The Unit

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The Unit
The Unit title screen
Genre	Action - Drama - Thriller
Creator(s)	David Mamet
Starring	Dennis Haysbert Regina Taylor Scott Foley Robert Patrick Audrey Marie Anderson Max Martini Abby Brammell Demore Barnes Michael Irby
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	31 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	March 7, 2006 – present
Links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret special forces team and their missions abroad, in addition to the effect their careers have on their home lives, wives and girlfriends. It premiered in the United States on March 7, 2006 on CBS as a mid-season replacement. The second season debuted on September 19, 2006.

Based on show producer Eric Haney's book, Inside Delta Force (ISBN 0-440-23733-5), The Unit was created for television by David Mamet and is executive produced by Mamet and Shawn Ryan. The show is produced by The Barn Productions Inc., David Mamet Entertainment, and Fire Ants Films in association with 20th Century Fox Television and CBS Paramount Television.

Internationally, The Unit premiered on 3 October 2006 in the United Kingdom on Bravo, on 11 October 2006 in Australia on the Seven Network, on 11 January in Spain on La Sexta, on 25 January in The Netherlands on RTL 5 and on 7 March in Germany on Sat. 1.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Episode list 3 Cast 4 Trivia 5 DVD releases 6 International Broadcasters 7 External links 7.1 Network sites

[edit] Summary

The eponymous unit is a U.S. Army organization of unknown size, similar to Delta Force. As with Delta Force, its members come from the United States Army and appear to be primarily tasked with counterterrorism. The unit's official cover is as the "303rd Logistical Studies Group".

The unit's immediate chain of command goes to the unit's commanding officer, Colonel Tom Ryan, and, apparently, straight to the President of the United States. It is unknown if this bypasses the Secretary of Defense.

The wives of the unit's personnel are given minimal information. They are fully aware of the fact that "The Unit" is a false front organization, and that their husbands are, in fact, still performing highly dangerous missions, but they are not permitted to know specifics, such as where their husbands are deployed, what their training routines consist of, how long their assignments will last, or even if their husbands are safe.

If a member of the Unit is killed in action, the family is told that they have been killed on a training mission. The wives themselves are encouraged to form a close, cohesive military family based on the mutual knowledge and strife this inevitably leads to.

The Unit has an eclectic structure. While it appears to be the size of a single company, which ranges in size from anything 60 to 250 personnel, it is commanded by a colonel (companies are usually commanded by captains; colonels usually command elements like brigades). The CO Colonel Ryan, normally wears a "sanitized" uniform (bearing absolutely no tapes, such as his name, or even U.S. Army, or rank insignia).

Whereas Special Forces A-Teams (Operational Detachments Alpha) are generally commanded by captains, the Unit sends teams and squads into the field under the command of noncommissioned officers, such as the team normally commanded by Sergeant Major Jonas Blane, the Unit's Alpha team NCOIC. It is probable that their soldiers have the same Special Forces specialties as in other Special Forces organizations. An Operational Detachment Alpha ("A-Team") has weapons sergeants, engineering sergeants, medical sergeants, communications sergeants, intelligence sergeants and operations sergeants.

The wives, if suspected of speaking about the Unit's existence through such endeavours as gossip, can cause their husbands to be expelled, and returned to regular Army service (even if with another Special Forces unit). Colonel Ryan has stated, time and again, that this can ruin a soldier's career, as well as their marriage, and has also stated that he will not hesitate to destroy families, in order to preserve the Unit's security. He has also threatened the wives with closing the Unit down, and restarting it someplace else under another cover, and forcing the uprooting of all families involved.

The Unit deploys throughout the world, and both the Army and United States government have the ability to deny the existence of the Unit and any of its members in order to prevent the onset of international incidents. Their uniforms are commonly not standard Army issue, which makes it easier to deny their connection with the US Army if killed or captured. They also carry weapons that are not always standard-issue. Like all Special Forces units, the Unit's personnel are well-familiarized with weapons from around the world and can make themselves look like military personnel from other organizations.

The Unit's members will frequently use covernames around non-Unit associated people, such as Mr. White, Mr. Black, Mr. Blue or Mr. Green. According to SGM Jonas Blane, the order of precedence for his team after he is disabled, is, from top to bottom: Himself, Mack Gerhardt, Charles Grey, Hector Williams, and Bob Brown.

