Captain Newman, M.D.

It's 1944, during WWII. During Captain Joe Newman, M.D.'s reign as head of the psychiatric ward at Colfax Air Force Base in Arizona, the number of patients in the ward has grown exponentially. According to Newman, the diagnoses are now only more accurate, not the number of Air Force personnel who have actually required psychiatric assistance. This assessment is against that of the base commander, Colonel Edgar Peyser, who believes many of the patients are fit for active war duty. Newman feels his ward is short staffed and he does whatever he needs to to get additional staff. So when Corporal Jake Leibowitz comes to the hospital to be assigned to work as an orderly in another ward, Newman manages to abscond the reluctant Leibowitz to work in the psych ward. One not high on ceremony, the excitable and energetic Leibowitz adds a little needed levity into the day-to-day operations of the ward, although many of his actions are less than military regulation. Newman also coerces the beautiful nurse, Lieutenant Francie Corum, to transfer into the ward, Newman believing her beauty will soothe the patients' psyches. Three of the more interesting cases in the ward are that of: Colonel Norville Bliss, who knows he needs help but isn't sure what is causing his mental breaks; Captain Paul Winston, whose primary symptom is a constant need to sleep, his mental issues which his VIP family would rather not deal with directly; and Corporal Jim Tompkins, whose excessive alcohol consumption, insomnia and bravado overshadow his real emotional issues.