Barney's First Car (1 Apr. 1963)

It's a red-letter day in Mayberry when Barney decides to join the motoring world, but things go sour when his cream-puff turns out to be a lemon.

Director:

Bob Sweeney

Writers:

James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

Stars:

Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Andy Griffith	...	Sheriff Andy Taylor
Ron Howard	...	Opie Taylor (as Ronny Howard)
Don Knotts	...	Deputy Barney Fife
Frances Bavier	...	Aunt Bee Taylor
Jim Nabors	...	Gomer Pyle
Betty Lynn	...	Thelma Lou
Ellen Corby	...	Myrt 'Hubcaps' Lesh
Allan Melvin	...	Jake, Myrt's Accomplice
Hallene Hill	...	Mrs. Rose Temple
Tom Allen	...	Reverend Temple - Rose's Nephew

Storyline

Barney makes the decision to buy a car for the first time. He sees an ad in the paper that sounds just like what he's looking for and when the seller comes to Andy's house, he's more convinced than ever. The vendor is a little old lady whose husband has recently died. She claims the car was only ever driven a low speed and that it just breaks her heart to sell it. Andy advises caution and suggests that he have Wally the mechanic give the car a once over but Barney won't hear of it. The old woman has him wrapped around her little finger so tight that he even overpays for the car. Not surprisingly, the car breaks down the next day when he take her out for the first time. When Gomer checks it out, he finds saw dust in the transmission, used to keep it all running smoothly for a few days and a sure sign he was taken for a ride. They soon find exactly what that old lady has been up to.

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Plot Keywords:

accomplice | car mechanic | con woman | con artist | lemon car

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 April 1963 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mayberry Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was actually not Barney's first car. In 'Runaway Kid' (Season 1, Episode 6) Barney owns a 1949 or 1950 Ford Fordor sedan. Andy and Opie tried to push it in front of a fire hydrant as a joke, but Barney caught them in the act.

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Goofs

Barney's car was a rear-wheel drive, which means the tow truck driver would have had to have put the transmission in neutral before towing it, which means he would have obviously seen Andy and Barney in the car.

User Reviews

This just shows that a public domain show isn't necessarily bad...

Somehow, several episodes from "The Andy Griffith Show" have been allowed to slip into the public domain as their copyrights were not renewed. Why, I have no idea. But despite many public domain shows and movies being dogs (hence no one cared to renew them), this one proves that some public domain programs are super.

Barney decides to buy a car. He reads about a deal that is too good to be true and when he meets the sweet old lady (Ellen Corby) selling the vehicle, she is also too good to be true. The very gullible Barney falls for what are obvious lies concerning the quality of the car and, not surprisingly, the car doesn't even make it back to Mayberry before it breaks down...and the 'sweet old lady' is no where to be found. Not only that, but a closer inspection of the car proves it was deliberately misrepresented--with sawdust poured into the transmission to make it work...at least briefly. All seems to be lost...until Barney and Andy happen to accidentally find the lady and her gang of car thieves. Barney's reaction to them is priceless--as is Corby's wonderful performance. The show is exceptionally well-written and acted and is a comedic delight. Very, very funny.