Quick! Someone tell everyone in Floyd's Barber Shop that Barbara Eden loved shy guys

The blonde TV bombshell appeared in Mayberry as a crushworthy manicurist. She claimed all men fit into one of these 5 categories.

"Sure none of you gentleman would like a manicure?" Barbara Eden asks all the men assembled at Floyd’s barber shop and eyeballing her manicure station during The Andy Griffith Show episode "The Manicurist."

In Mayberry, Eden’s role was to intrude upon Floyd’s boys-only zone with her fingerpainting ways. Comedy ensued when everybody develops a crush on the manicurist.

At this point in her career, Eden had made a name for herself playing Loco, a ditzy would-be millionaire’s wife, one of three central characters on the late Fifties sitcom How to Marry a Millionaire.

After that show ended, Eden felt she was typecast as a dumb blonde, saying the only significant thing that happened while doing the sitcom was marrying Michael Ansara. (Their PR reps set them up on a date and a few coffee breaks later, they were ready to get hitched!)

But then in 1960, Eden got cast in a funny scene in a Paul Newman movie called From the Terrace, and Eden told The Newspaper Enterprise Association that year that she finally felt she was out of sitcom "Siberia."

A range of roles like the manicurist on The Andy Griffith Show soon followed, until she ultimately ended up starring in I Dream of Jeannie. On that show, her husband occasionally appeared.

Before getting married, Eden had spent her teen years in Hollywood, and she told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1960, "as a rule, young actresses are not particularly well-liked by other young actresses. And I am no exception."

Because of this, most of her friends ended up being men, and she said she ended up dating some of the lucky ones. As a result, "I’ve learned a lot about them," and she said she could sort every man on Earth into one of five categories.

"Men won’t like this," Eden said. "They’re all so sure they’re rugged individuals, especially actors, but the truth is that they fall into types. Here in Hollywood, they do, and I’m sure it’s the same in Chicago, Detroit, Boston and every place else."

One type, she said, was "the lover."

"Generally speaking, the Don Juans I’ve met have been good looking," Eden said. "Their major objective, of course, is conquest. To achieve their end they will lie, flatter, concentrate on your weakness, amuse your mother. In Hollywood, some of them will even go so far as to spend money on you. I mean, send you flowers and take you to dinner."

"What they all have in common," Eden continued, "is a readiness to agree with you. No matter what you say, the Don Juan agrees. He just wants you to be happy."

These aren’t the kinds of guys Eden liked, so she figured out how to get rid of them. For "the lover," Eden said, "He is convinced that he’s irresistible and the best way to deflate him is to tell him that you like him as a brother or a friend."

Then there’s another less desirable type, she said: "the he-man."

"Most teenage girls admire the husky athlete, the rough-and-ready guy," Eden said. "He represents the hunter and she the hunted, which is the natural man-woman relationship, I guess."

Criticizing these "he-men," Eden claimed that they had no sense of humor and seem mostly selfish.

"He-men rarely request anything," Eden said. "They demand. They take over completely, which is fine if you’re a girl who adores being obedient."

Ultimately, she summed up a "he-man" as a "good showpiece for the type of girl who finds one necessary."

Other "types" that Eden named included the "mama’s boy"— who "usually falls for a more mature type of girl" and "subconsciously identifies all girls with his mother"— and the "sports-car type" — who "expects you to share his enthusiasms and if you don’t— you’re a drip."

Of them all, Eden liked the "shy ones," who she said may "lack confidence" but "are frequently the most profound and mature men."

"Personally, I like them better than the other types," she confirmed. (Every shy guy in Mayberry should’ve taken note!)

The "shy ones" to Eden had the best sense of humor and "what movie script writers call 'hidden depths.'"

Unfortunately, Eden had trouble attracting "shy ones."

In Hollywood, Eden said she rarely met shy men because they rarely became actors, and then when she did meet shy men outside of Hollywood, she said often they seemed to "feel uneasy when confronted by a personality more powerful than their own."

It’s possible Eden’s husband Ansara could be typed as one of those rare Hollywood "shy ones," though. One fan on StarTrek.com described Ansara as "far more shy than the characters he had portrayed."

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33 Comments

PilotTom 39 months ago
We can't watch Andy or Green Acres because our local MeTv station channel 30.2 in Jacksonville Florida will not air either of these great shows nor will they reply to emails as to why not ! Sad , very sad !
MichaelVegas PilotTom 39 months ago
I know EXACTLY what you mean, I live in Las Vegas and the broadcast antenna is the opposite direction from my apartment so I get very few channels, MeTV is one of them, to bad they do not do a streaming live service like some other channels like Comet as I can't get that one either, but they have a streaming channel that plays what the channel is playing so I do not miss anything
PilotTom MichaelVegas 39 months ago
Thanks for the reply !
JHP 40 months ago
all I can say is that remembered the scene when she is walking away from barnay and andy at the end of the show

