Here is the pre-release cover for Season 5. I like it much better than the one they picked!

Introduction:
Gomer Pyle reports for duty one last time in Gomer Pyle, USMC: The Final Season. You know that your country is safe when you have great soldiers like, well, Gomer Pyle, fighting for your nation. Of course, he never seems to drift too far away from his base, which is actually why the world should feel safe! The Fifth Season brings the final 30 adventures of Pyle (Jim Nabors) and his fellow soldiers to a four disc set that is guaranteed to make you laugh. There is nothing more to say about that than this: SHAZAM!

Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Sgt. Carter sells his car to Gomer after making a promise to sell it to Sgt. Hacker in "Car For Sale." Allan Melvin guest stars. We all learn that a lead boot is not meant to be placed on a foot in "The Booty Prize." Lou-Ann'apos;s ex-boyfriend is coming to visit in "Return of Monroe," so how will Gomer react? A foreign movie star is going to be deported unless somebody can marry her in "A Marriage of Convenience," so can Gomer save her?

Sgt. Carter is challenged to hold his temper for 24 hours in "Come Blow Your Top," but how can he do this with Gomer on his side? Gomer's on guard duty in "Gomer, the Perfect M.P.," and he won't let somebody into the gates--Sgt. Carter. Larry Storch guest stars in "The Wild Bull Returns." Gomer gets a fake tattoo in "A Tattoo for Gomer," but Lou-Ann ends up liking it. What will he do?

Sgt. Carter thinks that Gomer wouldn't reenlist if he got married in "Marriage, Sgt. Carter Style," which give him a brilliant idea that may finally rid himself of Gomer. Sgt. Carter saves Gomer's life in "To Save a Life," which he may end up regretting! In "Gomer Tends a Sick Kat," Gomer hears a tale of a sick cat, but thinks he is hearing about Sgt. Carter.

Gomer trusts Sgt. Carter with his life savings in "The Short Voyage Home," which despite what one may think, is actually a bad idea. Sgt. Carter and Gomer get to deliver a baby in "Proxy Papa." Jackie Joseph guest stars. Rob Reiner guest stars in "Flower Power." In "Show Time With Sgt. Carol," Carol Burnett guest stars. Finally, the series ends with "Goodbye Camp Henderson, Hello Sgt. Carter," where Gomer and Sgt. Carter may be getting separated forever... or not.

Packaging:
Considering the company releasing this set, it should be no surprise at all that this set uses the standard Amaray style case that every CBS DVD product uses now. The cover art has a snapshot of Carter and Gomer, and the back has a picture of Gomer's “tattoo” from one of the episodes contained within the season. Inside, there are episode descriptions for each episode and of course, the four discs. There really isn't any disc artwork, just the series logo on a gray background. Discs One and Two contain eight episodes each, while Discs Three and Four contain seven episodes each.

Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus are incredibly basic on the set, and similar to the previous releases. The main menu has a clip board that lists four episodes as well as an option for “More Episodes” which lists the remaining episodes on the disc. At the bottom of the second menu, there is a Play All option. Other than that, though, there really isn't anything to the menus on the set. Just dull and boring menus with no effects whatsoever. Chapters are placed throughout each episode.

Video and Audio Quality:
After a few complaints (well, at least my own complaints) about the video quality on the last set, it is nice to see that the quality has somewhat improved this time. There are the issues with the colors being slightly off on this set, but it doesn't seem to be as significant of a problem as it was last time. And of course, the grain is going to be there. The audio levels on the set are a little low, but it isn't unbearable. The audio is presented in mono, of course. And for those that require closed-captioning, you will find it on each episode.

The runtimes on the set are once again very suspicious looking. Luckily, none of the episodes run at 22 minutes this time, but all of these should ideally be at least 25:30, and many come in right around 25:45 (which seems correct). But there are also many that come in at less than that, and some that even go into the 24 to 25 minute range. As always, I'm sure this is just more of the ridiculous editing that we have (sadly) become used to, with every scene that even implies something that may be copyrighted is removed. It would be nice if more research could be done to check in on these things before outright removing them. Exact runtimes are as follows:

Special Features:
Special features? Not here. This is just a barebones set. I STILL don't understand why interviews can't be included.

Final Comments:
I think that it is fair to say that this is a season of mostly mediocre episodes, and unlike many series of that era, that show really did kind of fall of in the last season, despite not really having any major changes in the series. It is just kind of obvious that the series had just reached that point where they really had to start reaching for ideas, and some of the ideas weren't quite as good as they had been before. Still, there are many great highlights in this set, and no fan would want to be without the episodes. I wonder now if there will be a Complete Series release of the series. It would be nice to see one, and if they did decide to do one, it would be nice if they would actually include some special features for a change. Well golly, it is hard to believe that we've already hit the end, but we have!

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