fort McGee in Florida. Joining them on their adventures are staff sergeant Jill Perez & the perpetually underrated Keith David as their new commanding officer, Command Sergeant Major Donald Cody.

This was definitely a fun series that reminds the viewers that just because you have a job that is serious business doesn’t mean you can’t have a bit of fun along the way. Nowhere does that shine through more than in episode 7 when a prank war breaks out between Jill and Pete’s platoons. For a while, this series seemed to be on track to become the next Parks & Rec or The Office. But despite a fun tone & lots of great jokes, it seems this series was destined to get dishonorably discharged after just one season.

So why is this? Well, no one really knows for sure but experts believe the biggest factor in this decision was the network’s decision to air the episodes out of production order to show the audience what they consider to be the “good” episodes first. Because of this, some of the serialized stories did not flow cohesively thereby confusing the audience.

Of course, it was not as if the fans didn’t try to save it. For a while, there were even whisperings yahoo might pick it up for a second season but in the end, they passed on it much to the chagrin of its cult following. But despite its unceremonious & tragic cancellation, this will go down as one of the greatest army sitcoms of all time (second only to, of course, mash). & hopefully one day, if Fox is ever led by someone who actually knows good programming when they see it, enlisted just may come roaring back to life for one last tour of duty.