Call to Glory

Call to Glory is an American television series that aired 23 episodes during the 1984–1985 TV season (specifically from August 1984 to February 1985) on the ABC-TV network.

The show focused on USAF pilot Colonel Raynor Sarnac (Craig T. Nelson) and his family, living near Edwards Air Force Base during the early 1960s.

Heavily promoted during ABC's broadcast of the 1984 Summer Olympics, the pilot episode aired August 13, 1984. The first episode related to the U-2 flights over Cuba during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. During its production run, the show came to focus more on the loneliness experienced by wife Vanessa Sarnac (Cindy Pickett) while stationed on base and what she and the family would do to spend time in productive pursuits while enduring the Antelope Valley's then more noticeable isolation from civilization.

The series was an early appearance of in the career of actor Elisabeth Shue, who starred as the Sarnacs' daughter.

Trivia

Craig T. Nelson received familiarization rides in USAF jets at Edwards Air Force Base during the filming of the series, including flights in the T-38 Talon, the F-4 Phantom II, and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. On one particular flight in the F-16, the aircraft suffered an electrical failure. Nelson and his pilot prepared to bail out, however, the pilot was able to safely land the aircraft.