Wrestlemania 25 Thoughts

As I did last year with Wrestlemania 24, I wanted to give my thoughts on Wrestlemania 25, which I watched last night.  I like to rate matches, so I’ll give each match a rating between zero and 4 stars.  Since I’m going to list the results of the matches, you might not want to read any further if you didn’t watch the show yet and plan to order the replay.

Pre-PPV Match – Tag-Team Unification Lumberjack Match:  Carlito & Primo Colon d. The Miz & John Morrison

After looking forward to Wrestlemania for days, WWE disappointed me before the PPV even started when I read that this match had been pulled from the PPV at the last minute.  Only the fans in attendance in Houston saw it.  To my knowledge, it didn’t even air on WWE.com.

I was disappointed for several reasons.  First, I just don’t like it when WWE doesn’t deliver something they advertised.  Second, The Miz and John Morrison worked as hard as anyone for the past 12 months, regularly wrestling on Raw, Smackdown, and ECW.  They deserved to be on Wrestlemania.  Finally, moving the match off of the PPV cost all of the lumberjacks their chance to appear on Wrestlemania.  It’s amazing how many wrestlers on the WWE roster didn’t appear on the show.

Match #1 – Money in the Bank Ladder Match:  C.M Punk def. Kane, Mark Henry, Shelton Benjamin, Christian, MVP, Finlay, and Kofi Kingston

As has always been the case with Money in the Bank, this was a good match.  The wrestlers put themselves through a lot of punishment.  It must be hard to keep coming up with new moves to do in ladder matches, but they threw a couple in.  One of these saw Kofi Kingston climb a closed ladder that was being held by Mark Henry.  The other saw Shelton Benjamin run across a contraption consisting of three ladders in order to powerbomb MVP from the top of a standing ladder, although he lost his grip and MVP just crumbled to the ground.  It was also amazing to see see Benjamin do a forward flip off of a very high ladder onto all of his opponents.  It was a fun match from start to finish, with my only complaint being that it was too short at just over 10 minutes.

Rating:  ***

Match #2 -  25 Diva Battle Royal: Won by “Santina” Marella

I was disappointed in this match.  I love battle royals, I thought WWE dropped the ball at every turn with this one.

The first problem was that they didn’t do any introductions for the divas at all.  They walked to the ring during Kid Rock’s performance, and they passed by so quickly that it was hard to spot who all was in the match.  This wouldn’t have been such a big deal if all of the Divas in the match were current WWE divas, but they had several returning Divas making special appearances.  There were so many girls in the ring that it was almost impossible to tell who all was in the there, and in fact, most of the returning Divas (Sunny, Molly Holly, Torrie Wilson, Jackie Gayda-Haas, Victoria, and Joy Giovanni) weren’t even mentioned until they got eliminated.  I’m glad all of these women got to compete in the match.  Molly is one of my favorite wrestlers, and Sunny still looks great.  But why invite them to Mania if they were going to basically be ignored?

The second problem with the match is that it only lasted about 5 minutes, which certainly isn’t long enough for a 25-participant battle royal.

The final problem is that this turned out to be nothing more than a comedy match.  Santino Marella snuck into the ring dressed as a woman, and he won the match.  His silly dance afterwards wasn’t the least bit entertaining, and we didn’t even get to see Beth Phoenix beat him up, even though Santino eliminated her.

With this match, the WWE managed to make a joke out of their entire women’s division in the span of about 5 minutes.

Rating:  1/2 star

Match #3 -  Handicap Elmination Match:  Chris Jericho d. Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper, and Ricky Steamboat

Jericho eliminated Snuka and Piper pretty quickly, which left us with a one-on-one match between Jericho and Steamboat.  It was one of my favorite parts of the show, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Ricky Steamboat was simply amazing.  He retired in the early 90s due to a back injury, but it didn’t look like he had been away from the ring for a day.  He was just as good as ever.  As my friend I was watching the show with commented, Steamboat is still better than a lot of the active wrestlers.  However, Jericho caught Steamboat with the Code Breaker after a few minutes and picked up the win.

