Mayberry-like books
Laura Childs has a Tea Shop Mystery series set in Charleston, South Carolina. Carolyn Hart has a Death On Demand mystery series set in coastal South Carolina. Cathy Pickens has a Southern Fried mystery series set in South Carolina. Kathryn R. Wall has a Bay Tanner mystery series set on Hilton Head Island, SC. The Laura Childs series probably comes the closest to resembling a Murder She Wrote concept. It's a traditional cozy mystery series. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
TAGS on MeTV
I beg to differ, Emmett. TAGS is shown every weekday Noon (CDT) and every weeknight on MeTooTV. === Date: Mon, 14 May 2012 17:52:33 -0400 (EDT) Subject: TAGS on METV So far I haven't seen TAGS on MeTV, but I remain hopeful. Keep on hoping, Greg, because you won't see TAGS on METV. TAGS is owned by TVLand now for several years, and they don't allow it to be shown nationally by anyone but TVLand. Emmett ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Real Life Spouses
Jackie Joseph (aka Ramona Romeena Ankrum) was married at the time to Ken Berry (aka Sam Jones). Their subsequent divorce became quite well-known because Ms. Joseph became a pro-active champion for dumped first wives. -- Forwarded message -- From: DAVID QUINN davidleequinn1...@live.com To: MAYBERRY DIGEST wbmutbb@wbmutbb.com Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:42:02 -0400 Subject: Trivia The weather turned cool this morning, and I woke up in a trivia kind of mind. So here we go.If you remember, one time, Andy's real life wife appeared on the show as a member of the choir where Barney sang so badly. But there was another real life husband and wife that appeared on the Andy show. The wife only appeared in one episode, but the husband had a prominent role. And no, they did not appear in the same episode. What were the names of these real life spouses? ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Daddy Long Legs
Barney referred to Andy as Daddy Long Legs in the Opie Loves Helen episode, when he's about to inform Andy of Opie's crush on Miss Crump. That name doesn't even correctly describe the scenario. The book and the movie Daddy Long Legs were about a middle-aged bachelor who falls in love with his much younger ward. So I've always wondered whether the TAGS writers intentionally used the term to show another example of Barney's not knowing nearly as much as he thought he did. Or if, in fact, the writers themselves didn't know better. I think he once called Andy Daddy Long Legs..but I'll have to have help on that one. It was when Opie as failing Math. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Andy and Lucy
In response to the question about Andy Griffith and Lucille Ball - Andy never appeared on the I Love Lucy series. He did appear on the Here's Lucy series in Lucy Meets Andy Griffith, which aired October 29, 1973. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Tattoos in Mayberry
I believe one of Ellie Walker's erstwhile suitors, the muscle-bound one, sported a tattoo in Irresistible Andy. And I think Goober would have had a large Yo! tattooed on his bicep. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
TAGS moments
Like 44,000+ other viewers worldwide, this morning I was pinned to my screen watching the release of 5 rehabilitated bald eagles in Virginia - including the 3 that came to be known as the Rock Stars, after they were removed from their nest when their mother was killed by an airplane back in April. As we waited for the release to start, I was cheered by how many bloggers talked about that wonderful scene in the TAGS episode Opie the Birdman (I think) when Andy reassures Opie by saying something like, Yes, the cage is empty now. But don't the trees sound full. [please don't rude me; that's only meant as a very rough remembrance of the line!] I just really enjoyed the realization of how TAGS continues to influence our thinking, even 50 years later. That's a true classic! ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Re: Real Life Siblings
Mabel Albertson played Howard Sprague's mother, and her brother Jack Albertson played Aunt Bee's cousin Bradford J. Taylor. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
TAGS on ME-TV
Someone lamented that ME-TV doesn't show TAGS, but here in the Chicagoland viewing area it's on that channel every weekday at Noon, then on Me-TV Too every weekday night at 10:30pm. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Baths in Mayberry, Grumpy Andy, Mayberry Moment
I'm going to group three subjects into this one e-mail because I've been noticing that my e-mails are taking longer longer to reach the Digest. 1) I happened to catch a rerun of The Bookie Barber episode this weekend and noted in the opening scene, after Opie has tried to explain that he hates getting his hair cut because the hairs drop down his neck itch him, Andy tells him that he'll be able to fix that by taking a bath when he gets home. Opie is horrified that, now, he has to get a dreaded hair cut and take a dreaded bath! Cute scene, well played. 2) My personal opinion about the darker Andy who emerged in the color episodes is that he was tiring of playing the character and started letting his ennui show. Griffith wasn't diagnosed with the Guillain-Barre syndrome until the early '80s, so it's probably doubtful that he was experiencing any of its symptoms during the run of TAGS. 3) My Mayberry Moment - Saturday morning, I had returned from grocery shopping and was unloading my car in my building’s garage. An older woman (about my age, probably!) came walking in and got into a large, late-model sedan parked several spaces away from my car. I wasn’t paying much attention until I heard an odd sort of chucka sound come from her direction. I looked over in time to see her car more or less jump backwards out of its space; then it jumped forward at an angle; jumped backward again; and finally jumped toward the exit. Shades of Aunt Bee learning to drive! (Although I doubt this lady had the excuse of a manual transmission and having to learn how to work a clutch!) ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Barney's Inspirations
I'm not sure if I understood the original message correctly, but here is a short list of Alcatraz-based movies made before (or during) the TAGS years: Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), probably Burt Lancaster’s defining role as Robert The Birdman Stroud The Alcatraz Express (1960) Experiment Alcatraz (1950), mad doctor performing medical experiments on prisoners Train to Alcatraz (1948) Seven Miles from Alcatraz (1942), but Alcatraz was almost incidental to the main story of Nazi spies in San Francisco King of Alcatraz (1938) == A few weeks back I told you of my Visit to Alcatraz, and how that was the likely inspiration to Barney's description of the Mayberry Jail as the Rock It got me to wondering what were all the influenencers of the Lawman that is Brney Fife. Here is my list so far. 1) Stories about the famous Jail Alatraz I'm not sure if thre were any movies about it at that point. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Re: Oscar Winner
George Kennedy won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in the movie Cool Hand Luke. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Re: Lee Van Cleef
Lee Van Cleef played one of the two carny workers who stole Aunt Bee's purse in The Banjo-Playing Deputy episode. -- Forwarded message -- From: (Ted) Easy-T \Straight Outta Delhi!\ tedkamp...@gmail.com To: wbmutbb wbmutbb@wbmutbb.com Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 08:12:25 -0400 Subject: Twilight Zone I saw The Twilight Zone episode with Lee Marvin, Lee Van Cleef, and James best and I think, Strother Martin. Which episode of TAGS was Van Cleef in? By the way, I loved the person's list of pet peeves: old people and animals! -- Teddy Stinker Bear ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Religion Mentioned
I don't know who the person never shown on screen was, but in the episode Alcohol Old Lace, one of the sisters mentioned that their customer Larry Hansen (?) was a Lutheran despite his buying their elixir to celebrate Mohammad's birthday. === However there was a person who lived in Mayberry who had their religion mentioned. Who was that person and what was the religion? I will give you a small hint: The person was never shown on screen, but talked on the telephone one time. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Horrified Apologies!
I just opened the latest Digest and discovered, to my horror, that some sort of advertising spam had been sent from my e-mail to the Digest and a family member. I had sent a legitimate e-mail to the Digest a few days ago and thought it was odd that I didn't receive the usual auto acknowledgment. I now suspect that was because some spambot grabbed my e-mail address. Again, please accept my heartfelt apologies. I personally loathe advertising spam and know it doesn't have any place on a legitimate forum like this one. I will hope this was an isolated instance. If it continues, I may have to consider unsubscribing so as to protect the Digest. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Warning!
