[A favorite of mine that no one has mentioned, I think: Mr. McBeevy, the man who has a jingly silver belt and blows smoke out of his ears.]

MR. McBEEVY? Man, that's my favorite episode too. Since Andy seemed like the perfect sheriff, perfect dad, and perfect all around guy, I love those episodes where Andy is wrong about Opie, or the particular woman he was seeing. (Too bad the entire relationship with Helen Krump was one big mistake. She certainly didn't understand Andy. Ellie, the pharmacist was my favorite.)

It wasn't until I read what others of you said here about Helen that I knew other people didn't like her. I thought it was just me. For those of you who don't like Helen, why?

My reason is that I prefer Andy's interaction with the other people of Mayberry, even if he always ends up being right; but when he's hooked up with Helen, he gets all doofy. I especially hate the eps when he's supposed to be jealous. Andy comes across more mean than jealous, and I like my small-town fictional sheriffs sweet and nice.

For some reason, the local station that shows TAGS right now got to almost the last show before Mayberry RFD around January 2. Instead of starting all over at Season 1, they started at the end of Season 5 (the last few where Barney was already gone, but the show hadn't gone technicolor). So there's all Helen, all the time. Whyyyy? Argh.

My reason for disliking Helen is that she's a sour-faced castrating hag from hell. But that's just me.

I liked Ellie fine, but I liked that one who sang even better.

No, it's not.

After January 1, my local UPN station has been showing the color eps so Warren is featured pretty heavily. He's okay in small doses, but I would rather Andy work alone than pair up with Warren. Barney did a good job with nervous twitching. Warren? Not so much.

Anyone like Warren as deputy? Anyone? Bueller? Nana?

I used to avoid watching the color eps; so last night when I saw Andy and Barney's class reunion, I was surprised to see that Thelma Lou had gotten married. I wish they had married Helen off instead.

I didn't like the color eps at all. I felt that the show was never the same after Barney left and the show went in color.
Nowadays, that seems like nothing if a show is in color, but back then (which might I add I wasn't even born but I grew up watching this show in reruns with my parents who were hippies then). You just cannot have The Andy Griffith Show without Barney!

Small nit to pick here: After Andy and Opie cleaned up, Andy realized that Aint Bee would feel unneeded and decided they should mess it back up. After they finished doing this, nosy neighbor Clara Edwards stopped by on their way out the door. When she saw how messy the house was she cleaned it up. When they brought Aint Bee back to the house they were surprised that the house was spotless, and started messing it up again behind her back. At the end Clara, all impressed with herself, asks Bee how she found the house when she got back. She said something like, "It was a complete mess!" Clara stomped off offended.

Hate the color episodes

Hate Helen Crump. I thought Ellie was the prettiest.

Don't really have a favorite ep, but I love the picke ep and the one where Ben Weaver has Mr. Scobey(sp?) arrested at Christmas. Andy decides to arrest the whole family, including the children, and have a party at the jail. Ben is so lonely he tries repeatedly to get arrested so he can join the fun. I like the part where he is looking in through the bars and singing along and the part right after when he falls and his cover is blown.

I'm ALL about Ernest.T.Bass. I loved his episodes! Particularly the one where he was trying to woo that bride from getting married by serenading her. The song went something like:

"OH! you jump in the pot, the pot too hot, jump in the..."

Crap, can't remember the rest! It ended with Barney posing as the bride at the wedding so Ernest wouldn't kidnap her.


Like, that one too. This kind of thing happens all the time.

Speaking of Ernest T. Bass, I was surprised to find out that he was a sought-after director for many shows in the Sixties, including Get Smart, The Danny Thomas Show, and The Andy Griffith Show, as well as using his voice for animation at Hanna-Barbera.

I also didn't know that George Lindsay (Goober Pyle) had a bachelor's degree in BioScience and taught science before becoming an actor.

