Season 6 of The Andy Griffith Show was the first season with colored episodes. Ask a certain portion of diehard Andy Griffith Show fans why the series' sixth season (1965-66) is less well-loved than others from its eight-year run, and the answer boils down to four words: "Warren Ferguson" and "color episodes." Played by veteran comedian and writer Jack Burns, Warren was the replacement for Don Knotts' Barney Fife as Andy's Deputy, and lasted for just eleven of the season's 30 episodes before vanishing without a trace. The brickbats heaved at Warren are undeserved, though; replacing the multi-Emmy-winning Knotts was a task that few performers would have relished facing (and indeed, Knotts earned another Emmy for his return to the series in two episodes, "The Return of Barney Fife" and "The Legend of Barney Fife"), and Burns certainly gives his all (including his signature, rapid-fire "huh-huh-huh" gag line) to the character. He's no Barney Fife, and who could be, aside from Knotts? As for the color issue, the debate seems to be centered entirely around preference, although it's true that in syndication, viewer response has been traditionally stronger to the black-and-white broadcasts of seasons 1-5.
Aside from the Barney/Warren and color controversies, the sixth season is notable for the final appearances of supporting characters Malcolm Merriweather (Bernard Fox) and Ernest T. Bass (the great Howard Morris) in "Malcolm at the Crossroads" (in which the pair tangle over a crosswalk), as well as such fun episodes as "The Taylors in Hollywood" (Andy, Opie, and Aunt Bee react to a movie being made about them, with The Love Boat's Gavin MacLeod as the movie Andy); Andy's Rival (Charles Aidman guest stars as a new teacher whose working relationship with Helen Crump makes Andy nervous); and Otis the Artist (an amusing Warren episode, in which he suggests painting to Otis as a substitute for drinking). Andy Griffith completists will also note the presence of Jack Dodson in the episode "Lost and Found"; Dodson would later join the series as County Clerk Howard Sprague and transition with most of the supporting cast to Mayberry R.F.D.
Season 6 Episodes[]
| # | Image | Title | Airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  |
Opie's Job | September 13, 1965 | |
| Opie gets a part-time job in a grocery store, but gives it up because another boy needs employment more. | ||||
| 02 |  |
Andy's Rival | September 20, 1965 | |
| Andy becomes jealous when he realizes that a handsome new teacher is spending evenings with his girlfriend, Helen. | ||||
| 03 |  |
Malcolm at the Crossroads | September 27, 1965 | |
| Andy hires Ernest T. Bass as a school crossing guard and compounds the problem by replacing him with British bicycler, Malcolm Merriweather. | ||||
| 04 |  |
Aunt Bee the Swinger | October 4, 1965 | |
| Aunt Bee and her new boyfriend aren't as young as they used to be - or as they first thought. | ||||
| 05 |  |
The Bazaar | October 11, 1965 | |
| Andy's new eager-beaver deputy, Warren Ferguson, jails Aunt Bee and her friends for gambling (bingo) at their charity bazaar. | ||||
| 06 |  |
A Warning from Warren | October 18, 1965 | |
| Andy's deputy upsets his weekend when he insists his ESP predicts a picnic will end in disaster. | ||||
| 07 |  |
Off to Hollywood | October 25, 1965 | |
| The Taylors leave for a Hollywood vacation. | ||||
| 08 |  |
The Taylors in Hollywood | November 1, 1965 | |
| The Taylors start an exciting vacation in Hollywood, including a visit to the set of a movie based on Andy's life, "Sheriff Without a Gun". | ||||
| 09 |  |
The Hollywood Party | November 8, 1965 | |
| Andy poses for a picture with a Hollywood starlet and his romance with Helen is jolted when it appears in the Mayberry paper. | ||||
| 10 |  |
Aunt Bee on TV | November 15, 1965 | |
| Aunt Bee wins a kitchen-full of new appliances on a TV show but loses all her friends. | ||||
| 11 |  |
The Cannon | November 22, 1965 | |
| Warren captures a pair of thieves through sheer stupidity about the functions of a cannon. | ||||
| 12 |  |
A Man's Best Friend | November 29, 1965 | |
| Goober has dreams of entering show business when he thinks he owns a genuine talking dog. | ||||
| 13 |  |
Aunt Bee Takes a Job | December 6, 1965 | |
| Aunt Bee gets a job at the town print shop where the new proprietors are really counterfeiters. | ||||
| 14 |  |
The Church Organ | December 13, 1965 | |
| Andy struggles with the financial challenge of helping the All Souls Church buy a new church organ. | ||||
| 15 |  |
Girl-Shy | December 20, 1965 | |
| Girl-shy Warren turns into a sleep walking Casanova after watching his suave hero on television. | ||||
| 16 |  |
Otis the Artist | January 3, 1966 | |
| Warren starts Otis, the town drunk, on a therapeutic art career. | ||||
| 17 |  |
The Return of Barney Fife | January 10, 1966 | |
| Barney makes a triumphal return to Mayberry to attend his high school reunion and is elated to find Thelma Lou will be attending...until he learns she is with her new husband. | ||||
| 18 |  |
The Legend of Barney Fife | January 17, 1966 | |
| While visiting Mayberry, Barney is forced to display his "legendary courage" by going after an escaped convict. | ||||
| 19 |  |
Lost and Found | January 24, 1966 | |
| Aunt Bee collects insurance for the loss of an antique jeweled pin. After she spends the money, she finds the missing heirloom. | ||||
| 20 |  |
Wyatt Earp Rides Again | January 31, 1966 | |
| The supposed descendant of the famous Wyatt Earp rides into Mayberry. He demands a duel with Andy after he considers his family honor to be insulted. | ||||
| 21 |  |
Aunt Bee Learns to Drive | February 7, 1966 | |
| Andy faces some problems when Aunt Bee buys a second-hand car. | ||||
| 22 |  |
Look Paw, I'm Dancing | February 14, 1966 | |
| Reluctant Opie attends his first dancing party, and discovers dancing with girls is fun. | ||||
| 23 |  |
The Gypsies | February 21, 1966 | |
| Andy has a problem when a band of Gypsies come to town armed with old-world hocus-pocus and modern science. | ||||
| 24 |  |
Eat Your Heart Out | February 28, 1966 | |
| Goober falls in love with a new waitress in town but she becomes infatuated with Andy. | ||||
| 25 |  |
A Baby in the House | March 7, 1966 | |
| Aunt Bee agrees to a week of baby-sitting for her niece and finds the adorable infant adores everyone but her. | ||||
| 26 |  |
The County Clerk | March 14, 1966 | |
| Andy and Helen run into trouble when they promote a romance between the County Clerk, Howard Sprague and the county nurse. | ||||
| 27 |  |
The Foster Lady | March 21, 1966 | |
| Aunt Bee almost becomes a star of a television commercial before she decides stardom is not for her. | ||||
| 28 |  |
Goober's Replacement | March 28, 1966 | |
| Goober's girlfriend fills in for him at the filling station and proves so efficient that the boss wants her as Goober's permanent replacement. | ||||
| 29 |  |
The Battle of Mayberry | April 4, 1966 | |
| Opie upsets the whole town when he discovers that the famous Battle of Mayberry was not the glorious victory that everyone thought it was. | ||||
| 30 |  |
A Singer in Town | April 11, 1966 | |
| Aunt Bee's original song about Mayberry is a hit when a Rock 'n' Roll star plays it on his television show. | ||||
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