After I sent my apologies for the spam that co-opted my e-mail address, it occurred to me to warn everybody NOT to open the link in that message. Even if you think the link itself looks harmless (though I think it looks nasty!), there could be all sorts of stuff embedded just waiting to transfer to your system. Again, so sorry for all this inconvenience. I've never had anything like this happen to me before, so I guess I'm being naive in my shock. This sure wouldn't have happened in Mayberry! And, if someone knows how to get the message permanently deleted so it won't continue to show up in the Archives, that would be great. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
[no subject]
The prime treatment for erectile dysfunction... http://rico_85.perso.neuf.fr/friends_links.php?sychot=71o3 ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Paul, the tornado, blessings
Paul, thank you for posting your very vivid story of your family's experience in the Joplin tornado. Watching the news on tv, even listening to the many survivor interviews, didn't bring it alive to me as much as your words did. You have a real ability to articulate your feelings impressions, and I thank you for sharing that. And I've been thinking on (as Andy would say) what a blessing we have with today's communication options. The fact that Paul could communicate with all of us such a short time after his world was so devastated is an awesome thing. If we really were back in the good old days of Mayberry, it could be weeks before word would finally start trickling out about the extent of the devastation and the fate of our friends loved ones. So, as much as I've always said I'd love to live in Mayberry in those days, and as much as I've often resented the intrusion of today's electronal marvels, Paul's BlackBerry is one whose value I now fully appreciate. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
The Hollywood Mansion
Does anybody know whether the Hollywood mansion which was identified by the bus driver from Ruby Creek as belonging to actor Cesar Romero really was his? If it was, I’m curious as to why his was chosen for that scene, since I don’t think he had any connection to the show. But I’ve always wondered whether the house was really Andy Griffith’s. The bus driver’s comment, “Wouldn’t you like to live there?” has always sounded to me like it might have been an inside joke. And the maid who comes out to shoo the Taylors off the lawn seemed not at all like a professional actress, making me wonder what qualified her for a coveted speaking role. Might she really have been Griffith’s maid? Just some meandering bucket-head thoughts! ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Opposites
I wonder if there's a term for those opposites you very rightly pointed out? little big and pretty ugly seem perfectly natural to say, but the meanings clash, in a way. What you're describing is an oxymoron - e.g., pretty ugly, jumbo shrimp, dark sun, etc. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Heating in Mayberry
Was anything said on TAGS about heating homes and businesses? I'm sure they must have had furnaces, for when Andy and Aunt Bee considered buying the new house, the seller's son spilled the beans and told them that the crack in the furnace was getting bigger every day. And don't forget about the furnace in the basement of the courthouse where Barney sent inept Newton Munroe to clean the flue. Flue? What's a flue? ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Heating System
However, when Barney industriously cleans the room in preparation for Gentleman Dan Caldwell's visit, Andy remarks This place ain't been so clean since the boiler busted and flooded the place, which seems to imply that they once had steam radiators or some such. In an earlier episode, I think I remember seeing a radiator sitting in the spot where the furnace heater grate came to be located in the Newton Munroe episode. But I can't remember which earlier episode. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Silent Comedy
One of my all-time favorite silent scenes is also from Barney's Sidecar - when we see him riding his rolling stock down the street marking the tires of parked cars, and suddenly an anonymous hand reaches out from under one of the cars and grabs his marking stick. So funny! Cracks me up every time, no matter whether it's the gazillionth time I've seen it. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Are My Ears Mis-Hearing Again?
Okay, I posted a week or so ago that I thought I had heard Andy describe the back of Opie's dollar bill as being red. I was promptly corrected by several folks who informed me that he had actually said gray - which makes as little sense as red to me, but I guess that's old news. Now I'm wondering whether I heard something else correctly or not. In The Legend of Barney Fife, when Warren eagerly offers to get Barney a cup of coffee, I could have sworn I heard him say that he knew Barney liked two cups of cream in his coffee. I don't own any TAGS DVD's so am turning here to find out whether he really said two spoons of cream and my aging ears failed me again! ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Word usage and spelling
Not to put too fine a point on it, but prey can stand alone as a verb. e.g., The lion will prey on the gazelle. - Original Message - From: Harriet Browder h_brow...@hotmail.com To: wbmutbb@wbmutbb.com Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 7:07 AM However, in the TAGS quote, preying on my mind, the word preying= is not a noun - it is a verb. Yes, you are correct and no, you are not hurting anyone's feelings. I stated that PREY is a noun, however, it does turn into a verb when you add ING. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Red Money?
In the Miracle Salve episode, when Opie runs into the courthouse to excitedly show Andy the dollar bill he was refunded, Andy takes the bill, scrutinizes it and declares it real saying “Yep, green on the front and red on the back”. Red?? ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: What does 3.2 mean?
3.2 beer is a low-alcohol beer that, according to Wikipedia, is beer that contains 3.2% alcohol by weight. Also according to Wikipedia, The states of Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Utah permit general establishments such as supermarket chains and convenience stores to sell only low-point beer. When I was in college in southwestern Ohio (many, many, many years ago!), only 3.2 beer was allowed to be sold in the bars. It wasn't a state law, just that town's. HistoryBuff - Original Message - From: Holland Shoaf countingont...@hotmail.com To: TAGS Club wbmutbb@wbmutbb.com Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2011 3:43 PM Hi, I was watching a case of the punch in the nose - http://www.youtube.c=m/watch?v=CKB1vhAewYw At 2:03 Barney says a good bit of 3 point 2 too ( also ). Because of subj=ct matter of the conversation, I would assume it has something to do wit= alcohol. Could it mean 3.2 % alcohol ? Certainly Otis doesnt drink the =ater'd down stuff. What does 3.2 mean ? Holland Lexington NC Less than 1 hour from Mayberry ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Elizabeth Taylor
At the beginning of the Foster Lady episode, when Aunt Bee has just been selected, Andy says: “This is a good year for the Taylors - Elizabeth and Aunt Bee!” ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Smoking