I can’t say I liked what happened after the match, though.  Ric Flair was in the legends’ corner for the match, and I expected him to get revenge for the beatdown that Jericho gave him on Raw a couple of weeks ago.  However, Jericho took Flair out again and tossed him from the ring.  This led to an expected, but rather bad, confrontation between Jericho and Mickey Rourke, with Rourke knocking Jericho out with a single punch.

Rating: *** (Because of the Jericho vs. Steamboat part of the match)

Match #4 – Extreme Rules Match:  Matt Hardy d. Jeff Hardy

I hesitate to criticize this match, because it was a good bout.  Jeff Hardy put his body on the line doing a move that could have seriously injured him when he did a springboard from a tall ladder over an even taller ladder to do a leg drop from 20-25 feet in the air.  The guys used all sorts of weapons against each other.  The finish came when Matt hit Jeff with an awesome-looking Twist of Fate while Jeff had a folding metal chair around his neck.

Having said all of that, however, the match was lacking something.  Given the build to the match and the hatred that the Hardys should have been feeling for each other, I was expecting an epic match that would go down as one of Wrestlemania’s best.  Aside from the spot with the ladders, however, it was pretty much a run-of-the-mill WWE style hardcore match (which is to say it wasn’t as good as most matches in the original ECW).  Again, it was a good, enjoyable match, but it just didn’t deliver what I expected from these two at Wrestlemania, especially considering their involvement in much better TLC matches at Wrestlemania a few years ago.

Rating:  ***

Match #5 – IC Title Match:  Rey Misterio d. JBL

I was quite puzzled with this match.  JBL made his triumphant return to Texas as a champion, and then made history just like he’d promised to do:  by losing the match in 21 seconds.  I’m guessing that is probably the shortest IC title match not only at Wrestlemania, but in WWE history.  After the match, JBL grabbed the microphone and said “I quit”.  If that was really JBL’s last match, he sure went out in an unceremonious fashion.   There isn’t much to say about the match – it wasn’t long enough.

Rating:  * 1/2 (Rey’s moves looked fine, I just can’t give a very good rating to a 21 second match)

Match #6:  Undertaker d. Shawn Michaels

As I expected, this match stole the show.  The guys worked very hard for 35 full minutes.   There wasn’t a dull moment.

One moment that stands out in my mind in particular is when Shawn missed a moonsault off the top rope to the floor and landed with an impact that looked certain to break some bones – but didn’t as far as I know.  Another was when Undertaker got a head of steam and jumped over the top rope to the floor – where he crashed into a cameraman and landed on his head.

Shawn kicked out of the Chokeslam, the Last Ride, and a Tombstone.  Undertaker recovered from at least one Sweet Chin Music.  Taker finally got the better of Shawn after a second Tombstone.

For the second year in a row, HBK was involved in my favorite Wrestlemania match, as Shawn vs. Flair tore the house down last year.

Rating: ****

Match #7 – World Title Match:  John Cena d. Edge and Big Show

I can’t really think of much to say about this match.  It was a classic case of a “better than I thought it would be” match, but that’s because I didn’t expect much from it going in.

Rating: ** 1/2

Match #8 – WWE Title Match:  Triple H d. Randy Orton

I always hesitate to criticize wrestlers who go into the ring and put their bodies on the line for our entertainment, but there isn’t any way to sugarcoat it – this match was DULL.  Given the build to the match, I thought they might do something special with this one, but they didn’t.

The most exciting (but also kind of strange) part of the match was when both guys hit their finishers in the first 3 minutes of the match, to little effect.  The rest of the match was slow and plodding.  As with the Hardys’ match earlier, it was pretty devoid of emotion given the hatred the guys should have been feeling for each other following the events of the past few weeks.

The end of the match wasn’t even interesting.  There weren’t any back-and-forth near falls as I expect from a Wrestlemania main event.  Triple H simply decimated Orton for the last several minutes of the match and finally pinned him.

