There were two major reasons -- no, three, this cornball show succeeded.
1. Like Gilligan's Island, it allowed the brain to switch off completely. 1/2 hour of this was equal to at least two hours of deep sleep.
2. While the Vietnam War raged, these "Marines" focused on something that looked like an endless slow-paced boot camp, marching in formation and policing the area, doing field training ad nauseum, and shouting "GOLL-LY." It just made you feel good about how calm and placid things really were as American boys were getting their heads blown off by Charlie snipers.
3. All the old Grandmas loved their boy Jim Nabors--oh his beautiful untrained operatic voice, his boyish grin, on and on. Even if they were a little secretly bothered that they heard something about Rock Hudson.
1. Like Gilligan's Island, it allowed the brain to switch off completely. 1/2 hour of this was equal to at least two hours of deep sleep.
2. While the Vietnam War raged, these "Marines" focused on something that looked like an endless slow-paced boot camp, marching in formation and policing the area, doing field training ad nauseum, and shouting "GOLL-LY." It just made you feel good about how calm and placid things really were as American boys were getting their heads blown off by Charlie snipers.
3. All the old Grandmas loved their boy Jim Nabors--oh his beautiful untrained operatic voice, his boyish grin, on and on. Even if they were a little secretly bothered that they heard something about Rock Hudson.