Steven Helmer Publications

I needed a bit of background noise while working on something in my office today, so I booted up my spare laptop and, because it was readily available, put on the very first episode of The Andy Griffith Show , "The New Housekeeper." As I watched this episode, which introduced Andy ( Andy Griffith ), his son Opie ( Ron Howard ) and Aunt Bee ( Frances Bavier ), something hit me - Andy grew up in Mayberry (evidence of which is provided in later episodes). So why does he seem to have zero relatives who live there? OK, so obviously, there is Bee. However, based on the first episode, she didn't live in Mayberry prior to the start of the series and instead relocated there to help Andy out. She was also his first choice, despite the distance, after his housekeeper got married, presumably because he had no other family around who were willing to help. The only other potential relative is Barney ( Don Knotts ), who is described as his cousin in early episodes. By the time we reach ...

Synopsis: Friendly but dim-witted backwoods resident Will Stockdale is drafted into the United States Air Force. Instead of putting him through basic training, his sergeant decides to make him "permanent latrine orderly." However, when the commanding officer finds out, the sergeant is given a week to help Stockdale pass all the necessary tests or risk losing his stripes. Who's in it?  The movie stars Andy Griffith , Myron McCormick, Nick Adams , James Millhollin and Don Knotts. You can read my review here:  Movie Review: No Time for Sergeants (1958) _____________________________________________________________________ Here are some reviews of other military comedies: Movie Review: Major Payne (1995) Movie Review: Sgt. Bilko (1996) Movie Review: Tanks a Million (1941)

Memorable television sitcoms make full use of their comic relief characters. In the case of The Andy Griffith Show , there wasn't anyone more comical than Barney Fife, a character that the show struggled and ultimately failed to replace when actor Don Knotts left the series following the fifth season. While most Barney episodes featured the sheriff, Andy Taylor ( Andy Griffith ), trying to overcome Barney's bumbling, there were times when the deputy proved to be the smarter of the pair. Here are five that stand out: 1. He saw right through David Browne's likeable personality. When Opie ( Ron Howard ) befriended the hobo (played by Buddy Ebsen ) in season 2's Opie's Hobo Friend , Barney was the one person who didn't think Andy should trust him. As it turned out, Browne was a bad influence on Opie, encouraging him to steal gumballs, skip school and put off doing chores. 2. He saw the importance of having two police vehicles. While he was ridiculed in season 4...

Synopsis: Always on the lookout for a good bargain, Aunt Bee ( Frances Bavier ) can't pass up an opportunity to purchase 150 pounds of beef from a discount butcher. Unfortunately for her, the meat turns out to be tough and their freezer, which she purchased at an auction, starts to malfunction. My Thoughts -  Andy ( Andy Griffith ) sure gave Bee a hard time about saving money. OK, maybe the meat purchase and the freezer purchase turned out to be bad ideas but what was wrong about her buying sugar in bulk? He's trying to feed three mouths on one income and, since we all know he's honest, he's probably not making enough where they can just throw money away.  Plus, it's not like he doesn't try to save money. He won't even buy his own car; he just takes the sheriff's car everywhere. And he seemed awfully shocked about having roast beef when they didn't have company over. Of course, both of those things being said, when is the last time Andy even shop...

Synopsis: When Ben Weaver ( Tol Avery ) reports thefts at his store, Andy ( Andy Griffith ) believes it is the work of shoplifters. Barney ( Don Knotts ) decides to take matters into his own hands by dressing up as a mannequin so he can catch the thieves in the act. My Thoughts - This episode exposes a major flaw with the way Andy runs things as sheriff. While he and Barney were sitting in the patrol car gossiping, nobody was manning the phone at the courthouse. Even though Ben was able to find them, what if they had been patrolling outside of town? And it's not as though they could justify having two people on patrol in a relatively crime-free town like Mayberry. I kind of think Ben had a point when he criticized Andy about having to do his job for him. Andy didn't seem to be taking the whole theft thing too seriously and I could understand why Ben might be upset about that, especially when Andy mentioned calling if there was anything suspicious when, moments before, Ben wa...