If this wasn’t the worst Wrestlemania main event ever, it has to be close.

Rating:  *

Closing Thoughts:

• I didn’t think this was the best Wrestlemania ever, but it wasn’t the worst, either, despite the surprisingly bad main event.  I enjoyed it, and that’s what matters.  The 4 hours went by quickly and I didn’t get tired of watching, so I think that speaks well that it was a good show.

• I thought it was interesting that two talents who no longer work for WWE on a regular basis – Jackie Gayda-Haas and Jimmy Snuka – made the show, while their relatives who are full-time employees of WWE – Charlie Haas and Sym Snuka – didn’t appear.

• WWE advertised this as the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania, but it wasn’t.  It was the 25th Wrestlemania, but it was the 24th anniversary.  The only way it could be the 25th anniversary is if you count the first Wrestlemania as the first anniversary.  That would be same as saying your wedding day was also your first anniversary.

Andy Griffith Show Rankings – Season 4

At long last, I’ve finally finished ranking the Season 4 episodes of the Andy Griffith Show. This was another very strong season. I consider the first 19 episodes in my rankings to be excellent, with numbers 20 through 26 being very good. It isn’t until the last 6 episodes in my rankings for this season that we start getting into episodes that I’m not crazy about.

Episodes featuring Ernest T. Bass scored the #2 and #3 positions in my rankings, but the episode where Gomer joins the Marines is my favorite episode of Season 4. I’d say this episode stands a great chance of being named my favorite episode of all time, once I get ready to compile all of my rankings into a single list.

Some fans of the show might be surprised to see me rank “Fun Girls” all the way down at #28. Skippy and Daphne are two of the most well-known characters to appear on the show, despite only being in two or three episodes. However, I never liked those characters very much.

I have “Prisoner of Love” ranked last among the Season 4 episodes. In this episode, Andy begins to fall for a female prisoner who is inarculated…I mean incarcerated…in the Mayberry jail. There is a lot of tension in this episode – I’d go so far as to call it sexual tension – as Andy struggles with his feelings for the prisoner. The tone if this episode is way too serious for me, and the subject matter is on the borderline of being inappropriate for a family show. I always thought this script was out-of-place for the Andy Griffith Show, to the point that I’m surprised they recorded this episode at all.

Below are my complete rankings for all 32 of the Season 4 episodes.

