MovieChat Forums > Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964) Discussion > What Was This Show's Problem In The End?

What Was This Show's Problem In The End?

posted 10 years ago by richard.fuller1
4 replies | jump to latest

On The Simpsons, Homer goes to college and watches an absurd eighties teen-aged movie where the 'hero' makes a bra bomb to go off, much to the delight of the visiting dignitary, Mr. President.

While this happened in a few I Love Lucy episodes, it happened more in Here's Lucy (which aired the same time as Gomer), but I recall it happening endlessly on Gomer Pyle.

Now I recall early black-and-white episodes had more marine hijinks and comedy, but the later episodes are absolutely awful. One of the worst is airing on MeTV this Sunday, with that pet rabbit. Watch Gomer walk around with this kid and the rabbit. He looks like an absolute buffoon.

But I saw the episode I'm Always Chasing Gomers, and couldn't help but compare the 'conflict' with, let's say, the I Love Lucy episode when they are cycling across Europe and Lucy gets her passport on the wrong side of the border and she's in the other country.

Watching I'm Always Chasing Gomers, Lucy would have panicked at telling Ricky what she had done, and quite honestly, wouldn't have done so. Ricky would have checked the luggage for her passport and just stood there bug-eyed, trying to figure out why the passport wasn't there. He would have never called Lucy back.

Always Chasing Gomers was FULL of oddities like this. A previous episode in which Gomer thought a cat's illness was really Sgt. Carter's and Gomer did the same duck-and-dive from Carter there.

Conflict of sorts is one thing, but to have a character pulling the stunts and then hiding, and the target (Carter) doing wide-eyed bits and he SEES Gomer watching and hiding, why doesn't he confront Gomer?

Pyle! What are you doing, Pyle? Why are you here, Pyle?

But he never does! It just drudges on and on, over and over again!

At least Lucy Carmichael and Harry Mooney tossed out the dialogue. And Frank Sutton was no shrinking violet. He could send them out and then some. So why all the endless yoiks!- looks like James Finlayson?

[–] BiffGG 10 years ago

The biggest problem was the show was highly formulaic. Gomer screws up early in the episode but redeems himself and then some by the time the closing credits roll. There are only so many ways to employ that formula and the show did it very well for close to four seasons. The show should have not had a fifth season but it was still doing quite well at the end of season four. At the same time season five had some gems such as "The Price of Tomatoes" which had Denver Pyle as a guest star. You are making me wish I had access to METV because of GP as well as ST:TOS.

[–] richard.fuller1 10 years ago

It is rather amusing seeing some of the Andy Griffith guest stars appear here, such as Mabel Albertson as a girls scout instructor and Ellen Corby literally reprising her used lemon crook from the classic Andy Griffith episode, but this time she was a pick-pocket, and again, had a sidekick, which was her son.

I know there will be other freak-azoid episodes such as the cat having kittens on the boat, which I recall from over forty years ago, but it really is annoying to see how the show degenerated as I recall episodes were good when I watched them when I was little.

I remember all three Mayberry appearances, Opie, Goober and Aunt Bea, and I had never seen Andy Griffith show then, so didn't know who they were.

TVland had Gomer Pyle on a weekend, but at that time, I didn't want to see him. Now I would like to and hope Me shows it back to the beginning again. I didn't know they were airing them.

[–] Doc-McCoy 9 years ago

"The biggest problem was the show was highly formulaic. Gomer screws up early in the episode but redeems himself and then some by the time the closing credits roll. There are only so many ways to employ that formula and the show did it very well for close to four seasons. The show should have not had a fifth season but it was still doing quite well at the end of season four."

Those are good points. I think another thing that might have hurt the show was, in some episodes, Gomer is not merely screwing up, he is so irritatingly dumb as to stagger the imagination. "The Perfect MP" is a good example of that; without spoiling the episode, after screwing up MP duty to colossal levels, Gomer is punished by being put on guard duty at the back gate, and then doesn't believe that Sgt. Carter is really Sgt. Carter. Carter was never more irritated with Gomer than in this episode and with good reason.

I think the show was still getting decent ratings during season 5, but Jim Nabors was tired of the role and wanted to end the series (not positive about this, though). Along with some mediocrity, Season 5 has does some great episodes, such as "Come Blow Your Horn", "Car for Sale" and "The Booty Prize".

"Life is a scam" - Steve McQueen

[–] hack-stone 9 years ago

If I recall correctly, the episode of when Gomer was pulling gate duty, Gunnery Sergeant (never understood why the called him Sergeant) Carter gave him explicit instructions that NOBODY got through the gate without showing their military ID. Unfortunately for GySgt Carter, he left his wallet inside the barracks. Hence the ending twenty some minutes of hi jinks.