Synopsis: When the state police use the Mayberry Jail to temporarily house a female prisoner ( Susan Oliver ), she quickly charms both Barney ( Don Knotts ) and Andy ( Andy Griffith ) and threatens to put the jail's security at risk. My Thoughts - Do the police normally let female prisoners wear jewelry when they incarcerate them? That pearl necklace the prisoner was wearing looked like it presented all sorts of dangerous possibilities, ranging from it being used as a weapon to it being used as a means to commit suicide. Plus, did anyone bother to search her bag? What if she was carrying a gun? While I get Barney being charmed by the prisoner, Andy being swayed by her seemed a little out of character. It's not like they haven't had females in the jail before. Seeing Andy practically fighting with Barney over someone that is accused of grand larceny is just something I wouldn't expect to happen. I wonder if it was because it had been a long while since he last had a g...

Synopsis : When Barney ( Don Knotts ) is caught cooking chili in his room, his landlady, Mrs. Mendelbright ( Enid Markey ) evicts him. A few days later, she reveals she is going to marry her new tenant ( J. Pat O'Malley ) and Barney suspects she is about to be the victim of a con man. My Thoughts -   I think Barney is in need of a significant pay raise. He is the only full-time deputy in Mayberry and, based on the number of times he had to stay overnight at the courthouse guarding a prisoner, something you never see Andy ( Andy Griffith ) do, should be collecting all sorts of overtime. Yet the best he can do is a $6/week room? Considering property values in Mayberry should be relatively low, I would think he'd own a house by now if he was getting paid what he was worth. And while I understand it might be because he prefers that I'm also not totally convinced that's the case. He obviously wanted a place where he could cook his own meals, etc. but still had to settle fo...

Synopsis: When Andy ( Andy Griffith ) sees Opie's ( Ron Howard ) perfect report card, he rewards his son with a new bike. However, Opie knows the report card was a mistake and doesn't know how to tell his dad. My Thoughts -  The opening sequence with Opie doing math at the kitchen table reminded me a lot of my kids. Both are home schooled and also sometimes find it hard to do homework when there are people around them, for similar reasons (the cats don't always help either). The opening scene is a great reminder for parents to pay attention to that. Sure, Opie doesn't come clean about his grades but I kind of feel like others should be sharing the blame. For one, his teacher, Ms. Crump ( Aneta Corsaut ) should have taken two seconds to double check it before handing it out or, at minimum, told Opie and Andy together. And did Andy really believe Opie got perfect grades despite plenty of evidence of his school struggles? I know I'd be a bit suspicious. Barney ( Don...

Synopsis: Andy ( Andy Griffith ) scores an invite to visit the exclusive Esquire Club and an excited Barney ( Don Knotts ) tags along with him with the hopes they both will be accepted as members. However, the overzealous deputy does not make a great first impression with the club's members. My Thoughts: I loved this episode's opening sequence, with Barney trying to hide the fact he was sleeping on the job and Andy doing his best to hide the fact he knew. Later in the episode, his reaction to Aunt Bee ( Frances Bavier ) tying up the phone was equally funny. Stuff like that is why this show just wasn't as good after Don Knotts left. There Andy goes neglecting his duties again. Even Floyd ( Howard McNear ) questioned who would be running the sheriff's office with both Andy and Barney out of town. I get it, Mayberry doesn't have a lot of crime, other than maybe the local town drunk needing a place to sleep things off, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be ...

Synopsis : When Barney ( Don Knotts ) is friendly with an attractive new woman ( Beverly Tyler ), Thelma Lou ( Betty Lynn ) is upset, and they get into a fight. Since Thelma Lou isn't talking to him, he decides to have dinner with the other woman and her father ( Jackie Coogan ) and is surprised when she claims they are now engaged. My Thoughts -  What does Thelma Lou see in Barney? OK, I get it, it's not like there are a whole lot of eligible bachelors around Mayberry, at least none that aren't any worse than Barney is, unless you count Andy ( Andy Griffith ). However, when has he ever shown he deserves to be in a relationship? Even before this incident, he was bragging about his side piece, Juanita, from the diner. She'd probably be better off being single. Barney criticizes the new woman for parking in the sheriff's spot but was I the only one who saw he parked in front of a hydrant? On top of not parking the car where it belonged, that seemed more than a litt...

