The Andy Griffith Show - General Discussion

[BigBingerBro]

I can recall many episodes where Helen had cooked.  Andy and her were going on a picnic and she said "the chicken should be almost ready", then there was the color episode "Dinner at 8" where she made a spaghetti dinner.

[sATL]

1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

I can recall many episodes where Helen had cooked.  Andy and her were going on a picnic and she said "the chicken should be almost ready", then there was the color episode "Dinner at 8" where she made a spaghetti dinner.

all 3 dinners in that episode were spaghetti...

https://mayberry.fandom.com/wiki/Dinner_at_Eight

Edited December 10, 2020 by sATL

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, sATL said:

all 3 dinners in that episode were spaghetti...

https://mayberry.fandom.com/wiki/Dinner_at_Eight

And the secret ingredient was oregano.

[Maverick]

 Ah the 60s.  Sexism and that exotic spice oregano.  

 Most of the sexism came from Andy.  The show actually had most women being capable andy intelligent.  Aunt Bee was kind of the typical stay at home and keep the place up woman in the B&W episodes but she gets to spread her wings a lot in the color episodes.   Until grumpy ass, narrow minded Andy forces her back into her box because he's worried what people might think (or let's be real that he might have to learn to wash a dish).   

[Gemma Violet]

This popped up on my Youtube.  I don't know if it's true, but I thought it was interesting:

 

 

[JAYJAY1979]

Aunt Bee centric episodes in the color episodes are the highlights.  She flys a plane, has a cooking show, serves on a jury, etc.

If it weren't for her, the show would have been even lower in quality.

[Maverick]

 Yes, it was nice seeing her grow during the show, but the way Andy treated her abysmal.   She had to give up her successful restaurant because of him.   She had to quite her TV job because Andy couldn't learn to cook one damn meal.   And I thought his head was going to explode when she wanted to do something as simple as drive.   Andy really was an archaic asshole.   His being so nonchalant about Helen not cooking and continuing to work was really out of character.   

[BigBingerBro]

4 hours ago, Maverick said:

 She had to quite her TV job because Andy couldn't learn to cook one damn meal. 

That episode drives me crazy because never once do they think to go to the diner or one of the other restaurants in the area.  Also, where the hell was Helen?  

[chessiegal]

Back in the early episodes, Andy cooked for him and Opie when Aunt Bee went away. Not particularly well, but they didn't starve.

[CrazyMoon]

2 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Back in the early episodes, Andy cooked for him and Opie when Aunt Bee went away. Not particularly well, but they didn't starve.

And at other times they went to the diner...you have to remember Aunt Bee was brought in to take care of Andy & Opie...as her primary job. A little part time gig was fine, but the cooking show was like a 2nd shift job that interfered with her caring for the household. My mom got her drivers license about the same time Aunt Bee did...I was 12, she got it to do her share of the school carpool, I think she was about 37 at the time...my dad was shocked when she decided to get it; his kneejerk reaction was to tell her no...he'd already been carting her around more than 20 years. In 1966 is wasn't unheard of...And Bee gave up the restaurant due to a fortune cookie...they were all ridiculously superstitious. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

“Opie and the Bully” is in now! I just LOVE the last five minutes of this! The emotion and love between Andy and Opie!

But I also love the “story” Andy tells Opie about standing up to a bully.

This has to be one of the Top 5 episodes for me.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 3/2/2021 at 6:35 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

“Opie and the Bully” is in now! I just LOVE the last five minutes of this! The emotion and love between Andy and Opie!

What's great is every story you hear is how well Don Knotts and Andy Griffith bonded with Ronnie Howard.

Andy and Don were being interviewed about the time that Ron Howard started becoming a famous director.

Andy Griffith:  It's great to see Ronnie doing so well.  He's a superstar now.  Great to see good things for Ronnie.

Don Knotts:  Well, we call him "Mr. Howard" now.

And they both chuckle, because of course he will always be Ronnie to both of them.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh Lordy! I’m catching the tail end of “Mr. McBeevee” where Opie can’t tell Andy that he made up Mr. McBeevee. The way Opie asks Andy:

”Don’t you believe me, Pa?” With trembling lips, tears in his eyes! Made me weepy. Ronnie was just so very good and natural. That did NOT look like acting.

Edited March 29, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 3/24/2021 at 6:26 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

"Don’t you believe me, Pa?” With trembling lips, tears in his eyes! Made me weepy. Ronnie was just so very good and natural. That did NOT lol like acting.