Rank	Ep. #	Episode Name	Synopsis
1	4.32	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C	Gomer joins the Marines
2	4.3	Ernest T. Joins the Army	Halarity ensues when Ernest T. Bass decides to join the Army
3	4.17	My Fair Ernest T. Bass	Andy tries to teach Ernest T. some manners, and then tries to pass him off at a party as his cousin
4	4.11	Citizen’s Arrest	Gomer slaps Barney with a citizen’s arrest when arney makes an illegal U-turn
5	4.16	Barney’s Sidecar	Barney terrorizes Mayberry after buying a motorcycle with a sidecar
6	4.13	Barney and the Cave Rescue	Barney must rescue Andy and Helen after a cave-in…or so he believes
7	4.2	The Haunted House	Andy, Barney, and Gomer try to retrieve a lost baseball from a supposedly haunted house
8	4.9	A Date for Gomer	Andy and Barney make a blind date for Gomer with Thelma Lou’s cousin Mary Grace
9	4.24	Bargain Day	Aunt Bee gets stuck with a tough side of beef and a freezer that doesn’t work. Call the man!
10	4.21	The Shoplifters	Andy and Barney try to figure out who is robbing Ben Weaver’s store
11	4.7	Black Day for Mayberry	Word leaks out that a gold shipment is coming through Mayberry on the way to Fort Knox
12	4.4	The Sermon for Today	The townsfolk try to put on a band concert after being inspired by a visiting pastor’s sermon
13	4.23	Andy Saves Gomer	Gomer tries to repay Andy for “saving his life” after a small fire at the filling station
14	4.29	The Rumor	Barney mistakenly thinks Andy and Helen are engaged after seeing them kiss in the jewelry store
15	4.31	Barney and Thelma Lou, Phfftt	Thelma Lou gets angry at Barney and starts dating Gomer
16	4.26	A Deal is a Deal	Opie and his friends get stuck trying to sell Miracle Salve
17	4.28	The Return of Malcolm	Andy hires Malcolm Merryweather as a butler so Aunt Bee can become a lady of leisure
18	4.22	Andy’s Vacation	Andy tries to take a vacation, but can’t get any peace
19	4.20	The Song Festers	Barney is crushed when Gomer is selected to sing the solo at the choir concert
20	4.25	Divorce, Mountain Style	Charlene uses a mountain ritual to divorce Dud, and then tries to marry Andy
21	4.19	Hot Rod Otis	Town drunk Otis Campbell buys a car
22	4.6	Gomer the House Guest	Gomer moves into the Taylor home after losing his job (and apartment) at the filling station
23	4.15	Aunt Bee the Crusader	Aunt Bee tries to prevent Mr. Frisbee from being kicked off his land, not realizing he’s a moonshiner
24	4.5	Briscoe Declare for Aunt Bee	Briscoe darling kidnaps Aunt Bee after she rejects his attempts to court her
25	4.1	Opie the Birdman	After accidentally killing a mother bird with his slingshot, Opie cares for the baby birds
26	4.10	Up in Barney’s Room	Barney gets evicted from his boarding house for cooking in his room
27	4.31	Back to Nature	Barney and Gomer get lost in the woods during a camping trip
28	4.27	Fun Girls	Andy and Barney’s plan to take Helen and Thelma Lou to the dance are ruined by Skippy and Daphne
29	4.14	Andy and Opie’s Pal	Opie becomes jealous of his new friend Trey when he believes Andy likes Trey better than him
30	4.8	Opie’s Ill-Gotten Gain	Opie gets straight A’s on his report card, but only due to his teacher’s mistake
31	4.12	Opie and His Merry Men	While pretending to be Robin Hood and his merry men, Opie and his friends begin helping a hobo
32	4.18	Prisoner of Love	Captain Christopher Pike’s love interest somehow winds up in the Mayberry jail

Wrestlemania 24 Thoughts

As most of you who are regular readers of my blog probably know, I’m a fan of professional wrestling. As such, I watched Wrestlemania 24 last night, and I wanted to post my thoughts about the matches. I like to rate matches, so I’ll be assigning a rating to each match, with 4 stars being the best.

If you haven’t watched Wrestlemania yet and you plan to do so, you probably won’t want to read the rest of this post, as it contains the results of each match.

Pre-PPV Match: Kane wins a Battle Royale to earn an ECW Title Match
This match was originally announced as being part of Wrestlemania, but they moved it to the pre-show to make sure they’d have time for the other matches on the PPV. To my surprise, they didn’t show this match on TV at all, not even during the official pre-show before the PPV. The only way to watch the Battle Royale was on WWE.com. It was an entertaining match, but it wasn’t the best Battle Royale I’ve ever seen, as it only lasted 10 minutes.
Rating: **1/2

Match #1: Bradshaw d. Finlay (w/ Hornswoggle) in a Belfast Brawl
This was a fun match that included a ton of the usual hardcore match weapons, including trash cans and tables. It was actually my 3rd-favorite match on the PPV, but keep in mind that I really like gimmick matches.
Rating: ***

Match #2: C.M. Punk d. Carlito, MVP, John Morrison, Kennedy, Chris Jericho, and Shelton Benjamin in a Money in the Bank Ladder Match
This was my favorite match of the night. The guys really put their bodies on the line in a dangerous and thrilling match.

In addition to the usual spots that are seen in ladder matches, they threw in some new ones as well. One such spot saw two ladders wedged together at the bottom, which led to John Morrison climbing a ladder that wasn’t even open and was being held up only due to being wedged in the other ladder.

