The Andy Griffith Show (TV Series) Christmas Story (1960) User Reviews

Will Wright makes this one terrific...

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 11 October 2010]

You probably won't recognize his name, but Will Wright made a career out of playing grouchy old men. I assume he always looked grouchy and old--as that's the only way I recall him in films--even when they were made years before this episode! And, he was great in roles like this one--and makes this "Andy Griffith" episode one of the best.

The show begins with a nasty old man (Wright) storming into Andy's office and demanding that he throw a debtor into jail--even though it's practically Christmas! Andy is aghast--especially when the hard-hearted Wright keeps insisting. So, ultimately, Andy has the idea to also incarcerate the man's family and make it a holiday celebration. But, Wright is furious--insisting that this isn't fair and is clearly a way to subvert the law. However, soon Andy realizes that Wright, despite his blustering and nasty demeanor, is a lonely old guy and truly wants to be liked--he just can't let himself show it. I'd love to say more but can't. Suffice to say it leads to a very funny yet heart-warming finale--one that also manages not to step over the border into schmaltz. Well worth seeing and a Christmas classic--well written and acted throughout.

Gets me every time and then I found out about the writer

[repete_recording · 10/10 · 30 November 2019]

As many times as I've seen this (oh, about 54) the scene when Elinor Donahue and Andy Griffith perform one of the most beautiful duets of "Away In A Manger" and Will Wright is standing on a crate looking through the bars then sings harmony with them making it a trio chokes me up every time. It's funny how all those instruments come out of that guitar, though! I just researched the writer of this episode, many other Andy Griffith and other TV series episodes He also wrote "Father Goose". In the credits, he's listed as David Adler, but that is not his birth name. Blacklisted as a result from being an "unfriendly witness" when he testified during the dreaded House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1950s. As a result, his career was so damaged that he and his family moved to England, UK. For 12 years, he was forced to use phony names and "front" writers. One of several screenwriters blacklisted in Hollywood during the Red Scare of the 1950s. His "real" name is Frank Tarloff and he really wrote a gem of a Christmas Story.

My favorite episode of the entire series

[rteliszczak · 10/10 · 22 October 2021]

This story line is beautifully scripted, from beginning to end, with a wonderful cast of characters, from the prisoners let out for a Christmas celebration with family, to the family of the moonshiner, and Andy and Barney and Ellie and Aunt Bee and Opie, and of course old Ben.

I love watching this episode all year long. The simplicity of it, the kindness, the tree, skinny Barney as Santa, all so beautiful.

I cry during "Away in a Manger" every single time. I cry when old Ben hands out those gifts from his suitcase, every single time. So wonderful.

Just beautiful in every way. It is my favorite "The Andy Griffith Show" episode.

Such a beautiful episode with such a beautiful meaning

[ctramel · 10/10 · 2 May 2020]

When Andy figures out how to keep Christmas happy for Sam (and his family), who has been jailed for a moonshining offense, town scrooge Ben Weaver doesn't take too kindly to it given he was the one who lodged the complaint against Sam.

The Christmas setting, complete with snow and that small hometown festive feeling, provides a wonderful backdrop to the episode, which conveys true Christmas spirit in the most beautiful fashion. From Andy and Ellie beautifully singing "Away in A Manger" to the decorating and eventual lighting of the Christmas tree, 'Christmas Story' is one that I personally watch throughout the year and over and over throughout the holiday season as I cherish the memories of me watching it with my grandpa when I was just a kid.

I hope you enjoy as much as I always have. It rarely ceases to bring me to tears.

Sheriff Andy Taylor understood people...

[AlsExGal · 10/10 · 26 October 2019]

...with the wisdom of Solomon and a feel for the spirit of the law as well as the letter.

The rich grouchy old man of the town - Ben - insists that Andy throw a moonshiner in jail in spite of Andy's pleas that this matter can wait until after Christmas. That not only ruins the Christmas of the jailed and his family, but of Andy too since he and Barney have to stay near the jail to guard him.

So Andy gets the idea to bring Christmas to the jail. He brings in the jailed guy's family, Aunt Bea and her cooking, Andy's current girlfriend, presents, a Christmas tree, and a very skinny Santa who is big in Christmas Spirit - Barney (Don Knotts).

So Ben comes in and out of the jail all day, at first annoyed that the debtor isn't really being punished by being in jail, but later because he is attracted to all of the family warmth of a real Christmas celebration.

Ben comes and goes as a character during the early years of the Andy Griffith show, and nothing is really ever said about his background, but perhaps he has never seen a real Christmas before or experienced real family? The way he acts you could easily believe he was raised by bankers just like Charles Kane was in "Citizen Kane". So what happens here? Watch and find out.

