The Andy Griffith Show - General Discussion

[Browncoat]

Thelma Lou wasn't one of the original characters.  She didn't appear until Episode 22 of the first season.

[CrazyMoon]

33 minutes ago, Magnumfangirl said:

Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou) is still with us.

Yes she is...bless her heart. Poor girl never had a last name....now 94...
 

[mmecorday]

I always thought Thelma Lou was prettier -- and nicer -- than Helen.

[Egg McMuffin]

Everyone was nicer than Helen. That’s a low bar.

[Magnumfangirl]

5 hours ago, mmecorday said:

I always thought Thelma Lou was prettier -- and nicer -- than Helen.

Didn't everybody think that?

[VCRTracking]

Wow, season 2 had Uncle Fester, Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction, the Skipper from Gilligan's Island, Jeannie and Dr. David Bruce Banner!

In season 2's "The County Nurse", Mary Simpson, the nurse Andy has a crush on is played by Julie Adams from The Creature From The Black Lagoon. Then a few episodes later in "Three's a Crowd", I guess they couldn't get her back because her character is played by a completely different actress! She's now played by the blonde defendent from the Dick Van Dyke Show where Rob has jury duty. Barney drives me nuts in that episode. For the love god take a hint, Andy wants to be alone with her and doesn't want you around! I hate when Andy is annoyed by Barney. I posted earlier I'm glad the final image of Barney and Andy was the reunion movie and not Andy pissed off at him for tagging along on his honeymoon in the Mayberry RFD pilot. 

After seeing Barney at his most annoying it was glad to see him at his best in "Andy On Trial" a few episodes later. His speech on the witness stand was Don Knotts' finest moment on the show. A terrific episode even though that female reporter was too old to believably pass as a college student! I recognized the actress from the Bonanza episode "A Woman Lost".

Edited July 9, 2021 by VCRTracking

[Maverick]

 Ruta Lee was the reporter pretending to be a college student.   She was a guest star on a lot of shows in that era.  As was common back then, she showed up on TAGS again in season 6 as a completely different character. That time she was playing a Hollywood star who had a role in Sheriff Without a Gun and the studio paired her up with Andy for a publicity date (which of course got him in hot water with Helen). 

[Katy M]

3 hours ago, Maverick said:

As was common back then, she showed up on TAGS again in season 6 as a completely different character.

I think that's just as common now.

[Gemma Violet]

8 hours ago, Maverick said:

 Ruta Lee was the reporter pretending to be a college student.   She was a guest star on a lot of shows in that era.  

I remember her well. She was also on The Lucy Show playing a rival secretary Mr. Mooney hires.  Movie buffs will remember her as one of the brides in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  She was a great dancer.  Here she is in my all-time favorite musical number.  She is the one in the blue dress:

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbzJtP75NqM

 

 

22 hours ago, Kyle said:

Everyone was nicer than Helen. That’s a low bar.

I never could understand how Andy was attracted to her.  She really was vicious.  

Edited July 9, 2021 by Gemma Violet

[GHScorpiosRule]

Ruta was a regular guest star on Perry Mason too!

[CrazyMoon]

1 hour ago, Gemma Violet said:

I remember her well. She was also on The Lucy Show playing a rival secretary Mr. Mooney hires.  Movie buffs will remember her as one of the brides in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  She was a great dancer.  Here she is in my all-time favorite musical number.  She is the one in the blue dress:

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbzJtP75NqM

 

 

One of the best musical numbers on film...

 

[chessiegal]

1 minute ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Ruta was a regular guest star on Perry Mason too!

Every body shows up on Perry Mason. You can't have a show that runs 11 seasons with new people in every episode without every character actor or even folks who were regulars showing up. Ryan O'Neal, Leonard Nimoy, Sue Randall (Miss Landers on Leave It To Beaver), and so on.

Quote

 

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

Every body shows up on Perry Mason. You can't have a show that runs 11 seasons with new people in every episode without every character actor or even folks who were regulars showing up. Ryan O'Neal, Leonard Nimoy, Sue Randall (Miss Landers on Leave It To Beaver), and so on.

Tru dat. But it only ran for 9 seasons.