I don't have a favorite ep, but I do have favorite characters (and least favorites). Fave characters: Andy, Opie, Barney, Otis, Aunt Bee, Goober, Gomer, and The Darlings. Meh characters: Howard Sprague, Floyd, Ellie, and Thelma Lou. Annoying characters: HELEN, Ernest T. Bass, and Warren.

I think the sons in The Darling Family never spoke because they would have had to pay them more money. I have heard this mentioned several times about other performers on other comedy shows over the years. It was part of the joke when the speaking comedian said it, but also true, I always suspected.

There was another special a while back--ten years ago, maybe?--where Andy and Helen come back to town because Opie, now the editor of the Mayberry newspaper, and his wife are about to have a baby. This was when Ron Howard was flying especially high as a director. I read that he asked for Griffith's help in interpreting a line reading during the filming of the special, and Griffith was so touched he almost cried.

Ellie was cool. I found it interesting that they had her get elected to the city council and handily compete with Andy in things like skeet shooting during the period when TAGS was filmed. Of course, they played up the battle of the sexes aspect in the scripts, but then they left it alone, which was surprising for the time it was filmed.

Actually it was not Ellie who competed with Andy in skeet shooting. It was Thelma Lou's cousin, Karen, played by Gail Davis (TV's Annie Oakley) who bested Andy. Many of Andy's lady friends in the early years were competent professional women -nurse, pharmacist, teacher - who Andy treated as equals.
In the episode where Barney and Thelma Lou are setting Andy and Helen up for the first time, it was Barney who was aghast that Helen Crump could not cook, had no interest in things domestic and expected to continue working full-time after she married. Andy thought this was quite reasonable for a woman in her position. The show had a surprisingly feminist /equality between the sexes tone for the early sixties. It was only in the later (colour) years that the relationship between Helen and Andy changed.

They even tried to liberate Aunt Bee from time to time. I believe she ran for city council, had a cooking show, and opened a restaurant among other things. I think this all happened in the color years, too.



Since I haven't seen all the color eps, could you explain what you mean by this, dustylil? All I gathered from the color eps I've seen is that Andy Griffith seemed tired of the show. His character seemed meaner, if that makes any sense; but I haven't seen much of Andy's interaction with Helen to note a change in their relationship.

For Quag Not to make a big "melange" of it, but in the early years of their courtship Andy and Helen behaved as two adult equals with demanding responsibilities. They generally treated each other with affection and courtesy. Difficulties usually arose when others, notably Barney, interfered. Those misunderstandings were usually resolved calmly.
In the later episodes both Helen and Andy demonstrated anger and jealousy when the other showed even the mildest attention to members of the opposite sex. In an episode in the seventh season, Helen even advised her visiting niece to hide her athletic prowess so Opie's masculine pride would not be hurt. The mutual respect of the early years had been replaced by deceit and suspicion.
I agree that Andy did seem meaner in his relations with others in the later years - just as Helen's feisty independence became cranky abrasiveness.

Hooray! TV Land is showing the good episodes again (that is, the old black-and-white ones when Don Knotts was still a cast member)!

FYI, last weekend I was exercise-walking thru Valhalla Cemetery in North Hollywood, CA, and saw Aneta ("Helen") Corsaut's grave.

It's very simple, no frills (kinda like her - and I mean that as a compliment!) and the inscription reads "Actor - Trouper".

Of all the characters who romanced Andy, Helen was probably the best - I liked the way "Helen" freely acknowledges that she makes frozen dinners for herself most of the time!

Rimerr


I was taking a class on the Civil War and every time they mentioned Jubal Early, I giggled uncontrollably, Jubal Jubal Jubal...

cmkrcwi


I thought Joanna Moore played Peggy, who was a nurse. Not sure who Sue Ane Langdon is, but I get my facts straight from the source: TVLand!

I thought Ellie Walker rocked Mayberry but maybe it's just me. She is awesome in everything. Hated Helen Crump. Read here for all the reasons I hated Helen Crump.

