The Rear Guard was a 1976 pilot episode

Television pilot

A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 for an American adaptation of the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 situation comedy Dad's Army

Dad's Army

Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...

. Set in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, The Rear Guard followed a band of men in the American Civil Defense (circa 1942) who were part of an auxiliary force in the event of an invasion of the USA. The episode was an adaptation of "The Deadly Attachment

The Deadly Attachment

"The Deadly Attachment" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army which was originally transmitted on Wednesday 31 October 1973...

", in which a German U-Boat crew are placed under the supervision of the platoon.

The pilot was aired on Tuesday the 10th August 1976, broadcast simultaneously on American Broadcasting Company

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 channel 7 and 8. However it was not popular and never made it past its pilot to become a series. As it was a failure, the original tapes the show was recorded on were wiped. However copies of the show are in the possession of the show's director Hal Cooper

Hal Cooper

Harold Wallace Cooper was a Canadian ice hockey player who played eight games with the New York Rangers during the 1944-45 NHL season. He was 5'5" tall and weighed 155 lbs. He also played in the American Hockey League for the Providence Reds and the Hershey Bears and also in the United...

 and other producers that were associated with the show.

Cast

As The Rear Guard was a remake of Dad's Army, many of the characters were visible in the remake, under alternative names. Here is a list of the characters and their original counterparts.

Sergeant Max Raskin - Lou Jacobi

Lou Jacobi

Louis Harold "Lou" Jacobi was a Canadian character actor.-Life and career:Jacobi was born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, Ontario to Joseph and Fay Jacobivitch...

 (Arthur Wilson)

Captain Nick Rosatti - Cliff Norton

Cliff Norton

Clifford Charles "Cliff" Norton was an American character actor and radio announcer who had appeared in various movies and television series over a career that spanned over 40 years. He was probably best known as the announcer for Dave Garroway's radio program...

 (George Mainwaring)

Bert Wagner - Eddie Foy Jr. (Jack Jones)

Don Crawford - John McCook

John McCook

John McCook is an American actor best known for his roles on daytime soap operas.-Career:Since 1987, he has played the role of Eric Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful. From 1976 to February 1980, he portrayed the character of Lance Prentiss on The Young and the Restless. In addition, he has...

 (Joe Walker)

Bobby Henderson - Dennis Kort (Frank Pike)



The characters of Privates Godfrey and Frazer were not re-created.