COOGAN'S REWARD was a busted pilot for a proposed series. Conceived and produced at the height of the networks' love affair with World War II subject matter, this offbeat comedy/drama cast Tony Randall as Willie Coogan, a war correspondent who finds his job -- and little matters like the Second World War -- getting in the way of his hedonistic pursuits. He's a philanderer and a conniver stuck in a bad situation (think of Catch 22's Milo Minderbinder-lite). The mood is an uncertain one, trying to make comedy/drama hay out of what was a dark and serious situation, and the pilot never seemed to find the kind of balance that series such as McHale's Navy (or its predecessor, Seven Against The Sea) and Mister Roberts managed to achieve, or what M*A*S*H parlayed into a decade of television. Watching it today, it's difficult to make out whether Willie Coogan is supposed to be a hero or an anti-hero, and while it might have made an interesting series, COOGAN'S REWARD was trying to thread one needle too many for its own good.