The Andy Griffith Show - General Discussion

[BetyBee]

Opie and the Spoiled Kid is wonderful! "I'm crying and I can't stop!"

I also love the one where Opie accidentally kills a bird with his slingshot (also the Mr. McBeevy episode).  Andy was such an understanding and loving father and Opie was such a sweet boy.  

Good to know there are some good color episodes coming up!

[cooksdelight]

I love any episode that features Barney getting drunk.

Jubel, Jubel, Jubel, Juuuuuuuuubel!!

[CrazyMoon]

14 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

I love any episode that features Barney getting drunk.

Jubel, Jubel, Jubel, Juuuuuuuuubel!!

"mulberry squeezins...the boys said it was just muhl BERRY squEEEzins"

or

"I've gotta clean out this crock!"

[Maverick]

 Opie and the Spoiled Kid is great.  "Oh.  Well, don't get your clothes dirty."    Andy and Opie's line deliveries are pitch perfect in that scene.  

 I liked that a lot of the color episodes focused on Aunt Bee, but I felt sorry for her.  Her she is trying to grow and experience new things and Andy is constantly yelling at her and telling her she's not capable (or worse not allowed) to do things.   He just downright awful to her most of the time.   I mean come on, Opie was getting older, Andy was getting serious with Helen, Aunt Bee's friends weren't that great (Clara was a straight up bitch) and couldn't let her get some fulfillment in her life.   

 Of course the color era had some of the worst episodes.  Howard moving to the Caribbean (WTF?  Who in the writer's room thought that was a good idea?).   Harold and Millie getting married (that whole thing had a creepy quality).   Andy buying the laundromat.  Anything with Warren.   

[BigBingerBro]

54 minutes ago, Maverick said:

 I liked that a lot of the color episodes focused on Aunt Bee, but I felt sorry for her.  Her she is trying to grow and experience new things and Andy is constantly yelling at her and telling her she's not capable (or worse not allowed) to do things.   He just downright awful to her most of the time.   

So true, but she was able to learn to fly a plane and ran a Chinese restaurant briefly....Also, she was the Mayberry Chef on TV for a short period.

Edited July 17, 2019 by BigBingerBro

[Maverick]

 And learned to drive.  I think he flipped out over that more than anything.   Aunt Bee was always having to give things up.   She had to give up her prizes because her friends bailed on her (true she was yammering on too much but that didn't mean she had to sell everything).   She gave up being on TV because of Andy and Opie couldn't feed themselves.  She gave up the restaurant because even though it was highly successful and made her feel guilty/worried about it.   She gave up flying after she soloed.  The only thing she didn't have to give up was her car.   I'm surprised Andy didn't arrange some bogus speed trap and confiscate it.   

[BetyBee]

I feel sorry for Aunt Bee too.  It's strange how Andy seemed to get snippy towards her after Barney left and the color episodes began.  I suspect in real life he wasn't happy and was maybe the fun had gone out of the show for him., but maybe it was the way it was written for some reason.  Also, I guess Frances Bavier was cranky to everyone on the set.  But she was a wonderful actress.  Her performances were consistently good throughout the series.  

[BigBingerBro]

Has anyone else watched Mayberry RFD?

Many of the episodes are quite good, especially the ones with Aunt Bea.  I didn't really care for Ken Barry in the lead role, but he did well considering against Howard and Gomer.  I didn't care for Emmet yet he was featured pretty heavily.  It's interesting how Millie becomes Sam's (Ken Barry) girlfriend.  They do mention that Howard and her had a "short" thing at one time.

[CrazyMoon]

I did watch Mayberry RFD, because I love Mayberry. It wasn't as good as TAGS, but it was nice seeing familiar characters continuing on with their lives. I like Ken Berry very much in his various roles, even the puddin' headed Vint Harper in "Mama's Family". 

[Browncoat]

12 hours ago, Maverick said:

 I'm surprised Andy didn't arrange some bogus speed trap and confiscate it.   

He would have needed Barney and the motorcycle at Checkpoint Chickie.

[Gemma Violet]

On 7/16/2019 at 2:55 PM, BetyBee said:

I also love the one where Opie accidentally kills a bird with his slingshot (also the Mr. McBeevy episode).  

I love those, too! 

And also the pickle episode.  I think that's my favorite.  I also love the bed jacket episode.

