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"Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." (1964) More at IMDbPro »

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17 comments in total

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26 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
Switch to color in 1965, 19 heinäkuu 1999
Author: anonymous from Oregon

In 1965 the Gomer Pyle, USMC show was switched from black and white to color. It was necessary to film the color guard and opening and closing scenes for the show in color. This was done at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, in June, 1965. I was in the recruit platoon used for the filming and I am the young Marine marching directly behind Gomer in those scenes. During most of the brief scene Sgt. Carter is between me and the camera, however the angle changes just before the scene closes. We marched from 0730 until 1430 that day just to get those few seconds of film. The platoon was Plt. 130, 1st Recruit Btn. As a side note, during a break in the filming, Frank Sutton (Sgt. Carter) asked me if I ever smiled. Being the young, indoctrinated, Gung Ho recruit I was, my reply was, "Yes Sir. When my Drill Instructor tells me to, sir!" Frank Sutton Rolled his eyes and said to Jim Nabors, "I forgot where we were for a second". After my stint in the Marine Corps, I went into law enforcement and spent more time in front of a TV camera than I cared to. I'm now retired and enjoying life to the fullest.

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
The Original Fish Out of Water, 1 joulukuu 2003
Author: Brian Washington (Sargebri@att.net) from Los Angeles, California

This was one of the funniest shows of the 1960's. This took the premise of putting the very innocent and naive Gomer Pyle from the Andy Griffith show and putting him into the the greatest killing machine ever. The thing that made this show great was not only his interaction with Sergeant Carter, but with other people as well. The situations that Gomer would get into as a result of his naive nature helped to make this show the classic that it was. Also, Frank Sutton created one of the classic characters in the history of television in Sergeant Carter. Not only could Carter be easily exasperated, but in a lot of instances he also could be seen as more of a big brother to Gomer as he bumbled his way through his hitch in the marines.

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Would like to have all 150 episodes on DVD, 12 kesäkuu 2005

Author: msannie60 from United States

I enjoyed this show as a youngster and have not seen Gomer Plye USMC in years.

My new husband happens to be a retired Marine, Gunnery Sgt and he loved this show as well, being the "DI" he was.

This would make a wonderful father's day, birthday or a whatever gift to have all the episodes for him.

Hopefully it will happen!

Is it possible to have this collection on DVD???

So to all of you Gomer Pyle USMC fans, Get out there and vote for this wonderfully, funny, all time classic.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
fun show from the 60's, 23 syyskuu 2006

Author: graynt1 from United States

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.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Stands the test of time, 31 tammikuu 2007

Author: palmer-4 from la

I haven't seen this show since I was a kid in reruns after school and I was never a big fan of Gomer Pyle the character, especially in the Andy Griffith show, but having watched the first season of this show on DVD, I must say, it's one of the funniest shows ever.

The main reason is definitely the great comic timing of Nabors and Sutton and how they play off each other. Nabors as the dumb hick who doesn't know anything, yet is a super nice guy and Sutton as the short tempered sergeant who is repeatedly angered by Pyle's exploits; it doesn't get any funnier.

I really admire the Pyle character, now watching this show as an adult. Besides being a caring person for his fellow man in general, he even goes out of his way to help out animals, as in one episode where he befriends a skunk. Nabor's timing playing Pyle was dead on, something you notice much more as an adult than as a kid watching the show. And I admit, every time Sgt. Carter loses his temper and yells at Pyle I would laugh out loud, even though you know it's coming, it's still funny as the first time. It's sad Frank Sutton died in '74 because he could have had a great career as a comic actor, he was truly memorable on this show.

I wonder how vets feel when they watch this show (my never having served I don't know what's it's really like in the service outside of what I've seen in films). They must really laugh at the antics of Sgt. Carter.

A great show, laugh-out loud funny, it's worthy of purchasing the DVDs.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
I liked the show, 7 elokuu 2008

Author: Poolee Parry from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

So for all of those out there who said that Gomer Pyle went downhill, I recently enlisted in the Marines and my parents got me the show as a joke.

I actually enjoyed it, both in black and white and in color, and I went and got the rest of the seasons.

And I grew up in the time of color television and laugh tracks and super special effects. Though the daytime sky at 3 in the morning was always a little odd.

And no I don't expect boot to be like this.

Poolee Parry USMC

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
A chestnut from the golden age of TV sitcoms., 25 joulukuu 2006

Author: AudioFileZ from United States

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.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
The spin off to "The Andy Griffith Show" which features the great Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, 15 marraskuu 2003
Author: raysond from Chapel Hill, North Carolina

"Gomer Pyle,USMC" ran for five seasons on CBS-TV from September of 1964 to September of 1969. In all 150 episodes were produced. The Black and White episodes ran for one season from 1964 to 1965. The Color episodes ran from 1965 to 1969. 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 sargeant,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 sargeant 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.

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Transition Appreciation, 9 kesäkuu 2006

Author: Mark81961 from Grand Blanc, Michigan

It is true that everyone has the opportunity to voice an opinion on a show, especially a true classic like Gomer Pyle USMC. This is mostly in reference to the switch from black and white to color. Somehow this is the decision of the expenses at the time, not the writers, which I heard was a debate over "I Dream Of Jeannie" in the similar situation when they did the same thing. I can appreciate the older times of black and white and whether or not they're funnier than color is always to one's own evaluation. In my case, the color ones were more enjoyable to watch, to see technology advance at that time so everything was more distinct. And just in passing, two things..I happened to have VCR'd the episode where Gomer accompanies a girl to a party, and she isn't junior high but a 16-year old who has a crush on him - typical teenage crush on an older man in this case, and it wasn't necessarily just for looks. True, in this day and age that would indeed be a big problem, but by the show's standards, it was handled tastefully. And secondly, if I'm not mistaken, the ratings of both shows steadily increased as time went on, and "Andy Griffith" reached #1 in 1967 - a color season, so obviously the feelings of the show "going downhill when it went to color" are a small amount. When I had the chance, I got as many of "Andy Griffith" color episodes videotaped as I could since they were shown so rarely a few years ago. TV Land didn't keep Gomer Pyle on long enough for me to get those, so I'm very ready for the DVD's to be released - have been checking for months.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Gomer Pyle: Hallmark of the era, 8 tammikuu 2007

Author: ptaddw from United States

Inspired by the storyline of Andy Griffith's hit motion picture "No Time For Sergeants" and fueled by the popularity of the "Andy Griffith Show's" delightfully naive gas station attendant, Gomer Pyle, it was a natural turn of events, having this erstwhile hayseed enter the United States Marine Corps -- at the Corps' (chuckle) peril.

"Gomer Pyle USMC" is one of the symbols of an era which took pride in its military and enjoyed the good natured innocence and honesty of the show's main character. I have no doubt there are many of us who wish that state of mind could still exist in the twenty-first century, unburdened by the threat of terrorism on the American home front.

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