The Mr. McBeevy episode was a remake of an episode of Make Room For Daddy where the daughter (Angela Cartwright) has an imaginary friend with a magic red coat (who turned out to be the doorman of their apartment building). Not that Mr. McBeevy didn't rock, but who gives a kid an axe to play with?

For the record, I don't love the color eps either, but they weren't all bad. There were definitely some "moments".

Bump!

Thanks for bumping. Sorry I looked all over for an old thread, and could not find one. I did look though. This is a classic. I always liked Hal Smith as Otis. He was awesome. The way he played drunk and the funny things he did that made Barney mad was great.

RIP Howard Morris

Hands-down, one of the funniest characters on TV. Ever.

My favorite exchange ever is the Andy/Opie "poor Horatio" conversation. I laugh so hard every time I watch it, and it's stuck in my head so much now that every time I watch CSI: Miami, I say "Poor Horatio" at least once per episode.

Oh, sad news about Howard Morris. He was fantastic.

It's amazing that after only appearing five times on TAGS, the character of Ernest T. is so well-known and well-loved. I didn't particularly like the character, but I know many TAGS fans did; and Howard Morris was prolific in so many other areas of television and radio.

He'll be missed.

There was supposed to be a TAGS gathering in Nashville with Thelma Lou, Barney, and Goober, but it was cancelled. I hope the remaining cast is well and in good health.

This is such a Nashville story....

There is/was a hole-in-the wall restaurant called Brown's Diner, one of those places where everybody from Vanderbilt medical professors to country music performers and songwriters would go for burgers. They closed for remodelling at about the same time one of the first TAGS books came out and there was a local TAGS convention to mark the occassion. So Brown's got Howard Morris to come by and throw a ceremonial rock through the window to begin the beginning of the tear-down.

Probably my favorite show ever for several reasons. Great writing, great performances, character driven situations, and not just joke-joke. Also, it doesnt hurt that Andy Griffith resembles my Dad in looks and manner, not to mention the love of bluegrass music. Sometimes I feel Andy didnt get his due for his work on this show, letting Don Knotts shine and being the straight man made for classic comedy, but Andy definitely set the tone for the show. And if a color episode is on TV Land, I surf on by, there are a few watchable episodes, but Andy always seems more gruff, less willing to take crap from people since Barneys gone, and the show seems more sit-commy than before. Just sayin'

B/W=Good. Color=BAD. Won't watch any of the shows in color.

Andy's women(in my preference):

1. Peggy
2. Ellie
3. Helen.

It's a great show.

Peggy.....Peggy.....Peggy......

She's juuuuust evading my memory. Which one was she? Was she blond?

Peggy

I think she was the nurse.

She was the nurse, and she was my favorite, too. I loved it when she wore that polka dot dress and made Andy dinner and sang "Down in the Valley" with him. I thought, gee, that's how life should be. But, as in real life, things didn't work out. Actually, Helen is more like me -- frozen dinner, anyone?

Peggy had the added benefit of a rich daddy. Andy definitely traded down from there.

There was another singing girlfriend though, wasn't there? She was the one who came over and cooked for Andy & Opie when Aunt Bea was out of town for some reason, and she sang while she cooked. If I remember correctly, she was a different one than Peggy. If she actually existed and isn't someone I've just made up in my head, I believe she was probably the prettiest of all of Andy's girlfriends. I wish I could find a picture of her somewhere, as proof of her existence.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

Add me to the list of those who didn't like Helen. I always thought she was boring and she did get nasty in the later years, as did Andy. The show just went on too long-a failing most shows have. I rarely watch the ones without Don Knotts. Ellie was my favorite Andy girlfriend-and yes, she did rock.

Was Joanna Moore the girlfriend in the episode where Opie thought she was around too much and was taking all his pa's time and attention and kept trying to sabotage the romance?

Yes, Joanna Moore was Peggy McMillan, in an episode called "Opie's Rival."