[CrazyMoon]

TAGS had Jack Nicholson, Gavin McLeod, Jackie Coogan, Ruta Lee, Joanna Moore (County nurse Peggy McMillan, who was Tatum O'Neal's mother), Julie Adams, Sue Ann Langdon, Reta Shaw (multiple roles), Jane Dulo, Jean Carson (multiple roles), Parley Bear, Bernard Fox, Buddy Ebsen, Mable Albertson, William Christopher (Father Mulcahy on MASH), Hamilton Camp, Morgan Brittany, Frank Albertson, Sid Melton...and lots of others...all of who were significant character players in the 50s, 60s & 70s...

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

One of my favorite episodes aired tonight: “Opie and the Bully”. Definitely in the top five.

That scene before Opie leaves for school and asks Andy if he really didn’t feel it when he got punched, Andy picking him up and hugging him? And how they both look at each other after Andy sets him down? ALWAYS gets me in the Feels!

[Gemma Violet]

I watched The Fun Girls today.  I'm always amazed at how well Jim Nabors dances.  And Helen kept up.  Lol.  He also dances well in the episode where he's fixed up with Thelma Lou's cousin Mary Grace.  

By the way, as vicious as Helen could be, she was much calmer in this episode than in previous ones.  Maybe they softened her up by Season 4.

[Spartan Girl]

So I just read Ron and Clint Howard’s memoir. Lots of good stories about the show: sounds like Andy was a great guy and we have Ron’s real dad to thank for the show writing Andy and Opie’s relationship the way they did. He thought Opie in the early episodes was too much of a smartass, and Andy took that feedback to revise the father/son relationship as more living and respectful.

I had NO IDEA cute little Leon in the cowboy getup and peanut butter sandwiches was Clint Howard!!!! Even as a kid he had that same face!

[LexieLily]

Betty Lynn, Thelma Lou on ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ dies at 95

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Betty Lynn, Thelma Lou on ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ dies at 95

Despite the fact that she had never married and only had a few cousins still living, Miss Lynn DID create a very large warm and supportive family for herself via celebrating having played Thelma Lou and embracing the fans while enjoying being cared for and living in Mr. Griffith's hometown  more than he himself had done in his early years so she had a triumphant end!

[BigBingerBro]

Just now watching the episode where Thelma Lou's cousin Mary Grace comes to visit.  I know the ending is sweet with her hitting it off with Gomer, but man there are some cringe-worthy moments.  Barney calling her a dog and him and Andy telling Gomer not to expect to much.  Tall, dark and door-prize indeed.

[CrazyMoon]

21 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

Just now watching the episode where Thelma Lou's cousin Mary Grace comes to visit.  I know the ending is sweet with her hitting it off with Gomer, but man there are some cringe-worthy moments.  Barney calling her a dog and him and Andy telling Gomer not to expect to much.  Tall, dark and door-prize indeed.

1964 'locker room' talk...Barney was a chauvinist of the highest order and remarkably insensitive...as viewers we were privy to this 'boy talk'. Gomer is a very old fashioned gentleman...clueless, but well meaning...and also sees a person clearly rather than just what's on the outside...

[Browncoat]

48 minutes ago, CrazyMoon said:

Gomer is a very old fashioned gentleman...clueless, but well meaning...and also sees a person clearly rather than just what's on the outside...

It might have been nice, though, if Gomer had said where he was going before just running out of the house.   

Barney was definitely more chauvinistic than Andy, but Andy had his moments.

[BigBingerBro]

22 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

It might have been nice, though, if Gomer had said where he was going before just running out of the house.   

Yeah like "Mary Grace you don't have a corsage, I'll be right back".  Andy could have at least ran after him.

[Gemma Violet]

I always felt sorry for Mary Grace Canfield, who played Mary Grace.  It must be awful to get an acting job where you learn they needed a "dog" for the part.  And then she went on to basically play a man (brother) on Green Acres.  

[Maverick]

 Watching the episode where Andy's cousin comes to visit because she just broke up with a guy.  Super weird with her getting all flirty with Andy, Helen saying she glad she's family so she doesn't have to worry but then getting pissed.   Just strange.   Another weird thing is there's a scene where Aunt Bee is clearly wearing a wedding ring.  It's not a quick shot, she basically holds her hand up the entire scene and it's very evident.  

[CrazyMoon]

2 hours ago, Maverick said:

  Another weird thing is there's a scene where Aunt Bee is clearly wearing a wedding ring.  It's not a quick shot, she basically holds her hand up the entire scene and it's very evident.  

