Watching is The New York Times’s TV and film recommendation website. Sign up for our thrice-weekly newsletter here.
Jim Nabors died today at age 87. An accomplished singer and comic actor, Nabors became famous in the mid-1960s as a regular on “The Andy Griffith Show,” playing the sweet-natured country gas station attendant from Mayberry, N.C., Gomer Pyle. He joined the cast in the middle of the third season, and he continued in the fourth year before getting his own spinoff, “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”
“The Andy Griffith Show” is available to stream on Netflix. Here are five episodes that show how funny and engaging Nabors could be as Mayberry’s favorite comic-book-reading mechanic.
‘Man in a Hurry’ (Season 3, Episode 16)
Gomer’s second-ever appearance in “The Andy Griffith Show” comes in one of the episodes widely regarded as among the best of the series (and of 1960s sitcoms in general). When a harried businessman’s car breaks down in Mayberry on a Sunday, he’s frustrated by the townsfolk’s lack of urgency. But by the end of the day, he’s won over by his hosts’ gentility and even begins to appreciate how the seemingly inept grease monkey Gomer has gone to extra effort to make sure his vehicle is in better shape than it’s ever been. Nabors only appears in a couple of scenes, but his character’s kindness and simplicity here instantly represent what his town’s all about.
‘The Sermon for Today’ (Season 4, Episode 4)
A sort of companion piece to “Man in a Hurry,” this classic bit of small-town farce (scripted by Joss Whedon’s grandfather, John Whedon) has Mayberry’s citizens driving themselves into a frenzy in an effort to prepare and enjoy what’s supposed to be a relaxing Sunday evening concert. Nabors has one of the episode’s funniest moments, when Gomer hesitates to crawl under the bandstand for fear of spiders. As everyone sits around in the evening, exhausted by the inability to make the concert happen, Gomer earns a steely glare from his neighbors when he looks at his hand and mutters, “spider bite.”
‘A Date for Gomer’ (Season 4, Episode 9)
One of the more heartwarming episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” (in a series that didn’t lack them), “A Date for Gomer” has Sheriff Andy Taylor and his deputy Barney Fife trying to groom their goofy pal Gomer into a potential romantic partner for Mary Grace, the plain-looking cousin of Barney’s gal, Thelma Lou. When the group date begins, Gomer abruptly ducks out, embarrassing everyone. But the reason for his sudden departure — and the way Nabors plays the moment of his return — turns a broad comic premise into something genuinely poignant.
‘Citizen’s Arrest’ (Season 4, Episode 11)
Nabors’s best comic foil on “The Andy Griffith Show” was always Don Knotts’s high-strung deputy, Barney Fife, because he was so easily flustered by the dim, drawling Gomer. Their fragile friendship takes an openly hostile turn in this episode, in which Gomer uses Barney’s by-the-book approach to law and order against him. Nabors plays some different notes here, from his indignant rant about how there’s apparently a different set of laws for “the po-leece” to his running wildly through the streets shouting, “Citizen’s ah-ray-est! Citizen ah-ray-est!” whenever he sees Deputy Fife doing anything wrong.
‘The Song Festers’ (Season 4, Episode 20)
In nightclubs and concert halls, a big part of Nabors’s act was the contrast he created between his goofy, country-fried mannerisms and his arrestingly beautiful singing voice. He brings that talent to “The Andy Griffith Show” here, in an episode in which Gomer is recruited to replace the tone-deaf Barney in the town choir. In contrast to his appearance in “Citizen’s Arrest,” here, the good-hearted mechanic’s concern for his friend’s feelings leads to a touching moment of sacrifice … and then to a satisfying surprise ending. All this, and Nabors’s belting out choral music — it’s the perfect Gomer Pyle episode.
