I’ve finished ranking the season 1 episodes of the Andy Griffith Show in order from my most favorite to least favorite. It’s hard to compile a list like this, especially when you really like almost every episode that you are ranking.
The only episodes in this season that I really didn’t care for very much were the final three on the list. “The Gentleman Crook” was kind of dull and didn’t have a lot of comedy. “The Guitar Player Returns” was one of the most serious of the black and white episodes and aside from a couple of moments, it had almost no comedy at all, which is very strange for the show. “The Runaway Kid” was one of those episodes that was more about Andy helping teach Opie a life lesson than it was about comedy, but it didn’t deliver as well as some other episodes of that type.
After I finished the list and looked back over it, probably the biggest surprise I spotted was that “The Manhunt” fell all the way to 15th on my list. Before I started, I thought I would rank it higher.
As those of you who are fans of the show know, Eleanor Donahue, who played Ellie Walker, only appeared in the first season of the show. As I looked over the episode list, I only counted 12 episodes that I remember Ellie appearing in. That’s barely more than 1/3 of the episodes. I knew she wasn’t in all of the episodes that season, but it surprised me that the total was that low. I wonder if that contributed to her decision to leave the show.
Below is my complete list of rankings.
| Rank | Ep. # | Episode Name | Synopsis |
| 1 | 1.12 | Stranger in Town | A stranger claims Mayberry is his home town, even though he’s never been there before |
| 2 | 1.26 | The Inspector | A state inspector causes trouble for Andy and Barney |
| 3 | 1.11 | A Christmas Story | Ben Weaver finds the Christmas spirit |
| 4 | 1.8 | Opie’s Charity | Andy is upset when Opie donates 3 cents to the needy children’s fund drive |
| 5 | 1.28 | Andy Forecloses | Ben Weaver forces Andy to serve the Scobey family with a foreclosure notice |
| 6 | 1.23 | Housekeepers | The Taylor house quickly becomes a pig sty while Aunt Bee is out of town |
| 7 | 1.2 | Barney’s Morale | Barney jails half the townsfolk while acting as sheriff while Andy is out of town |
| 8 | 1.4 | Ellie Comes to Town | Emma Brand takes sick after Ellie refused to give her pills w/o a prescription |
| 9 | 1.9 | A Fued Is a Fued | Andy settles a fued between the Wakefields and the Carters |
| 10 | 1.3 | Barney Gets His Man | Barney captures escaped convict Eddie Brooke twice |
| 11 | 1.24 | The New Doctor | Andy is afraid the new doctor is trying to steal Ellie away from him |
| 12 | 1.22 | Cyrano Andy | Thelma Lou uses Andy to try to make Barney jealous |
| 13 | 1.15 | Those Gossipin’ Men | The men in town mistake a traveling shoe salesman for a Hollywood talent scout |
| 14 | 1.7 | Andy the Matchmaker | Andy stages a robbery at the drug store to help Barney gain the confidence to ask Rosemary for a date |
| 15 | 1.2 | The Manhunt | After being disrespected by the State Police, Andy helps capture a criminal |
| 16 | 1.1 | The New Housekeeper | The introduction of Andy, Opie, and Aunt Bee |
| 17 | 1.29 | Quiet Sam | Barney is suspicious of reclusive Sam Becker |
| 18 | 1.19 | Mayberry on Record | Mr. Maxwell decides to make a folk album featuring local talent from Mayberry |
| 19 | 1.17 | Alcohol and Old Lace | The Morrison sisters run a still in their flower shop |
| 20 | 1.18 | The Marriage Counselor | Fred and Jenny Boone won’t stop fighting with each other |
| 21 | 1.14 | The Horse Trader | Andy and Barney try to sell an old cannon |
| 22 | 1.10 | Ellie for Council | The town divides into two camps when Ellie decides to become the first woman to run for town council |
| 23 | 1.16 | The Beauty Contest | Andy is selected to judge a beauty contest |
| 24 | 1.25 | Plaque for Mayberry | Otis Campbell is honored for being the direct descendand of a Revolutionary War hero |
| 25 | 1.3 | The Guitar Player | Local guitarist Jim Lindsey joins a traveling band |
| 26 | 1.13 | Mayberry Goes Hollywood | A movie producer wants to make a picture in Mayberry |
| 27 | 1.5 | Irresistible Andy | Andy becomes suspicious that Ellie is plotting to marry him |
| 28 | 1.32 | Bringing Up Opie | Aunt Bee decides the jail is a bad influence on Opie and that he should stop spending time there |
| 29 | 1.27 | Ellie Saves a Female | Ellie helps transform Frankie Flint from a farmgirl into a proper young lady |
| 30 | 1.21 | The Gentleman Crook | Gentleman Dan Caldwell tricks everyone but Andy into trusting him as he plans his escape |
| 31 | 1.31 | The Guitar Player Returns | Jim Lindsey is down on his luck after quitting Bobby Fleet’s band |
| 32 | 1.6 | Runaway Kid | Opie befriends a runaway boy named “Tex” |
impressive… opie’s charity was probably my favorite of that season.
can’t wait to see what you do with the travesty that was the “sprague and warren era” as I like to call it.
Good list! I thought you might be interested in playing our Andy Griffith Show Hangman Game at
http://hubpages.com/hub/Andy-Griffith-Show-Hangman-Game-Mayberry–NC
Miss Ellie was such a good fit on the show. Too bad it didn’t work out to keep her as Andy’s love interest a while longer. I have had the opportunity to hear Elinor talk about this twice, and she says that she was very young at the time, somewhat insecure, and she and Andy just didn’t have the right chemistry working together.
There is an Ellie Walker forum at Mayberry USA if you would like to join the discussion!
By the way, you and your readers are invited to play the original Mayberry/Andy Griffith Show Hangman at the Mayberry Carnival – played continuously since 9005 at
http://mayberryusa.yuku.com/forums/67!
Oops! I should have left a link for the Ellie Walker forum!
http://mayberryusa.yuku.com/forums/92
I found your site on google and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work.