Keeping with the tradition to focus each premiere on Opie and Andy, Three claims one of the series’ best showcases for Ron Howard - the first of several this year where the kid actor is able to convincingly provide hahas and humanity with capable sincerity, offsetting the inevitable schmaltz that accompanies his stories. McBeevee” (Aired: 10/01/62)Īndy and Barney don’t believe Opie’s tales about his new friend. Here are my picks for the year’s finest.Ġ1) Episode 64: “Mr. So, everything in Three is still adding to the show’s understanding of itself - and we have the classics to prove it.
Bass (Howard Morris), who, again, don’t make for the best episodes, but collectively symbolize a heightened rurality that the show will abandon later on as it sheds its own flavor. That is, even in Four, which introduces Goober, the series is merely supplanting and replacing, instead of truly building out its world… Speaking of which, the year also utilizes a new mayor (Parley Baer), a recurring antagonist for Andy he doesn’t make for the best episodes, but he does represent a season that’s stuffed with story ideas and characters - like the Darlings and Ernest T. Nevertheless, there’s a completeness with Helen’s inclusion because a regular romantic partner for Andy is something the series wants to have, and after this, no other new character is as additive. In fact, she debuts late in Three, after an early arc with another attempted girlfriend, Peggy (Joanna Moore), a rich elite who, like Ellie, looks poised to clash against the small-town Andy in ways that could yield meaty plot, but doesn’t… because, once again, Andy’s love interests can apparently never be too individualized, for they’re intentionally secondary.
However, the reason it’s so strong is that everything important about the show is on display here: not only are the primary elements of identity used well - the family, the town, and the Barney (Don Knotts won his third Emmy this year) - every seminal character is also featured, from affable, previously established Mayberrians like Thelma Lou and Floyd (before Howard McNear’s off-screen health necessitated a year-long break), to newcomers introduced below, like Gomer, a hilarious peripheral player who aids both Three and Four’s laughs tremendously (before getting his own spin-off), and Helen Crump, Andy’s occasionally sour-faced love interest who maybe isn’t a boon to the show’s narrative or comedic prospects, but is a vital part of the Andy Griffith we remember. With at least ten outright gems, this is the most for any season of Andy Griffith and it’s mainly why Three is the series’ peak. Season Three is simultaneously the hardest and easiest year from which to pick favorites - hardest because almost every episode is enjoyable, and easiest because the absolute must-includes are obvious. The Andy Griffith Show stars ANDY GRIFFITH as Sheriff Andy Taylor, DON KNOTTS as Deputy Barney Fife, RON HOWARD as Opie Taylor, and FRANCES BAVIER as Aunt Bee. Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, we’re continuing coverage on the best of The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968, CBS), which is currently available in full on DVD and Amazon.
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