Last week we began our look into Mayberry Mayor Stoner…”Roy Stoner”…well actually we were looking at the man who played him and hearing about the wonderful radio career he had before the days of television.
On this episode we get to hear more from him about his movie and television roles.
I again want to thank The National Lum and Abner Society for allowing us to use this clip from their June 24, 1995 convention featuring Parley Baer as their special guest. Tim Hollis, Donnie Pitchford, and Sam Brown are the founding “ossifers” (or officers for those of you from the north) of the NLAS and they provided Two Chairs No Waiting this wonderful footage of Parley Baer.
Pull up a chair and join me down at the “Jot ’em Down Store” to see how things end up. Let’s listen…..
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It’s been quite some time since we’ve talked about or heard from Mayberry’s Mayor Stoner…”Roy Stoner … errr … S-T-O-N-E-R…you talk to him”…so it is time to correct that situation.
You are in for a treat thanks to the The National Lum and Abner Society and their June 24, 1995 convention featuring Parley Baer as their special guest. Tim Hollis, one of the founding “ossifers” of NLAS (along with President Donnie Pitchford and Vice-President Sam Brown), provided Two Chairs No Waiting this wonderful footage of Parley Baer that I know you are going to enjoy.
We get to hear Mr. Baer discuss his start in radio, playing the character Chester on Gunsmoke, and more. As part of talking about Gunsmoke, you’ll hear Howard “Floyd the Barber” McNear as “Doc Adams.”
Sign up for the Two Chairs E-mail Mailing List
Don’t forget to sign up for the Two Chairs No Waiting e-mail mailing list. I want to be able to reach out to you if there’s a problem with the website and the best way to do that is by using a mailing list. Don’t worry, I won’t be filling your mailbox with e-mail but I would like to have a way to say “hey” if the need arises.
Contact Info
Follow me on Twitter if you use twitter. I’ve been posting Mayberry things there as another way to let folks know about The Andy Griffith Show.
Don’t forget to leave comments or ask questions on the TwoChairsNoWaiting.com website or using the contact information given in the podcast. We’d love to have you be a part of our next feedback episode. Call the Two Chairs No Waiting Hot-line at (888) 684-8415 and leave a voice mail to be part of the show.
This episode you’ll hear just a bit more about the Pine Ridge, AR connection to the people of Mayberry. Did you know that Gomer’s grandpa is from the home town of “Lum and Abner?” That’s right! Gomer’s Grandpa, Sergeant Otis Pyle, is a very close relative of Abner Peabody.
Next we’ll hear some feedback from a fellow listener before we get into the actual topic of our show.
Finally we’ll get into the meat of the show. We all know what a wonderful son Andy Taylor has and we’ll take a few minutes to be reminded. I know we’ll all agree that Opie is a man.
Don’t forget to leave comments or ask questions on the TwoChairsNoWaiting.com website or using the contact information given in the podcast. We’d love to have you be a part of our next feedback episode. Call the Two Chairs No Waiting Hot-line at (888) 684-8415 and leave a voice mail to be part of the show.
Opie Cates was on “Lum and Abner” as one of the characters but there are several connections between Pine Ridge, Arkansas and Mayberry, North Carolina. On Two Chairs No Waiting episode 129 we heard audio of Lum Eddards (played by Chester Lauck) and Abner Peabody (played by Norris Goff) interacting with Opie Taylor’s namesake, Opie Cates, and I’m sure Mayberry fans thought it was interesting but in this episode we’ll go into even greater detail.
Mayberry fans are familiar with Foley’s Market just to opposite side of Floyd’s barber show from the Mayberry Courthouse and with Mr. Foley who ran the store (“Aunt Bee, call the man.”) By the sixth season of The Andy Griffith Show Mr. Foley had sold out to a new store owner named Mr. Doakes. You may remember him but you may not if you’re a fan who just doesn’t watch the “color” episode of the series. If you’re not watching the color episodes, you’re missing out on many great episodes so I encourage you to listen to see what you’re missing.
Back to the connection, on the radio program “Lum and Abner” the two men ran and were co-owners of a store called the Jot ’em Down Store in Pine Ridge, AR. Well, okay…I’m not going to tell you here because I want to to ‘hear’ the rest of the story on this episode of Two Chairs.
Don’t forget to leave comments or ask questions on the TwoChairsNoWaiting.com website or using the contact information given in the podcast. We’d love to have you be a part of our next feedback episode. Call the Two Chairs No Waiting Hot-line at (888) 684-8415 and leave a voice mail to be part of the show.
TAGS Episode #160 Opie’s Job – Visit the Mayberry Historical Society and add your knowledge of Mayberry to the wiki.
Lum And Abner Test Footage For TV Pilot – The Internet Archive has a copy of the pilot for you to view. Despite the dark and grainy kinescope quality of this clip, I enjoyed watching.
In episode 128, Tim Hollis mentioned that the namesake of Opie Taylor was from a fellow that appeared on the old time radio program “Lum and Abner” following having his very own radio program called “The Opie Cates Show.”
As you may have picked up on, Opie Taylor got his name from band leader and radio actor Opie Cates. On “The Opie Cates Show” (1947-1948), he played a naive unsophisticated person from the country (a.k.a. a rube or hick) getting adjusted to big city life. Cates started each show by saying, “The doggonedest thing happened to me th’ other day,” and then he’d go on to introduce the story for the week. The show never found a sponsor and lasted only 13 weeks.
He then basically moved right over to “Lum and Abner” with the same character in 1949 where he’d tell stories about his hometown of Clinton, Arkansas. Cates appeared on a pilot episode of Lum and Abner that same year but the show wasn’t picked up by the network.
Andy Griffith named Sheriff Taylor’s son after Cates. Both Andy and producer Sheldon Leonard liked Opie Cates so the name was a natural fit.
Don’t forget to leave comments or ask questions on the TwoChairsNoWaiting.com website or using the contact information given in the podcast. We’d love to have you be a part of our next feedback episode. Call the Two Chairs No Waiting Hot-line at (888) 684-8415 and leave a voice mail to be part of the show.
Lum And Abner Test Footage For TV Pilot – The Internet Archive has a copy of the pilot for you to view. Despite the dark and grainy kinescope quality of this clip, I enjoyed watching.
Ain’t That a Knee-Slapper: Rural Comedy in the Twentieth Century – This book by author Tim Hollis traces the evolution of this classic American form of humor in the mass media, beginning with the golden age of radio, when such comedians as Bob Burns, Judy Canova, and Lum and Abner kept listeners laughing.
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