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10 fascinating little details you never noticed in ''Mayberry Goes Hollywood''
This early favorite had ties to Superman, Kojak and Italian opera.
"Mayberry Goes Hollywood" is an important early episode for The Andy Griffith Show. It introduced a beloved cast member — though he was in a slightly unfamiliar form.
That is not all. The hilarious tale also had unlikely ties to Superman, Kojak and Italian opera. Bet you never noticed all of that.
Let's take a closer look!
Watch The Andy Griffith Show on MeTV!
Weeknights at 8 & 8:30, Sundays at 6 & 6:30 PM
*available in most MeTV markets1. Barney predicts the future.
As Sheriff and Deputy sweep out the jail cell, Barney tells an anecdote about Gordon Belfield, who visited Hollywood himself last summer. Gordon took a bus tour of celebrity homes. They stopped at Gary Cooper's house, where a tourist picked up Gary Cooper's newspaper off the lawn. The maid came out of the house and said, "Get off the grass!" Jump forward five years. The same exact scenerio happens to the Taylors! In the color episode "The Taylors Go to Hollywood," Andy, Opie and Bee find themselves on Cesar Romero's front lawn. Opie picks up his newspaper… and Romero's maid comes out of the house and asks them to get off the grass!
2. This curious headline also ran in The Daily Planet.
Speaking of newspapers, take a close look at the front page of the Mayberry Gazette. A headline in the center of the page declares: 110,000 Chinese Living in Trees as Result of Flood. Nearly a decade early, that exact headline appeared on the front page of The Daily Planet in the Adventures of Superman episode "Rescue"! In fact, the very same headline can be spotted as far back as 1935's Doubting Thomas, a Will Rogers comedy, as well as in the 1958 movie Bride and the Beast. The Yellow River sure did flood often in fictional Hollywood.
3. It was the first episode with Howard McNear.
However, this was not the first appearance of Floyd the Barber! The character had appeared in the previous episode, "Stranger in Town," but was portrayed by Walter Baldwin. "Mayberry Goes Hollywood" marked McNear's debut as Floyd… but with one significant difference.
4. Floyd had a different last name.
Floyd's last name was Colby for this one episode, not Lawson! When the town gussies itself up for the Hollywood producer, Floyd's Barbershop briefly becomes "Colby's Tonsorial Parlor."
5. The actress who played the mayor's daughter later dated Andy.
Josie Lloyd played Juanita Pike, daughter of Mayor Pike. She pops up again as "Josephine Pike" in "The Beauty Pageant." But this was not the only role in Mayberry for Lloyd, who in real life was the daughter of Norman Lloyd. In "Barney Mends a Broken Heart," she gets fixed up on a double date with Barney and Thelma Lou. Though her name was now Lydia Crosswaithe. Lydia turns up again in "Goober and the Art of Love," as a love interest for Goober Pyle.
6. The mayor has a portrait of Verdi in his office.
Speaking of Mayor Pike, the Mayberry municipal leader has a curious choice of art hanging in his office. You will spot a portrait of a stately gentleman with a bushy beard. Founding Father? Former President? No, it is 19th-century Italian opera composer Guiseppi Verdi.
7. Mr. Harmon later played Kojak's boss.
Mr. Harmon is the Hollywood big shot who comes to Mayberry to scout the small town for a film. Dan Frazer plays the character. You might know him best as Capt. Frank McNeil, Kojak's superior on Kojak! He appeared in 117 episodes of the Seventies detective drama.
8. The Mayberry oak tree disappeared.
The town opts to cut down a large oak tree for the film production. Well, they must have done it — the oak tree in this particular position is disappears in later episodes. It was placed there as a prop for this episode. The water trough in "The Darlings Are Coming" is roughly in the same position.
9. The Mayberry Theater changed names.
In the background of "Mayberry Goes Hollywood," you can spot the Mayberry Theater. The place is more commonly seen as the Grand Theater in later episodes.
10. Frances Bavier actually worked with Aunt Bee's favorite actor.
Andy ribs Aunt Bee for her love of Hollywood icon Rock Hudson. "Old Rock kinda does it for you, don't he?" Andy says. In real life, Frances Bavier worked alongside Rock Hudson (as well as Jimmy Stewart and Julie Adams) in the 1952 film Bend of the River.
41 Comments
OUCH! It's spelled GIUSEPPE.
so good
she's the pride of the neighborhood - she's the raw flame, the live wire
she prays like a roman with her eyes on fire:)
(love that music - RIP Walter Becker)
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That was the episode where Earnest T. kept escaping from his jail cell, but when Barney ran back to the courthouse Ernest T. was asleep in his cell.
But the name of the diner was never mentioned.