I will guess the episode to be Wedding Bells for Aunt Bee with the smokers being Andy, Otis and Mr. Goss. HistoryBuff - Original Message - Subject: Smoking Now a days, hardly anyone on network television smokes cigarettes. Smok=ng cigarettes was fairly common on network television in the 60's. If you=watch re-runs of I've Got A Secret you would be surprised that everyone =n that show did not die from emphazema before the end of the half hour. I=mean the set was blue with cigarette smoke. And to boot, there was Garr= Moore handing out cartons of Winstons to all contestants. There was a little smoking on TAGS, but not too much. That is why I was =urprised by what I saw today. Which brings us to a trivia question. Can you name the TAGS episode where = main characters all smoked cigarettes in the same half hour. These 3 men=(we all know women did not smoke in those days), were not guest stars,=but were regulars or at least semi-regulars. One small hint. Barney was not one of the smokers because he did not appea= in this episode. Orville Hendricks - Selling Butter and Eggs. Remembering the good old days=when cigarettes sponsored some of our favorite shows.= ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Alumni Sighting
Saw Cheerio Meredith (aka Emma Watson) in a small role that she made very funny on Father Knows Best. She played one of son Bud's paper route customers, dressed in a Victorian skirt to the ground and speaking in a rather odd almost-but-not-quite English accent. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
TV Land
To the person asking when TV Land is currently airing TAGS - here in the Chicago area it's on with back-to-back episodes Monday thru Friday from 3PM to 4PM CST. As a side note to the comment about TV Land being blocked by your computer - although it's not blocked on mine, I did start getting warning messages about unstable content every time I'd go to that Web site. So I just stay away now. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Seeing Helen
Did anyone else catch TAGS's Helen on a TVLand episode of Bonanza Monday afternoon? Rather an unusual role for Aneta Corsaut, playing the daughter of an itinerant religiously devout Jewish peddler who sparks a romantic interest in Adam Cartwright. But I couldn't tear myself away from The Tudors marathon on BBC America long enough to find out how the story ended! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
TAGS Alumni Sightings
Two in one episode of The Flying Nun - Millie Hutchins and Roy Swanson. And Quiet Sam Becker in an episode of The Partridge Family. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: 50 Years Ago
I remember the summer of 1960 was the last driving vacation my family of four took together - Chicago to Cape Cod to Washington, DC to Chicago. I remember watching the first Nixon-Kennedy debate on TV and becoming a passionate Kennedy supporter, but feeling guilty because my father was firmly in the Nixon Republican camp. Like Ken, I also turned 14 in 1960 and entered high school that fall, feeling well-prepared with the portable Royal typewriter (manual, of course!) that my parents had given me for my 8th grade graduation. I remember my father having to make his first out-of-town business trip, to New York City, and how he became the first member of our family to fly commercially. I remember my mother, sister and I driving with him to O’Hare Airport to see him off and my mother nervously navigating the tollways to get the three of us back home safely to our suburb. I remember earning spending money by babysitting (which I hated) and working at the local newspaper where my mother worked part-time (which I loved). I remember my father insisting that I take Typing Shorthand classes in 9th grade, but him having to get special permission from the school board because I was in the college prep program and not the vocational training program. I remember taking my first French class and falling instantly in love with the language. Ah, yes, I remember it well! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Catch Phrase/One-Liner
my all-time favorite: Gomer: Citizen's arrest!!! Citizen's arrest!!! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Brand Names
I'm wondering about the cigarettes Andy occasionally smoked and whether a brand was ever seen. I remember in the Gomer the House Guest episode, Andy is laying in bed unable to sleep because of Gomer's noisiness and he taps a cigarette out of a pack lying on his bedside table. Did the pack have a concealing tape across it, or was it just placed in such a way that no name or logo was visible? HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Alumni Sightings
I spotted quite a few TAGS alumni in last night’s Dick Van Dyke Show rerun episode, “One Angry Man” - Sue Ann Langdon was an exotic dancer (!!) named Marla Hendrix; Dabbs Greer was her defense attorney; Doodles Weaver was the court bailiff; and Herb Vigran was a juror. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Andy Helen Getting Married?
Sharon, more more married women went to work outside the home as the '50s ended and the '60s began. But I think in smaller towns there existed a certain stigma about women who chose that role. I distinctly remember my paternal grandmother, who lived in a small Iowa town, tsk, tsking with a group of her fellow housewives about a neighbor who had gone to work in my grandfather's office, even though she didn't have to work. That was something I remember hearing from lots of housewives as I was growing up in the '50s. It was a sort of domestic badge of honor to be so completely supported by your husband that if you didn't have to work, why on earth would you want to. Pretty much why I decided, at about age 10, that I never wanted to be a housewife! I couldn't then, nor can I now, fathom dependency in an adult as anything to be desired. HistoryBuff === One of the episodes I watched today was the one about Andy and Helen rumored to get married. Now at the end, Andy clarifies that it wasn't the right time. Helen concurs and says she's spent so much time learning, and she wants to teach for a while. Is that how it was 'back in the day'? Married women didn't work outside the home at all? Thanks, Sharon 70 Minutes From Mayberry ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Subject: Alumni Sightings
Small correction - Mary Grace Canfield (aka Gossage) did not play the Stephenses' neighbor in Bewitched but the visiting sister of neighbor Abner Kravitz, Harriet. I think her character filled in for a few episodes after the death of the original Gladys Kravitz actress and until a replacement was hired. HistoryBuff - Original Message - From: DAVID QUINN davidleequinn1...@live.com To: MAYBERRY DIGEST wbmutbb@wbmutbb.com Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2010 2:42 PM While watching Bewitched Sunday afternoon, I had a couple of TAGS alumni =ightings. One of them was a little unusual. First there was Mary Grace Gossage playing Sam and Darrin's nosey next door=neighbor who is always peeking into their windows. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Disconnected motorcycle side car stunt
It certainly wasn't earlier than 1933, but my favorite disconnected cycle sidecar scene is from one of my all-time favorite old movies, I Was A Male War Bride, made in 1949 with Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan. I've been putting on my bucket head trying to think of any other so-called stunts in any TAGS episode and am coming up pretty blank. There is Otis climbing down the ladder to try to escape Aunt Bee the Warden, but I'm not sure that type of action qualifies as a stunt. So I guess I'll wait to see what others come up with. HistoryBuff I was watching the Marx Brothers 1933 movie Duck Soup and was a bit star=led when I saw them doing the disconnected motorcycle/sidecar stunt. I kne= I had seen Andy and Barney do it but now wondering if anyone on screen ha= done it previous to the Marx Brothers. O' and of course Im wondering now what other stunts in previous movies were=redone on TAGS. Holland Lexington NC Less than 1 hour from Mayberry ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: This weekends episodes-questions...
