Major Dad Series 03 Overview (1991-1992)

Introduction Major Dad is an American sitcom television series created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens, developed by Earl Pomerantz, that originally ran from 17 September 1989 to 17 May 1993 on CBS. It starred Gerald McRaney as Major John D. MacGillis and Shanna Reed as his wife Polly. The cast also includes…

Andrew Marshall

08/07/2021

2–3 minutes

Comedy, Family, Military Family, Military TV Series, US Marine Corps

Introduction

Major Dad is an American sitcom television series created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens, developed by Earl Pomerantz, that originally ran from 17 September 1989 to 17 May 1993 on CBS.

It starred Gerald McRaney as Major John D. MacGillis and Shanna Reed as his wife Polly. The cast also includes Beverly Archer, Matt Mulhern, Jon Cypher, Marisa Ryan, Nicole Dubuc, and Chelsea Hertford.

Outline

The first season is set at the fictional Camp Singleton (meant to represent Camp Pendleton), where hard-charging United States Marine Corps Major John D. “Mac” MacGillis is commander of the infantry training school’s acquisition division. MacGillis’s life is changed when he falls in love with a liberal journalist, Polly Cooper. The show follows Mac in his work life, where he deals with Lieutenant Eugene Holowachuk (Matt Mulhern), Sergeant Byron James (Marlon Archey), and Merilee Gunderson (Whitney Kershaw), as well as his home life, as he learns to live with Polly’s three daughters, Elizabeth, Robin, and Casey.

At the beginning of the second season, the MacGillis family moves to Camp Hollister (based on Marine Corps Base Quantico), where Mac must adapt to the role of staff secretary (or “staff weenie”) and the crazy antics of Commanding (Brigadier) General Marcus C. Craig, Aide-de-Camp 1st Lieutenant Eugene Holowachuk (who transferred with Major MacGillis from Camp Singleton), and Gunnery Sergeant Alva “Gunny” Bricker, the General’s secretary, a no-nonsense Marine, who despite her brusque nature and unprepossessing physical appearance, is the target of many enthusiastic (and unseen) suitors.

Character development increased during the second season, such as the revelation that MacGillis is a former member of the United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon.