![]() ![]() Taking advantage of Andy Taylor's widower status, the series' writers tried to pair the character off with a number of eligible young ladies, beginning in the first season with Elinor Donahue as drugstore sales clerk Ellie Walker. Subsequent additions to the cast included Jim Nabors as bucolic gas station attendant Gomer Pyle (later spun off into his own series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.) George Lindsey as Gomer's cousin, Goober Pyle Howard McNear as dithery barber Floyd Lawson and Hal Smith as the aforementioned Otis Campbell. The rapport between Andy and Barney contributed mightily to the series' success during its shakedown season, with nominal leading character Andy often voluntarily taking a back seat to Barney's overzealous antics. Introduced as regulars during season one were of course Andy Griffith, Ronny Howard, and Frances Bavier (now as Aunt Bee, housekeeper for Andy and Opie Taylor), with the significant and salutary addition of Don Knotts as Andy's tightly wound deputy Barney Fife. While there would be changes in concept and casting, the laid-back character of Andy Taylor "clicked" with TV audiences, ensuring that The Andy Griffith Show would join the Monday night CBS lineup come October 3, 1960. Child actor Ronny Howard (who, as Ron Howard, would in adulthood enjoy a spectacularly successful career as a film director) was seen in the pilot as the widowed Andy's son Opie, but Frances Bavier played an entirely different role than she would in the actual series, while Frank Cady rather than Hal Smith was cast as town drunk Otis Campbell. Mad Men’s “The Suitcase” is a close second (it’s my wife’s pick).The pilot for the long-running CBS sitcom The Andy Griffith Show was seen on February 15, 1960, as an episode of The Danny Thomas Show, "Danny Meets Andy Griffith." As originally conceived, Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) was not only the sheriff of the sleepy North Carolina town of Mayberry, but he was also the mayor, justice of the peace, and newspaper editor. It’s so bleak, but so well-written by Tom Fontana. In the end, they don’t get the confession. Without it, you look in the mirror, and all you see is an amateur.” It scares you cause it’s powerful and it makes you capable of doing anything. He had some amazing monologues, like “You got your dark side, and it terrifies you, and it frightens you. Gunn passed away soon after the episode aired. There’s not enough evidence to arrest him for the crime, and they’re going to have to release him if they can’t get a confession. My pick is “Three Men and Adena,” from Season 1 of Homicide: Life in the Street, where Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Bayliss (Kyle Secor), who have only recently become partners in the Homicide detective division of the Baltimore police department, spent pretty much the entire episode just in the interrogation room trying to break Risley Tucker (Moses Gunn) and get him to confess to killing a young girl, Adena Watson. Dramas and sitcoms tend to approach bottle episodes differently, so I’m going to specify just dramas this time out, and I’ll do sitcoms in the future. LOTS of great episodes have been bottle episodes, as it often requires the writers to step up their game in a big way. These episodes have also been able to be used to be almost like mini-stage plays, since your set is essentially just a stage in this instance. The idea came about from the past of TV when, to save money, shows would do episodes with less sets and less extraneous cast members, so they could cut costs down. ![]() I might later revisit the theme for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns or Top Five.īottle episodes are episodes that, FOR THE MOST PART, take place in a confined space (exceptions are made for, like, driving to and from a place and stuff like that). ![]() Pop Culture Theme Time is a feature where I put a question to you to see what you think about a particular theme. Today, I want to know what you think is the all-time best “bottle episode” of a TV drama. ![]()
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