Shelton Benjamin took some insane bumps in this match. In one of these, he took nasty fall as the ladder he was trying to use to do a move collapsed. In another, he was thrown from the top of a ladder that was inside the ring, which sent him crashing through a ladder that was propped up between the ring and the safety railing. The impact broke the ladder he fell on in two.

The ending was well-done also, with C.M. Punk knocking Chris Jericho backwards off of the ladder, which led to Jericho getting his leg caught between the rungs and hanging helplessly upside-down as Punk grabbed the briefcase the was hanging over the ring. This was an amazing match.
Rating: ****

Match #3: Batista d. Umaga
I didn’t expect much from this match, and that’s about what I got from it. At least it was short. Some matches deserve to be given a lot of time, but this wasn’t one of them, so I was glad they kept it to a length that was appropriate to the match (less than 10 minutes, I think). It was a typical match between two power wrestlers, with a lot of brawling and the occasional power move. I see this phrase used a lot in various contexts, but it fits here very well – this match was “good for what it was”.
Rating: **

Match #4: Kane d. Chavo Guerrero (c) for the ECW Title
This barely deserves to be called a match. Kane snuck into the ring from the crowd instead of walking down the entrance ramp, so Chavo didn’t know he was in the ring. As soon as Chavo turned around, the bell rang, Kane choke-slammed him, and got the pin. The match lasted about 6 seconds. This was a very disappointing match that de-valued the ECW title even further. The only reason I gave this match even a 1/2 star rating is because the bell did ring at the beginning and end, so it was a match. About the only way a match could be so bad that I’d give it zero stars would be if it didn’t take place at all.
Rating: 1/2 star

Match #5: Shawn Michaels d. Ric Flair
Since Flair lost, this was supposedly the last match of Flair’s career. If that is true, it was a great match to go out on (although Flair should have won his last match). Flair and Michaels both worked very hard. This was my second-favorite match of the show.

Flair did a lot more different moves in this match than he has done in most of his matches late in his career, including a flying body press from the top rope, and a vertical suplex where he held Michaels in place for several seconds before dropping him.

Michaels hit (and missed) some big moves as well, the most impressive of which was actually a missed Asai moonsault that saw Flair move out of the way and Michaels land on one of the announce tables, breaking it. He also hit a top-rope moonsault onto Flair, who was outside the ring on the floor.

Flair hooked Michaels into the figure-4 twice during the match, with Michaels escaping. I thought it was cool that Flair also escaped from the variation of the figure-4 that Michaels has been using lately, and I also liked that it took three Sweet Chin Musics for Michaels to put Flair away (with Flair kicking out the first one).

There was a lot of emotion portrayed in the match as well, with Michaels pulling up short the first time he went for Sweet Chin Music because he couldn’t bring himself to do it, and Michaels saying “I’m sorry. I love you.” to Flair right before hitting the third Sweet Chin Music to win the match.

I fully expect to see Flair wrestle again at some point, but if this was his final match, he went out in style on the grandest stage of them all.
Rating: ***1/2

Match #6: Beth Phenix & Melina d. Maria & Ashley in a Lumberjack Match
This match was beyond bad. It was nearly unwatchable. The women’s champ Beth Phenix was stuck in this mess while the two best female wrestlers in WWE (Victoria and Mickey James) were relegated to standing outside the ring and acting as Lumberjacks (simply because they’ve never appeared in Playboy – I guess that shows the value WWE places on women’s wrestling). The most entertaining part of the match was when the lights when out for about a minute due to a technical problem and Jerry Lawler wondered if The Undertaker was on his way to the ring. We also saw Santino Marella interfere in the match, only to be punched by Lawler and clotheslined by Snoop Dog.
Rating: 1/2 star

Match #7: Randy Orton (c) d. Triple H & John Cena in a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Title
Others might disagree, but this match didn’t go anything for me. I thought it was quite bad. I’ve seen much better matches from all three of these wrestlers. They’re capable of much better than this.