Could be a family heirloom....very common. Francis Bavier, who played Aunt Bee was divorced in 1933...never remarried.

[sATL]

5 hours ago, CrazyMoon said:

Could be a family heirloom....very common. Francis Bavier, who played Aunt Bee was divorced in 1933...never remarried.

Wow - divorced in 1933- during the depression.....kinda uncommon (not to remarry) given the era...and given the industry - women roles, unless one was the love-squeeze interest,  were still few and far between to make a stable living..And in her earlier days, I'm sure she could turn a few heads, too.. Married to her work, I guess.

Just had a flashback to my own divorce- couldn't imagine going through it from a legal,  court /property settlement perspective in the 1930s..

Edited March 5, 2022 by sATL

[BooksRule]

I saw the episode this morning with this exchange, and I can't decide if I should feel sorry for Barney or just think that it's okay since he seems happy:

 

Opie: 'Pa? When's Barney comin' home?'

Andy: 'Soon as his vacation in Raleigh is over...another week.'

Opie: 'What does Barney do on his vacation, pa?'

Andy: 'Oh, same as he did last year...gets hisself that corner room at the 'Y'. Then he'll put on his pongee shirt, go downstairs and get a haircut and a shoeshine. Then he'll hang around the lobby there at the 'Y', watch some ping-pong games. By now it's time for supper, and he'll go in the coffee shop there at the 'Y' and have hisself a special.'

Opie: 'What a special?'

Andy: 'More than likely, Vienna sausage with tomato sauce. And then after supper, he'll stay right there at the 'Y', take in one of their shows...maybe see a movie or hear a lecture on sportsmanship and cleanliness. Then after that, he'll have a tapioca and hot chocolate. And then it's time for bed.'

Opie: 'Boy, that sounds like great fun!'

Floyd (listening in): 'Yeah. Yeah, I just love tapioca pudding.'

[CarolinaPam]

Maggie Peterson, who played Charlene Darling, has died.

https://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/tv/warm-tv-blog/article261483542.html

[BooksRule]

This isn't my kind of music (usually) at all, but I always really liked this particular song that Maggie sang on 'The Andy Griffith Show':

 

[CrazyMoon]

The Darlings appeared in only 5 episodes. Yet they have such a presence throughout the entire series. Charlene was a such a charmer. 

[jason88cubs]

On 5/17/2022 at 12:10 PM, CrazyMoon said:

The Darlings appeared in only 5 episodes. Yet they have such a presence throughout the entire series. Charlene was a such a charmer. 

Only 5? WOW

Shocking Gomer was in only 23 episodes (not even a full season back then) and Thelma Lou was only in 26 and Otis in 32

If anything it shows how impactful their characters were that they were in so few episodes but are still memorized today so much

To this day I still scream out "Citizen's arrest! Citizen's arrest!"

[Gemma Violet]

I was watching the episode where Opie brings home all A's on his report card and Andy is so thrilled, he buys him a new bike.  Then, Ms. Crump tell Opie it was a mistake and he didn't really have all A's, which causes Opie to feel guilty about the bike.  I never thought about it before, but why on earth would Andy think that Opie truly made all A's on his report card when he was no doubt bringing home test papers with B's or C's or maybe D's or F's.  Didn't Andy or Aunt Bea look at any of his test papers throughout the semester?  Lots of poetic license there.

Edited December 15, 2022 by Gemma Violet

[BigBingerBro]

53 minutes ago, Gemma Violet said:

I was watching the episode where Opie brings home all A's on his report card and Andy is so thrilled, he buys him a new bike.  Then, Ms. Crump tell Opie it was a mistake and he didn't really have all A's, which causes Opie to feel guilty about the bike.  I never thought about it before, but why on earth would Andy think that Opie truly made all A's on his report card when he was no doubt bringing home test papers with B's or C's or maybe D's or F's.  Didn't Andy or Aunt Bea look at any of his test papers throughout the semester?  Lots of poetic license there.

I thought Helen should have told Andy first about the mistake, and he could then tell Opie.

[CrazyMoon]

On 12/14/2022 at 6:00 PM, BigBingerBro said:

I thought Helen should have told Andy first about the mistake, and he could then tell Opie.

This is between teacher & student...first. Then Miss Crump should address this with the parent. The teacher can be so helpful in helpful in dealing with upset/disappointed parents.