[BigBingerBro]

As much as I like the early episodes of this show, there are several where Andy comes off as a small-town yokel in a very over-the-top way.  They also wrote little Opie to have the same qualities to the point he was borderline sassy.  Later in the first season, they mellowed a bit, but by the end of the series, Andy became completely dull.  Aunt Bea seemed to remain consistent personality-wise throughout the show.

I was watching an early episode this morning where a strange man comes to town and knows everything about everybody.  There was a different actor playing Floyd.  I'm not sure if that was the "original" Floyd or a temporary replacement?!?

[cooksdelight]

That was the original Floyd. He was only there for a few episodes. I was also watching these same early episodes. I noticed when Rose got married and left town, the guy she was marrying was Mr. Foley, the local butcher later on.

[CrazyMoon]

2 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

That was the original Floyd. He was only there for a few episodes. I was also watching these same early episodes. I noticed when Rose got married and left town, the guy she was marrying was Mr. Foley, the local butcher later on.

Several different characters were played by more than one actor...guess they didn't figure anyone would notice, much less care! "Rose" showed up as a town woman in several episodes as did Emmitt's wife "Martha". There were 2 "Ben Weaver" actors, I preferred the first...he was ornery.

[chessiegal]

I’ve noticed on early episodes of Bewitched they have several actors as mortals who later show up as witches and warlocks. Guess they were just getting their footing.

[CrazyMoon]

14 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I’ve noticed on early episodes of Bewitched they have several actors as mortals who later show up as witches and warlocks. Guess they were just getting their footing.

Exactly

[cooksdelight]

I wanted to share a story about a woman who is 108 years old, and one of her stories about growing up here. A song is mentioned and at the very end of the article there is a link to Andy singing the song. They really should have used him and his true voice a lot more on the show.

http://chattanoogaradiotv.com/general/miss-halies-memories-1919/?fbclid=IwAR0qwgDzNJrtYlbhaJ09gmFF6eVnkY4S_xzZ_YPzxG2vWzVSYG5qspdDFZU

[CrazyMoon]

2 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I wanted to share a story about a woman who is 108 years old, and one of her stories about growing up here. A song is mentioned and at the very end of the article there is a link to Andy singing the song. They really should have used him and his true voice a lot more on the show.

http://chattanoogaradiotv.com/general/miss-halies-memories-1919/?fbclid=IwAR0qwgDzNJrtYlbhaJ09gmFF6eVnkY4S_xzZ_YPzxG2vWzVSYG5qspdDFZU

Thanks for sharing! I love this. Andy had a such a fine voice. And it was always nice when they slipped in musical numbers. If you listen carefully to what Andy is picking on the porch in some scenes you hear good gospel tunes...

Here's the YT link for all the tunes shown in the show: 

[mmecorday]

The episode with Aunt Bee allegedly "specializing" on Brisco Darlin was on yesterday and I remembered why I dearly love this show. I die laughing when Opie shouts "Meat!" I much prefer the early episodes because Andy is too grumpy in the post-Barney era. I never cared for Helen Crump. My mom always said she acted so high and mighty and I agree.

[CrazyMoon]

3 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

The episode with Aunt Bee allegedly "specializing" on Brisco Darlin was on yesterday and I remembered why I dearly love this show. I die laughing when Opie shouts "Meat!" I much prefer the early episodes because Andy is too grumpy in the post-Barney era. I never cared for Helen Crump. My mom always said she acted so high and mighty and I agree.

This is my favorite episode of all. "For a woman who reads rose poetry, you sure pack a mean spoon!" 

[cooksdelight]

7 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

I never cared for Helen Crump. My mom always said she acted so high and mighty and I agree.

She was insanely jealous, and that isn’t a pretty sight when her nose goes up in the air and she fakes a smile. And I also agree that once Barney left, the heart of the show left with him. The man won five Emmys for his work on the show. The original plan of the producers was to end the show after five years. Don had already signed a lucrative film deal with Universal which would have prevented him from also working on the show. Andy didn’t really want to continue but buckled to pressure and kept the show going. Look up Don on IMDB, lots of interesting information about him there.