- Original Message - From: (Ted) Theodoric of York tedkamp...@gmail.com To: wbmutbb wbmutbb@wbmutbb.com Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 7:56 AM Also when Barney and Gomer enter the Rimshaw house Gomer says Age before beauty. What does this mean? I'm thinking you're asking this with tongue in cheek, as it's a saying that's been around for more than 100 years! Meaning that an older person should be given precedence over a younger, who's presumed to be more beautiful. How could a competent teacher as Miss Crump make such an error when she transcribed the grades onto Opie's report card? Not only that, but the question that occurs to me every time I watch that episode is why she calls Opie up in front of the entire class before class starts to inform him of her dreadful mistake. I mean, good grief, a little privacy would have been called for, in my opinion. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Barney line redux
Yesterday, I opined that Barney used the ...and baby makes three... line in the TV or Not TV episode when he was talking himself up to the supposed Hollywood producer. But my brain kicked in late last night, and I remembered that he actually used that line when he was talking himself up to the supposed FBI agent in Crime-Free Mayberry. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Barney Line
I seem to remember Barney using that catchy, bragging line with the supposed Hollywood producer in the TV or Not TV episode. HistoryBuff === Just got done watching the 1950 B movie D.O.A. in which a gangland torpedo is about ready to take his victim Frank Bigelow out into the country for his last ride. He assures his boss that everything will turn out right because There's just Bigelow and me...(pointing to his gun)..and baby makes three!! In what episode did Barney make that same reference? Eric Swolgaard Sacramento, CA ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: The Rimshaw Place
Many, many years ago I took the Universal Studios tour in Hollywood (though I think it might actually be in Glendale). Their haunted house sits on a small hill that overlooked the street with the Cleaver house. It was 1959 when Beaver thought the house was haunted, and it was 1960 when the house became the Norman Bates' house in Psycho. I remember the tour guide showing us how the very small hill became much larger through the magic of film editing so the house looked like it really loomed over the Bates Motel. It's sort of reassuring to hear that the house is still there still being used in today's productions! HistoryBuff = Re: the Rimshaw place Dixonhayes Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:56:46 -0700 In a message dated 10/5/2010 11:01:29 A.M. Central Daylight Time, wbmutbb-requ...@wbmutbb.com writes: My husband thinks the Rimshaw house in the haunted house episode is also the same house used in The Munsters Anyone know for sure? No it wasn't. The Old Rimshaw House was part of the 40 Acres studios and was torn down with the rest of the studio, as was downtown Mayberry. The Munsters House was on the Universal lot, and reportedly still exists. A friend of mine took a picture of it in the 1980s, and it's reportedly even been spotted on Desperate Housewives. I once heard it was another supposedly haunted house on Leave It to Beaver (which might be what your husband is thinking about). Dixon ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Newspaper Article
A great article about TAGS and its 50th from the Chicago Sun-Times - http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/2764216,andy-griffith-show-anniversary-100310.article HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Misspelled Words Ge-o-gra-phy
I've always been bothered by the misspelled Ashville on the train station schedule in the Don't Miss a Good Bet episode. And, Michael, I'll bite - How far apart are Raleigh and Asheville? I remember many years ago flying into Raleigh for a seminar in Chapel Hill then taking some time off for a drive that took me to Asheville. But I have no memory of the distances involved. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Color Episodes on TVLand Marathon
Actually, I agree with you, Lisa. Several of the color episodes are also among my TAGS favorites - including The Battle of Mayberry and The Return of Barney Fife. What I meant was that TVLand decided to show only the really bad color episodes - including the blonde lawyer in a swimsuit one and the Helen as an author one - both of which I still maintain are bottom-of-the-barrel! HistoryBuff Lisa Jackson Tue, 28 Sep 2010 09:49:35 -0700 *** The absolute bottom-of-the-barrel color episodes, which no living TAGS fan would even think of voting for. ***I hope I'm not dead b/c I did vote for one color episode - Dinner at Eight - I will say that I enjoy the earlier episodes better but I really love Dinner at Eight. It is one of my favorites. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: TV Land Viewers' Choice Marathon
Well, Dixon, the first biggest surprise was that TVLand didn't even include all 166 TAGS episodes in its online voting. All it included were the episodes they had already scheduled to run for their 50 Days of Andy. So, for instance, the all-time highest voted episode by fans for 50 years - Three Wishes for Opie - wasn't even on their ballot. And did you catch what they ran on Saturday afternoon? The absolute bottom-of-the-barrel color episodes, which no living TAGS fan would even think of voting for. Once I realized that TVLand had also added an additional 3-minute commercial break, meaning that each half-hour episode contained only 15 minutes of programming butchered by their egregious editing, I only popped in a few times when I saw that a particularly favorite episode was coming on. I believe Mr. McBeeVee was either their #3 or #4. HistoryBuff == Dixonhayes Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:53:06 -0700 Anyone catch any of the TV Land Viewers' Choice marathon? They showed the Top 50 episodes as voted online by fans, and showed them in order of most votes. #1 was a bit of a surprise for me: Hot Rod Otis. Evidently a lot of Otis fans out there. #2 was The Pickle Story, which I honestly thought would get #1. Didn't catch #3 (had to run an errand), forgot #4, but #5 was Barney's First Car. Anyone else see any surprises along the way? Dixon ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: misspellings
Although my job title is Copy Editor, I am indeed an old-fashioned proofreader, in the financial services industry. I spend my days proofing investment prospectuses and correcting some incredibly huge spelling grammatical mistakes made by highly-educated attorneys and accountants (particularly the bean counters!). The gross errors you mention finding in books nowadays also make me crazy. And what about the ticker scrolls at the bottom of all the TV news channels? I can't begin to tell you how constantly I see spelling errors there, esp. when I make the mistake of trying to watch Fox News. Their news scrolls are almost as unprofessional to read as Shepherd whatshisname is to listen to! I guess you can tell I feel pretty passionate on the subject. But, as Adrian Monk would say, It's a blessing and it's a curse. I'm just unable to turn off my editor's mode, so I sometimes make myself crazy because I can't stop finding the mistakes even when I'm off-duty, as it were! HistoryBuff - Original Message - You never know when you will run into a misspelling or mistaken word usage. In a recent insurance publication, a columnist wrote safety deposit box vs. the correct safe deposit box. I don't believe anyone employs proofreaders anymore. You often find gross errors in novels these days. It's a shame. Oh well. Aunt Bee of Orlando ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
All the good spots are taken.
When Floyd Goober try to discourage Howard from going fishing with them in Big Fish in a Small Town, they tell him that all the good spots (for fishing) are already taken. I don't know anything about fishing season rules or protocols, so I've always been curious - does that mean each fisherman (no woman, I would think, in Mayberry!) has some sort of advance reservation for his spot along the lake? Or that it's simply understood that each season the same fishermen occupy the same spots and nobody new is allocated space? Since the question comes to my mind every time I watch that rerun, I figured I'd finally ask it here where I'm sure someone can enlighten me! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Trivia
Winstead Sheffield Doodles Weaver played Regis, the tax protestor in “A Black Day for Mayberry” and George Bricker in “Aunt Bee’s Brief Encounter”. He was actress Sigourney Weaver’s uncle. HistoryBuff - Original Message - From: DAVID QUINN davidleequinn1...@live.com To: MAYBERRY DIGEST wbmutbb@wbmutbb.com Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 5:07 PM Subject: Trivia Let's try another trivia question. We all know that there were a few real=musicians that appeared on TAGS. The Dillards and The Country Boys for two. I know many of you may remember a band called Spike Jones and His City Sli=kers. They were popular on radio and TV in the 40's and 50's. They mostly played silly songs. A member of Spike Jones' band appeared twice on Andy in two different shows in two different roles. Can you remember the name of this musician from Spike Jones' band who appeared on Andy? I will give you a huge hint. His (Yes it is a man), first name was Winstead. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
