Goofs

In the first couple of seasons there is window to the left of the entrance (as seen from the street outside) but inside the Sheriff's office there is no window. In later seasons this error was corrected.

There are discrepancies as to how long Barney has been a Deputy Sheriff. In Citizen's Arrest (1963), Andy finds an old document that shows he issued Barney his first revolver 10 years ago. Barney even makes an issue about being on the force for 10 years when giving Gomer Pyle a ticket for an illegal U-turn. However, in Barney's Physical (1964), the point is made that he is celebrating his 5 year anniversary as a Deputy Sheriff and even receives a watch with "5" inscribed inside as a gift.

Over the years, the Taylor home back porch changed from a simple set of steps in Mr. McBeevee (1962) to a large porch with room for a freezer, sink, and wringer washer in Bargain Day (1964) then back to a very small porch in Opie Finds a Baby (1966) and Only a Rose (1966).

There are discrepancies as to the marital/family status of Floyd the Barber. In The Jinx (1962), Floyd mentions having a son named "Norman." In "Those Gossipin' Men," his other son, Randall, appears playing saxophone. And Floyd mentions being married to Melba in "Quiet Sam." However, in Floyd, the Gay Deceiver (1962), the premise of the episode is that Floyd is single and finds a companion through a "lonely hearts"/"pen pal" service. But in that episode, there is no mention of his sons or that he is either divorced or widowed.

After Season 3, Barney's middle name is, said to start with the initial "P." But in the Season 1 episode, "A Plaque for Mayberry," Barney's middle name is "Oliver." In the Season 3 episode, "Class Reunion," Barney's middle name is "Milton."

In North Carolina, sheriffs are independently-elected county officials. Their duties include providing law enforcement to unincorporated areas. A town, such as Mayberry, with a mayor and council would have its own police force. A sheriff is not responsible to county officials, let alone to a city official such as a mayor.

The badges that Andy and Barney wear are the 6 pointed star, yet the shoulder patch on their uniform shows a 5 pointed star. It would be assumed that the badge indicating they are a sheriff or deputy would be the same as the shoulder patch indicating they are with the sheriff's office.

In "The New Housekeeper" Andy has a pickup truck which is never seen again in future episodes.

Andy is said on numerous occasions that he is the sheriff of the town of Mayberry. Towns don't have sheriffs. This is something that the writers never seemed to understand. Andy would be the sheriff of the county of Mayberry, not the town of Mayberry.

The law books stacked on top of the corner filing cabinet behind Andy's desk are clearly wooden blocks. You can see the wood grain on the books stacked flat on the cabinet. While old fashioned hardcover books would have something like gold weaving edges to the pages that looked like wood grain rings, it's plain to see that there is no change in the depth of the book edging from the hard covers to the pages. They're completely flat.

Mayberry is supposed to be a sleepy small town and is often shown to have very little pedestrian or auto traffic in street scenes. However, off and on throughout the series, there is the background noise of heavy traffic with honking horns. The background auto noise is likely from street traffic in Hollywood, thus revealing Mayberry as a backlot set. (Which it is)

Whenever Barney puts his one bullet into his service revolver, he always puts the bullet into the chamber directly aligned with the barrel. The problem with this is the simple mechanics of a revolver: If he cocks the hammer or pulls the trigger, the revolver rotates to the next chamber. So, loading a single bullet into the chamber aligned with the barrel would be useless as he would then end up pulling the trigger on an empty chamber. He would have to repeatedly pull the trigger to get the live round back into the active chamber. (This frequent mistake became a major plot point in the Season One episode "Andy and the Gentleman Crook.")

Although Barney has only one bullet for his gun which he usually carries in his shirt pocket, he has a cartridge case on his belt for ammunition, which is presumably empty.

For the first couple of seasons, the matte painting/backdrop painting outside the windows and doors of the courthouse are inconsistent. In some episodes, the painting outside the doors are of a church directly across the street. In others, the backdrop is of houses and later shops (as it would remain throughout the series). In the windows behind Andy's desk, the backdrops alternate between residential and shops.

Although set in North Carolina, maps of Idaho and Nevada is seen hanging on the wall behind Andy's desk in Season 1.

Locations tend to be very fluid in Mayberry. For example, at one time, Emma Brand's house is by the lake and at another it is in the middle of town.

It's been established that the Mayor's Office is above the courthouse and jail. However there is no indication either inside or outside the courthouse that there is any access to the Mayor's office from the street level or inside the jail. At one point early in the series there was a door to the left of the jail cells which was later removed that could have been an access to the upstairs offices but since no one was ever seen using it and it was later removed from the set, there's no way of knowing. In The Beauty Contest (1961), Ellie and Andy depart from a meeting in Mayor Pike's office through the side door of the courthouse. From this episode we can infer that there are steps inside this door that lead upstairs to government offices on an upper floor. However, in most other episodes this door just enters into the back room of the jail.

In episodes such as Barney and the Choir (1962) and Rafe Hollister Sings (1963), it is firmly established that Barney cannot sing very well and is often "off key." However, in other episodes where Andy and Barney are singing while working or sitting on Andy's front porch, Barney sings "on key."

In the first half of the first season there is a sign in the drug store above a shelf which said "Enlargments" a misspelling of "Enlargements" which was seen corrected later.