The Andy Griffith Show's seventh season (1966-67) was the beginning of the end for the venerable family comedy (Griffith brought it to a close with the next season), but the gentle humor and likable characters that helped make it one of the most popular series on television are still in fine form. Chief among the season's pluses is a two-episode return visit from Don Knotts as Barney Fife--in "A Visit to Barney Fife," Andy helps his former deputy find his footing at his new precinct in Raleigh, North Carolina, while in "Barney Comes to Mayberry," Barney reunites with his old flame, Irene Flogg, now a glamorous movie star. The latter episode, among the most popular of the series, won Mr.Knotts his fifth Emmy for portraying Barney. Otherwise, it's business as usual in Mayberry, with series regulars Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee), George Lindsey (Goober), Hal Smith (Otis Campbell), and a very grown-up Ron Howard (Opie) delivering their usual warm and funny performances. The show's new face, Jack Dodson (later Mickey Malph on Happy Days) fares considerably better as a Barney substitute than the ill-fated Jack Burns; as mother-dominated town clerk Howard Sprague, Dodson gets some very funny moments, especially in "Howard the Comedian," where he embarrasses the citizens of Mayberry with his TV standup debut. Also on hand: Aneta Corsaut as Helen Crump, Denver Pyle and The Dillards as the hillbilly collective known as the Darling family, and an ailing Howard McNear as Floyd the barber; McNear had suffered a stroke and lost much of his mobility, but Griffith made arrangements that allowed him to continue on the show in a more relaxed capacity. Though perhaps not up to par with its earlier, black-and-white episodes, the seventh season of The Andy Griffith Show still has plenty of what made the show an enduring classic: low-key charm and homespun humor. The five-disc set has no supplemental features.[1]
Opening & Closing Credits[]
Season 7 Episodes[]
| # | Image | Title | Airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  |
Opie's Girlfriend | September 12, 1966 | |
| Opie's friendship with an athletically superior girl blossoms when she follows the advice of an older female and adopts the clinging vine approach. | ||||
| 02 |  |
The Lodge | September 19, 1966 | |
| Goober blackballs Howard when he applies for membership in the Mayberry men's lodge. | ||||
| 03 |  |
The Barbershop Quartet | September 26, 1966 | |
| The Mayberry barbershop quartet loses its tenor when Howard can't go to the singing contest so Andy drafts a prisoner with a beautiful voice. | ||||
| 04 |  |
The Ball Game | October 3, 1966 | |
| Andy is concerned about the appearance of favoritism when he decides to umpire a crucial junior baseball game for Opie, but ends up angering the town when one of his decisions loses the game for Mayberry. | ||||
| 05 |  |
Aunt Bee's Crowning Glory | October 10, 1966 | |
| A visiting pastor's message, ("Be yourself") causes Aunt Bee to don a blonde wig, upsetting Andy and the rest of Mayberry. | ||||
| 06 |  |
The Darling Fortune | October 17, 1966 | |
| Andy and the town of Mayberry undergo a trying experience when the hillbilly Darling family comes into a fortune of $300 and shows up in town looking for brides for the boys. | ||||
| 07 |  |
Mind Over Matter | October 31, 1966 | |
| Goober's injuries cause his friends to convince him he has a severe case of whiplash and he promptly becomes a helpless invalid. | ||||
| 08 |  |
Politics Begin at Home | November 7, 1966 | |
| Aunt Bee runs against Howard for the office of town councilman. | ||||
| 09 |  |
The Senior Play | November 14, 1966 | |
| Helen Crump and her teenaged students find themselves at odds with the crotchety old school principal over the content of a play, but eventually convince him that today's youngsters are not that different from his own generation's. | ||||
| 10 |  |
Opie Finds a Baby | November 21, 1966 | |
| Opie and his friend Arnold find an abandoned baby. They run into trouble when they innocently try to find it some new parents. | ||||
