Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

I ve always enjoyed "Gomer Pyle" Frank Sutton played Vince Carter so well..certainly one of the great supporting actors in television. Of course the situations Gomer got into were a bit unbelievable,but after all it was escapist TV in he 60's.

The first season of theshow will be released in December with commentaries and some extras including a clip from the Jim Nabors Hour,which also starred Ronnie Schell and Frank Sutton.

One of the reviewers mentioned Ronnie Schell was with the show the entire run. He was not in the 1967-68 season. He starred in a short lived sitcom with Joby Baker "Good Morning World" He did return in 1968 as a corporal for the remainder of the series.

i'm in the service also and the last person was wrong on his commits. after seeing the stuff i've seen in the navy and marine corp (no offence to the marines ) i would totally believe that show the other person was talking about even sergant bilko is more believeable now. if you know anything about gomer pyle they made the show funny but it did have some real points to it the did not intend to make fun of the marines they intended to have fun with the marines.i wish this show would of lasted well into the 70's and possible the 80's 4 star in my book.

For those of us who were very young and just discovering the fun of watching TV comedies with our parents you couldn't ask for better shows than the Andy Griffith Show and it's spin-offs. Perhaps the best spin-off show was Gomer Pyle USMC. It's excellence is due primarily to the chemistry between Jim Nabors and Frank Sutton. The writing was good too, but these pros made that easier because they could carry the load so effectively.

Of course the show's formula was lifted wholesale from the already successful Andy Griffith's comedic career. That formula started, as far as I know, with Andy's routine called "What It Was Was Football" which I still think of when I see a "big orange" soda (Crush or similar ilk)! It was honed further by the movie "No Time For Seargeants" and then refined for sitcoms in The Andy Griffith Show. American loved the formula so as long as it was changed enough to camouflage the sameness...Success was almost guaranteed.

Oh yeah, the formula was basically exploiting, in a kind way, the innocence of someone who was naive and stripped of all pretension. It worked to the "nth-degree" with Jim Nabors as Gomer! He was so believable that it likely sabotaged him after his stint as Gomer. That can happen when a character is so fully inhabited by an actor who is both a great actor and is so well suited for a persona that you see this as the person's natural persona. In spite of this, I see his whole acting career as a qualified success due to the fact this show will continued to loved by millions more around the world...Especially now that it's out on DVD.

Simply put, "they don't make 'em like they used to" and this is truly a gem of a series.

"Gomer Pyle,USMC" ran for five seasons on CBS-TV from September 25, 1964 to May 2, 1969. In all 150 episodes were produced. The 26 black and white episodes for Season 1 ran from September 25,1964 until April 16,1965. The 124 Color episodes for Seasons 2 thru 5 aired from ran from September 17,1965 until May 2, 1969. "Gomer Pyle" aired on Friday nights for its first two seasons and later on the series was moved to Wednesday nights for Season 3 and for its last two seasons went back to Friday nights. Created by Aaron Ruben and produced by Sheldon Leonard, Edward S. Feldman along with Andy Griffith and Danny Thomas.

The originally came for this series was during one of the episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" titled "Gomer Joins The Marines",where Jim Nabors' character of Gomer Pyle was being intitated into the United States Marine Corps where Gomer comes face to face with his drill Sargent,Vincent Carter played by Frank Sutton. But how in the heck did Gomer Pyle,a backwoods lack of common sense individual from the sticks of Mayberry,North Carolina go from a gas station attendant at Wally's service station to the title of a United States Marine? That is anybody's guess,but Gomer was one of the least brightest,if not one of the most nicest Marines you'll ever meet. But if you notice he acted femimine sometimes too especially around the barracks and most of the time giving Sargeant Carter one heck of a time putting them into one predicament after another. And if you thought of couldn't get any worse here comes Gomer after the end of each episode to either say something stupid in front of his platoon Sargent or to goof things up. Nice but stupid. Carter was always giving Gomer a hard time,but somewhere down the line,especially with the Marines he got it right,but still Carter shouts at him anyway.

In some of the episodes,you would always find Gomer in a tight spot,but is always there to lend a helping hand,but there was episode I do recall where Gomer was messing around with a underage girl by taking her on a date. In this day and age,no servicemen in the Armed Forces wouldn't be caught dead messing around with an underage girl,and Gomer should know better. There was episodes were Gomer would occasionally goof-off but you still had his fellow recruits to help him and sometimes under the watchful eye of Sargeant Carter and also Colonel Gray who was on their case all the time. There was always a predicament in each of their escapades,but they sometimes before the end of the episode got it right.