 

To add to @GHScorpiosRule's good observation:  I believe that this scene could not have been as powerful if not for the trust and friendship built up between Ron Howard and Andy Griffith.

This also leads to a great conversation between Andy and Barney when Andy announces that he believes Opie.

Andy Taylor: I told him I believed him.

Barney Fife: You told him you beli... But Andy, what he told you's impossible!

Andy Taylor: Well, a whole lotta times I've asked him to believe things that, to his mind, musta seemed just as impossible.

Barney Fife: Oh, but, Andy... this silver hat, and the jinglin', and the smoke from his ears - what about all that?

Andy Taylor: Ohh, I don't know, Barn. I guess it's a time like this when you're asked to believe somethin' that just don't seem possible. That's the moment that decides whether you got faith in somebody or not.

Barney Fife: Yeah, but how can you explain it all?

Andy Taylor: I cain't.

Barney Fife: But you do believe in Mr. McBeevee?

Andy Taylor: No, no, no. I DO believe in Opie.

[Browncoat]

Why can't John Masters ever remember that Barney can't sing?  (Not a lick!)

[Gemma Violet]

I was watching Citizens' A-ray-est today and it reminded me:  In the end, after Gomer makes a false police report to bring Barney back to the Sheriff's Office and Barney starts to write him up, why didn't Gomer (or Andy) say, "Barney, you have no authority here.  You resigned, remember?"

[GHScorpiosRule]

With MeTV celebrating this show during May, I checked out byte schedule and on May 23,  we get the R.F.D episodes of Andy and Helen getting married AND the birth of their baby!

Say whuuuut??? Said baby wasn’t even referenced in the 1986 movie Return to Mayberry, which airs on May 31.

Guess he or she got the Happy Days’  Chuck (who?) treatment!😂😂😂😂

[sATL]

5 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

With MeTV celebrating this show during May, I checked out byte schedule and on May 23,  we get the R.F.D episodes of Andy and Helen getting married AND the birth of their baby!

Say whuuuut??? Said baby wasn’t even referenced in the 1986 movie Return to Mayberry, which airs on May 31.

Guess he or she got the Happy Days’  Chuck (who?) treatment!😂😂😂😂

Baby????? Wow I had no idea..a pregnancy or adoption???

Just how old was Opie when all this happened ?

I guess  I  didn't think Andy wanted children and well Helen, was put of business .... boy or girl?

[GHScorpiosRule]

31 minutes ago, sATL said:

Baby????? Wow I had no idea..a pregnancy or adoption???

Just how old was Opie when all this happened ?

I guess  I  didn't think Andy wanted children and well Helen, was put of business .... boy or girl?

No idea.

Opie would have been around 15 when the baby was born. I think. I didn’t check the air date. Maybe 16?

[Maverick]

 Andy and Helen were married in the series premiere of Mayberry RFD, so basically season 9 of TAGS.   Andy made what amounted to cameo appearances in a few early first season episodes and then is just gone.  Andy and Helen return in the second season premiere and already have their baby girl.   

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 minutes ago, Maverick said:

 Andy and Helen were married in the series premiere of Mayberry RFD, so basically season 9 of TAGS.   Andy made what amounted to cameo appearances in a few early first season episodes and then is just gone.  Andy and Helen return in the second season premiere and already have their baby girl.   

So Opie would be about 16 when he got a baby sister. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

As much as Gomer got on my nerves, I’ll take him over Goober. Anytime. All the time.

 

[CrazyMoon]

15 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

As much as Gomer got on my nerves, I’ll take him over Goober. Anytime. All the time.

 

The Pyle men do take obnoxious to the extreme, but you'll never find more loyal, trusted friends. #hillbillyunited

[Gemma Violet]

I was watching The Guitar Player today (Season 1, Episode 3) and Barney was singing along beautifully, and not only that, he was singing harmony.  I guess they hadn't yet decided to make him a horrible singer.  😄

[GHScorpiosRule]

19 minutes ago, Gemma Violet said:

I was watching The Guitar Player today (Season 1, Episode 3) and Barney was singing along beautifully, and not only that, he was singing harmony.  I guess they hadn't yet decided to make him a horrible singer.  😄

Just like how they changed Barney from being Andy’s cousin to his best friend.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 5/11/2021 at 10:48 AM, CrazyMoon said:

The Pyle men do take obnoxious to the extreme, but you'll never find more loyal, trusted friends. #hillbillyunited

In a tiny way I'm almost jealous of Gomer.  He knows his place in the world and he is happy with it.  