[CrazyMoon]

You have to remember Helen Crump was a city girl (she came from Kansas City). I do love the way she tore into Andy the first time they met (Andy Discovers America)

[VCRTracking]

On 8/23/2019 at 10:49 AM, cooksdelight said:

She was insanely jealous, and that isn’t a pretty sight when her nose goes up in the air and she fakes a smile. And I also agree that once Barney left, the heart of the show left with him. The man won five Emmys for his work on the show. The original plan of the producers was to end the show after five years. Don had already signed a lucrative film deal with Universal which would have prevented him from also working on the show. Andy didn’t really want to continue but buckled to pressure and kept the show going. Look up Don on IMDB, lots of interesting information about him there.

Man, has there been a bigger void in a show when a supporting character left?

[catlover79]

Exactly how many episodes were the Fun Girls on?

[cooksdelight]

Three.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fun_Girls

[VCRTracking]

6 hours ago, catlover79 said:

Exactly how many episodes were the Fun Girls on?

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

Three.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fun_Girls

The gravelly voiced Jean Carson also was one of the three female escaped convicts who held Barney and Floyd hostage. She had that messy bob haircut.

Edited August 27, 2019 by VCRTracking

[BigBingerBro]

56 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

The gravelly voiced Jean Carson also was one of the three female escaped convicts who held Barney and Floyd hostage. She had that messy bob haircut.

The ringleader in that episode also played Barney's vocal coach in other episodes.

[cooksdelight]

2 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

She had that messy bob haircut.

And she hated men. LOL

1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

The ringleader in that episode also played Barney's vocal coach in other episodes.

Eleanora Poultice. Who on earth thought up that last name?

[VCRTracking]

Season 3's "The Bank Job" the first episode with Gomer has a funny running joke where whenever Barney is trying to be serious about the lack of security precautions at the bank people tell him he reminds him of Glenn Ford in "The G Men". I looked it up though and Glenn Ford was never in that movie! That was made in the 30s starring James Cagney. They probably meant "The Big Heat".

Edited August 28, 2019 by VCRTracking

[cooksdelight]

HAHAHA!!! Good catch!!

[pasdetrois]

One of my family's favorite episodes is when Aunt Bee takes a trip, the fellas mess up the house, and then clean it up before she comes home. Upon her return she sees the spotless house and thinks they don't need her anymore. They realize their mistake and race around tearing up the house again, and all's right with the world, Aunt Bee bustling about to set the house right.

[GHScorpiosRule]

11 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

One of my family's favorite episodes is when Aunt Bee takes a trip, the fellas mess up the house, and then clean it up before she comes home. Upon her return she sees the spotless house and thinks they don't need her anymore. They realize their mistake and race around tearing up the house again, and all's right with the world, Aunt Bee bustling about to set the house right.

Not quite. Opie and Andy clean the house. Then Andy realizes by doing that, Aunt Bee will think they don't need her, based on what she told him, I think. So, they mess it up. But Clara comes to see if Bee is home; sees the messy house, cleans it up. Andy and Opie see what happened, and I think, they went upstairs and had enough time to mess up their bedrooms. And then Clara got all insulted when Bee told her the mess of a house she came home to, blah, blah, blah.

[mmecorday]

Would it have killed Clara to mind her own damn business just once?

The episode about the freezer was on the other day. Poor Aunt Bee. She's trying to do her best to stay within a budget and Andy rakes her over the coals for it. I don't imagine a small town sheriff made a whole lot of money at that time and his salary supported the whole household.

My mother and I had a running joke. Whenever something broke down, one of us would say in an exasperated tone, "Call the man!"

[cooksdelight]

Quote

Andy and Opie see what happened, and I think, they went upstairs and had enough time to mess up their bedrooms.

Andy sent Opie upstairs to mess up his room. Aunt Bee heard him and went upstairs and declared “Just look at this room!!” With a smile on her face. Meanwhile, Andy runs into the kitchen and messes up the dishes, and tells Aunt Bee that they only had time to clean up the parlor.

I grew up in NC and not once have I ever heard anyone call their living room a parlor. LOL

The freezer episode was meant to be a lesson in not trying to save money to the point that you wind up wasting it in the end. Spilling the sugar, the meat almost spoiling. But I see what you’re talking about, with Andy jumping on her for trying to save money. Poor Opie and those squeaky shoes.

[mmecorday]

Quote

The freezer episode was meant to be a lesson in not trying to save money to the point that you wind up wasting it in the end. Spilling the sugar, the meat almost spoiling. But I see what you’re talking about, with Andy jumping on her for trying to save money. Poor Opie and those squeaky shoes.

