Was any episode of Gomer Pyle broadcast in color? I only remember B&W episodes.
Are you kidding? Sit-coms in the 1960s were meant to be escapist fodder. Any mention of Vietnam would’ve been extremely controversial. Plus, Gomer Pyle was a spin-off of the Andy Griffith Show which was famous for idealising small town life.
No mention of Vietnam there, or hippies for that matter. Not even any blacks portrayed as this might stir up racial tension. Nope just Andy and Barn, and the old fishin’ hole. Maybe Otis will get drunk but that’s it.
Maybe the Smothers Brothers might mention Vietnam in comedy, but that was a variety show, and meant to be provoking.
Until All in the Family came along, sit-coms were not known for mentioning Vietnam. Even MASH was supposedly “about” the Korean War.
Yes, I know that MASH was based on a movie about the Korean War, but they could’ve just as easily made a similar show set in Vietnam with different characters.
Did Abbott & Costello’s “In the Navy” or “Buck Privates” or “Keep 'em Flying” (all filmed during the 1940’s and set on U.S. military bases) mention Hitler or Tojo?
Did Laurel & Hardy’s “Air Raid Wardens” (also filmed during WW2) mention the Bataan Death March?
Why would you expect light-hearted comedies in ANY era, even in wartime, to dwell on the negative?
Except for a few episodes of Scrubs, how many contemporary sitcoms have ever mentioned Iraq?
Originally Posted by BrainGlutton
How could a sitcom, in the 1960s, about U.S. Marines, not mention Vietnam?!
Are you kidding? Sit-coms in the 1960s were meant to be escapist fodder. Any mention of Vietnam would’ve been extremely controversial. Plus, Gomer Pyle was a spin-off of the Andy Griffith Show which was famous for idealising small town life.
No mention of Vietnam there, or hippies for that matter. Not even any blacks portrayed as this might stir up racial tension. Nope just Andy and Barn, and the old fishin’ hole. Maybe Otis will get drunk but that’s it.
OP by Too Many Cats
I noticed this too. On My Three Sons, not one of them was ever drafted, either.
Almost all of them! Season 1 (1964) was in B&W; Seasons 2-5 (1966-1969) went to color.
Because that would be a bummer, man. (They all had to be stoned to make that p.o.s.) I believe that when Gomer was misbehaving the Sergeant threatened to send him to Alaska.
About the only program at the time which mentioned Vietnam was Star Trek, which had to disguise it as another planet.
And, back to hippies, the Nancy comic at the time had several appearances by horrible hippie-like individuals. I got the impression that whoever was drawing it at the time was a 90 year old bitter Republican.
Aside from talking about Truman or going to Tokyo, the movie avoided almost all references that the war they were in was Korea not Vietnam. Allegedly this was intentional, as the director wanted people to think it was about Vietnam. The studio made them add the wordscreen at the beginning telling the audience it was Korea. With their contemporary haircuts.
Perhaps you had a black and white TV at the time?
Did this change after the Vietnam War was over? Because I remember a number of episodes that seemed to use the circumstances of the Korean War as a plot point. The harsh Korean winter, Hawkeye yukking it up with North Korean negotiators, MacArthur driving through the camp, a Chinese American soldier having a breakdown over fighting his fellow Chinese, and so on.
Well, you have your wish. The show has been canceled. For the rest of us who love it, I hope you’re satisfied.
Speaking of comic strips, the old-school strip Bringing up Father introduced a bearded, bell-bottomed character named “Tripper” who was Maggie’s nephew. After a while the name was changed to “Groover.” My guess is that “Tripper” implied that he was a druggie (and we can’t have that in a family strip).
If we’re going to talk about comic strips, Al Capp certainly had no love for hippies.
Untrue. Blacks were seen in background action on occasion and one episode featured a black football star returning to Mayberry to coach the kids.
The TV show referenced the Korean War a lot from time, but I was talking about the movie. On the TV show, I remember Panmunjom coming up a lot in the later seasons, and Hawkeye’s tense grandstanding about the travesty of it all.