4 Alumni Sighting!
Watching a rerun last night of The Dick Van Dyke Show episode “The Alan Brady Show Goes to Prison”, I spotted 4 TAGS alumni! - Newton Munroe, Captain Barker, Ralph Neal and Fred Plummer/Clyde Plaunt/Doc Mallory (i.e., Allan Melvin). HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Double Alumni Sighting
Yesterday, I surfed into a rerun episode of Dragnet 1970 and found John Masters (Olan Soule) as a Los Angeles County Court judge and Miz Larch (Maudie Prickett) as a testifying witness, wearing a really dreadful hat that the Mayberry matrons would probably have drooled over! ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Re: Names mentioned before they were seen
Wasn't Fred Walker's name mentioned (I think by Aunt Bee) in Ellie Comes to Town before he was seen in Irresistible Andy? HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Desert Island
After thinking this question over for awhile, I came to the somewhat surprising (for me) conclusion that I would want Gomer to be my desert island companion. “Boob” though he may have occasionally been, his was a straight-forward personality with no emotional undercurrents. What you saw with Gomer is exactly what you got - a sweetly-disposed naif who met each day with the expectation of enjoyment. I think he’d be great at helping me to keep a positive attitude during our maroonment (if there is such a word!). P.S. Ken in AZ - Be careful, those Sazeracs carry a mean wallop! Some 30 years ago, when I was still in my partying prime, I often traveled to New Orleans on business. The first time I tried a Sazerac, two sips practically had me under the table. And I was known to have a great capacity for alcohol (which I was stupidly proud of at the time, but came to regret as I finally started to mature!). Anyway, I cautiously tried a Sazerac once more with the same effect and was served one at a reception where I finally made the smart decision not to even attempt a sip. Maybe Yankee constitutions just weren’t made to enjoy such a Southern cocktail!? HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: party line
In 1957, my family moved from one Chicago suburb to another just a short distance away but with a much smaller population - about 6,000 compared to the 15,000+ where we had lived. Much to the amazement of all of us, it turned out this town not only had party lines for all of its residential customers, it also had its very own Sarah! Yep, just like in Mayberry, our phones had no dials; we just picked up the phone and gave the number we wanted to the town operator. I also remember we were on a 3-party line and my mother commenting that we were lucky because shortly after we got our assigned phone number the newer numbers all started getting 4-party lines. Our phone was #3 in the sequence, so we had to listen for 3 rings to know a call was for us. And, inevitably, one of us would pick up the phone to make a call and accidentally get an earful of someone else's conversation. I think we finally got a private line 2 or 3 years later, which was also when automated dialing was finally introduced. This is the same suburb that today has a population of approx. 150,000 and my memories of those good ole days sometimes seem antiquated indeed! HistoryBuff - Original Message - From: Larry Hamrick larryhamr...@att.net To: wbmutbb@wbmutbb.com Sent: Monday, August 02, 2010 10:38 AM Hey, Mayberry friends. While watching The Rehabilitation of Otis this morning, Otis told Barney they couldn't keep his problem between themselves because Barney had a three party phone line. Does anyone else remember these? It was common in the 60's and we had a four party line. Each phone number had a dedicated no. of rings and I think ours was four short rings. A private line was available but it cost much more. Boy, we've come a long way, with all our modern electronal marvels today! Larry in Lincolnton ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Laundry service
I think that's a great question! I do remember that, during that same time period of the early '60s, my best friend's stay-at-home mother had her husband's shirts picked up laundered by our local dry cleaner because he was a very meticulous and officious accountant who worked for one of the largest insurance companies in downtown Chicago and demanded that his shirts be professionally pressed starched to the nth degree. [Actually, as I'm remembering him now I realize he could have passed for Barney - short, skinny/wiry, and a little too impressed with his own importance at times!] But Andy sure never wore pressed starched shirts, so maybe his official uniform pants needed more pressing than Aunt Bee wanted to deal with? HistoryBuff - info Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:20:16 -0700 After watching Aunt Bee The Warden again last nite I got to thinking. What would Aunt Bee need a laundry service for? Was that common back then? Nobody ever does my laundry for me. Just wondering. Now, get to it. Bee in New Concord, OH Brenda J. Higgins ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Something Else About Quiet Sam
I've been enjoying the speculations about how Barney got himself out to Sam's farm. I had never thought about it, and appreciate those who have! But here's something that has gnawed at my logical brain every time I have watched this episode. After Andy has tried to phone Barney from the farmhouse and has had Sam hang the phone up and drag him into his wife's bedroom - once he determined it was a false alarm and he Sam returned to the living room, why didn't Andy go right back to the phone ask Sarah to get Barney again? Instead, he sat down and relaxed over a cup of coffee until Barney burst in. Never made any sense to me, but like someone else said, I've always understood that suspension of logic was often needed in order to fully enjoy the TAGS experience! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Floyd's First Show
According to the IMDB, Howard McNear's first appearance as Floyd Lawson was in Season 1, Episode 20, Andy Saves Barney's Morale. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Radios in Mayberry
In The Bazaar, I believe Aunt Bee and the other jailed women had a radio playing while they were washing out their unmentionables and waiting for justice to free them. Was there a radio playing in Christmas Story when Ellie started singing Away In A Manger? HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Re: WBMUTBB Digest, Vol 11, Issue 193
Thanks so much for the name! My mind is now clear and waiting for something else to perplex it! But I do believe the sewer inspector was mentioned toward the beginning of the The Case of the Punch in the Nose episode, when Barney was going through the old files that brought him to the Lawson v Foley episode. HistoryBuff 4. Re: Barney's daddy (King of Mayberry) - Original Message - From: King of Mayberry kingofmaybe...@comcast.net That would be Frieburger in Citizen's Arrest episode. This is preying on my mind - What was the name of the sewer inspector who gave Barney?s father a ticket for some driving violation? Mr. Schwamp ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Kisses
Didn't one of the men apologetically kiss his wife on the cheek toward the end of Ellie for Council when Andy is admitting his own chauvenism is wrong? I'm thinking maybe either Otis or Rose's husband? HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Mr. Fife the Sewer Inspector
This is preying on my mind - What was the name of the sewer inspector who gave Barney’s father a ticket for some driving violation? One of my favorite lines is when Andy says something like “If your daddy had looked at his badge, he would’ve seen a manhole cover”. LOL HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Making Money as a Kid
As a girl growing up in the '50s and early '60s in a small Chicago suburb, I did quite a bit of babysitting after about the age of 12. At about that same age, my mother got me an unofficial job at the newspaper where she had started working part-time. It was published on Thursdays, so after school on Tuesdays Wednesdays I came in to type featured stories into a machine that produced a sort of ticker tape. When the tape was run back, it produced a fully-formatted camera-ready copy. I can't remember what the machine was called, but it seemed very high tech at the time! Several of you folks have mentioned growing up in the country, so I'm surprised I haven't heard of anyone earning money in the late summer by de-tassling corn (which is what it was called around here). I was never an outdoor kind of girl, but when my 3-years-younger sister turned 15 she jumped at the chance to get into the surrounding cornfields. That was a very coveted summer job, as it paid very well for a relatively short portion of the summer and it was a really sociable experience. The kids all met up very early in the mornings at the high school, where buses were waiting to take them out to the farms that had contracted for their labor. They'd work for most of the day, I think 'til mid-afternoon, then the buses would return them to the school. I remember my sister would still have time before dinner to go to the local swimming pool for a few hours, so she considered that summer job to be the best imaginable! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Re: Spin Offs
9. Spin Offs (Jerome Graber)
**
I think the answer to what was the first spinoff depends on your definition of
spinoff. See Mr. Mulik's explanation below.
A. I've been reading the discussion lately about whether or not TAGS was the
first TV spinoff. In mid-1996, when I wrote an article about TAGS for Classic
TV magazine (no longer in print), I mentioned the 'fact' that TAGS was the
first spinoff (1960), but someone wrote in to correct me, pointing out some
earlier shows -- Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958, spun off from {Trackdown);} Law
of the Plainsman (1959, spun off from The Rifleman) and Pete and Gladys (1960,
spun off from December Bride.) In my book (that's a figure of speech) a series
is not a spinoff unless it's pilot episode aired as an episode of an
established series. To the best of my knowledge, the three above example do NOT
fit this definition, which means that TAGS truly was the first real TV
spin-off. --Paul Mulik
HistoryBuff
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No Time for Sergeants
I was doing my usual channel-surfing last evening and was delighted to find No Time for Sergeants just beginning on TCM. That movie still just tickles my funny bones, and I love seeing how Andy's Will Stockdale morphed into Andy Taylor (at least, in the first season of TAGS when Sheriff Andy was still played as quite a bumpkin!). But I also loved Don Knotts' performance when he was trying to get Will to follow the rules for the manual dexterity test. Again, definite signs to come of the often officious Barney Fife - though the nasal voice wasn't quite right yet. A classic movie that could be said to have become classic TAGS! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Salted Melon
I'm Midwestern born bred, but I grew up taking it for granted that everyone put salt on their cantaloupe just like my parents did (also Midwesterners). I can't remember knowing anyone who salted their watermelon, but I wish I had. That would probably lessen the sweetness which has always been too heavy for my taste buds. It's amazing the helpful tips for daily living that can come your way here among the Mayberry faithful! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Disrespecting our Barney?
from “Chicago Sun-Times” columnist Paige Wiser - The life of a cop is tough enough without having to suffer disrespectful depictions on TV. For every Andy Sipowicz, there’s a Barney Fife or Clancy Wiggum, and pink doughnuts aren’t far behind. It’s not right. We ask our police officers to put themselves in danger on the street; the least we could do is not submit them to character assassination on the small screen. Unfortunately, ABC’s new “Rookie Blue” is not going to do much for their image. Now I just don't think it's right to characterize Barney as being a character assassin of police officers. We all know he had his quirks idiosyncracies, but that's what made the man we all loved! [said with tongue firmly in cheek] HistoryBuff P.S. I had to Google Clancy Wiggum to even understand that reference, as I'm another total non-fan of The Simpsons! ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Another Hatch Act Violation?