I get that. I just think sometimes Andy had a tendency to treat Aunt Bee like he treated Opie, as though she were a child.

[cooksdelight]

Might be a reflection of how Bavier treated everyone on set, she was said to be very difficult and hard to get along with.

Fount this!

https://metv.com/stories/a-complete-history-of-andy-and-helens-love-on-the-andy-griffith-show?fbclid=IwAR3_Z2tiGSwPybS2dF69CUAmta5IGFD-_ASpcIuAYfRkjwwCnTh-gLCHiVw

[Browncoat]

3 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Might be a reflection of how Bavier treated everyone on set, she was said to be very difficult and hard to get along with.

Fount this!

https://metv.com/stories/a-complete-history-of-andy-and-helens-love-on-the-andy-griffith-show?fbclid=IwAR3_Z2tiGSwPybS2dF69CUAmta5IGFD-_ASpcIuAYfRkjwwCnTh-gLCHiVw

Nice article, but I have to be nitpicky -- that pin Helen wears is a brooch, not a broach.

[CrazyMoon]

There were two episodes of Andy & Opie fending for themselves with Aunt Bee out of town...one, they 'only had time to clean the parlor' (and messed up the others spaces for Aunt Bee to find) and another when Clara cleaned up the mess and A/O messed it up....

Clara thought Bee was naive and simple....so was often condescending to her...

[Maverick]

As noted above, them only having time to clean the parlor and Clara butting in was the same episode.  Andy and Opie had to fend for themselves in another episode, where Andy proved inept as a cook and Peggy came in to help.  There was a third episode I'm the color era, The Mayberry Chef, where Andy and Opie are again left to fed themselves (this time eating out of cans rather than Andy trying to cook) because Aunt Bee has become a local celebrity chef on TV.  They finally get her back by having someone come in and cook for them.  It was another time where Aunt Bee showed herself to be talented and successful and she had to give it up. 

[catlover79]

On 8/27/2019 at 6:12 PM, cooksdelight said:

Three.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fun_Girls

Thank you!

[BigBingerBro]

8 hours ago, Maverick said:

They finally get her back by having someone come in and cook for them. 

Well, they never did actually have anyone come to cook for them, but they led Aunt Bee to believe they did. 

[mmecorday]

I watched "The Bed Jacket" tonight and it always makes me tearful. Frances Bavier's performance is so wonderful in this episode. My heart breaks for her every time she unwraps the mason jars expecting to find the frilly bed jacket, especially after she witnesses Andy buying the bed jacket and joyfully declares to Clara that she's going to have such a great birthday.

[cooksdelight]

That’s one of my favorites also. Opie learns about giving to make someone happy, with Andy’s fishing rod gone and Andy explaining why.

[CrazyMoon]

3 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

That’s one of my favorites also. Opie learns about giving to make someone happy, with Andy’s fishing rod gone and Andy explaining why.

There is some sort of moral in just about every episode. "Opie & the Spoiled Kid" really shows it.

[Miss Chevious]

"The Bed Jacket" is one of my favorites too. Even though that episode is in black and white, I always imagined that bed jacket being pink, although I couldn't tell you why.  I would love to get one a bed jacket as a gift. Why can't I find one like Aunt Bee's?

[CrazyMoon]

2 minutes ago, Miss Chevious said:

"The Bed Jacket" is one of my favorites too. Even though that episode is in black and white, I always imagined that bed jacket being pink, although I couldn't tell you why.  I would love to get one a bed jacket as a gift. Why can't I find one like Aunt Bee's?

Bed jackets are wildly out of fashion, too bad, because there were some gorgeous items in their prime. I figured it was a rich baby blue....to match her eyes.

[BetyBee]

I picture a pink one too - like the one a friend gave me for my baby shower in 1978....they were out of fashion then too, but I wore it for a while.  

[Browncoat]

I picture it as blue.

[BigBingerBro]

I pictured it as a light yellow.  

Did women actually sleep in bed jackets or were they worn when you were just sitting in bed reading?

[BetyBee]

I think they were meant for lounging.  In any case, the Bed Jacket episode brings tears to my eyes.  I know because this afternoon I watched it and then a few more episodes for good measure.  Thanks for bringing it up, mmecorday!