I knew one Vietnam veteran who hated that show. So what does anyone else think?
1 Like
Loved it when I was a kid. He drove Sarge crazy!
Same here. To me it was just another sitcom, only with a Marine Corps setting. I took it about as serious as F Troop and Gilligan’s Island. But I can see why vets would hate it. My grandfather was Marine Air Corps, but he never talked about Gomer.
Well that’s weird. I read this thread just as it was coming on, just as it does every night following two episodes of Andy Griffith. I keep both on while modelling or playing Scrabble with the girls. (or whatever else) It usually has very little to do with the Marine Corps. In fact, both shows seem to have a recurring theme - Gomer and Barney are unwittingly C-Blocking Carter or Andy.
3 Likes
Well let’s see now… Gomer Pyle, USMC… McHale’s Navy, USN… Sgt Bilko, US Army… I Dream of Jeannie, USAF… 1960s service based sitcoms. I enjoyed them all as TV shows before I enlisted. US Army veteran myself. At one point in my Sheriff’s Dept. career, my nickname amongst the county jail inmates where I worked was Sgt Carter due to the resemblance. And perhaps my temperament.
1 Like
Yes this is true, I watched all of them at one time or another and just because they were funny not for any military reasons; of course I was just a kid (born in 67).
And we all know why “ I Dream of Jeannie “ appealed to us as lads … it wasn’t Larry Hagman .
4 Likes
I had a high school teacher who hated “Hogan’s Heroes”. However, that show was deliberately intended to target WW2-themed entertainment of that era, not to try to depict history. Although in the real Wehrmacht, there probably were some officers who could be controlled like a child as was the case with Colonel Klink.
It was the Andy Griffith Show in uniform. Very little had to do with the Marines. Mostly somebody was visiting from Mayberry or some con artist was skulking at the fence. I liked Sgt. Carter and I liked seeing the now retro uniforms and what little gear the show featured.
Not as good as McHales Navy… which now appears inane.
Combat! for the win.
1 Like
I actually have a local friend of German ancestry (3rd gen) who won’t let his kids watch Hogan’s Heroes because he’s afraid it would hurt their self esteem…
I can imagine what women think of “I Love Lucy”.
I know quite a few women who love “I Love Lucy”.
Other than the man I mentioned, I did wonder if American Marine veterans hated Gomer Pyle or just thought of it as a silly sitcom.
My father in law is a Marine and always liked Gomer Pyle. He took it for what it was, which was just having fun. Service branch was just a background for the story. It could have been set in a supermarket or corporate office.
A lot of my neighbors growing up were refugees from the Netherlands. One had been in a concentration camp. They especially loved Hogan’s Heroes. Quite a few of the actors were Jewish or had other reasons to dislike the Nazis and their regime, which was the main target of the show.
1 Like
I know a guy that would not let his kids watch the British sitcom Allo! Allo! for the same reasons. I read somewhere that the German people hated the show…
1 Like
They deliberately decided not to show Hogan’s Heroes in West Germany. They have shown it in modern Germany, but the dialogue and story are completely different.
Yeah, we all watched it for… Chuck Yeager 
1 Like
Hated Gomer Pyle, as I grew up adoring Hennesey which was my after school special. Then eventually came JAG and my navy baby lusts were fullfilled. Hogan’s Hero’s was mostly the drumming in the opening them which I used to line up my armymen. That was the age that I first read “Foxes of the Desert” and the the Rommel Papers, and 'Guadalcanal Diary. I learned so many new curse words from the latter that I was never offended by swearing as I grew up.
DAKjunkie
Hey now, give him credit for maintaining eye contact with Jeannie 
2 Likes