Okay, it’s not a movie but titling this post as ‘TV Show Review’ felt weird.

I was reminded the other day of a TV show I’d watched about nine years ago called ‘Enlisted’. As you can imagine, it’s a military-themed sitcom. It’s available on Hulu, so I decided to re-watch it to see how it aged.

I was in the waning weeks of my own military enlistment when Enlisted premiered back in 2014, and with little else to do except await my inevitable return to civilian life, I tuned in. Sadly, I was disappointed with the first episode. As is all too common with media based on the military, so much was done wrong. Too many soldiers were on a first-name basis, soldiers were walking around outside without their caps, salutes were made without caps, and the dirtbag soldier walked around with his shirt unbuttoned and sleeves pulled up.

Look, there are definitely a lot of those types of servicemembers in the military. Guys who are disgruntled and don’t give a damn for military decorum. But the unbuttoned shirt was just way too far over the top. That dude would have been absolutely destroyed by the first NCO to cross his path. The worst I ever saw in my days as far as a bad uniform was one that was a little wrinkly and had a couple stains, and even that was shockingly offensive.

I decided to give the show one more episode, and I’m glad I did because the showrunners must have received all the same feedback I’ve just listed here. Things were tightened up, uniform rules were followed better, and soldiers started using ranks and last names. Sure, there were still problems, but it’s a sitcom. It’s not supposed to be too serious.

I’m glad I stuck around because once the show hit its stride, it became really enjoyable! It was at times funny, other times heartwarming, and they even had the guts to delve into sensitive, touchy subjects like PTSD in war veterans or how much harder a female soldier has to work to get the same respect as her male peer.

Unfortunately the series was cancelled after just one season. FOX cited the poor ratings the show got, but in the opinions of many fans, myself included, this was because they gave it a death sentence of a timeslot: Friday night at 9:30. A lot of people are either settling into bed at that point or going out with friends.

But I can’t do anything about that now. All I can do is give it a re-watch on Hulu almost a decade later, and I’m happy to report that it’s just as good as I remembered it to be. The characters are relatable and likeable, especially Keith David as the Command Sergeant Major. There’s a dry sense of wit in the dialogue to go along with the instances of low-brow humor. There’s even an episode where the soldiers have to play a flag-football game against a bunch of Marines, who are depicted as a bunch of jacked up, meathead jocks, and it was beautifully done.

Overall, I can highly recommend this show to civilians and veterans alike. All 13 episodes are available on Hulu, so it’s “binge-able” to use the kids’ lingo. If you watch it, let me know and tell me what you think of it!