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.
In this “The Andy Griffith Show” episode entitled, ‘Aunt Bee’s Medicine Man’ which originally aired on March 11, 1963, Aunt Bee gets a “fixer” from Colonel Harvey’s Indian elixir.
Be sure to visit www.BurkeOnMayberry.com to get the answer to this episode’s trivia question!
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.
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 (256) 513-9526 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.
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.
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.
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.
Cancelled! Back in March 1971 CBS went on a canceling spree and shut down production on all their rural comedies. The end of the 1971 season saw the cancellation of Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, Hee-Haw, Lassie, The Jim Nabors Hour, Hogans Heroes and of course Mayberry RFD. (Petticoat Junction was cancelled the previous season.)
That isn’t a complete listing but gives you the idea about how, as Alabama native Pat “Mr. Haney” Buttram put it, “CBS cancelled everything with a tree, even Lassie.” At the time of the purge, Mayberry RDF was #15 in the ratings.
On Saturday March 5, 2011 a panel discussion was held as part of the George Lindsey UNA Film Festival on Southern Rural Humor in TV & Film.
The participants were Birmingham author Tim Hollis, actor Danny Vinson, media studies scholar Dr. Jacob Podber in the discussion, and the host of Two Chairs No Waiting Allan Newsome. The topic went a great deal into the portrayal of rural characters on television, radio, and film.
Hear from Tim, from his portion of the panel, as we discussed the purge of rural programing.
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.
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.
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.
The body of water called “Myers Lake” on The Andy Griffith Show is actually called the “Upper Franklin Reservoir.” The reservoir is located in Franklin Canyon Park in Hollywood hill of Beverly Hills.
We talked about this area back on episode 13 of Two Chairs No Waiting back in January 2009. For some reason that is one of the most downloaded and searched for episodes so I thought it would be a good time to return to Myers Lake.
Franklin Canyon Park is a public park located near Benedict Canyon at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. The park comprises 605 acres, and is located in what is said to be the geographical center of the city of Los Angeles. The park features a 3-acre lake (a.k.a. Franklin Lake or Myers Lake by Mayberry fans), a duck pond (Heavenly Pond), and over five miles of hiking trails. The park was used for the opening of The Andy Griffith Show.
The park traces its beginnings to 1914 when William Mulholland and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power built a reservoir in upper Franklin Canyon. The 1930s began the frequent use of the canyon for filming. Today about 25 films are shot there each year.
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.
2600 Franklin Canyon Drive, Beverly Hills, California
From the West Side, head north on Beverly Drive following signs to Coldwater Canyon. Turn left on Coldwater/Beverly Drive and turn left again on Beverly Drive , at Fire Station No. 2. The third right is Franklin Canyon Dr. continue through residential area to park entrance. At the intersection of Franklin Canyon and Lake Drive turn right to go to Franklin Canyon Ranch site or turn left to go to the Sooky Goldman
Nature Center and Franklin Canyon Lake.
From the San Fernando Valley, From the Ventura Freeway (101) or Ventura Blvd. Take Coldwater Canyon Boulevard south to the intersection of Coldwater Canyon and Mulholland Drive. Make a 90 degree right turn onto Franklin Canyon Dr. There is no street sign “Franklin Canyon.” Road signs read “Road Closed 800 Feet” “Sunset to Sunrise”; this is the park entrance. Do NOT make a “U-Turn” for this will bring you onto Mulholland Drive instead of Franklin Canyon. Stay on paved surface to reach the Sooky Goldman Nature Center and continue south of the lake for 1.5 miles to reach the Franklin Canyon Ranch Site area.
As you enter the “loop” that goes around the lake (it’s one way so this should make it easy to describe), you will have a wooden railing on the left. That railing is where Andy stopped on “The Return to Mayberry” and looked down at Myers Lake. There is a parking area about 40 yards down on the left.
Park there and walk over to the railing just to the left of the parking area (not the railing that on the main road but the wooden “fence” that keeps folks from falling down the slope. When you look down the slope you’ll see the path. This is where Andy and Opie walked. There’s a wooden picnic table down there.
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