I was watching a rerun this morning of “Sam for City Council” and remembered the posting here a month or so ago about how Barney was in violation of the Hatch Act when he wore his uniform while campaigning to become sheriff. Wasn't Andy also in violation because he wore his uniform while campaigning on behalf of Sam Jones? I’ve just been reading up on the Act (officially known as An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities - a name right out of the paranoid time when it was written [1939]!), and my understanding is that uniforms are strictly outlawed whether you're campaigning for yourself or for someone else. So I guess that's the answer as to why Andy didn't catch Barney violating the law; Andy evidently didn't know the law himself! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
The American Flag in Mayberry
Was the American flag ever seen displayed in any manner in Mayberry? I've been thinking on it, but even the bucket on my head hasn't brought any instance to mind. And that strikes me as curious, given the place and time depicted. We know Opie's school had a flag pole, where he handcuffed [what's his name], but that's as close as my memory can come to any flag. Or did any of the citizens waiting to welcome the gold truck have a flag? I can only remember them holding up various signs. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Crump
She tells the girl to have her mother put something on her stye, an infection of the eyelid, like a pimple. That's the same little girl who Opie had such a crush on in another episode, but Helen calls her by a different first name here (one which I'm not remembering as I'm typing this). HistoryBuff -- Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:06:18 -0700 In the episode where everyone thinks Andy and Helen are getting married, Helen is walking a student home, and as the child is walking away Helen say Make sure your mother puts something on your . I couldn't make out what she says at the end. -- Ted (Theodoric of York ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Prisoner of Love
This is the only episode of TAGS that I really disliked from the time of its first broadcast, when I was in my teens. For one thing, I just wasn't comfortable with the implicit sexualizing of Andy. I wanted him to stay safely PG-rated (though that rating system didn't exist at the time, of course!). But the other reason this episode bothered me so much was that we were hearing a lot of horrible true stories coming out of the South back then involving racial sexual abuses of prisoners in small-town jails. That was a time when someone could be made to disappear permanently by a cop allowed to misuse his authority and when sexual favors could be demanded behind a small town's code of silence. Think In The Heat of the Night. To this day, I won't/can't watch that episode. I still think it's totally distasteful and very inappropriate to the TAGS series. HistoryBuff P.S. I apologize for all the = signs that showed up in Thelma Lou's original post. I have no idea what caused it. - Original Message - From: Janet Anderson janetsph...@msn.com To: wbmutbb@wbmutbb.com Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 10:30 PM Well, there's been some discussion lately about the Prisoner of Love =pisode, so I decided to re-watch that one and think about Holland's =uestion. I have found it interesting to note the differences in how =en and women have responded so far. It seems to me that Harvey =ullock, the writer, was intentionally vague as to Andy's motive for =eturning to the court house. However, I'll offer my own opinion. Obviously, both Andy and Barney are initially smitten with the lady =risoner. But I think the turning point comes when Andy leaves the =ourt house and goes home. He realizes that he needs to separate =imself from the temptation. While he's at home, he's turning all this =ver in his mind (Aunt Bee says he's restless). Yes, as a man, Andy =ppreciates the woman's beauty and the scent of her perfume. But he's =lso thinking about the fact that she is a criminal and he is the =heriff. He may be mulling over how she tried to manipulate him and how =e nearly fell into her trap. And he's probably thinking that if he =early did, Barney was sure to! Andy is no fool. He's always a keen =udge of character, so I don't think he would allow himself to get into = dangerous situation with the woman twice. Rather, I think Andy =ealized that leaving Barney alone with that woman was not a good idea. =es, Andy may have wanted to see her again, but I don't think that was =is primary motive for returning to the court house. I have always found this to be a curious episode, and I wonder if Mr. =ullock purposely wanted to show a weaker side of Andy and expose some =ulnerability that we don't normally see by using a very attractive and =ubtly manipulative woman. I can understand that, intellectually. =till, I find Andy out of character in this episode. We expect Barney =o be easy prey to a wily woman, but not Andy. And then there are the ethical and legal issues. Was it appropriate for = male officer to be alone with a female prisoner? It wasn't in Andy =nd the Woman Speeder from season two. Remember, Andy said a female =risoner had to have a matron at the jail, so he brought in Aunt Bee. =ut that is overlooked in this episode (glaringly so). Also, what =harges would Andy have been subject to if he had not been interrupted =y Barney and had actually kissed the prisoner? Seems to me that would =ave been pretty serious. I think Andy lives by the maxim, Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me =wice, shame on me. He wouldn't have returned to the court house to =eliberately fall into the prisoner's very alluring trap. Thelma Lou (Janet) ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Something Barney Said
My memories of those Cold War days are that the bomb became a ubiquitous explanation for everything, including unusual weather, and Barney's line was a tongue-in-cheek nod to that. It had only been about 15 years since the atom bombs had been dropped on Japan, and the threat of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union was increasing every day. So I think the bomb became a symbol in a lot of Americans' minds for the destruction of the world as we knew it. Anyway, those are the thoughts I came up with after sitting with my bucket on my head! HistoryBuff --- Something Barney Said Steve Cooke Thu, 27 May 2010 09:13:12 -0700 I was watching the episode where Opie starts a paper with one of his friends. They find all the gossip they can and printed two pages. When Andy, Aunt Bee and Barney were in the kitchen when Opie gave them the first page, they were talking about the weather being hotter than normal. While Barney is at the table he makes a comment about It must be the bomb. Knowing the time frame, I wonder what others thought this might be aimed at. I have my thoughts but wanted to see what others might have on the subject. I have never really caught that line until last night. ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Who is Eleanora Poultice?