Synopsis: When Andy ( Andy Griffith ) pulls over a woman driver ( Jean Hagan ) for doing 70 m.p.h. in a 45-m.p.h. zone, she challenges the $10 fine and his role as justice of the peace. Andy agrees to let her appeal to Mayor Pike ( Dick Elliott ) despite the jail not being equipped to house a female prisoner overnight. However, his case against her begins to fall apart as she charms his three witnesses, Barney ( Don Knotts ), Floyd ( Howard McNear ) and Opie ( Ron Howard ) into testifying on her behalf. My Thoughts: I wonder if Andy should have been investigated for misappropriation of county property . I really find it hard to believe the taxpayers are perfectly fine with him using the county's only patrol car to go fishing, especially since he had his son, his deputy, and the local barber with him. This, of course, raises another question - what would have happened if had been an emergency? All of Mayberry's law enforcement was out fishing and, at least from appearances, he...

Synopsis : To attract more visitors to Mayberry, Andy ( Andy Griffith ) suggests picking a stranger to be the town's guest of honor at its Founder's Day celebration. However, this plan nearly backfires when the person they choose ( Jay Novello ) turns out to be a pickpocket. My Thoughts: So, I am admittedly a bit confused. The whole point of this guest of honor thing was to attract outsiders to Mayberry. Yet, in the very same episode, not a minute after coming up with the idea, Andy had to swear in three extra deputies because they were expecting out-of-towners at the Founder's Day celebration. It sounds to me like getting visitors really wasn't that much of a problem. And about those deputies. As many times as Andy has had to ask for additional help, you would think he would make some effort to at least provide citizens with some minimum training, so they are somewhat prepared when he needs them. I mean, I understand it is usually for something like crowd control, but...

Synopsis: Overwhelmed by the number of customers in his barber shop, Floyd ( Howard McNear ) lets a second barber ( Herb Vigran ) set up a second chair and is thrilled by the extra business his new partner is bringing in. However, the new barber is actually using Floyd's shop as a front for his gambling business. My Thoughts: I kind of have to agree with Opie ( Ron Howard ) , he didn't look like he needed a haircut to me. Either Aunt Bee ( Frances Bavier ) was just trying to get rid of him for a couple hours or the show was just trying to find an excuse for Andy ( Andy Griffith ) to be in the barbershop when the new guy arrived. Andy can be kind of pushy. I'm not sure Floyd really wanted a second chair but, even if he didn't, Andy sure made sure he didn't have much say in it. I mean, really, it's not like he owns any stake in that barbershop. What gives him the right to negotiate a deal for Floyd? Seriously, what an ass. And he seriously didn't think to ch...

Synopsis: Andy's ( Andy Griffith ) efforts to sell an old cannon to an antique dealer ( Max Showalter ) directly conflicts with the advice he gave to Opie ( Ron Howard ) about being honest when trading with his friends. My Thoughts: I think the thing that really stands out for me about this episode has to be the ridiculousness of trying to sell something as useless as a broken cannon.  I'm not sure why Mayor Pike ( Dick Elliott ) thought Andy and Barney ( Don Knotts ) had nothing better to do than sell it but watching them try to peddle it door to door was kind of funny. Frankly, I feel like the council was a little too quick to dismiss  Ellie's ( Elinor Donahue ) idea of donating the cannon to the historical museum. I mean, all someone would have had to do was clean it up a bit and it would be a decent exhibit. I wonder if the reason her idea was shot down so quickly was the fact she is the only woman on the council. Andy's decision to try to sell the cannon as a hist...

Synopsis: The Mayberry jail is picked to temporarily house famous con man 'Gentleman' Dan Caldwell ( Dan Tobin ). His personality manages to charm everyone he talks to from his cell, especially Opie ( Ron Howard ). However, Andy ( Andy Griffith ) is suspicious of Dan's motives. My Thoughts: How long does Opie get for a school lunch? Apparently, it is long enough for him to come all the way over to the courthouse, have a picnic lunch with his dad and aunt, and walk back to the school. That seems like an awfully long time, even by 1960s standards, especially since, as far as I can tell, the school isn't across the street. Andy is lucky not to have been shot. Yeah, I get the comedy aspect of Barney ( Don Knotts ) accidentally shooting the floor while practicing his quick draw skills. I'm just saying, with him waiving that gun around as much as he was, it's very fortunate a stray bullet didn't catch the sheriff right between the eyes. I feel like maybe he needs ...