 

[chessiegal]

Some shows don't age well. I watched the episode where Eillie runs for city council. At the end, Andy tells the town folk that he heard Opie bad mouthing women, echoing what he had heard Andy say. He said if he turned Opie away from women and he wanted to get married someday, that would considerably cut down his available choices. 🤣

[Tom Holmberg]

On 12/14/2022 at 7:06 PM, Gemma Violet said:

I was watching the episode where Opie brings home all A's on his report card and Andy is so thrilled, he buys him a new bike.  Then, Ms. Crump tell Opie it was a mistake and he didn't really have all A's, which causes Opie to feel guilty about the bike.  I never thought about it before, but why on earth would Andy think that Opie truly made all A's on his report card when he was no doubt bringing home test papers with B's or C's or maybe D's or F's.  Didn't Andy or Aunt Bea look at any of his test papers throughout the semester?  Lots of poetic license there.

I think there was a "Leave it to Beaver" episode with a similar story, where beaver's IQ test mistakenly showed he was a genius.  Really, would anyone actually believe Beaver was a genius.

[chessiegal]

I told my husband that this show is like comfort food to me. When I watch, I feel like I'm curled up on the couch wrapped in a comforter, drinking hot chocolate or something stronger.

What a treasure Ron Howard is. Is there any other child actor that went on to have such a successful career in show business?

[GHScorpiosRule]

16 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I told my husband that this show is like comfort food to me. When I watch, I feel like I'm curled up on the couch wrapped in a comforter, drinking hot chocolate or something stronger.

What a treasure Ron Howard is. Is there any other child actor that went on to have such a successful career in show business?

AGREE! One of my favorite lines:

“Poor Horatio”

😂😂😂😂

[GHScorpiosRule]

Or rather it's:

Andy: "It's not a half a boyy. A ratio. Mathematics."

Opie: "Poor Horatio."

Hey, now that it's a forum, I think I'll create a quotes thread and just post all my favorite scenes! Y'all know, like:

"MorningHoneeee"

"MorningDEARR"

Andy: "No. It's Mornin' Honeyyyy...Morning...Deaaar"

[mmecorday]

I was watching one of the color episodes before work the other morning. The addition of color only illuminated how cheap the sets were. The stone fireplace in Andy's house looks like painted Styrofoam. The tone totally changed in the later seasons. The show became more of a "dramedy." And making Emmett Clark and Howard Sprague main characters really didn't work. 

[Gemma Violet]

6 hours ago, mmecorday said:

And making Emmett Clark and Howard Sprague main characters really didn't work. 

I didn't like Emmett or Warren.  I didn't mind Howard though. 

  

[Browncoat]

Warren was horrible.

[Gemma Violet]

Has it ever been mentioned what Thelma Lou does for a living?  It seems like she lives alone, but I've never seen a mention of her job.

[chessiegal]

12 minutes ago, Gemma Violet said:

Has it ever been mentioned what Thelma Lou does for a living?  It seems like she lives alone, but I've never seen a mention of her job.

According to Wiki, Thelma Lou was self-sufficient/snark but there was a mention of an office with no job title mentioned.

[Badger]

She had a recurring role as Uncle Bill's secretary on "Family Affair.

"

[mmecorday]

I saw a color episode this morning with guest star William Christopher as a young doctor who comes to Mayberry to set up a practice. He's quite bored because no one in Mayberry gets sick unless it's a plot point. He's invited to a dinner party at Andy's house and everyone is aghast at the way he carves up a turkey. Now, the turkey was fresh from the oven so it should have been obvious to everyone that it was too hot to handle. Anyway, Opie develops a sore throat and of course he needs a tonsillectomy and the only one in town who can do it is that butcher of a doctor who mangled a turkey. Opie goes to the doctor's office for the procedure. Huh? Wouldn't he have gone to a hospital to have his tonsils taken out? 

[chessiegal]

51 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

Opie develops a sore throat and of course he needs a tonsillectomy and the only one in town who can do it is that butcher of a doctor who mangled a turkey. Opie goes to the doctor's office for the procedure. Huh? Wouldn't he have gone to a hospital to have his tonsils taken out? 

I would think so. When I had my tonsils out in 1955, it was in the hospital with ether as the anesthesia and a day of recovery. In the early 70s when I was working in a hospital clinical lab, I did finger pricks for blood samples prior to tonsillectomies. My memory was it was outpatient surgery at the hospital, and they weren't using either anymore.