This used to play every Christmas on syndicated TV in Dallas when I was a child back in the 1960s, and it still sticks out as a warm family TV episode. It is absolutely worth seeking out, especially during the holidays.

Make a grown man cry!!

[thomasdavidyoung · 10/10 · 25 December 2019]

Watched it twice this year, and actual tears appeared! I think I watch this every Christmas and get the same feelings.

Best Non-Dickens Christmas Tale Around

[richard.fuller1 · 10/10 · 12 December 2007]

Rankin Bass and Grinch aside as well (tho the ol' Grinch and this Andy Griffith episode borrowed considerably from our man Ebenezer), this episode of the sheriff of Mayberry has to be one of the strongest Christmas episodes of the season around.

Oh, and a little boy trying to find the true meaning of Christmas with a pitiful twig of a tree is also excluded. Poor old Charlie Brown.

But I digress.

The Andy Griffith Christmas episode is strong. Six adults and three children find themselves compelled to spend Christmas in the jailhouse, and they make do.

When I first saw this episode, I thought at first Ben Weaver, the Scrooge of our tale, wanted Sam Muggins and his family to have to stay in the jail cell. I was totally confused by the singing at the window thru the bars.

It is from that moment on the episode takes its remarkable twist.

When Andy finds out what Ben is up to, the duo return with a suitcase of Ben's belongings, his having been arrested for throwing trashcans on the street.

"Oh, Ben," Aunt Bea and Elly say with dismay.

So he opens the suitcase, to have it searched for contraband, and lo and behold, what do we find in here? A catcher's mitt old Ben obviously mistook for a pillow (here, Opie), a pair of roller skates he must have thought was his electric razor (the Muggins boy takes them) and a baby doll? For the Muggins girl.

A bottle of perfume for one of the women, Ben must have thought was after shave.

The barely ten second moment could have been blown, had it not been for old Ben himself. The guff actor maintains his unpleasantness and the gradual air lets the others know there has been a change of heart.

The Grinch's heart grew three times that day.

As it progresses, it only gets better. Ben hands one of the women (Elly or Mrs. Muggins) a present, then snatches it back and gives it to the other woman, quickly producing the second present for the first woman.

Then Barney gets his present. Even tho he emerged in an outlandish Santa Claus outfit, this must stand as one of the few, if not the only, episode that Don Knotts lost to someone else. Barney could have sat this episode out completely.

As Ben turns to be 'led to the prison' Elly and Aunt Bea hand him first a dinner, then a glass of egg nog.

Merry Christmas.

It is all so effective and believable, there is even some of the liquid dripping from the cup, as tho we are really watching these people in a slice of Christmas history.

The ending joke with Ben drinking Sam Muggins moonshine is amusing.

Yet it is fun to ponder this solid, rich episode and envision Andy and Ben heading to the department store and picking up the gifts, either Andy telling Ben what each person would like, or they still play along and Ben gives the wink as he picks up the roller skates "I probably will mistake these for an electric razor."

Likewise it is fun to ponder Ben now sitting in the cell with his dinner, looking out at the two families enjoying themselves and his gifts as he eats his food.

Do any of them speak to him, or do they leave him alone? Does Aunt Bea try to chat with him? Not romantically, but just as another senior citizen.

Or do they leave him be, to sleep on the cot and listen to the merriment, and finally he reaches for the jug of whiskey.

Jingle bells, Ben, jingle bells.

Don't You Wish the World Was Like This?

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 23 November 2019]

Andy acts in a kind way, releasing some prisoners so they can enjoy Christmas. He starts to head home for a celebration, when old Ben brings in a man who he accuses of moonshining. This throws the holiday into turmoil. But there is a heartwarming twist. One of those episodes that is memorable, though so formulaic.

One of season 1's best episodes.

[vitoscotti · 10/10 · 21 September 2022]

Will Wright is outstanding as Mayberry's Scrooge Ben Weaver. One of TAGS best performances. An unusually good script for season 1 meant Andy didn't have to dominate screen time with his southern fried act. Elinor Donahue is delightful even getting a chance to sing. The vanilla Muggins family didn't have many lines and were mostly in the background. Barney played a big role but his character still is waiting to burst out as one of the best in tv history. The ladies were going to and from the courthouse backroom with food as if there was an imaginary stove back there. Bland Sam Edwards will be in multiple episodes after being Sam Muggins here. His best role will be helpless Fred in "The Bazaar" playing one of many Mayberry menfolk lost in the kitchen Andy miraculously is a cooking whiz in.