Synopsis: The State Attorney's office assigns rookie Bob Rogers ( Mark Miller ) to Mayberry so Andy ( Andy Griffith ) can train him. However, when Andy allows Rogers to both present new ideas and take over some of Barney's ( Don Knotts ) responsibilities, the latter thinks he is going to be replaced and turns in his badge to sell vacuum cleaners. My Thoughts: I know Andy questions Barney about fixing a stop sign but is that really the deputy's job? It feels more like something you would have a town maintenance guy do. In fact, it kind of felt like Andy was nitpicking him a bit when he brought it up. All Barney was trying to do was follow procedure. I can understand why the State Attorney would want Andy to train a new guy. However, if they are going to be doing that, shouldn't they be making sure Mayberry has enough equipment? I mean, one patrol car for two law enforcement officers is bad enough without having a third person needing to share that car. And, before you s...

Synopsis: With the jail already full of moonshiners, Andy ( Andy Griffith ) decides to have a drunk Otis ( Hal Smith ) serve his sentence at his house. Aunt Bee ( Frances Bavier ) is opposed to the idea, but ultimately ends up putting Otis to work as part of his sentence. My Thoughts:  This episode shows just how inefficient the Mayberry jail is. Andy likes to keep the cells decorated to make his prisoners comfortable but that decision also means just one bed per cell. How does he not get in trouble when he has two prisoners per cell and is keeping them overnight? Where does the second prisoner sleep? And just how did he get all four moonshiners to the jail? The obvious answer is he put them in the car. However, there were four moonshiners and only three would fit in the back seat. Did he seriously let one ride next to him in the front? Keep in mind, they put up enough of a fight to injure his arm and he even felt the need to lead them into the jail carrying a shotgun. Him being a...

For reasons that are too complicated to explain, I find myself thinking about  The Andy Griffith Show   today and, more specifically, Andy Taylor's love life early on in the series. Prior to meeting school teacher Helen Crump ( Aneta Corsaut ), the woman he would eventually marry, Andy had a revolving door full of women. Specifically, he had three serious relationships, Ellie Walker ( Elinor Donahue ), Mary Simpson ( Julie Adams ) and Peggy McMillan ( Joanna Moore ). The interesting thing about each of these girlfriends is, not only did the relationships not last, the characters were never seen or spoken about again. This, in my mind, raises a question - was Andy Taylor ( Andy Griffith ) a serial killer? I know, on the surface, that might not seem like a legitimate question. After all, Mayberry's sheriff wouldn't even carry a gun. But many serial killers turned out to be people who were handsome and charming, so the idea of Andy having a darker side shouldn't be dismiss...

Synopsis:  When two farmers ( Allan Melvin and Orville Sherman ) scare Barney ( Don Knotts ) away after he tried to get them to stop illegally selling produce, Andy ( Andy Griffith ) tells them a fib about his deputy in an effort to intimidate them and build up Barney's confidence. When this backfires, Barney must finally learn to stand up for himself. Review: I remembered seeing this episode some time back but couldn't remember too much about it when I had a chance to watch it again yesterday morning. At first, I wasn't really sure if I would enjoy it, mostly because the plot sounded a bit too similar to other "Barney needs Andy to save him" plots I've seen on this series before. However, after watching it, I have to admit I enjoyed it. I think the thing that really stands out for me when it comes to this episode is the way both Barney and Andy ultimately learn valuable lessons. Barney gains a new understanding about what it means to wear a badge and ...

Synopsis: When a thief manages to steal two cows and Andy ( Andy Griffith ) has no leads, an impatient Mayor Stoner ( Parley Baer ) decides to bring in an investigator from the state capital. The investigator ( Ralph Bell ) is convinced there is a team of thieves stealing the cows. However, Andy forms his own theory and devises a plan to catch the lone thief. You can read my review here:  https://wizzley.com/the-andy-griffith-show-episode-review-the-cow-thief-1962/