[edit] Episode list

Main article: List of The Unit episodes

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role	Callsign
Dennis Haysbert	Sergeant Major Jonas Blane	Snake Doctor
Regina Taylor	Molly Blane
Scott Foley	Staff Sergeant Bob Brown	Cool Breeze
Audrey Marie Anderson	Kim Brown
Max Martini	Master Sergeant Mack Gerhardt	Dirt Diver
Abby Brammell	Tiffy Gerhardt
Robert Patrick	Colonel Tom Ryan	Blue Iguana
Michael Irby	Charles Grey	Betty Blue
Demore Barnes	Sergeant Hector Williams	Hammer Head
Summer Glau	Crystal Burns
Daniel Wisler	Jeremy Erhart

[edit] Trivia

• The Unit's official cover name is the 303rd Logistical Studies Unit and is a reference to the 303rd, the fictitious infantry unit from Wag the Dog, a film scripted by David Mamet.
• The Unit's name Logistical Studies Unit, is somewhat similar to that of MACV - Studies and Observation Group, also a special forces unit, that served in Vietnam.
• The Unit's headquarters, nicknamed "The Cave", includes a briefing room, a conference room, and a Tactical Operations Center (TOC).
• In episode 1 ("First Responders"), Bob Brown is looking at photos on the wall of Ron and Ruthie's cabin — the first photo is of Eric Haney, author of Inside Delta Force and the show's producer and military consultant.
• In episode 2 ("Stress"), the sign outside the 303^rd Logistical Studies building lists that unit's Command Sergeant Major as "E.L. Haney", Eric Haney's actual Army rank when he retired. Haney in fact never got the chance to be the Command Sergeant Major of Delta Force, as he was promoted when there was already a CSM of Delta Force.
• In episode 11 ("Exposure"), the engraving on the knife (C 1/75 - BOHICA) found by Jonas and Cheals in the Central American store refers to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. This was the company Eric Haney was assigned to when he was a member of 1st Ranger Battalion. It also refers to the company of Rangers attached to Delta Force during Operation Urgent Fury, Grenada, 1983.
• In episode 13 ("The Wall"), Mack offers Bob a cup of coffee, who says, "Coffee is for closers." - a reference to the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, written by David Mamet, who also writes The Unit.

• In episode 13 ("The Wall"), Blane reveals his team's designation is "Alpha Team".

• The show's theme song is an adaptation of the USMC running cadence song, Fired Up... Feels Good.

[edit] DVD releases

	DVD Name	Region 1	Region 2
	The Complete First Season	September 19, 2006	April 16, 2007

[edit] International Broadcasters

Country	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Weekly Schedule
United States	CBS Television	March 7, 2006	Tuesdays 9:00pm ET
Canada	CH	March 7, 2006	Tuesdays 9:00pm
Australia	Channel Seven	October 25, 2006	Wednesdays 8:30pm (Dec 06 - Jan 07)
Netherlands	RTL 5	January 25, 2007	Thursdays 9:30pm
France	W9 (TNT/TPSL), M6	October 3, 2006 M6 January 2007	Mondays 8:45pm/9:30pm Wednesdays 8:55pm
New Zealand	TV3	October 19, 2006	Mondays 8:30pm
Chile	Canal Fox	November 6, 2006	Mondays 10:00pm
Portugal	FOX	November 7, 2006	Tuesdays 10:30pm
Saudi Arabia and Arab World	Showtime Arabia Tv Land and Tv Land +2 (Subtitled)	4 November 2006	Saturday at 8:00pm
Spain	FOX	October 19, 2006	Thursdays 10:20pm
Spain	La Sexta	January 11, 2007	Thursdays 11:20pm
United Kingdom	Bravo	October 3, 2006	Tuesdays 10:00pm GMT
Israel	Yes Stars	January 16, 2007	Tuesdays, Wednesdays 8:20pm GMT
Malaysia	TV9	December 2006	Saturdays 10:00pm
Norway	TV3	December 2006	Sundays 7:00pm
Singapore	MediaCorp	February 2007	Saturdays 6:00pm
Germany	Sat.1	March 7, 2007	Wednesdays 10:15pm
Finland	MTV3	March 10, 2007	Saturdays 00:30am

[edit] External links

• The Unit at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] Network sites

• Official Website
• The Unit - Seven Network site (Australia)
• The Unit - network site (United Kingdom)

The Unit
Production:	Episode list • DVD releases
Main characters:	Jonas Blane • Bob Brown • Mack Gerhardt • Charles Grey • Hector Williams • Tom Ryan Molly Blane • Kim Brown • Tiffy Gerhardt
Supporting characters:	Charlotte Ryan • Crystal Burns • Jeremy Erhart