Although he was an incredible actor, Jim Nabors was first and foremost a singer. Although many audiences became acquainted with Nabors in shows like The Andy Griffith Show and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Nabors was overjoyed when he began starring in The Jim Nabors Hour.

The series, which premiered in 1969, gave Nabors an opportunity to play the best character he could: Himself. On The Jim Nabors Hour, Nabors frequently flexed his vocal talents in various singing performances.

"I guess I like to sing more than just about anything in the world," said Nabors during an interview with The Courier. "And even though I've got quite a bit of singing experience, I still get nervous when stretchin' my pipes."

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Although Nabors was the star of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., he felt that working on the series was easy work in comparison to starring in The Jim Nabors Hour.

"On Gomer, the only thing I had to get nervous about was my acting," said Nabors. "Now I have to be nervous about my acting, singing, and dancing."

On the other hand, Nabors found that the workload on The Jim Nabors Hour was far less demanding than his experience on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

"On Gomer, Frank [Sutton]and I had to be on the set every day by 7 a.m. and we'd work solidly until at least 7 in the evening...five days a week," said the actor. "Then we'd have to go home and memorize 15 pages of dialogue for the next day. By the end of the week, I was pooped."