Deputy Otis

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Deputy Otis
< Season 2 > • < Episode 31 >
Air Date	May 7, 1962
Cast	Andy Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor Don Knotts as Deputy Barney Fife Hal Smith as Otis Campbell Dorothy Neumann as Rita Campbell Stanley Adams as Ralph Campbell Amzie Strickland as Verlaine Campbell
Director(s)	Bob Sweeney
Writer(s)	Iz Elinson Fred S. Fox
Previous	Cousin Virgil
Next	Mr. McBeevee (episode)
Summary	Andy makes Otis a temporary deputy so he can impress his visiting brother Ralph (Stanley Adams) and his wife (Amzie Strickland).
Sequential Episode	63

Summary

Andy makes Otis a temporary deputy so he can impress his visiting brother Ralph (Stanley Adams) and his wife (Amzie Strickland).

Plot

Otis, the town drunk, has been writing letters to his brother and sister-in-law for some time on the Mayberry Courthouse stationery. Because of this, they have come to believe that he is a deputy.

Otis' Brother and Sister-in-law

All is fine until they write that they are coming through Mayberry on their way to Memphis Tn.. Andy and a reluctant Barney step in to help Otis perpetuate the idea that he is a deputy. In the end, while Otis is convinced that his brother doesn't believe he's a deputy, he discovers Ralph is a town drunk as well.

Notes/Trivia

• In this episode, we see Otis's brother and sister-in-law.
• Andy and Barney both left their keys at home. Otis lets them in after Andy and Barney wake Otis up. Before waking him, Andy references that "Otis always comes in with a load on Friday Night" so it is assumed that this episode takes place on Saturday.
• The third and final correspondence from the Hubacher brothers comes in this episode when they write on the occasion of their second anniversary in the state pen. They mention in the letter a song sung by Junior to commemorate the occasion: "My Little Grey Home In The West." It made the warden cry.
• This is the last appearance of Rita Campbell, Otis' wife.
• Because of a tip given by Rita to Andy, Otis hid a bottle of whiskey in his kitchen under a potted plant. Andy makes Otis pour it out since he's a deputy.

Goofs

• The previous episode "Cousin Virgil" showed that outside Otis' cell #1 window that there was an open sky and even a piece of a tree branch to be seen through it when Barney tied a rope to it and yanked part of the wall down. In this episode, there is just a brick wall only feet away. This is also the only episode where the cell is depicted with a glass window. This is proven by the time Barney and Gomer were laughed at by calling to people in the streets.

Otis' Cell With Brick Wall

Otis' Cell With No Brick Wall

Gallery

Behind the Scenes