Series synopsis
China Beach is an American drama war & politics television series that premiered on ABC on April 26, 1988. It ended on July 22, 1991. It was created by John Wells, John Sacret Young. It stars Dana Delany, Marg Helgenberger, Michael Boatman and Troy Evans.
Dateline: November 1967. Within klicks of Danang, Vietnam, sits a U.S. Army base, bar and hospital on China Beach filled with wounded soldiers and one very lovely but damaged Army Nurse Colleen McMurphy. Many heroes, dead and alive, try to make sense of life and death in between bourbon, bullets and battles.
Premise
Dateline: November 1967. Within klicks of Danang, Vietnam, sits a U.S. Army base, bar and hospital on China Beach filled with wounded soldiers and one very lovely but damaged Army Nurse Colleen McMurphy. Many heroes, dead and alive, try to make sense of life and death in between bourbon, bullets and battles.
Premise: Reflections of the way life used to be.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Dana Delany as Colleen McMurphy
- Marg Helgenberger as KC Koloski
- Michael Boatman as Samuel Beckett
- Troy Evans as Bob Pepper
- Nancy Giles as Frankie Bunsen
- Jeff Kober as Dodger Winslow
- Robert Picardo as Dick Richard
- Concetta Tomei as Lila Garreau
Supporting cast
- Brian Wimmer as Boonie Lanier
- Chloe Webb as Laurette Barber
- Ricki Lake as Holly Pelegrino
- Megan Gallagher as Wayloo Marie Holmes
- Nan Woods as Cherry White
- Tim Ryan as Natch Austen
- Ned Vaughn as Jeff Hyers
- George Cheung
- Gerrit Graham
- Johnny Grant
- Lanei Chapman
- James Hong
Guest cast
- Ned Vaughn as Jeff Hyers
- George Cheung
- Gerrit Graham
- Johnny Grant
- Lanei Chapman
- James Hong
- Robin Strasser
- Dennis Farina as Lt. Colonel Edward Edward Vincent
- Christopher Allport
- Jay Pickett
- Aki Aleong
- Kim Wayans
Episodes
This series spans 4 seasons with 64 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 8 | April 26, 1988 | June 8, 1988 |
| Season 2 | 17 | November 30, 1988 | May 3, 1989 |
| Season 3 | 22 | September 20, 1989 | April 30, 1990 |
| Season 4 | 17 | September 29, 1990 | July 22, 1991 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
China Beach (1) It's November 1967 and nurse Colleen McMurphy faces the last week of her tour of duty in Vietnam, dealing as usual with the dying boys, primitive conditions, and the sexual pressure from pilot Natch Austin. USO singers Georgia Lee and Laurette Barber arrive to entertain the troops in the base's new R&R center. Brand new Red Cross volunteer Cherry White also arrives, determined to find her brother, a marine no one can locate. |
April 26, 1988 |
| 2 |
China Beach (2) McMurphy decides that she can't leave China Beach even though she is eligible to go home. Cherry and Laurette arrive- Cherry to look for her brother whom her family lost contact with and Laurette as a USO back up singer who gets promoted to lead when the lead singer can't cope with the war. |
April 26, 1988 |
| 3 |
Home Laurette auditions local entertainers to fill in the act and McMurphy struggles to overcome her feelings when a Viet Cong woman who was responsible for blowing up a friend is brought into the hospital for treatment. |
April 27, 1988 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Lost and Found (1) Lila takes over command of China Beach and orders KC off the base. McMurphy finally lets herself admit how much she cares for Natch when she receives some disturbing news about him. Wayloo Marie Holmes, former Saigon weather girl, arrives at China Beach to handle her first journalism assignment, extolling the recreational facilities at the base. |
November 30, 1988 |
| 2 |
Lost and Found (2) Wayloo Marie becomes a casualty as she shoots her assignment. Frankie Bunsen arrives for temporary duty. McMurphy finds a badly injured Dodger. |
December 7, 1988 |
| 3 |
Limbo McMurphy continues her vigil by Dodger's bedside as he stays in a coma. KC agrees to get Boonie some black market penicillin for a native hospital in exchange for his help in building her a beauty salon on base. |
December 14, 1988 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Unquiet Earth McMurphy and K.C. are kidnapped by the Viet Cong and taken underground into a warren of tunnels, where their captors expect McMurphy to operate on their wounded leader. |
September 20, 1989 |
| 2 |
Skin Deep McMurphy uses a little guilt and a little blackmail to get a reluctant K.C. to visit a wounded soldier whose face has been badly disfigured. Holly, the new doughnut dolly, challenges the nurses on behalf of the Red Cross Volunteers to compete in a Miss China Beach beauty pageant. Frankie is assigned to the motor pool and runs into Sarge Pepper, who's not very eager to have her there. |
September 27, 1989 |
| 3 |
Dear China Beach Dodger is left with an Amerasian baby that is supposedly his son; McMurphy makes a poor patient when she comes down with dysentery; and Holly badgers everyone into answering the letters sent by seventh-graders from Colorado. |
October 4, 1989 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
History: Part I: The Big Bang In 1985, a reunion between Boonie and Dr. Richard stirs up memories of their first meeting in Vietnam in 1966. It also brings up questions for Boonie's 18-year-old adopted daughter, Karen. |
September 29, 1990 |
| 2 |
History Part II-She Sells More Than Sea Shells Still in 1985, Karen learns how her natural mother, KC, coped with her pregnancy by turning to Boonie for help. |
October 6, 1990 |
| 3 |
You, Babe In Saigon in 1967, KC gives birth with McMurphy's help and gives the baby over to a foster mother. |
October 13, 1990 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | ABC |
|---|---|
| First aired | April 26, 1988 |
| Last aired | July 22, 1991 |
| Runtime | 42 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Tuesday |