[NEWS] Masters of the Air

As I’m sure everyone has figured out by now, I’m a bit of a fan of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, and as such have set up a Google Alert for any news about Masters of the Air. Most of the notices so far have been re-hashes of the same base information we already know—Masters of the Air will be the third installment of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's HBOWar trilogy and is based on a book of the same name—but television news blog TVOverMind really came through for me this morning with some additional information.

Here's what they had to say about the show's theme and format:

There will be a total of 10 episodes which each last about 80 minutes. The series will focus on the 100th Bombardment Group stationed at Thorpe Abbots Airfield in World War II and will feature the aircrew and the ground crew involved. The storyline of the series will feature [the] airmen who were captured and became POWs*, as well as those who were killed and those who escaped capture through underground movements. Scenes from the POW camps will also be included. Information and facts about the French and Belgian Resistance who helped some of the downed airmen to escape, and we’ll learn more about the details of their journeys to British Gibraltar and escape to England.

The two major themes will discuss how the airmen dealt with the challenges both physically and mentally before, during and after the missions, and it will focus upon the uniqueness of air combat versus ground combat during World War II.


And here's what they had to say about characters and air dates:

From what we have learned so far, the stories of four main characters will be highlighted, with the interweaving of their stories throughout the length of the series. Each character in the series will be based on a real person who served in the war with no composite characters included. For each character, the actor attempted to talk with the veteran that they portray and in the event that the character is no longer living, they talked with family members or friends. So far, there has been confirmation that the main characters of the series will be Master Sergeant Kenneth A. Lemmons, a ground crew chief, and mechanic, Lt. Colonel Robert ["Rosie"] Rosenthal, pilot, a Red Cross girl who chronicled her experiences in a diary while with the 100th Bomb Group in England, and an unknown air crewman shot down and captured*. Although the Red Cross girl is not likely to be one of the main characters in the series, her story is important as are the facts that she recorded.

Filming was scheduled to begin in 2019 and although the producers are keeping a tight lid on the progress, it is expected that the project will be completed and released for airing sometime towards the end of 2020, or possibly in the early part of 2021.


Y'ALL I'M VERY EXCITED!!!

* This is only my personal speculation, but based on what little I've read of the book so far, dollars to doughnuts the "air crewman shot down and captured" is either Maj. "Buck" Cleven or his bestie for life Capt. John Egan unless Hanks and Spielberg are trying to get real weird and unpredictable with their character choices.
sailorkitty: (Default)

[personal profile] sailorkitty 2019-11-07 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Aeroplanes! AEROPLANES!!!! *faints* Based on that information alone, it seems very very awesome :) I can't wait to see it!
scandalinbohemia: (Default)

[personal profile] scandalinbohemia 2019-11-07 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
The Red Cross girl is "Rosie"'s night persona (God, he doesn't even need a nickname) when he wears his gown and hits certain bars...
chanter1944: paratroopers Talbert and Smith in Carentan, Tab looking delighted, Smith embarrassed (BoB - Carentan: Tab and Smithy - ack!)

[personal profile] chanter1944 2019-11-08 04:46 am (UTC)(link)
I am so very glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read this comment! I would've very likely splurted it everywhere, and as I'm currently under a quilt, that wouldn't have gone well.

*falls over in a fit of slightly scandalized giggles!*
scandalinbohemia: (Default)

[personal profile] scandalinbohemia 2019-11-11 08:54 am (UTC)(link)
Hihihi, I aim to please :D
scandalinbohemia: (Default)

[personal profile] scandalinbohemia 2019-11-11 08:53 am (UTC)(link)
Can't I? *wags eyebrows*
yourlibrarian: Tri part icon of Iron Man (AVEN-IronManTriptych-xafirah.png)

[personal profile] yourlibrarian 2019-11-07 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Well if it's of the same quality, I'd definitely be interested in seeing it.
sparrowfart: (love love love)

[personal profile] sparrowfart 2019-11-07 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
God I’ve been waiting for this series for actual years now, and finally!! Updates!! Progress!! Thank you for sharing!!
muccamukk: Frank holds onto the bar above a hospital bed, attempting to look casual. (Twelve O'Clock: Bed)

[personal profile] muccamukk 2019-11-08 12:26 am (UTC)(link)
That all looks very promising. I hope there's not too much torture in the Resistance parts. That was very hard to read in The Lost Airman. I wonder what they'll do with the combat fatigue angle. The bomber squadrons were hit pretty hard with that, especially before fighter support.
muccamukk: Gregory Peck looks up from the book he's reading. (Books: Hello Reading)

[personal profile] muccamukk 2019-11-08 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
The relevant Gregory Peck movie in case you were wondering! is Captain Newman, M.D., which is about the mental hospital in the US dealing with combat fatigue in the bomber group.
muccamukk: Frank holds onto the bar above a hospital bed, attempting to look casual. (Twelve O'Clock: Bed)

[personal profile] muccamukk 2019-11-08 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
He also does Mosquito pilots with PTSD, to shake things up a bit.
chanter1944: paratroopers walk across Carentan, with fire burning in the background (BoB - Carentan: dang mosquitoes!)

[personal profile] chanter1944 2019-11-08 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
French and Belgian Résistance, eh? *ears perk waaaaaay the heck up* Ooh! :D!