MovieChat Forums > The Andy Griffith Show (1960) Discussion > 1-6 Runaway Kid

1-6 Runaway Kid

posted 7 years ago by godewey (16472)
22 replies | jump to latest

In this episode Opie befriends a runaway boy and asks Andy if he can stay with.
Early in the episode Andy tries to teach Opie a lesson about promises and his word.
This backfire as Opie won't tell him about the boy.
"How come my britches keep getting caught on my own pitchfork"

Barney has 2 great scenes. In one he writes Andy a ticket for parking next the fire hydrant.
Andy makes Barney the Justice of the Peace so he can judge if Andy is guilty.
Andy starts talking and Barney is no match. NOT GUILTY !

Another scene has Barney making a drawing of the runaway boy George Foley.
After Barney sees George on the porch he tells Andy he could pick that boy out anywhere.
"Nobody said anything about the boy needing a haircut"

Things I noticed
Barney says cousin Andy once again.
The road in front of Andy's house is dirt. I never noticed this before.
I had asked before, how long Andy had been sheriff. Andy tells Barney he has been parking
in front the Sheriffs office for 5 yrs now.
This is the first time Sara the operator is mentioned.

Andy, Barney and Opie all had funny scenes in this episode.

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[–] jason88cubs (2444) 7 years ago

I loved the Barney Andy scene.

In later episodes was It still a dirt road?

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[–] [email protected] (5871) 7 years ago

I don't remember the dirt road. I'll have to watch this episode again.

It sure wasn't a dirt road in the later episodes. Andy's house was right in town.

I do recall that Barney and Andy were cousins in the first few episodes. But I wonder, to what degree? If they were first cousins, one of Andy's parents and one of Barney's parents were siblings. Since they had different last names, it would have to be that their mothers were sisters or Andy's father (a Taylor) had a sister who married a Fife. OR, Andy's mom was a Fife and her brother was Barney's father.

Or were they second or third cousins? Just those things I wonder about!

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

You can actually see the town in the background. I thought this was strange.

All Barney ever says is "cousin Andy" Barney's mom was in The Manhunt briefly.
We know in the episode where Barney tells Andy he's buying a septic tank for his folks Andy doesn't say
anything about aunt or uncle. Do we ever find out how aunt Bea is related to Andy ?

Was she a sister of Andy's mom or dad or just an aunt to one of Andy's parents that everybody call aunt.
If Barney's mom and Andy's mom were related and aunt Bea was Andy's moms sister wouldn't it somehow
be Barney's aunt too.

Wasn't there an episode where aunt Bea's sister and husband come to stay with them?
I don't remember them ever talking about Andy's mother and father at all or ever seeing photo of them.

Maybe this is why they dropped the cousin thing. It was too confusing to figure out. I know my head hurts.

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[–] db20db (17237) 7 years ago

In episode 25, season 6, A Baby in the House, part of which I saw yesterday, there are a couple of clues to the family lineage, or maybe just more confusion. In the beginning, Aunt Bee gets an unexpected phone call from her niece, Martha, in Jacksonville. Andy tells Helen sitting next to him on the couch, it's his second cousin.

Jacksonville could also be a clue about where Aunt Bee hails from, which I think was questioned elsewhere on the board.

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

Interesting.

I also thought of cousin Virgil. If Andy and Barney are cousins Virgil might have been Andy's cousin too.
They never mention that. Maybe he was a cousin on the other side.

I take that it stands to reason Andy was an only child.

I'm not good at this. So a second cousin would be a cousin of a cousin ?

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[–] db20db (17237) 7 years ago

I also thought of cousin Virgil because I saw that episode not long ago. If I remember correctly, Andy was completely oblivious to his existence until Barney announced he was coming for a visit. One of those inconsistencies. 😉

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[–] [email protected] (5871) 7 years ago

godewey- I always assumed Aunt Bea was from Andy's father's side of the family since her last name was Taylor.

They never say specifically, but that's what I thought.

I really don't think she was an aunt to Andy's father. If Andy's father was alive, he'd be about sixty. It's unlikely that Bea was HIS aunt. She wasn't that old.

