Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

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Gomer Pyle, USMC
Genre	Sitcom
Creator(s)	Aaron Ruben
Starring	Jim Nabors Frank Sutton
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	150
Production
Running time	22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 25, 1964 – September 19, 1969
Links
IMDb profile

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. was a television series that ran on CBS from September 25, 1964 to September 9, 1970. The show actually ended its run in the spring of 1969; CBS aired repeats from the 1968-69 season in the summer of 1970.

The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, where the premise was introduced in an episode which aired on May 19th, 1964. The show featured Jim Nabors reprising his role as the bumbling but lovable Gomer Pyle, who had left the town of Mayberry and joined the U.S. Marine Corps (Gomer's cousin, Goober Pyle, replaced him back home at Wally's filling station). The series mostly revolved around Pyle's misadventures in the Marines, usually ending with his good-naturedness winning over adversity, especially his hard-nosed Drill Instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter (played by actor Frank Sutton).

Some of the actors who played Gomer's fellow marines included Larry Hovis (Hogan's Heroes), William Christopher (M.A.S.H.), Ted Bessell (That Girl) and Jack Larson (Superman). Due to Gomer's deep humility, he never sought promotion beyond the rank of Private First Class. CBS executives ordered that Pyle remain in training indefinitely and not be sent to the Vietnam War to preserve ratings.

[edit] Cast

• Private First Class (PFC) Gomer Pyle, played by Jim Nabors
• Gunnery Sergeant (GySgt) Vince Carter, played by Frank Sutton
• Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Charley Hacker, played by Allan Melvin
• Lieutenant Colonel (LtCol) Edward Gray, played by Forrest Compton
• Private (later Corporal) Gilbert "Duke" Slater, played by Ronnie Schell
• Corporal (Cpl) Chuck Boyle, played by Roy Stuart
• Private (Pvt) Frankie Lombardi, played by Ted Bessell
• Private Lester Hummel, played by William Christopher
• Lou-Ann Poovie, played by Elizabeth MacRae
• Bunny Wilson, played by Barbara Stuart

[edit] Notable guest stars

The program featured guest-starring roles and/or cameo appearances by:

• Little Feat guitarist Lowell George appeared in the episode "Lost, the Colonel's Daughter" (Season 3, Episode 26) with his group (in 1967) The Factory [1]

[edit] Trivia

• In the Simpsons episode Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes? Homer flashes back to watching Gomer Pyle as he mourns the loss of his couch.

• The term "Gomer Pyle" is used by Marine Corps Drill Instructors as a personal epithet for recruits that are perceived as "goldbricking" (being lazy), or not responding/adjusting to training properly. This usage is shown in the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket. It was also briefly a nickname for the X-Men character Cannonball (who was a rookie from the country at the time).

• US pilots flying missions over Vietnam often called Soviet MiG-19 and MiG-21 pilots "Gomers" due to their large goggles.

• "Gomer" is a Biblical name, the name of a grandson of Noah [Genesis 10:2], as well as the name of the wife of Hosea [Hosea 1:3].

• Andy Griffith, Frances Bavier, Ron Howard and George Lindsey made guest appearances on the spin-off series playing the same characters from The Andy Griffith Show. Denver Pyle played Briscoe Darling in six episodes of The Andy Griffith Show and played tomato farmer Titus Purcell in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C episode The Price of Tomatoes (Season 4, Episode 25 - Original Air Date: 1 March 1968). And Allan Melvin, who played a wide variety of characters in eight different episodes of The Andy Griffith Show was a regular on Gomer Pyle, playing Sergeant Carter's arch rival, Sergeant Hacker.

• Hosts on Air America Radio The Majority Report, Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder, often play clips of Gomer saying his favorite phrase, which Gomer said when Sgt. Carter got caught in an embarrassing situation, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!, in Nabors' inimitable Southern accent.

• An extract from the episode "Gomer Says 'Hey' to the President" (Season 4, Episode 7 - Original Air Date: 20 October 1967), including the catchphrase Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!, is used on the background/intro track on the Pink Floyd song "Nobody Home" from the concept album The Wall.

• In 2001, Gomer Pyle was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal by Gen. James L. Jones, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

• "Gomer" was a derisive term used by American Naval fighter/attack pilots during the Vietnam War to describe an enemy attack aircraft or, specifically, its pilot.

[edit] Criticism

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. has often been criticized for repeated plot lifting directly from its parent show, The Andy Griffith Show. Below are just a few examples which illustrate the obvious similarities found in script details of both shows.

[edit] External links

• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. at the Internet Movie Database
• Jim Nabors official site. Click on link at top for promotion information.
• Information about Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. from bygonetv