Summary[]
Opie competes for a job delivering groceries, and then he discovers that his rival needs the job for greater reasons.
Plot[]
The episode begins with Opie showing off to Sharon Porter by riding his bike no-handed, but he ends up crashing into a tree and breaking the front wheel.The timing is unfortunate since Andy is in a foul mood after a bad day at the sheriff's office. He lectures Opie on the importance of money, and once he implicitly tells Opie to get a job to pay for repairs himself, Opie searches throughout Mayberry for a job.
Aunt Bee discovers a "Help Wanted" sign outside Mr. Doakes's grocery store while on a walk. She tells Opie and Andy the news, and Opie decides to take the job. On Saturday morning, he arrives at the same time as a new boy named Billy. They get a week to compete for the job, with a warning that the position will require lots of responsibilities and also mean less recreational time during the summer.
After a close competition of fast deliveries and store cleaning, watched carefully by the townspeople, Opie wins the job. Andy is incredibly proud of Opie's determination and begins bragging. While working on his new job at the store, Opie announces to Billy that he plans to save up for a new bike. However, he learns that Billy tried to get the job to pay off some bills that his family has accumulated while his father was ill.
Opie asks Mr. Doakes if he can play baseball, in an attempt to lose his job so Billy would be hired. Billy runs out of the store in joy, and runs into Andy, telling him the good news. Andy becomes furious that Opie got fired, and even more so because he did it to play baseball. He confronts Opie, demanding an explanation. Opie reveals that he got himself fired because Billy's family was having money problems because of his ill father. Andy feels ashamed of his anger and says that he's now even prouder of Opie than ever.
Notes/Trivia[]
- This is the first Andy Griffith Show episode to broadcast in color, rather than black and white in seasons 1-5 (1960-1965); This is also the first episode to have the 1965 CBS in Color logo at the beginning of each episode, rather than the CBS Television Network "Shutter Eye" logo at the end of each episode.
- It is also the first not to have any announcements of the show or the show's stars by Colin Male.
- When Andy lectures Opie about being fired Andy mentions that he's never been fired in his life.
- In the epilogue, Opie goes home to tell Andy that he's had no luck finding a new job. Andy then asks Opie to check the paper to see if there are any jobs. Opie reads a job posting that Andy placed, which he gives to Opie.
- Andy describes an incident of Otis Campbell driving while intoxicated, despite Otis proving that he never intended to do so in the Season 4 episode Hot Rod Otis.
- Mr. Doakes is paying the boys $0.75 an hour, and later on Goober mentions to Andy that he is paid $1.25 an hour—which was the actual minimum wage in the US by the time this episode aired.
Goofs[]
- It's never explained why Opie doesn't simply explain to Mr. Doakes the truth about the situation with Billy's family and his needing the job to help pay off medical bills; going about this the honest way would've prevented Andy's misunderstanding of the situation at the end of the episode. It's possible Opie withheld this information to avoid any embarrassment to Billy's family regarding the financial situation, but this is never substantiated.
Music[]
Quotes[]
"Then Otis got gassed -- drove his car right through the Harpers' rose garden, leveled it. I arrested him and he wanted to fight."
"You know, when I was telling Floyd and Goober what a fine boy you are, that wasn't really right. You're a man."
Gallery[]
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