Andy Griffith Show Memories : Episode #18 - Andy the Marriage Counselor
Andy the Marriage Counselor
Overview
As if Andy didn't already have enough responsibilities in Mayberry, he decides to try his hand at marriage counseling.
Episode Number: 18 Season Number: 1
First Aired: February 6, 1961
Writer: David Adler
Director: Gene Reynolds
Cast/Crew/Guest Stars
Ron Howard (Opie Taylor)
Don Knotts (Barney Fife)
Andy Griffith (Sheriff Andy Taylor)
Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee Taylor)
Forrest Lewis (Cliff)
Norman Leavitt (Gil)
Jesse White (Fred Boone)
Claudia Bryar (Jenny Boone)
Tim Stevenson (Billy)
Episode Summary
Fred and Jenny Boone are relatively new to Mayberry and they get along well with everyone in town. But they can't interact with each other without yelling and fighting. Andy gets fed up with having to arrest them for disturbing the peace and comes up a novel idea. Every morning he will coach Fred and Jenny on ways to be not only civil with each other, but practically loving. Although Barney is convinced it won't work he's amazed at the results. It doesn't take long before Fred and Jenny can tolerable with one another. Proud of the results, Andy uses the same philosophy on Opie and his friend Billy, offering them each a nickel if they can play nice without fighting.
Fred and Jenny are quite pleasant to one another, but turn mean and hateful against all their friends and neighbors. Opie too seems unhappy because he and Billy have to play nice and they say it's not fun anymore. Andy realizes what looks like fighting to one person may really be dancing to someone else. After resolving the issues with Opie and Billy, he goes over to the Boone's house and utilizes a little reverse psychology. He has the Boones fighting with each other again. In no time, things are back to where they started.
Notes/Trivia
- In this episode, we find out that Barney is a student of the martial arts. The gag that he does with Andy, showing Andy his newly acquired Judo skills, will be repeated later in the season. In the epilogue to this episode Barney sports his full Judo outfit.
- Jessie White appears in this episode as the cantankerous Fred Boone. Jessie is perhaps best known for being the original Maytag Repairman in a series Maytag commercials that ran for decades.
- The series was filmed entirely in Hollywood, at Desilu Productions on the former RKO Pictures lot. Mayberry exteriors were shot on the former Selznick
- International Pictures lot, later known as Forty Acres. The rural fishing hole that opened each episode was Franklin Canyon Lake, just north of Beverly Hills. Franklin Canyon was also the site of the show's Myers Lake and other outdoor locales.
- The whistled theme song, "The Fishin' Hole" was composed by Earle Hagen (the music coordinator and famous whistler of the show) and Herbert Spencer, with unsung lyrics by Everett Sloane. Hagen also wrote the music for the series.
More From Mayberry
Come join in the fun of The Andy Griffith Show Online Hangman Game. It's therapetic! Just take the link below:
The Andy Griffith Show Online Hangman Game
Also see:
Episode #1 - The New Housekeeper
Episode #2 - The Manhunt
Episode #3 - The Guitar Player
Episode #4 - Ellie Comes to Town
Episode #5 - Irresistible Andy
Episode #6 - Runaway Kid
Episode #7 - Andy the Matchmaker
Episode #8 - Opie's Charity
Episode #9 - A Feud is a Feud
Episode #10 - Ellie for Council
Episode #11 - Christmas Story
Episode #12 - Stranger in Town
Episode #13 - Mayberry Goes Hollywood
Episode #14 - The Horse Trader
Episode #15 - Those Gossipin' Men
Episode #16 - The Beauty Contest
Episode #17 - Alcohol and Old Lace