I’m not sure what it was, but this was one of those matches that was just missing something that I can’t quite put my finger on. It was sloppy and run-of-the-mill. They tried to do one or two unique spots, but they just didn’t work. I also thought it was a poor decision for Triple H to use the Crippler Crossface during the match, which brought back some bad memories that WWE would be better off not drawing extra attention to. On top of everything else, this match was too short, coming in at just around 15 minutes.

I normally like multiple-man matches (with the traditional singles match actually being among my least-favorite types of match), but if I’ve ever seen a case made as to why Wrestlemania main events should be singles matches, this would be it. This was just a terribly disappointing match.
Rating: *1/2

Match #8: Floyd Mayweather d. Big Show
I don’t really have much to say about this match, other than that it shouldn’t have happened. 140 pound boxer Floyd Mayweather defeated a 420 pound, seven foot tall wrestler in a match where anything goes. Right. At least it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Due to the entertainment factor, I actually rated it higher than the WWE Title Match, which illustrates just how bad I thought that match was.
Rating: **

Match #9: Undertaker d. Edge (c) for the World Title
This match was solid, if not spectacular. Both guys worked hard, and in the end, I thought they put forth an effort worthy of a Wrestlemania main event.
Rating: ***

Additional Thought
* I think every WWE title belt should be defended on the biggest PPV of the year. The fact that the IC title, U.S. Title, Women’s Title, and neither set of tag titles were defended on the show is ridiculous.

Andy Griffith Show Rankings – Season 3

I’ve just finished ranking the season 3 episodes of the Andy Griffith Show, and it looks like this might be a long post, as there are a lot of things I’d like to discuss about this season.

While looking over the episode list for season 3, it struck me that this was a very strong season for the show. Several of the episodes that I consider all-time classics were part of this season. I think “Man in a Hurry” is widely considered by many fans to be the best episode of the show, but I have both “Mountain Wedding” and “The Loaded Goat” ranked above it.

This season is notable because many of the most popular characters to appear on the show all made their debuts during season 3. The first appearances of Helen Crump, Gomer Pyle, Ernest T. Bass, the Darling family, Mayor Stoner, Patty McMillan, Malcolm Merriweather, and The Fun Girls (Skippy and Daphne) all occurred during this season. I love most of these characters, but I have to say, I never cared for The Fun Girls.

An interesting note about Helen Crump that I recently learned is that the producers of the show originally only planned to have her appear in one episode, which is why they gave her an unpleasant sounding name. However, Andy Griffith and Aneta Corsaut (who played Helen) had such great chemistry together that they decided to make her a regular on the show.

Now, there’s something I always wondered about this season – what ever happened to Peggy? She was introduced as Andy’s new girlfriend in the second episode of the season, and she was also featured in episodes 4, 6, and 10 of season 3. After that, she was never seen again, and as far as I recall, no explanation was ever given as to what happened to her. I think Peggy was Andy’s all-around best girlfriend (although Mary #2 from season 2 was the most attractive), and I think Andy would have been better off marrying Peg instead of Helen.

Well, that’s all I can think of for now. It seems like I thought of about a half dozen other things I wanted to mention while I was ranking the episodes earlier, so it’s probably good for you that I forgot what those topics were, or else you’d probably be reading this for another hour. Below is the complete list of my rankings for season 3.

