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The Andy Griffith Show Andy and Barney in the Big City (1960–1968) Online

The Andy Griffith Show Andy and Barney in the Big City (1960–1968) Online
Original Title :
Andy and Barney in the Big City
Genre :
TV Episode / Comedy / Family
Year :
1960–1968
Directror :
Bob Sweeney
Cast :
Andy Griffith,Ron Howard,Don Knotts
Writer :
Harvey Bullock
Type :
TV Episode
Time :
26min
Rating :
8.7/10
The Andy Griffith Show Andy and Barney in the Big City (1960–1968) Online

Andy and Barney travel to the State capital to seek funding for new equipment for the Mayberry Sheriff's office. Barney thinks he's in his element and is convinced that crime is all around him. At their hotel, Barney spots a suspicious character eying a well-to-do and bejeweled matronly woman in the lobby. Andy tells him to mind his own business but Barney being Barney decides that making a bust in the big city might just give them the clout they need to get the money they need. He follows the mysterious man and befriends another man, C.J. Hasler, who tells him he's a newspaperman who can help out. Turns out Barney has got it wrong again and the mystery man is actually the house detective and CJ is the jewel thief.
Episode cast overview:
Andy Griffith Andy Griffith - Andy Taylor
Ron Howard Ron Howard - Opie Taylor (as Ronny Howard)
Don Knotts Don Knotts - Barney Fife
Frances Bavier Frances Bavier - Aunt Bee Taylor
Allan Melvin Allan Melvin - Hotel Detective Bardoli
Les Tremayne Les Tremayne - C.J. Hasler
Peter Leeds Peter Leeds - Sergeant Nelson
Arte Johnson Arte Johnson - Hotel Clerk
Robert Carson Robert Carson - Commissioner Hedges (as Robert S. Carson)
Ottola Nesmith Ottola Nesmith - Lady with Jewelry
Thomas Myers Thomas Myers - Officer Dean Friendly
Roger Til Roger Til - Waiter in French Restaurant

The gag in which Barney points at items on the menu so as not to let the waiter know that he doesn't speak French was created by Don Knotts himself. Years later he would recreate the bit on an episode of Three's Company.

This is the first episode to travel outside Mayberry.

When leaving the house for their trip to Raleigh, Andy and Barney make a big deal of stepping out with their right foot. This is based on the old superstition of getting up on the wrong side of bed. It is believed that if a person gets up on the left side of the bed, things will go wrong, but if a person gets up on the right side, they will be right of mind, right of heart, and their day will be perfect. This of course, extends to leaving the house as well.

The skyline view is not Raleigh, NC.

Actor Roger Til later played an uncredited, very similar role as a waiter in Gomer Pyle: USMC episode 4-28, "Love and Goulash."


User reviews

Dancing Lion

Dancing Lion

The episode opens in the Taylor house as Andy and Barney prepare to depart on a business trip to Raleigh (generically called "the state capital"). They are putting in a request to obtain new, more advanced police equipment; but, as they soon discover, they will not be granted this request until the crime rate in Mayberry catches up to them. (Barney's comment: "Just one good felony - our name in the paper just once - we'd have everything we wanted just like that!") This sets in motion the plot of the episode, in which Barney tries to nab a jewel thief at their hotel but, in Fife-like fashion, mistakenly pursues the hotel detective and allies himself with the thief.

If I'm not mistaken, this episode marks the first occasion in which TAGS left the confines of Mayberry and its immediate environs. Andy would appear briefly in Raleigh again in "Andy on Trial," but visits to the big city would be rare until the color seasons. This is a very well-made entry in the series, with lots of stylish clothes (people sure knew how to dress for travel back then!), artfully composed camera shots, and mystery and intrigue in a ritzy hotel. Although the plot is typical TAGS caper fare, the visual stylishness of the episode - and the rare chance to see our two heroes outside of their natural environment - set it apart.
Throw her heart

Throw her heart

The Ivy League (pronounced Ivory League by Goober much later) gets its first mention in this funny episode, which also includes a real Parisian waiting tables, a Chopin prelude for dinner music, and yet another appearance by Allan Melvin, this time as a good guy even if he does look a little shifty in his dark suit and hat. Also on display, in the crime lab at police headquarters, is the second-worst toupee after Mr. Schwump's, draped on the head of the officer with the microscope. It almost looks lacquered on his noggin. The Raleigh police headquarters seems a much friendlier place here than it does in the color seasons in which Detective Fife, lured into the careful-what-you-wish-for trap, is given only a shelf for a desk and the cold shoulder from his associates. If you're watching it on the complete DVD sets (and you really should be, all eight seasons, too), don't miss the French waiter who sticks around for the sponsor spot. The pristine print also brings out the soiled wall and really cheap doorknob of the emerald lady's hotel room. Who knew then that anybody would ever notice? Andy balks at what he considers the outrageous charge of seven dollars for a hotel room, yet he doesn't seem to have a problem with the upscale fare in the dining room. Arte Johnson appears briefly but for whatever reason is replaced by another desk clerk a few scenes later. He must have asked for a raise.