LORD ALMIGHTY! (who needs a microwave:))
DEMcHugh 40 months ago
How about showing something different between 7 and 8 weeknights. Andy Griffith has been on forever? I know the dialogue by heart.
practicaljokerfan DEMcHugh 40 months ago
I like The Andy Griffith Show but I
Wish that METV would replace
Hogan's Heroes with There's
Company . Hogan's Heroes is okay
But Metv could give Hogan's Heroes
a 6 month vacation and show either
Three's Company or Get Smart or
The Little Rascals or The sitcom called
The Smothers Brothers Show or
Laurel and Hardy Shorts or Pee Wees Playhouse.or Fractured Flickers with
Host Hans Conreid.or The Funny Mann's
With Cliff Norton.or FREAKAZOID
Or Rocky and Bullwinkle or Alice
Or The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
Or I Love Lucy or Mr. Ed or Mayberry
RFD or Ellery Queen or Tennessee
Tuxedo or Betty Boop or show the
Episodes of the 3 Stooges where
Moe Howard didn't hit Larry and Curly.
MarshaStapleton DEMcHugh 39 months ago
"M.A.S.H" never goes away. It's on for a whole hour on weeknights (preceding Andy) and also on Sundays. Enough already!
Andybandit 40 months ago
I liked that episode of TAGS. It was a funny episode.
WordsmithWorks 40 months ago
I always thought it was cool that her husband played the Blue Djinn and King Kamehamea (sp?) on I Dream of Jeannie.
dukeroberts 40 months ago
Dangit! If only I had been 40 years older!
hdpol 40 months ago
I Dream of Jeany was one of my favorite shows! Here in Cocoa Beach we have streets named after her! Even though it was film in California!
practicaljokerfan 40 months ago
Whatever happened to WISEGUY??!!
https://www.metv.com/lists/10-undercover-facts-about-wiseguy
MeTV article about Wiseguy. It's a few years back.
Maybe WISEGUY vanished into thin
Air just like Chuck Cunningham on
Happy Days.
Or maybe WISEGUY is like Candid
Camera which means that he pops
Up when least expected.
Someone should write a song.called
The Ballad of WISEGUY just like
Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert)
Wrote a song about Molly Turgis..on
Green Acres. Maybe WISEGUY took
A cruise on the Love Boat and went
To Fantasy Island or an uncharted
Island with 7 stranded castaways.
justjeff 40 months ago
...Which just goes to prove one thing, no matter what a man thinks a woman wants... he's wrong!
JHP justjeff 40 months ago
thats why we as males die earlier
Moody 40 months ago
I had a huge crush on her when she was on I Dream of Jeannie. I couldn't wait for the show to come on each week. I always made sure my homework was done so my mom wouldn't nag me about it.
texasluva Moody 40 months ago
Get in line Pal

Moody texasluva 40 months ago
But I'm a shy guy! I have a shot!
texasluva Moody 40 months ago
So you're saying you have a shot. You mean like 100 to 1? No more like a million to one. Oh....that means you have a chance
Moody texasluva 40 months ago
LOL! No it's actually more like zero once Tessa reads this! I'll be lucky if I get out of the house for the next week!
texasluva Moody 40 months ago
Tessa Owl on the prowl, wow. Moody caught afoul, wow you hear him hoot, oops
texasluva 40 months ago
I can't tell you how shy I am. I just am. Are you listening Barbara
Deleted 40 months ago
This comment has been removed.
Pacificsun 40 months ago
Well that's interesting.
Tell us more.
practicaljokerfan 40 months ago
I would like to see Reruns of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched and My Favorite Martian and The Smothers Brothers Show
On METV. Barbara Eden was wonderful
In this episode . She also made a guest
Appearance on I Love Lucy.
This Andy Griffith Show episode
Were the last appearances of:
Mayor Pike: Dick Elliot and
Emma Brand Watson: Cheerio Meredith
Whose powers were the best-
Jeannie or Samantha ??
I would also like to see The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet How To Marry A
Millionaire and The TV Movie
I Dream of Jeannie 15 Years Later.
I would also like to see Ellery Queen
And Dark Shadows on METV.
Also I wish that METV would show
Carol Burnett Show for one hour
Instead.of 30 minutes only.
The Folk Channel on channel.218
On Dish Network shows The Carol
Burnett Show for the entire 60 minutes .
My Favorite Martian had a cute girl
Playing Angela Brown whose name
Is Ann Marshall. Ity too bad that
Angela Brown dissapeared from
My Favorite Martian after only.3
Episodes just like Junior Hocker
(Russell Horton) from Petticoat junction and Moose Barry GREENBERG
Also disappeared from Happy Days
Also dissapeared after only 3 episodes. Bag Zombroski (Neil J Schwartz) vanished from Happy Days
After 9 episodes while Eugene BELVIN Denis MANDEL was on Happy Days
For 9 episodes and Chuck Cunningham 2 Randolph Roberts was on Happy Days for only 2 episodes.
Mts. Brown You've Got A Lovely
Daughter would have been a great
Song for Ann Marshall who played
Angela Brown on My Favorite Martian.
When I hear the song I Dream of
Jeannie With The Light Brown Hair
By Stephen Foster I think about
Barbara Eden.
Interesting. But I'd say Jeannie. She was less inhibited about getting things done.
Samantha was too worried about what everyone would think. It limited her actions. But I think she was more conniving. Whereas Jeannie really had to be pushed. She had a more pure heart.
Thanks for your letter about
Jeannie and Samantha.
I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched
Were among the funniest TV shows
I've ever seen and Green Acres
Is also a funny show.
Whatever happened to WISEGUY?
He's always lurking about! Just waiting; his specialty is pointing out the grammar mistake made in choosing (it's) which is the contraction for "it is", instead of trying to use it as possessive for an inanimate object.

But he has other tricks too!
He also likes Perry Mason!
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