The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.
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Episode 1 - Opie's Job
Release Date: 1965-09-13Opie and another boy compete for a job at the Grocery store.
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Episode 2 - Andy's Rival
Release Date: 1965-09-20Frank, a teacher from Raleigh comes to Mayberry for a visit. He and Helen get along fine, and Andy suspects something is going on between them.
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Episode 3 - Malcolm at the Crossroads
Release Date: 1965-09-27To get his mind off throwing rocks through windows, Ernest T. Bass is given the job of being a traffic cop. However, when Ernest T. begins throwing bricks through car windows, Malcom Merriweather is assigned Ernest T.'s task, causing Ernest T. to vow for revenge.
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Episode 4 - Aunt Bee, the Swinger
Release Date: 1965-10-04Aunt Bee and a retired politician experience a very fast-paced relationship.
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Episode 5 - The Bazaar
Release Date: 1965-10-11Warren, enforcing a gambling ordinance to the letter of the law, arrests Aunt Bee and her women friends (meaning, most of Mayberry) for running a Bingo game. Everyone's furious at Warren, particularly Andy, who becomes even more frustrated when Warren resists pleas to drop the charges (in fact, the deputy really digs into his position). Aunt Bee and her friends soon demand a trial. Later, the men of Mayberry (with their children in tow, some of them crying) bother Andy and Opie at home when Warren still won't drop the charges. Eventually, the charges are dropped and Aunt Bee's good name is cleared once more.
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Episode 6 - A Warning from Warren
Release Date: 1965-10-18Warren is convinced he has e.s.p. and feels that Andy and Helen are in grave danger if they go to the lake. He tries to warn them but they do not take him seriously. He takes it upon himself (with Goober's help) to "protect" them.
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Episode 7 - Off to Hollywood
Release Date: 1965-10-25When Andy receives a $1000.00 dollars for the rights to a story about him "Sheriff without a gun" that will be filmed in Hollywood, he wants to put it in the bank. Opie, Aunt Bee and Helen all insist he do something fun with it. When they come up with the idea of a trip to Hollywood, the entire town gets involved in sending them off.
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Episode 8 - Taylors in Hollywood
Release Date: 1965-11-01The Taylors visit Hollywood and get to see the making of Sheriff Without a Gun.
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Episode 9 - The Hollywood Party
Release Date: 1965-11-08Andy has some explaining to do to Helen when photographs of him getting cozy with a famous and attractive Hollywood starlet make it back to Mayberry.
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Episode 10 - Aunt Bee on TV
Release Date: 1965-11-15While the Taylors were in Hollywood, Aunt Bee won $4800 worth of prizes on a game show. She is the envy of Mayberry, until she her friends think that she's gloating about her winnings. The IRS comes to call, telling Andy that he'll have to pay over $1100 in taxes for the winnings. Aunt Bee sells most all of the prizes to pay the taxes. Worth noting in this episode is that Howard McNear (Floyd the barber), who had suffered a stroke, has a particularly shaky scene, when he's checking out Bee's new dishwasher.
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Episode 11 - The Cannon
Release Date: 1965-11-22The governor comes to town for founders day. The mobile state museum is brought to town for the event. Goober and Warren are supposed to guard the museum and end up firing the old Civil War cannon at two crooks who are attempting to burglarize the museum.
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Episode 12 - A Man's Best Friend
Release Date: 1965-11-29Opie makes friends with Tommy, the new kid in town. Tommy is a bit mischevious, climbing up on the roof of Andy's building, and taking out a gun from Andy's gun rack even after Andy warns him TWICE not to. Goober gets a dog which he names ""Spot"" (because there are no spots). Tommy hides one of his walkie-talkies in Spot's collar and he and Opie lead Goober on to thinking that Spot can talk. The tables are turned, however, when Andy uses Tommy's love of horses to teach him a lesson.
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Episode 13 - Aunt Bee Takes a Job
Release Date: 1965-12-06Feeling bored and lonely in the afternoons, Aunt Bee asks Andy if it would be alright if she get an afternoon job. After looking through the want ads, she gets hired at a printing company, not knowing that her bosses are counterfeiters.
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Episode 14 - The Church Organ
Release Date: 1965-12-13Clara pleads for a new church organ and Andy gets everyone to pledge money to help buy one, but when the pledges come due no one wants to pay up.
