Andy Griffith Show Memories : Episode #16 - The Beauty Contest
The Beauty Contest
Overview
Andy is chosen to be the judge of a local beauty pageant. The entrants include Floyd's niece, the mayor's daughter and Ellie Walker.
Episode Number: 16 Season Number: 1
First Aired: January 23, 1961
Writers: Jack Elinson, Charles Stewart
Director: Bob Sweeney
Cast/Crew/Guest Stars
Ron Howard (Opie Taylor)
Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee Taylor)
Don Knotts (Deputy Barney Fife)
Andy Griffith (Sheriff Andy Taylor)
Elinor Donahue (Ellie Walker)
Hope Summers (Bertha Johnson/Clara Edwards)
Howard McNear (Floyd Lawson)
Dick Elliott (Mayor Pike)
Frank Ferguson (Sam Lindsey)
Joy Ellison (Mary Wiggins)
Gail Lucas (Barbara Sue Lindsey)
Yvonne Adrian (Darlene Swanson)
Elvia Allman (Henrietta Swanson)
Lillian Bronson (Erma Bishop)
Josie Lloyd (Josephine Pike)
Episode Summary
During a planning meeting, it is suggested that the Mayberry Founders Day pageant be concluded with an actual beauty pageant. Unfortunately, they decide to make Andy the one and only judge. After Andy makes the mistake of thinking Ellie nominated him as judge so she can win the contest herself, Andy realizes he's got trouble on his hands. He must figure out a way to get out of this mess without hurting everyone's feelings and damaging his own love life.After being nagged by practically every citizen in town with some kind of stake in the pageant, including his own family, Andy chooses Ms. Bishop, an older lady who not only didn't enter the pageant or compel Andy to choose someone she knew, but worked tirelessly seeing that the pageant came off without a hitch.
Notes/Trivia
- Josie Lloyd, played the mayor's daughter, Josephine Pike. She would go on to to play Lydia Pike in a later episode, although there was no indication that she was the mayor's daughter, even though the last names were the same. She was referred to as Lydia Crosswaith in "Goober and the Art of Love".
- In the epilogue for this episode, Opie's girlfriend, Mary Wiggins, is seen in the barbershop making her the first in a very short list of females to have ever graced the inside of Floyd's. Ellie appeared briefly in "Mayberry on Record", Aunt Bee in a couple of episodes (one of which was "The Jynx"), a female reporter in "Crime Free Mayberry" and of course curvy and sweet smelling manicurist Ellen Brown in "The Manicurist".
- We see Ellie's true character in this episode. Instead of manipulating Andy's choice like the others, she gets mad at the thought of him picking her unfairly!
- 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
