Salute To Mayberry

Wednesday North Carolina lost it's #1 promoter of the State with the death of Andy Griffith.  October third 1960 the Andy Griffith show first appeared on CBS at 9pm and after eight years the show has been shown on TV somewhere in this world every day since.  Mayberry the hometown  of the show gave us life the way it was suppose to be then and should still be today.

I never had the privilege to meet Andy but my wife Pat was during her career with Carolina Telephone working in the business office in Manteo back in the 70's and 80's when Andy would come in to pay his telephone bill barefooted.  Sounds like Manteo may have had some Mayberry in it too.  Today as we have a holiday to celebrate the birthday of our country I want to pay tribute to Andy Griffith who in my opinion lead the best show ever in television history.  Here is my top ten all time  Shows.

1.  Opie The Birdman:  After killing a mama bird Opie raises the three chicks until it is time for them to fly away.  In the final scene after Opie has released the birds  and they are chirping in the trees and Andy says as Opie and Andy stand on the front porch "Don't the tress seem nice and Full".  To me that is the best scene in TV history.

2.  Barney and the Choir: This is the show where Barney can't sing a lick and they turn his microphone off.  Barney lip lincs  the song.  This  was  Don Knotts finest acting effort of his life.

3.  Convicts at Large:  Three women prisoners escape prison and wind up capturing Barney and Floyd.  One of the prisoners thinks Barney is and old boy friend named Al.  In order to catch the main crook Barneys starts dancing with her.  While standing on the porch after the captured Floyd comes out on the porch eating a banana  and tells Barney (Al) that he is not going to be responsible for the hamburgers which are still in the kitchen cooking.

4.  Barney's First Car:  While taking everyone on  their first ride in Barney's new car the steering wheel starts coming out like a Cobra.  Barney is so depressed that Thelma Lou has to drive while Andy, Opie Gomer and Aunt Bea push.

5.  Aunt Bea The Warden.  There are too many prisoners in the jail for Otis to stay after a Saturday night drunk.  Andy take him home when Aunt Bea  makes Otis think he's in Alcatraz.  He tries to escape from the ROCK.

6. Opie and The Bully:  Opie keeps borrowing nickels for milk  when Andy finds out a bully is getting his nickels.  Andy teaches Opie about how to defend yourself even if it means getting a black eye.

7.  My Fair Ernest T:  Andy and Barney try to make Ernest T into a Gentleman.  " How do you do Mrs Wylie?"

8.Andy and Barney in the Big City.  When Barney signs in at a Raleigh Hotel he signs in Benard P Fife MD(Mayberry Deputy).  Barney mistakes the hotel dick for a jewel thief.

9.  Aunt Bea's Pickles:  Aunt Bea's kerosene pickles are replaced  when Andy and Barney buy store bought pickles.  Aunt Bea is so happy that they love her pickles she decide to enter them in the County Fair.

10.  The Christmas Show:  They only made one Christmas show in the eight year run of the show.  They figured they could never get it as good as the only Christmas show.  Old man Weaver standing on a pop crate looking in the jail as everyone inside is having a merry Christmas.

Honorable Mentions:all shows with Gomer, Otis, The Darlings and Ernest T.  That just about covers all of them doesn't it.    God Bless You ANDY