That's something many people never find.

 

[BigBingerBro]

Gomer was innicent and naive 

Goober was just a moron

Gomer got a spin-off.  Goober went on to Mayberry RFD as a regular, did he do anything else after that?

[CrazyMoon]

Just now, BigBingerBro said:

Gomer was innicent and naive 

Goober was just a moron

Gomer got a spin-off.  Goober went on to Mayberry RFD as a regular, did he do anything else after that?

Goober was just a regular guy with a regular life in a small town, he'd never be anything else. However, he was a trusted small business owner, the high school's driver training instructor and a kind & loyal friend. Watch the last episode of Mayberry RFD (the one with the computer dating plot) to really get a look a who Goober really was. It's very touching. 

[BigBingerBro]

1 minute ago, CrazyMoon said:

to really get a look a who Goober really was.

Thanks, I don't think I've seen that one.

Honestly, he actually become more torerable in Mayberry RFD.  He was a complete dufus in TAGS

[GHScorpiosRule]

Goober remains a doofus. Both Gomer and Goober are featured in the movie, Return to Mayberry, which will air on May 31.

So I guess, Gomer left the Marines and returned to Mayberry?

[Katy M]

3 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Goober remains a doofus. Both Gomer and Goober are featured in the movie, Return to Mayberry, which will air on May 31.

So I guess, Gomer left the Marines and returned to Mayberry?

I don't think anything about Gomer screamed career military.

[CrazyMoon]

23 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Goober remains a doofus. Both Gomer and Goober are featured in the movie, Return to Mayberry, which will air on May 31.

So I guess, Gomer left the Marines and returned to Mayberry?

That movie was just awful...

 

[sATL]

1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

Gomer was innicent and naive 

Goober was just a moron

Gomer got a spin-off.  Goober went on to Mayberry RFD as a regular, did he do anything else after that?

didn't Gomer wise up some when we was on Gomer Pyle USMC  - after the first couple of seasons ?

[Browncoat]

I'm watching the episode now where Goober grows a beard, and everyone goes on and on about how it makes him look smarter.  I think it makes him look like a hobo.

[CrazyMoon]

7 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I'm watching the episode now where Goober grows a beard, and everyone goes on and on about how it makes him look smarter.  I think it makes him look like a hobo.

He let it all go to his head...not his best look

 

[Maverick]

 I'm surprised they were telling him how intelligent he looked.   In that era, I thought having facial hair beyond a moustache was still considered being unkempt.   It was later in the 60s so maybe attitudes were already changing by then.

Gomer had planned to return to Mayberry when his first hitch in the Marines was up, but decided to re-enlist at the last minute, much to Sgt. Carter's dismay.  Presumably whenever he ultimately left the Marines he still returned to Mayberry as planned.  One wonders what happened to Lou Ann.  

[CrazyMoon]

1 minute ago, Maverick said:

 I'm surprised they were telling him how intelligent he looked.   In that era, I thought having facial hair beyond a moustache was still considered being unkempt.   It was later in the 60s so maybe attitudes were already changing by then.

Gomer had planned to return to Mayberry when his first hitch in the Marines was up, but decided to re-enlist at the last minute, much to Sgt. Carter's dismay.  Presumably whenever he ultimately left the Marines he still returned to Mayberry as planned.  One wonders what happened to Lou Ann.  

Professors often had beards, maybe that's what they based it on. Gomer could have done 20 years and retired before that movie...he joined up in 1965. 

[Gemma Violet]

4 hours ago, CrazyMoon said:

Watch the last episode of Mayberry RFD (the one with the computer dating plot) to really get a look a who Goober really was. It's very touching. 

I don't remember that one, but I remember one where Goober met up with an old classmate who pretended to be rich to impress Goober.  At the end, Goober and Andy see the guy working as a mechanic.  Goober decided not to approach him because he didn't want to embarrass him.  I thought that was so sweet.  I don't like Goober, but he did have a sweet side.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Well that was a letdown. Andy and Helen’s wedding lasted three minutes, if that.

Should have aired on this show.

I stopped watching when the show went to color, but did they ever air or show Andy proposing to Helen?

The only highlight was seeing Barney goofing up at the wedding and a teenage Opie!

[GHScorpiosRule]

A bunch of self centered morons I’ve never come across in the episode where Andy and Helen return to Mayberry with the baby boy. And by that I mean, Goober, Howard, and Emmett acting all BUTTHURT because Andy chose Sam to be the godfather to Andy Junior, and gave him the cold shoulder.  To the point he made them ALL godfathers. What about Barney, Andy? So ridiculous.