Rank	Ep. #	Episode Name	Synopsis
1	3.31	Mountain Wedding	Ernest T. Bass wreaks havoc with Charlene and Dud’s wedding plans
2	3.18	The Loaded Goat	Jimmy the goat eats himself full of dynamite
3	3.16	Man in a Hurry	Malcolm Tucker has trouble getting his broken-down car repaired
4	3.11	Convicts-at-large	Barney and Floyd are taken hostage by 3 escaped female convicts
5	3.27	Barney’s First Car	Barney is tricked into buying a lemon from a car thief
6	3.32	The Big House	The Mayberry jail plays host to 2 criminals while Andy and the state police search for their partners
7	3.25	The Darlings are Coming	The Darling family comes to town to greet Charlene’s fiance Dud who is coming back from the Army
8	3.15	Barney and the Governer	Barney unknowingly tickets the Governer’s car
9	3.24	Aunt Bee’s Medicine Man	Colonel Harvey’s “elixer” is actually mostly alocohol
10	3.13	The Bank Job	Barney accidentally gets locked in the safe while trying to prove that the Mayberry bank is an easy mark
11	3.26	Andy’s English Valet	Malcolm Merriweather goes to work for Andy to pay off a debt
12	3.20	Rafe Hollister Sings	Rafe wins a contest to sing at the musicale, but the mayor objects
13	3.28	The Rivals	Opie is too shy to ask Karen to the movies – so Thelma Lou tries to build up his confidence
14	3.5	The Cow Thief	A man steals cows by putting shoes on them
15	3.3	Andy and The New Mayor	Mayor Stoner objects when Andy grants a prisoner a temporary release so he can harvest his crops
16	3.17	High Noon in Mayerry	Barney assumes the worst when an ex-con comes to visit Andy
17	3.8	The Mayberry Band	The mayor refuses to let the horible town band play in the state capital
18	3.7	Lawman Barney	Barney has problems with a couple of farmers who are illegal selling produce on the street
19	3.4	Andy and Opie – Bachelors	Floyd convinces Andy that Peg has ulterior motives when she helps around the house while Bee is away
20	3.3	Dogs, Dogs, Dogs	The corthouse is invaded by 11 stray dogs right before the state investigator is set to arrive
21	3.29	A Wife for Andy	Barney tries to set up Andy with Helen, but after it works, Barney decided Helen isn’t the girl for Andy
22	3.10	Opie’s Rival	Opie is jealous of Peggy and the time Andy spends with her
23	3.23	Andy Discovers America	Andy has a run-in with Opie’s new teacher when he gives Opie the impression history isn’t important
24	3.22	Great Filling Station Robbery	Jimmy (not the goat) is suspected of robbing Wally’s Filling Station
25	3.2	Andy’s Rich Girlfriend	Barney convinces Andy that his relationship with Peggy won’t work
26	3.1	Mr. McBeevee	Opie befriends Mr. McBeevee, who Andy believes is an imaginary friend
27	3.21	Opie and The Spoiled Kid	Opie’s new friend Arnold is spoiled
28	3.6	Mends a Broken Heart	Barney tries to find Andy another girl after he has an argument with Peggy
29	3.19	Class Reunion	Andy reunites with an old flame at the High School Reunion
30	3.12	The Bed Jacket	Andy has to make a deal with the mayor in order to get the bed jacket Bee waned for her birthday
31	3.9	The Gay Deceiver	Floyd is in a bind when a penpal he’s been lying to decides to come for a visit
32	3.14	One-Punch Opie	Opie stands up to a troublemaker who is getting him and his friends in trouble

Andy Griffith Show Rankings – Season 2

Below is the list that shows my rankings for the Season 2 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show.

My top episode of the season is one of the all-time classics, The Pickle Story. Aunt Bee makes eight jars of her pickles, which unfortunately for Andy, Opie, and Barney, are terrible. The guys replace Aunt Bee’s pickles with store-bought pickles since they know Aunt Bee expects them to eat them. However, when Aunt Bee decides to enter her pickles in the county fair, the guys realize they’ll have to eat all of the store-bought pickles and force Aunt Bee to make another batch of hers so the contest will be fair. This time, Aunt Bee makes 16 quarts of pickles and the guys realize they’ll have to learn to love them. I’m pretty sure Don Knotts named this as his favorite episode.

Season 2 also featured several guest stars that would go on to become well-known stars – Bill Bixby (David Banner on The Incredible Hulk), Alan Hale Jr. (The Skipper on Gilligan’s Island), Barbara Eden (Jeannie on I Dream of Jeannie), and Buddy Ebson (Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies).

I think imdb.com helped me solve a minor mystery that I’ve always wondered about. A nurse named Mary appeared in two episodes as a love interest of Andy, but Mary was played by a different actress in each episode. I always wondered if it was supposed to be the same character in both episodes, and apparently it was, as imdb.com lists Mary’s last name as being the same in both episodes.