| 11 |  |
Big Fish in a Small Town | November 28, 1966 | |
| Fishing season begins, and the town's sportsmen are all eager for a chance to catch "Old Sam", the biggest fish in the lake. Howard, a non-fisherman, tags along and antagonizes everybody by catching him. | ||||
| 12 |  |
Only a Rose | December 5, 1966 | |
| Opie accidentally ruins Aunt Bee's prize rose entry on the eve of the Annual Mayberry Flower Show. | ||||
| 13 |  |
Otis the Deputy | December 12, 1966 | |
| Otis and Howard bunglingly attempt to rescue Andy who has been taken prisoner by a pair of desperate bank-robbers. | ||||
| 14 |  |
Goober Makes History | December 19, 1966 | |
| After growing a beard, inarticulate Goober suddenly becomes a verbose philosopher, and shares his new-found "wisdom" with all his friends. | ||||
| 15 |  |
A New Doctor in Town | December 26, 1966 | |
| Nobody in Mayberry wants to be the first to see if the town's new doctor is qualified, until Andy shows his faith in the young doctor by letting him remove Opie's tonsils. | ||||
| 16 |  |
Don't Miss a Good Bet | January 2, 1967 | |
| Andy and four of his level-headed friends and relatives are taken in by a con man's get-rich-quick scheme. | ||||
| 17 |  |
Dinner at Eight | January 9, 1967 | |
| Andy looks forward to spending an evening alone in the house. However, due to Goober's error, he has a filling evening when he must eat three spaghetti dinners cooked by thoughtful friends. | ||||
| 18 |  |
A Visit to Barney Fife | January 16, 1967 | |
| Andy visits Barney, now with the Raleigh police department, and makes a hero out of his bumbling former deputy when he assists him in solving a string of supermarket robberies. | ||||
| 19 |  |
Barney Comes to Mayberry | January 23, 1967 | |
| Detective Barney Fife pays a visit to his old hometown. At the same time, a now-famous movie star who used to date Barney has returned to Mayberry for a motion picture premiere, and Barney is her escort. | ||||
| 20 |  |
Andy's Old Girlfriend | January 30, 1967 | |
| Andy's perennial romance with Helen is jolted a bit when Andy's high school sweetheart moves back to town. | ||||
| 21 |  |
Aunt Bee's Restaurant | February 6, 1967 | |
| Aunt Bee has a brief fling as co-owner of a Chinese restaurant in Mayberry, but her superstitions stand in the way of her success. | ||||
| 22 |  |
Floyd's Barbershop | February 13, 1967 | |
| Floyd decides to give up his Mayberry barbershop when Howard buys the building and raises the rent $15 a month. | ||||
| 23 |  |
The Statue | February 20, 1967 | |
| Andy and Aunt Bee learn their ancestor was the state's biggest swindler, just before the town of Mayberry unveils his statue as a hero. | ||||
| 24 |  |
Helen the Authoress | February 27, 1967 | |
| Helen writes a children's book that is accepted for publication and Andy faces the disquieting prospect of being the fiance of a celebrity. | ||||
| 25 |  |
Goodbye Dolly | March 6, 1967 | |
| Andy and Opie face the difficult problem of helping an old milk-wagon horse find contentment in retirement. | ||||
| 26 |  |
Opie's Piano Lesson | March 13, 1967 | |
| Opie insists on studying piano until he finds out that football practice and piano practice are incompatible. | ||||
| 27 |  |
Howard the Comedian | March 20, 1967 | |
| Howard Sprague becomes a comedian and appears on television with jokes about his hometown, and inadvertently rubs his friends the wrong way with his routine. | ||||
| 28 |  |
Big Brother | March 27, 1967 | |
| Howard volunteers to become the Big Brother of a high school boy, which brings a reward he didn't expect. | ||||
| 29 |  |
Opie's Most Unforgettable Character | April 3, 1967 | |
| Opie has trouble coming up with a subject for his writing assignment, and Andy gets distressed when Opie eventually chooses someone else as the subject. | ||||
| 30 |  |
Goober's Contest | April 10, 1967 | |
| Goober faces disaster when a printing error awards Floyd a large cash prize in his filling station contest. | ||||
| Previous Season: | Next Season: |
| Season 6 The Andy Griffith Show | Season 8 The Andy Griffith Show |