Only read if you have nothing else to do.<\/p>\n
(Cue the whistling of the Mayberry theme song)<\/em><\/p>\n Let\u2019s first examine the bios of the main characters from that nostalgic television program, The Andy Griffith Show<\/em><\/strong>, which took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Andrew Jackson \u201cAndy\u201d Taylor<\/strong>: A pragmatic and genial sheriff and justice of the peace, who never wore a gun or a tie and didn\u2019t have too much trouble keeping peace in this bucolic southern town. He was a widower, who had a son, Opie<\/strong> and a paternal aunt named Aunt Bea<\/strong>. \u00a0He had a polite charm and \u00a0generally keeps the peace with common sense. Beatrice \u201cAunt Bea\u201d Taylor<\/strong>: Aunt Bea was a spinster who raised Andy. She was living alone in West Virginia<\/strong> when Andy asked her to come and live with Opie and him when their current housekeeper, Rose, married and moved out of Mayberry.<\/p>\n Bernard (? middle name) \u201cBarney\u201d Fife:<\/strong> This wiry, high-strung deputy was a comic genius, who played the bumbling sidekick to perfection. He was single, but was seriously dating Thelma Lou. He did wear a gun and a tie, but the gun was never loaded. However he kept a bullet in his shirt pocket for emergencies<\/strong>. Most of the time when he pulled it out he ended up nearly shooting himself in the foot. Although Mayberry had little crime, Barney refers to the town as \u2018The Gateway to Danger\u2019<\/strong>. \u00a0Not as part of any plot line, there was some controversy over Barney\u2019s middle name. In Season 2 he says his middle name is \u2018Oliver\u2019<\/strong>. In Season 4, his high school yearbook shows Gomer Pyle<\/strong>: Well Gollll-ly! Gomer is the dim-witted, sleepy-eyed, single, mechanic at Wally\u2019s Filling Station<\/strong>\u00a0with a toothy grin and a southern accent. He is sometimes deputized when Barney needs a hand at screwing up a case. Gomer leaves the show after Season 4 to start a new series, Gomer Pyle, USMC<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Goober Pyle:<\/strong> When Gomer signs up for the Marines, he recruits his long lost single cousin<\/strong>, Goober to replace him as the mechanic at Wally\u2019s Filling Station<\/strong>. Both were very good-natured and always willing to help, sometimes to a fault. The actors who played Gomer and Goober where both from Alabama, so the southern accents were real. Helen Crump<\/strong>: Helen is single and from Kansas and moves to Mayberry for a teaching assignment<\/strong>. She is Opie\u2019s teacher (he calls her \u2018old lady Crump\u2019<\/strong>). \u00a0When Opie asks his dad for help on a history assignment, Andy\u2019s advice is misunderstood by Opie which leads to Helen marching down to Andy\u2019s office and giving him a piece of her mind. One thing leads to another and the next thing you know Andy’s walking her home and they become\u00a0\u2018an item\u2019<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Floyd Lawson<\/strong>: The fastidious, slow-paced, often absent-minded local barber<\/strong> who dispensed advice along with his haircuts. Floyd is single and his character is said to be based on Andy\u2019s real barber Howard Sprague<\/strong>: The milquetoast county clerk<\/strong> with mustache<\/strong> and bow ties<\/strong> had a penchants for philosophy and culture, but was a repressed \u2018mama\u2019s boy\u2019<\/strong> who lived with his overbearing and manipulative mother. Due to is upbringing, he was socially stymied especially when it came to dating. In one episode Howard tries to be a stand-up comic<\/strong>, unfortunately people laughed at him and not with him. Otis Campbell<\/strong>: The town drunk<\/strong> who was also sometimes deputized so he could let himself in and out of jail. Viewers meet Otis\u2019 wife in an episode where Otis is jailed for assault, the first time he\u2019s jailed for something other than drunkenness, because he threw a leg of lamb<\/strong> at his wife, missed and hit his mother-in-law. Otis stopped appearing toward the end of the series because sponsors raised concerns over the portrayal of excessive drinking. (Perhaps the beginning of political correctness??)<\/strong><\/p>\n Hey, I didn\u2019t make this up; I just heard it at the airport and am passing it along for your perusal and consideration.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow One claims to be \u201cThe Happiest Place on Earth\u201d while the other just may have actually been. Only read if you have nothing else to do. (Cue the whistling of the Mayberry theme song) Yes, I\u2019m writing … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/theme-song.jpeg\")
<\/a>Yes, I\u2019m writing about Mayberry<\/strong> this week, or rather something I heard about Mayberry<\/strong> while eating in some international airport<\/strong> during my recent travels. I apologize if you may have heard what I\u2019m about to write, as this kind of thing travels very fast, especially when it\u2019s using international airports.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/andy-barney.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/aunt-bea-150x150.jpeg\")
<\/a>his middle name as \u2018Milton\u2019<\/strong>. In Season 5 he states his full name as Barney P<\/strong>. Fife. Sadly this is the stuff that keeps me awake at night.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gomer-goober-150x150.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/floyd-150x150.jpeg\")
<\/a>from his hometown of Mount\u00a0Airy, North Carolina,<\/strong>\u00a0(sounds oddly similar to Mount Pilot the fictional neighboring town to Mayberry) where he owned \u2018Floyd\u2019s City Barber Shop\u2019<\/strong>. Howard McNear, who played the character Floyd, had a stroke midway through the third season and could not stand for any length of time or move very well. But he returned to play Floyd as the writers kept his character sitting down most of the time.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/howard-150x150.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/otis-150x150.jpeg\")
<\/a>So what we\u2019ve discovered, if you haven\u2019t already realized it, it’s that all the characters, except Otis, who was always drunk, were not married. Perhaps this is why Mayberry was considered by many as\u00a0The Happiest Place on Earth.<\/strong><\/p>\n