She might be the one I was thinking of after all. I'm all confused because they had a series of hot county nurses that Andy dated.

You may be thinking of an earlier county nurse, Mary Simpson played by Julie Adams.
While I liked the early seasons Helen Crump, I always thought the coolest of Andy girlfriends was the skeet shooting Karen Moore from Season 2. She was played by Gail Davis, better known to women of a certain age as television's Annie Oakley.

Barney Fife "Nip it!" T-shirt available from Betty's Attic.

Didn't Sue Ane Langdon also play a nurse girlfriend of Andy's? All those nurses -- This is starting to sound like a fetish.

Yes, Ms Langdon played the county nurse named Mary Simpson. A few weeks earlier, the role was played by Julie Adams.

Should the "fun girls" from Mount Pilot (Skippy and Daphne, I think) be added to this?

Elinor Donahue's character was a pharmacist, which was a bit unusual for a woman in 1960. Teacher and nurse are much more traditional female occupations.

I wonder about Juanita from the diner?

I think Ellie's uncle owned the pharmacy, so she went into the family business.

Did we ever get to actually see Juanita? She was clearly the whore to Thelma Lou's madonna in Barney's head. But I don't remember seeing her.

I'm pretty sure Juanita was an unseen character--like Sarah, the telephone operator.

Pronounced the way it should be: SAY-ruh.

Karen and Ellie always merge in my mind. I loved the skeet-shooting episode, but I always think that's Ellie doing the shooting when I think back on it.

But Ellie's always been my favorite. Helen seemed permanently bored. Ellie at least had some life to her--enough to run for city council.

By the way, does anybody remember any black people in Mayberry? I remember a black face in a crowd scene, and was surprised to see it, but I don't remember any black characters, even as guests. Which is about as unrealistic a depiction of piedmont North Carolina as you can get. (Not that the rest was THAT realistic....)

ONE black character, as I recall -- it was the episode where Opie starts piano lessons but it conflicts with his football games after school. IIRC, it was supposed to be some former pro player who was tapped to coach Opie's team. And then he sat down at the piano at the end, and showed Opie that the two weren't mutually exclusive.

Yes there was only only African American character with a speaking role in the entire series and that episode aired in 1967.

I'm pretty sure I never saw the one with the African American character.

I know why else I didn't like Helen-she always came across (to me, at least) as kind of holier-than-thou. Also, I know some people don't like Floyd, the barber but he's one of my favorite characters. Not always too swift, but funny. The Mount Pilot "fast women" sisters were a scream. Barney & Andy were so out of their league with them.

I always love how Barney always became kind of afascist when he was left in charge whenever Andy went away. Totally letting the authority get to his head!

For some reason, this phrase makes me smile.

Just goes to show how observant I am. I thought all the nurses were the same character and actress.

My favorite tee shirt in high school was hot pink, with a Floyd the Barber headshot ironed on. Pink. Floyd. Get it? Huh?? Get it?

Yeah, I was especially lame back then. But I loved Floyd the Barber. Still do.

That's funny! I love it.



Bwahahahaha! Very true.

A fascist with one bullet.

Would that they all had only one bullet.....

Does anyone remember the episode where Opie buys Helen a pair of stockings (Christmas, I think)? That was one of my favorite episodes. That, and the half a boy one.

I remember that, but not by much. I don't think Christmast had anything to do with it. If I remember rightly, Opie got a crush on Helen and asked Barney (or was Barney gone by then?) how to impress a girl you like, never letting on the girl in question was Helen. The gift of stocking was a result. Helen was flabbergasted and turned them down, but I don't remember the reason--something like it was too personal a gift to give to your teacher.

Giving stockings as a gift to anybody, even your wife, seemed very peculiar to me. I can't imagine anybody doing it now. But if the old movies I watch all the time are any indication, people did indeed give them as gifts, particularly silk ones and particularly sugar daddies. Maybe that's why Helen turned them down: they were nylon and Opie didn't have any money to back them up.