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Episode 15 - Girl-Shy
Release Date: 1965-12-20Warren is truly shy around women except when he is sleep walking. When he sleepwalks he turns into a Lothario of the first order--and his new conquest-to-be is Helen!
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Episode 16 - Otis the Artist
Release Date: 1966-01-03Warren decides that Otis needs some contructive rehabilitation acitivity-so he has him take up art. Otis works hard on a large mosaic of a cow that he is proud of-and he gives it as a gift to the Taylors. Much to Andy's embarrassment, Otis wants them to hang it up on their living room mantel!
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Episode 17 - The Return of Barney Fife
Release Date: 1966-01-10Barney Fife returns home to Mayberry for a brief visit only to discover that his former girlfriend Thelma Lou has married. Fortunately for Barney, sweet Nettie Albright a secret admirer from days gone by shows up at Barney's high school reunion dance to save the day.
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Episode 18 - The Legend of Barney Fife
Release Date: 1966-01-17Warren gets to meet his idol Barney Fife. Barney is thrilled to have someone worship him (at long last!) but tries to sneak out of town when a real case needs to be dealt with involving an escaped convict.
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Episode 19 - Lost and Found
Release Date: 1966-01-24Aunt Bee loses a piece of jewelry then turns it into the insurance office to collect a claim on it. Then she eventually finds the jewelry. She spends the money that the insurance gave her.
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Episode 20 - Wyatt Earp Rides Again
Release Date: 1966-01-31A wild west show comes to town featuring a wimpy man who is said to be related to Wyatt Earp.
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Episode 21 - Aunt Bee Learns to Drive
Release Date: 1966-02-07Aunt Bee is frustrated at always having to rely on other people (notably Andy) for a ride. When she sees a car that Goober is selling she decides to finally learn how to drive and by this car!
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Episode 22 - Look Paw, I'm Dancing
Release Date: 1966-02-14Opie wants to attend his first dance but first must learn how to dance.
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Episode 23 - The Gypsies
Release Date: 1966-02-21Andy orders a group of gypsies out of town after they bother the residents. They soon set up camp outside of Mayberry and place a "curse" on the area in the form of a drought. Everything's later revealed to be nothing more than a hoax, as the gypsies are using a radio to enact their scheme.
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Episode 24 - Eat Your Heart Out
Release Date: 1966-02-28Poor Andy Taylor. What's he to do when Goober's new sweetheart starts making cow eyes at him? What else? HEAD FOR THE HILLS! Her name is Flora Mahlerbie, Mayberry's attractive new waitress. She charms the patrons all, serves fine pies and juggles her dishes admirably all while managing to remember what the daily blueplate special is. Goober goes for her in a big way but fickle Flora has her eye on anxious Andy. Head for the hills Andy!! "Flora if you wanna be stuck on someone PLEASE be stuck on Goober cause he's crazy over you! You gonna git me in ALL kinds of trouble..."
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Episode 25 - A Baby in the House
Release Date: 1966-03-07Aunt Bee is thrilled to be able to help out her niece by babysitting her infant baby. Unfortunately the baby cries only when Aunt Bee picks her up and not when anyone else does it. This makes Aunt Bee terribly upset until a minor crisis occurs and she finally understands what she was doing wrong.
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Episode 26 - The County Clerk
Release Date: 1966-03-14Andy and Helen try to play matchmaker for Howard Sprague, the county clerk, but his mother wants to keep him close to home (and to her).
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Episode 27 - The Foster Lady
Release Date: 1966-03-21In search of a "real person" for his Foster Furniture Polish, Mr. Foster thinks Aunt Bee has what it takes to make his t.v. commercials memorable.
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Episode 28 - Goober's Replacement
Release Date: 1966-03-28Goober goes on vacation and can't find anyone to replace him at Wally's Gas Station. His new sweetheart, Flora, who used to work at the diner is now available to fill in for him. Business booms while he is gone and she ends up with Goober's job after he quits. Flora becomes obssessed with increasing business at the station and doesn't notice that Goober hasn't been able to find anything else. It takes Andy's country logic to make her realize that she needs to have her priorities straight and make sure her sweetheart is happy!
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Episode 29 - The Battle of Mayberry
Release Date: 1966-04-04Opie does some investigative reporting for an essay on the Battle of Mayberry but finds getting at the truth is harder than he imgagined.
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Episode 30 - A Singer in Town
Release Date: 1966-04-11When a famous singer visits Mayberry, Aunt Bee and Clara see their ticket to stardom!