Written by Hombre Divertido
Whether it was because CBS was canceling all its rural comedies, or because the simple fish-out-of-water premise that served as the basis for Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. had run its course, the fifth season was the last for this classic series. All 30 episodes of the final season, which ran until September 1970, are available on a four-disc set. Though the episodes look and sound great, and the chemistry between Gomer (Jim Nabors) and Sgt.Vince Carter (Frank Sutton) still plays well, some of the stories are tired and appear to be retreads of previous efforts.
There are some wonderful guest appearances by Carol Burnett, Rob Reiner, and Ellen Corby in this season, but considering that our stars took a trip to Hollywood, which was a very common practice for sit-coms of that era, we certainly should have expected some cameos. Unfortunately there is little star-power in the four-part trip to Hollywood. It’s fun to spot a young Jamie Farr and Barry Williams, and the legendary George Fenneman and Sheldon Leonard, but considering that our Marines were in Hollywood to shoot a movie and most of the four episodes took place at a movie studio, one would certainly be justified in asking where all the stars were.
The fifth season also marks the return of Ronnie Schell as Duke Slater. Duke, who had formerly been a member of the platoon and a good friend of Gomer’s, returns as the company’s new corporal. Though the return of Schell certainly added energy to the show, the lack of growth in our characters was showing by the fifth season and it ended with little fanfare. A thirty-minute episode with a few flashbacks, serves as the ending of the series, but more importantly shows us the Sergeant Carter does indeed care about Gomer, as he arranges to keep him right where he is. Though heartfelt, the writers might have been better suited to promote Gomer long before the end of the series, than to leave him where he was. There were no longer any regulars amongst the platoon for Gomer to play off of as there had been in pervious years, and thus the stories had to rest solely on the shoulders of our two stars. As talented as they were, some growth would have helped.
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