# Did Sargent Carter (Frank Sutton) make "Gomer Pyle" A Hit **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219 "2008-09-12T03:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KRSOradio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/0ea827/32.png) [@KRSOradio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRSOradio)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/1 "2008-09-12T03:31:47Z")
I have been watching old rerun of _Gomer Pyle USMC_ and franky Gomer is just irritating. In fact I’ve come to the conclusion that Frank Sutton as Sargent Carter was WAY under-rated and without Sutton the show would not have been nearly as successful as it was. What do you all think? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/2 "2008-09-12T05:22:14Z")
No Frank Sutton would have meant no show. Pyle is spposed to be an irritating, if well-meaning idiot. That goes back to when the character was part of the Andy Griffith show. Such a character needs a foil to be infuriated by him. It’s the foil getting mad that actually generates the laughs. On the Griffith show it was Don Knotts. Frank Sutton should have had top billing. He was the heart of Gomer Pyle USMC. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/3 "2008-09-12T05:42:34Z")
I think most of its success was for the gritty unflinching realism of how it depicted Marine life during the Vietnam era. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/4 "2008-09-12T05:46:51Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I think most of its success was for the gritty unflinching realism of how it depicted Marine life during the Vietnam era. Not to mention the barely restrained, homoerotic tension of the barracks. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/5 "2008-09-12T05:50:52Z")
I propose a movie remake. I don’t know who will play Gomer (a decade ago, it would have been Jim Carrey), but R. Lee Ermey HAS to play Sgt. Carter. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/6 "2008-09-12T06:40:45Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I propose a movie remake. I don’t know who will play Gomer (a decade ago, it would have been Jim Carrey), but R. Lee Ermey HAS to play Sgt. Carter. Let’s see…Gomer was a North Carolina hillbilly of ambiguous sexuality with an annoying speaking voice but a surprisingly powerful singing voice. [Survey says===](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Aiken)… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/7 "2008-09-12T07:16:14Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I think most of its success was for the gritty unflinching realism of how it depicted Marine life during the Vietnam era. I liked _Beetle Bailey_ for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/8 "2008-09-12T11:11:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Let’s see…Gomer was a North Carolina hillbilly of ambiguous sexuality with an annoying speaking voice but a surprisingly powerful singing voice. [Survey says===](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Aiken)… Clay’s sexuality is NOT that ambiguous ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/9 "2008-09-12T12:55:21Z")
I can still remember the look on Sgt Carter’s face when the wrecking ball was poised over his car. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/10 "2008-09-12T15:58:43Z")
He has lengthy credits on imdb, but I don’t recall ever having seen Frank Sutton on anything. Has anybody else? According to his wiki he smoked 18 cigars and had a dozen cups of coffee per day. I don’t remember Jim Nabors’ variety show on which he was a semi-regular. Did he play Sgt. Carter on that as well? > [@astorian](#): > > Clay’s sexuality is NOT that ambiguous Maybe not, but I can definitely envision a bit of a hardened Marine in him. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/11 "2008-09-12T16:05:16Z")
I think Gomer Pyle came quite late in his career and was by far his biggest role. He died soon after the series ended; I think he was only 50. I hear people saying R. Lee Ermey, but I see him as too heavyhanded. Sutton had that talent for being so exasperated he just couldn’t see straight, but wasn’t mean enough to do anything about it. He _wanted_ to be R. Lee Ermey. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/12 "2008-09-12T16:12:43Z")
I’ve seen Frank Sutton turn up in various TV series, especially Western-themed ones, from the 50’s and 60’s. It often takes me a moment to realize it’s him when he isn’t in his Sgt. Carter personna. I have very vague memories of Jim Nabors’ variety show; little more than that my grandparents liked it. They liked The Lawrence Welk show too. What you should be getting out of this is that staying at grandma’s generally meant watching shitty TV shows if I wanted to stay up. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/13 "2008-09-12T16:19:11Z")
Sutton did a “Twilight Zone” playing a showbiz manager or something like that I saw recently. With his hair at three or four inches in length, parted on the side, his face does take a moment to recognize when you’re used to the GM crew-cut. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/14 "2008-09-13T01:49:57Z")
> [@KRSOradio](#): > > What do you all think? I thought both characters were irritating. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/15 "2008-09-13T01:53:38Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I hear people saying R. Lee Ermey, but I see him as too heavyhanded. Yeah, what with all the skull-fucking. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/16 "2008-09-13T02:08:22Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > No Frank Sutton would have meant no show. Pyle is spposed to be an irritating, if well-meaning idiot. That goes back to when the character was part of the Andy Griffith show. Such a character needs a foil to be infuriated by him. It’s the foil getting mad that actually generates the laughs. On the Griffith show it was Don Knotts. Frank Sutton should have had top billing. He was the heart of Gomer Pyle USMC. But you can say the same about any sitcom built around an irritating, if well-meaning idiot. _I Love Lucy_, _Get Smart_ and _Gilligan’s Island_ (to name three) also featured an infuriated foil, but the idiot always got top billing. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/17 "2008-09-13T02:38:22Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I think Gomer Pyle came quite late in his career and was by far his biggest role. He died soon after the series ended; I think he was only 50. I hear people saying R. Lee Ermey, but I see him as too heavyhanded. Sutton had that talent for being so exasperated he just couldn’t see straight, but wasn’t mean enough to do anything about it. He _wanted_ to be R. Lee Ermey. How about Drew Carey? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/18 "2008-09-13T03:14:50Z")
Just imagine the spectacular failure it would have been if the Sergeant Carter was the Hogan’s Heroes Sergeant Carter. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KRSOradio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/0ea827/32.png) [@KRSOradio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRSOradio)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/19 "2008-09-13T04:18:07Z")
Well I’ve listend to “My Favorite Husband,” the radio version of “I Love Lucy,” and it’s every bit as funny. It’s very obvious it was the scripts that made “I Love Lucy” a hit. A lot of “I Love Lucy,” was word for word the same thing, but I think Sargent Carter is hysterical, like today, the episode was about Aunt Bee visiting. But the show was simply dull anytime Gomer and Aunt Bee were in it. Just thinking about prissy Aunt Bee and Sgt Carter is amusing and when they got together it was just too funny. Perhaps I feel Frank Sutton didn’t get enough credit for the success of that show ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219/20 "2008-09-13T04:24:41Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > How about Drew Carey? The boy’s a jarhead, so he knows the tune AND the lyrics. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sargent-carter-frank-sutton-make-gomer-pyle-a-hit/463219.md?page=2)