Illuminati-R-Us

Dead at 87.

DEAD??

Well, Golllllll-EEEE.

Gomer Pyle was before my time, but I knew who we was from re-runs and such. Except I never saw any of the episodes where he (or Andy Griffith, or just about anybody else from those shows) sang. Imagine my surprise when I found out that they were a very musical bunch, and that he probably had the best pipes of them all.

I know the name Jim Nabors, without being able to associate it with anything I'm afraid. I'm not sure if his work travelled to here. Gomer Pyle, for me, is from Full Metal Jacket.

Andy Griffith was a prolific musician, had albums and stuff. Sang and played a little on the Andy Griffith show, but did a lot of it on MAtlock, and often had stars like Randy Travis as guest stars, inevitably musicians in trouble. GOmer Pyle was a character on the Andy Griffith show, and they spun him off to his own show by enlisting him in the MArines. In the music clip, it is Sergeant Carter from that show pushing him on stage.

In Full Metal Jacket, "Gomer Pyle" is a nickname his drill sergeant gave him. A reference to the Nabors character.

We would occasionally see Nabors guesting on Johnny Carson or other show, and he'd sing.

Enzo wrote:In Full Metal Jacket, "Gomer Pyle" is a nickname his drill sergeant gave him. A reference to the Nabors character.

Expanding on this, Nabors' character in Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is portrayed as a good natured "country hick" who might not be too bright. That's why in Full Metal Jacket, it's given as a nick name to a Marine who is also "not too bright".

Thanks for the details, chaps. I’m not sure if any of those made it here, perhaps my countryman may recall. I’d figured the FMJ use of the name was a reference, but the details of it went over my head.

FMJ is one of my favorite movies you fucking, worm eating maggot! And I love the story of how R. Lee Ermy got his role in it. As an ex-Marine, he was just supposed to be a technical advisor. Kubrick heard him and his mouth coaching the other actors and decided he'd make a better sergeant than the actors. And most of that famous scene was ad-libbed, something Kubrick almost never allowed anywhere else.

SHOW ME YOUR WAR FACE!

Wow, you just rocked my world view. To think that something so silly and shallow as Gomer Pyle could be over someone's head is just... well, mind boggling.