And some retconning, too. Goober did NOT introduce Helen to Andy! She was Opie’s new teacher.

Did Mayberry R.F.D. not think that those that watched this show wouldn’t watch theirs?

Edited May 24, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[GHScorpiosRule]

And I didn't even recognize Helen in these episodes. Well, the first one doesn't count, because we only saw her twice.

But when they returned with the baby? It's like Helen had a lobotomy/was acting like a stepford wife. 

I think I'm GLAD that Ronny wasn't there.

[Egg McMuffin]

I don’t understand why Andy and Helen would choose Sam as godfather anyway. I guess Sam and Andy were supposed to be longtime friends even though they only appeared in a handful of episodes together.

I always thought they should have just said that Sam and Andy were cousins. Then it would have made more sense for Aunt Bee to move in with her other nephew, Sam, after Andy got married. I remember in a later episode, one of Mike’s friends says (referring to Bee), “She’s your aunt.” Uh, I don’t think so.

[Gemma Violet]

On 5/23/2021 at 5:20 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

A bunch of self centered morons I’ve never come across in the episode where Andy and Helen return to Mayberry with the baby boy. And by that I mean, Goober, Howard, and Emmett acting all BUTTHURT because Andy chose Sam to be the godfather to Andy Junior, and gave him the cold shoulder.  To the point he made them ALL godfathers. What about Barney, Andy? So ridiculous.

Not only was Barney not the godfather, he wasn't even at the bachelor's party.  

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 minute ago, Gemma Violet said:

Not only was Barney not the godfather, he wasn't even at the bachelor's party.  

Yep. Just showed up for the 4 minute wedding scene and the tag scene at the end. Again, so stupid.

[mmecorday]

I haven't seen "Return to Mayberry" since it originally aired. I think I'm going to keep it that way. I remember Andy standing over Aunt Bee's grave and hearing someone who was decidedly NOT Frances Bavier say some Aunt Bee-ish maxims. I think one of them was "It's the sleep you get before morning that counts."

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 5/5/2021 at 7:00 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

 

Say whuuuut??? Said baby wasn’t even referenced in the 1986 movie Return to Mayberry, which airs on May 31.

Guess he or she got the Happy Days’  Chuck (who?) treatment!😂😂😂😂

Quoting myself because they moved the movie up to this Friday. For anyone who wants to see it. As much as I didn't really care for it, I did enjoy seeing Andy, Barney, Gomer, and Opie again! 

[CrazyMoon]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Quoting myself because they moved the movie up to this Friday. For anyone who wants to see it. As much as I didn't really care for it, I did enjoy seeing Andy, Barney, Gomer, and Opie again! 

It does have some cute moments, but the undignified treatment toward the Darling family just ruined everything for me. 

 

[Egg McMuffin]

On 5/27/2021 at 1:03 PM, mmecorday said:

I haven't seen "Return to Mayberry" since it originally aired. I think I'm going to keep it that way. I remember Andy standing over Aunt Bee's grave and hearing someone who was decidedly NOT Frances Bavier say some Aunt Bee-ish maxims. I think one of them was "It's the sleep you get before morning that counts."

Someone was trying to convince me that Frances Bavier recorded those lines herself and I said no way. It’s like a bad SNL imitation. They should have just used a flashback from the series (unless Frances Bavier, who was still alive at the time, didn’t give them permission).

RTM is a mixed bag, but there are some touching parts, such as the resolution of the contest for sheriff at the end. And I’ll give them a lot of credit for gather as much of the cast as they did. So often with those 80s TV movie reunions, they’d get the main cast, but few/none of the recurring players or guest stars. RTM did a good job in that area.

[CrazyMoon]

Brilliant voice over actress Janet Waldo was the voice of Aunt Bee in RTM...

[Gemma Violet]

I always disliked how Andy always deferred to Barney's feelings throughout the series, and Return to Mayberry is no exception.  I know there was no absolute guarantee that Andy would win the election, but I think he'd have a 95% chance, so to not even run after pulling up roots at his previous residence just because he didn't want to hurt Barney's feelings is just crazy.  Andy always gave Barney his way to make him look good, like the episode when Andy and Helen were trapped in the cave.  Really?  Traveling all the way back to the cave and going back in because Barney would get his feelings hurt?  Just one of many examples.