Rank	Ep. #	Episode Name	Synopsis
1	2.11	The Pickle Story	Aunt Bee’s pickles taste like kerosene cucumbers
2	2.12	Sheriff Barney	When Andy considers taking a new job, Barney takes over as sheriff for a day
3	2.10	The Clubmen	Andy and Barney are considered for membership in The Esquire Club
4	2.22	The Merchant of Mayberry	Andy helps a struggling saleman set up a roadside stand while antagonizing Ben Weaver
5	2.23	Aunt Bee the Warden	Andy has to make Otis serve his sentence at the Taylor home because the jail is full
6	2.27	Three’s a Crowd	Barney keeps interfering in Andy’s budding relationship with Mary
7	2.24	The County Nurse	Andy and Barney try to help Nurse Mary convince Rafe Hollister to take a tetanus shot
8	2.29	Andy on Trail	Andy is accused of misconduct by a newspaper publisher he arrested
9	2.30	Cousin Virgil	Barney’s awkward cousin comes to visit
10	2.20	Barney and the Choir	Barney is asked to join the choir before the director realizes Barney can’t sing
11	2.17	The Jinx	The townsfolk are convinced that Henry Bennett is a jinx
12	2.15	Bailey’s Bad Boy	A spoiled, rich young man sideswipes a farmer’s truck
13	2.16	The Manucurist	The townsfolk don’t know how to react when a manucurist sets up shop in Floyd’s Barber Shop
14	2.7	Crime-Free Mayberry	Mayberry is recognized as having the lowest crime rate in the country
15	2.4	Mayberry Goes Bankrupt	Frank Meyers finds an old bond and learns that Mayberry owes him over $349,000.
16	2.14	The Keeper of the Flame	Opie is accused of starting a fire that burns down Jubal Foster’s barn
17	2.3	The Woman Speeder	A woman uses her charms on Barney, Floyd, and Opie to help her get out of a speeding ticket
18	2.2	Barney’s Replacement	Barney fears that a new temporary deputy has actually come to replace him
19	2.1	Opie and the Bully	A bully forces Opie to give him his milk money
20	2.25	The Big City	Andy and Barney help capture a jewel theif in Raleigh
21	2.28	The Bookie Barber	Floyd hires a second barber who turns out to be a bookie
22	2.18	Jailbreak	Andy and Barney help the state police catch Frank Malloy and his partner
23	2.19	A Medal for Opie	Opie wants to win a medal in the school race
24	2.8	The Perfect Female	Barney and Thelma Lou set Andy up on a blind date with Thelma Lou’s cousin Karen
25	2.5	Barney on the Rebound	A con man and his wife file a breach of promise suit against Barney
26	2.13	The Farmer Takes a Wife	Jeff Pruitt decides he wants Thelma Lou to be his wife
27	2.6	Opie’s Hobo Friend	Opie befriends a hobo named Dave Brown
28	2.21	Guest of Honor	Mayberry accidentally picks a thief to be their guest of honor on Founder’s Day
29	2.31	Deputy Otis	Otis is made a temporary deputy so he can try to impress his visiting brother
30	2.9	Aunt Bee’s Brief Encounter	Aunt Bee hits it off with Mr. Wheeler the handyman
31	2.26	Wedding Bells for Aunt Bee	Aunt Bee almost marries Mr. Goss when Clara convinces her she should get married

Andy Griffith Show Rankings – Season 1

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”

Ranking Andy Griffith Show Episodes

I think I’ve decided to finally tackle a project that I’ve been thinking about for a long time – ranking every episode of the Andy Griffith Show in order from my favorite to least favorite. I discovered today that imdb.com has a complete listing of all of the episodes, along with a good summary of each one. As big a fan as I am of the show, one thing I never learned is the actual names of the episodes, so I need the summaries to help me identify each episode by name. Now I think I have the information I need to compile my list. I know you all can’t wait to see it!