Yes, that's the wonderful Reta Shaw playing both Eleanora and Big Maude Tyler, Clarisse Tyler, Maude Clarisse Tyler, Annabelle Tyler, and Ralph Henderson! - Original Message - Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2010 7:52 PM Is Eleanora Poultice, Barn's singing teacher, also Maude, the breakout prisoner in the cabin in the woods? Gabe Boca Raton HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: One-Shots
I’m not sure whether these single-shots have already been mentioned: Karen Moore, Thelma Lou’s cousin from Arkansas Mary Grace, Thelma Lou’s unattractive cousin Barney’s Cousin Virgil Bert Miller, the unaggressive door-to-door salesman Mr. McCabe, the owner of the mansion that Barney wanted to co-opt for the international summit meeting Newton Munroe, the inept street vendor Roger Hanover, Aunt Bee's former flame Technically, Mayor Pike’s daughter did return in a 2nd episode. But she was Juanita Pike when she sang “Flow Gently, Sweet Afton” and Josephine Pike when she competed in The Beauty Contest. And wasn’t the car repair customer of Gomer’s whose car had the squeaky shocks the same band member in “What’s Your Hurry?” whose hearing was so bad he misunderstood everything Andy tried to say to him? HistoryBuff, just sitting with my thinking bucket on ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Betty Lynn being robbed
I think the staff writer at the Mt. Airy News needs to learn how to check his/her facts! The Andy Griffith Show was an American sitcom first televised by CBS in 1968. And the Chicago Sun-Times article about the robbery has Betty Lynn identified as Betty Lou Lynn. Makes me wonder if she adopted that middle name. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Cave Rescue
The thing that always baffled me about Helen's aborted phone call was why Sarah wouldn't have immediately known where the call was coming from. Even if Sarah was on a long-overdue break from her switchboard duties, a call coming from Helen's house should have caused it to be mentioned to Gomer instead of just telling him that they had hung up. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: TAGS and smoking
Although he was only in one episode (Don't Miss A Good Bet), I seem to remember the con man George Jones seriously smoking a cigarette as he waited for the train to get him out of Mayberry. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: alumni sighting
Another British twist to an alumnus sighting - Lester Scobey as a British bellhop at the hotel where the Ricardo’s and the Mertzes stay in London in the “I Love Lucy” episode. As a side note, Family Affair is on every Sunday afternoon on a local Chicago cable channel. The Comcast program bar describes it as ...a very sweet (and very '60s) family show... - definitely true, which is why I find it so enjoyable! HistoryBuff - Original Message - Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 4:07 PM Subject: alumni sighting Been viewing DVDs of Family Affair and the first season has our Emmett appearing as a British horse and carriage operator; even with the foreign accent, I recognized his voice before seeing him! What fun!! Aunt Bee of Mayberry ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Larry Mondello
Tah dah!! A possible explanation of the eerie resemblance of the boy in TAGS to the Larry Mondello character - The real-life brother of Rusty Stevens, who played Larry, was Rory Stevens who played Chuckie on Leave It To Beaver. Rory was 2 years younger than Rusty, born in 1954, and the IMDB credits him with playing Jimmy, Opie's friend in TAGS. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Larry Mondello
Although Opie's friend looks a lot like Larry Mondello (same build, hair, ball cap, clothes) it couldn't have been Rusty Stevens as Opie's friend. Larry Mondello was approximately the same age as Jerry Mathers (born in 1948). Ron Howard was born in 1953. Opie's friend was not 14 years old in that episode; he was about 9, the same age as Ron Howard. HistoryBuff -- I was watching One-Punch Opie Sunday and a question re-arose that's been preyin' on my mind for years. I've always thought that one of the boys looks a whole lot like Larry Mondello of Leave it to Beaver (actor Rusty Stevens). I've never been able to train these eagle eyes on the character enough to get a real good look. Rusty isn't listed in the imdb.com cast list; but, that doesn't necessarily give a definitive answer. (As great a job as they do, they're not inerrant.) Some of y'all take a look and let me know what you think. Don Good (who sometimes can barely SEE anything as big as a pumpkin ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Real Voice or Lip Synching?
I don't understand. Does that mean Elinor Donahue lip-synched her own singing when the scene was filmed? HistoryBuff - Original Message - I'm not sure about Joanna Moore's singing (sounds like her though)but Elinor Donahue has told the story about her singing experience on the show. When she learned there would be singing in the episode she was very nervous. She'd never sung on camera before. She and Andy went into the studio where she told Andy that she was a little nervous. To put her at ease Andy suggested that they both sit on the floor and reherse. After they had practiced for a while she told Andy she thought that she was ready. Andy told her that they had been recording the whole time and they had what they needed. WHat a great testiment to how Andy took the pains to make her comfortable. Attaboy Andy!! ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Re: aunt bee
Hint. . .read his P.S. -- I was interested in the comment of Paul's about Aunt Bee being his grandmother. I never knew Frances Bavier was married let alone had children. In fact, there is very little I know about Miss Bavier. I always thought the character was a lot like my own grandmother. Getting to play on the sets had to have been great. Sande Riggs President At The Crossroads ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Real Voice or Lip Synching?
I may have asked this question before but, if I did, I can't recall receiving any answers. Does anyone know whether Eleanor Donahue and Joanna Moore did their own singing of Away In A Manger and Down in the Valley, respectively? I can't recall either of the actresses singing in any other roles, but those two songs were done beautifully. So I've always been curious whether it was really them singing or some artful lip synching. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Excessive TVLand Commercials
To answer your question, Keith, the good (?) news is that TVLand hasn't further butchered their TAGS reruns as they have Bewitched. The bad news, of course, is that they continue to slice dice every TAGS episode with no respect for continuity (or the viewer) so they can fit in as many obnoxious promo's as possible for their obnoxious reality shows. I had an interesting conversation back around the holidays with a programming exec for the biggest cable provider around here. He told me that not only do TVLand and Tru-TV have the fastest declining viewership numbers nationwide, but that they are also the two channels most requested by subscribers to be deleted from the program line-up in order to fit in other more favored channels. And it seems like almost yesterday when I so enjoyed all the great classic shows on TVLand. Times sure have changed! HistoryBuff - Original Message - Subject: Size of Shows There's been a lot of talk about the size of shows (as in number of cast =ppearing), but I want to raise another comment on the size of shows--or =ore precisely, the length. I will have to admit that I hardly ever watc= TAGS on TVLand because (A) They play too many commercials, (2) They play =oo many trashy commercials/show promos, and (C) They edit the show. T=e other weekend they were running a Bewitched marathon, and I noticed that=the start times of the shows were around 36 minutes apart. I thought ma=be they were running uncut episodes with their usual excessive allotmen= of commericals. However, just for kicks, I timed one episode and found=out they weren't running their usual excessive allotment of commercials--t=ey were running MORE THAN USUAL. The episode I timed clocked in at 19:4= (including opening and closing credits running over the epilogue), in a 3=-minute window. They should have made it a 40 minute window so they cou=d run a full 50% commercials/promos. Are they butchering TAGS that seve=ely these days? I don't know if I could sit through all the junk to f=nd out--it would be worse than a night with Uncle Ollie riding his bicycle=and putting his arm in my mouth! Keith in Nebraska ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Andy - Kiss Tell
At the end of “Three’s A Crowd”, we see Andy Mary share a pretty passionate embrace kiss. Made me start thinking that I can’t remember another instance during the series when Andy gave or received more than a peck of a kiss from any other woman. How many times can we think of that Andy kissed a woman? And were any others as realistic as the one with Mary? HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Hes not the only one that got away ( Baileys Bad Boy )
I've always thought Andy's comment referred to the Bailey boy evidently not getting, or rejecting, the unspoken message Andy was trying to convey of simple pleasures and taking pride in the results you actually work for and not those which are just handed to you. HistoryBuff - Original Message - From: Holland Shoaf countingont...@hotmail.com The speedy 19 year old kid Bill Bixby has to go fishing with Andy and Opie =fter getting caught causing an accident and leaving the scene. He gets mad when he thinks Andy is buttering him up after catching a big fi=h and Andy says your a better man than me . He throws the fish he caugh= with Andys pole back in the water. and walks to the other end of the pier=away from Andy and Opie fuming. Opie says he let him (the fish ) get away= Andy says Im afraid the fish aint the only one that got away What does Andys comment mean ? thanks Holland Lexington NC Less than 1 hour from Mayberry ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Middle Names
Barney's first girlfriend was Hilda Mae; the town's dry cleaner was H. Fred Goss; and let's not forget Big Maude Tyler - does Maude count as her middle name?! :) HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: TAGS connections on That Girl
Thank you, Dixon, for pointing this out! I can't begin to tell you how many times I've watched that particular scene in That Girl and wondered why it looked so familiar. HistoryBuff - Original Message - From: dixonha...@aol.com Right now I'm working my way through a couple of classic sitcoms: The Real McCoys and That Girl. Both have TAGS connections but I'm especially struck by the many on That Girl. That Girl filmed in both LA and NY. And in the classic Anatomy of a Blunder episode (the one about the disastrous picnic on the way to see Ann's parents), the perfect spot where Ann lovingly begs to set up the picnic...is none other than Franklin Canyon (or as we better know it, Myers Lake). It's very recognizable. Dixon ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Oops!
