Summary[]
Plot[]
When Sam Jones' son Mike is being bullied at school, Opie offers to help out. He puts the bully in his place and soon Mike has a big brother and a hero to to look up to. They spend a lot of time together and Andy is worried that because of the differences in their ages, it's inevitable that Opie will move on and Mike will be hurt as a result. Opie says not to worry, that these things always work themselves out. Soon, Opie develops an interest in the new girl that has just moved in next door and doesn't have a lot of time for Mike. Sam has a talk with his son about human nature but Mike soon finds his own reasons not to be blue.
Notes/Trivia[]
- This episode focuses on introducing Sam's boy; Mike, in his first appearance, who becomes attached to Opie when he gets a school bully off his back. The two become best friends despite the age difference until a new family moves in next door and has a little girl named Heather that is close to Opie's age. When Opie wants to start doing things with her, Mike takes a back seat until he discovers that Heather has a little sister named Claudia that's just about his age.
- Now that Opie has made friends with Heather and has spent a day or two doing things with her, he feels it would be a good idea to again play with Mike, but now Mike is busy showing little Claudia around town and now Opie has been shown where the back seat is...
- The house next door that the new family moves into next to the Taylor's is also the old Rimshaw house used in the episode, "The Haunted House.” and was also used as Mrs. Wiley's house where Ernest T. Bass proved his manners, Clara Johnson’s house, Reverend Tucker’s house, and also served as Mayor Stoner's house.
- Russell Schulman makes his acting debut in this episode, playing school bully Edgar Watson. Two years later, and in what would become his second to last acting credit, Schulman played the now infamous Buddy Hinton on an episode of "The Brady Bunch" ('A Fistful Of Reasons' - S2E8), the school bully who torments Cindy for her lisp and using the phrase "Baby talk, baby talk, it's a wonder you can walk!" Also, he gives Peter a black eye.
- The events of Opie and the Bully are mentioned.
Goofs[]
- When Opie first meets Heather you can see 'outside' of Mayberry to the stores beyond the 40 Acre Backlot.
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