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Host: Allan Newsome
Running time: 0:17:28

Two Chairs No Waiting

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 (256) 513-9526 and leave a voice mail to be part of the show.

If you use iTunes, please visit the Two Chairs No Waiting page of the iTunes store and leave a review and rating.

Related Links:

• TCNW 131 facebook photos
• TAGS Episode #160 Opie’s Job – Visit the Mayberry Historical Society and add your knowledge of Mayberry to the wiki.
• National Lum and Abner Society
• Lum and Abner Podcast – Daily Lum and Abner (free) podcast.
• Lum and Abner – Wikipedia entry.
• Lum and Abner characters, make-up – See how the young versions of the actors turned into the old versions of Lum & Abner.

Executive Producer of Two Chairs No Waiting Episode #131: Tom Sullivan

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Host: Allan Newsome
Running time: 0:19:43

Two Chairs No Waiting

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 (256) 513-9526 and leave a voice mail to be part of the show.

If you use iTunes, please visit the Two Chairs No Waiting page of the iTunes store and leave a review and rating.

Related Links:

• TCNW 130 facebook photos
• 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.
• National Lum and Abner Society
• Lum and Abner Podcast – Daily Lum and Abner (free) podcast.
• Lum and Abner – Wikipedia entry.
• Lum and Abner characters, make-up – See how the young versions of the actors turned into the old versions of Lum & Abner.

Executive Producer of Two Chairs No Waiting Episode #130: Kenneth Anderson

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Host: Allan Newsome
Running time: 0:15:20

Two Chairs No Waiting

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 (256) 513-9526 and leave a voice mail to be part of the show.

If you use iTunes, please visit the Two Chairs No Waiting page of the iTunes store and leave a review and rating.

Related Links:

• 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.
• National Lum and Abner Society
• 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.
• Tim Hollis books on Amazon.com
• Tim Hollis on Facebook

Executive Producer of Two Chairs No Waiting Episode #129: Jay Hicks

Visit the Two Chairs No Waiting store and share your love for the show.

Two Chairs No Waiting Shop

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Host: Allan Newsome
Running time: 0:20:08

Two Chairs No Waiting

We continue our visit from last week to the March 5, 2011 a panel discussion on Southern Rural Humor in TV & Film held at the George Lindsey UNA Film Festival. This time we hear mostly from me, Allan Newsome, as I go into the positive aspects of how rural life was portrayed on The Andy Griffith Show.

As a reminder, the participants were Birmingham author Tim Hollis, actor Danny Vinson, media studies scholar Dr. Jacob Podber, and your host of this podcast.  The topic went a great deal into the portrayal of rural characters.

Much of the discussion has been about how rural people, mostly southern, were negatively portrayed  on television, radio, and film.  I attempted to move the discussion to the more positive feel to help the panel end on a high note.  Our love of The Andy Griffith Show and the characters we found there is not limited to folks from the south. There are fans from all parts of the United States and around the globe.  That, in itself, is a testament to the character and values found in Mayberry.

Those characters become like trusted friends. We look forward to visiting our friends as often as possible.  That’s true in “real” life and with our friends on the small screen living in our hometown of Mayberry, NC.

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 (256) 513-9526 and leave a voice mail to be part of the show.

If you use iTunes, please visit the Two Chairs No Waiting page of the iTunes store and leave a review and rating.

Related Links:

• George Lindsey UNA Film Festival – Regional independent film festival located on the campus of the University of North Alabama and various venues throughout the Shoals area.
• Facebook – The Andy Griffith Show – Behind the Scenes – Great behind the scenes photos from The Andy Griffith Show.
• Rural purge – Wikipedia article.
• Birmingham Rewound – The “This Month in History” sections of the site features BIRMINGHAM REWOUND’s Tim Hollis with an ongoing series of looks back in time through newspaper advertisements. This link will take you to March 1971 for a look back in time.
• 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.
• Tim Hollis books on Amazon.com
• Tim Hollis on Facebook
• National Lum and Abner Society

Executive Producer of Two Chairs No Waiting Episode #128: Jay Hicks

Visit the Two Chairs No Waiting store and share your love for the show.

Two Chairs No Waiting Shop

Subscribe to Two Chairs No Waiting