This is my official mea culpa for getting my FAQs wrong! Allan has kindly reminded me that the first andy gump reference in The Mayberry Band episode was actually directed by Andy to one of the real town band members. I had not remembered that when I posted about the andy gump direction being given to the Freddy Fleet band member later in that episode. As I admitted to Allan, I do believe my brain was probably hit by a senior moment! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Detroit Cymbals
I heard Barney mention that he had fixed Andy up before with someone's cousin from Detroit in the episode where he and Thelma Lou fixed Andy up with Karen the skeet shooter. Know what I mean? Vern That episode was playing this morning while I had breakfast. You're right about the Detroit reference, but Barney didn't give it that Dee-troit pronunciation heard in other episodes. Cymbals Sundale Didn't the Andre Castellanos cymbals (marchers) Barney purchased in the Mayberry Band episode come from De-troit? Ken No, Barney bought his deluxe Andre Kostelanetz cymbals from Cymbal City in Chicago. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club's Mayberry FAQs
I don’t think either the question or the answer below are entirely correct, but I have no idea how or whether these FAQs can get modified. So I thought I’d put it out here on the Digest. Andy actually wanted the clarinet player to “andy gump” his chin as a way of hiding his chin goatee, since the musician was one of the Freddy Fleet band members dropped into the Mayberry Band, and Andy didn’t want Mayor Stoner to notice the stranger. HistoryBuff 7. Andy asked one of the clarinet players to try to andy gumpin' your chin, as a better method of getting a sound out of the clarinet. Does anyone know where that saying came from and what does it mean. Andy Gump was a comic strip character who had no chin. Barney laughed aloud when reading Andy Gump in the Sunday funnies in episode 47, Bailey's Bad Boy. What band director Andy Taylor meant in The Mayberry Band was that Carl (the clarinetist in question) should lower his chin to the point where it nearly touched his upper chest. Years ago, when every kid knew who Andy Gump was and what he looked like, it was common for band directors to instruct young bassoonists to make an Andy Gump face to achieve the proper bassoon embouchure (position of mouth muscles.) However, such an embouchure is not really suitable for the clarinet, just the bassoon. (For them that don't know, I am a band director; I don't watch TAGS 24 hours a day!)--Paul Mulik ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Andy's Hand
The story I've always heard is that Griffith broke it during a drinking binge at home when he punched a wall. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, though I have read other references to his struggles with alcohol over the years. HistoryBuff Hey, Mayberry Friends. Whats the real story? In at least two episodes Andy's hand and arm are in a cast. What really happened? Slow it down and let me in or I'll go out and buy some gin. Otis Campbell Larry in Lincolnton ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Aunt Bee's Big Moment
Another of Aunt Bee's accomplishments was being the co-writer, with Clara Edwards, of the song My Hometown which Keevey Hazleton sang on TV. That sure would have been a Big Moment for me! Evidently, Aunt Bee set herself much higher standards for bragging right accomplishments! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
More Songs in Mayberry
Those Endearing Young Charms - Barney Rafe Hollister That Lonesome Road - Rafe The Marine Hymn - sung by Gomer played as background when he reports for duty And some of the hymns sung by the church choir and congregation: Bringing in the Sheaves Love Lifted Me Leaning on the Everlasting Arms HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: aunt Bea's brother in law
Who was the Aunt Bea's brother in law he also played in a movie Flubber with Fred Mac Murray, did he not, the cop who spilled the coffee in the car accident? And did not the mayor, Pike that actor played in It's a Wonderful World, didn't he as the man on the porch when they were first dating or courting, Jimmy Stewart and the actress name slips my mind. Autumn Aunt Bea Uncle Ollie was played by James Westerfield. According to the IMDB, Dick Elliott (aka Mayor Pike) did appear in the uncredited role of the man on the porch in “It’s A Wonderful Life” (Donna Reed was Jimmy Stewart’s co-star). ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
re: Songs on Mayberry
Name songs that have been mentioned, sung, written, heard on the radio, danced to. My Hometown-Keezy Hazelton Good Ol' 14A My Hometown- the wild version Keezy Hazelton The song that Jim Lindsey played for Bobby Fleet when Bobby Fleet and his band with a beat is in jail. Venice- Aunt Bee and Clara Edwards Santa Lucia? Gomer, Andy and Barney and John Masters choir Here are a few more that come to mind: “Crawdad” - sung by Andy Opie “Down in the Valley” - sung by Nurse Peggy “Stars Stripes Forever” - played (disgustingly, according to Mayor Stoner) by the Mayberry Band “There Is A Time” - sung by Charlene Darling Wash I'm drawing a blank about Aunt Bee and Clara Edwards singing a song called Venice. What episode was that in? HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Re: Snow
You know Mayberry is in NC,and we know it snows in NC. But, does anyone recall any snow or discussion of snow on the show? We know it rained and flooded and we know it was hot and cold but what about snow? I don’t have any real personal familiarity with North Carolina, other than having visited the Triangle, Chapel Hill and Asheville areas several times. But isn’t it correct that there are areas of the state where snow would be, if not completely unknown, just a light dusting at most? So I guess it never occurred to me to think it unusual that Mayberry wouldn’t have had any snowfalls. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Re: Quake
gloria bruce I woke up this morning around 4 because we had an earthquake. I live in Illinois near Chicago and we're in the New Madrid System. I thought at first it might have been the loaded goat blowing up but I don't think we have any accessible dynamite that I know of here in the Burbs. I'm also in the Chicago burbs and had just gotten up when it hit. But I immediately thought my aging refrigerator was doing an imitation of Aunt Bee's quaking shaking bargain freezer! Goats freezers - I guess we're not attuned to earthquakes! HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
Re: Floyd Walking
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:07:49 -0800 Floyd walks a few steps in the episode I think it is called Barneys' Physical where they are having the 5 yr party for Barney at the courthouse. It is just 2-3 steps. Johnna Fayetteville, AR This is interesting, as that was the scene where I first thought I was noticing that Floyd didn't do any real walking. As I recall, first you see him standing propped up by the courthouse back wall, behind where Thelma Lou is laying out her cake. Then she takes the cake and walks into the back room and calls Floyd to come hide with them but you don't see him actually moving other than shifting his upper body slightly. When Barney walks in, you see everyone pop out of the back room but you don't see Floyd until the camera has shifted to Barney then back to the surprise group. But that's coming strictly from my memory, and most likely from the butchered TVLand version, so I'm definitely going to look more closely the next time it plays on Me-TV which does a great job of keeping the episodes virtually intact. HistoryBuff ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