Even after five seasons,and when the show went off the airwaves in 1969, all of the buddies that live in the barracks were promoted and moved on from Sargeant Carter,but Gomer? He was still a private in the Marines,after five seasons. The show was created by the talent team of Sheldon Leonard,Ronald Jacobs,and sometimes produced by Sheldon Leonard and Aaron Ruben and also by Andy Griffith himself,who was the show's executive producer. The black and white episodes from the first season(1964-1965) including the forgotten pilot episode were very hilarious with Gomer getting into all kinds of mischief on the barracks and off the base,but the color episodes(1965-1969)were funny during its first two seasons,but faded after the show's fifth and final season. As for the rest of his barrack buddies who was with Gomer during their five years of service consisted of regulars and guest stars that appear on the show.................It also provided a brilliant showcase for Jim Nabors as well,since he had a great singing voice and he got the chance to sing in some of the episodes. But the show was a smash hit too due to the comical timing of Frank Sutton and Jim Nabors as well.

Ted Bessell-played Pvt. Lombardi during the 1965-66 season. He went on to star opposite Marlo Thomas in "That Girl",also produced by Sheldon Leonard,Danny Thomas,and Ronald Jacobs.

Larry Hovis-played Pvt. Gotschalk during the show's first season. He went on to star in the WWII sitcom "Hogan's Heroes" with Bob Crane.

Allan Melvin- played Carter's buddy Sgt. Hacker and was a guest regular on "The Andy Griffith Show" and later on "All In The Family". Was also the voiceovers for several animated cartoons.

Ronnie Schell-played Gomer's best friend Pvt. Duke Slater and would stay on throughout the show's entire run.

Forrest Compton-played the head honco of the barracks-Colonel Gray.

The guest stars on the roster? Everyone from Lucille Ball to Carol Burnett and even Sammy Davis,Jr. was on this show.

After "Gomer Pyle,USMC" left the airwaves in 1969,CBS executives gave Jim Nabors has own hour-long variety series which lasted one season. Frank Sutton and even Don Knotts were guest regulars on the show.

And in these days and times,never ever called a Marine a "Gomer",especially if your on a Army base full of Marines.

BEING A Spin off from THE ANDY GRIFFITH show, even before anyone had even heard of a "spinoff"; GOMER PYLE, U.S.M.C. successfully walked a tight rope to sitcom immortality. Going on and staying on CBS for a full 5 years was no small accomplishment.

THE "TIGHTROPE" OF which we speak was that certain balance that the production team sought and managed to maintain throughout the series run. This balance was one of seeking a sort of middle of the road approach to Gomer's persona.

HAVING ORIGINATED AS a stock character hillbilly and employed as an assistant mechanic & grease monkey; the character Gomer's main function was to provide the show with some of its most obvious laughs. Hence, the other supporting characters, such Barney, Floyd, Otis and even Ernest T. Bass, would seem, at least comparatively, smarter.

NOW, WITH THE advent of the GOMER PYLE Series, the production team was presented with a problem of minor personality modification. This "surgery" was a necessary evil for the ultimate success of the show. If left as he appeared on ANDY GRIFFITH, his inherent stupidity would be an insurmountable obstacle to believability and success.

IN RE-INVENTING Gomer's personality (or at least in adjusting it), the writers made Pyle more of an innocent and literalistic (much like Andy Griffith's characterization of 'Will Stockdale' in NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS). Added to this, they emphasized a sort "Heart of Gold" tendency of our hero. This greatly enhanced their ability to make a premise last for the full half hour.

SPEAKING OF FAR-OUT characterizations, what about that of Sergeant Vince Carter. Being portrayed by an under-appreciated dramatic actor (Frank Sutton), it at first seems that this Sergeant is Gomer's eternal Drill Instructor (aka "D.I.") His involvement with the story lines, however, also required a toning down for the good Sergeant Carter's attitudes, personality and actions.

WITH THE OBVIOUS blessing of the United States Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, those opening and closing sequences using hundreds of real marching Marines, that serve as a backdrop for Sgt. Carter's hard-boiled shouts and gesturing and Pyule's silly laugh-talking.

THIS SEEMED TO be an exercise in the unbelievable; as it was the era of the Vietnam War. We don't really know how to describe this; other than "Dicotomy" and "Paradox."