In what year did the spin-off Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. premiere? It premiered in 1964.
The series debuted on CBS on September 25, 1964, after Gomer Pyle had become one of the most popular characters on The Andy Griffith Show. Jim Nabors played Gomer, a naive gas-station attendant from Mayberry who enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps, while Frank Sutton played his exasperated drill instructor, Sergeant Vince Carter.
Its pilot was a backdoor pilot: it first appeared as the fourth-season finale of The Andy Griffith Show on May 18, 1964. The regular spin-off then began later that year and ran for five seasons, ending in 1969.
The show’s military setting did not make it a war drama. It avoided political discussion of the Vietnam War and focused on the comic clash between Gomer’s optimism and Sergeant Carter’s strict discipline. The series ultimately produced 150 episodes.