Yes Aunt Bea's "little sister" came to visit. Funny episode. The whole family turned the Taylor household upsidedown. It was strange though that Bea's sister and her husband had two boys about Opie's age. They looked like their grandchildren. ha! of course they could have been one of those couples who married rather late in life.

As far as Andy not knowing Cousin Virgil, it's very possible. I have a first cousin, Denise. Her dad and mine are brothers. She has several cousins on her mother's side of the family whom I've never met. I also have cousins on MY mother's side whom she has never met. The family tree can really branch out!

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

This what I need. Common sense. You make great points.
Of course her last name was Taylor. Didn't even dawn on me when I wrote this.

It might be that Bea was married to one of Andy's uncles on his dads side. Although there is no evidence
that he had any aunt's or uncles other than Aunt Bea's sister and husband. At least I can't think of any other.
There also seems to be no mention of family on the mother's side.

What you said about Virgil is absolutely true. My dad had 9 brothers and sisters so I have cousins for days.
Usually when you meet a cousin you don't know somebody will start to describe how you are related.
This is Joe, he's married to Emily who is your second cousin etc.....

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[–] [email protected] (5871) 7 years ago

I always thought of Aunt Bea as a single lady. At times they refer to her as Miss Taylor.

Andy does tell Opie at least once that his Aunt Bea raised him. It appears that both of Andy's parents passed away when he was young. I could imagine that Bea sacrificed a lot of her own life to raise her nephew.

It's not that unusual. Sometimes the oldest daughter ends up caring for aging parents or nieces and nephews if their parents die. At least families used to take care of each other that way.

Yes, I've got second and third cousins whom I hardly know. Some I've nevermet.

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

I seem to remember in the first episode somebody says something about Aunt Bea raising several children.
This would confirm that she did sacrifice most of her life for her family.

As we know that didn't stop her from looking.

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

I certainly don't remember if it was. I'll find out as I keep watching these.
I was telling pjpurple that you could see the town in the background.

The road looked smooth. It didn't have a bunch of holes or uneven spots. It looked like it just been smoothed over.
The only marks you could see were the tire tracks.

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[–] [email protected] (38) 7 years ago

Regarding the road in front of Andy's house - it was a dirt road for seasons 1-7. It was still a dirt road in the season seven episode 'Goodbye, Dolly', but in the season eight episode 'Barney Hosts a Summit' it has been paved.

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

I had never noticed this before.
I'm going to pay particular attention to this.
I also heard this set was used in Gone With the Wind.
You can see buildings from the movie in Mayberry.
Is this true ?

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[–] [email protected] (38) 7 years ago

Yes, it's part of the 40 Acres lot where 'Gone With the Wind' was filmed. The house to the right of Andy's was constructed for the character Aunt Pittypat and was used in GWTW. It was also used in the TAGS episode 'The Haunted House'. Andy's house was built for the film 'The Girl Most Likely'. The other house on the same block that was used in GWTW was the first one on the street with the white picket fence - that house was also used as the Mendlebright boarding house in 'Up in Barneys Room' and Floyds home in the episode 'Divorce, Mountain Style'.

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[–] jason88cubs (2444) 7 years ago

The runaway kid is named tex right

Or that was his cowboy name at least?

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

Yes, Tex was his cowboy name.
Andy also did a great job at convincing him why he didn't want to runaway.
"How are you going to carry 600 sandwiches."

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[–] jason88cubs (2444) 7 years ago

I just remembered my favorite part

where the kids push teh cop car and opie says "but im not gonna push as hard"

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

That's exactly right.

Then he asks Andy if he was going to lock them up.
Andy asks why shouldn't I lock you up.
Opie tells him because I didn't push that hard.
Great scene.

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[–] jason88cubs (2444) 7 years ago

love it

are you gonna do a write up for all the episodes including the color ones or just black and white?

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

I'll see what kind of stamina I have.
Black and white ones for sure.

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[–] jason88cubs (2444) 7 years ago

great keep up the good work!

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

Thanks.
I really want to do one for Dick Van Dyke to.
Maybe when this is done.

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