Aunt Bee, accused by Andy as being a hopeless gossip, sets out to prove that the men of Mayberry are even bigger rumormongers than the women.
Plot[]
Aunt Bee is waiting in line at Walker's Drugstore, along with Emma Brand, Clara Lindsey, and Opie. Emma tells the other ladies that when Milly Parsons walks into Church with blonde streaks, that she nearly dropped her hymnal. Clara even thinks that she adds the blonde streaks to her hair, just to impress their new Mailman.
When Barney accidentally cuts his finger while cleaning his gun, and to keep it from getting infected, Andy comes in to get some Sulfa Powder. Aunt Bee asks if everything is all right, and that is when he says that Barney has "got a little scratch.” He walks out and Emma Brand isn't quite convinced that it's just a little scratch, and she claims that he came running all the way over to get it? Fred then tells her that the Courthouse is just across the street. Aunt Bee and Clara Lindsey get spread around town that he has shot and killed himself. Andy teases the ladies for believing such gossip.
In response to the teasing, Aunt Bee decides to pull a prank on Andy to show that men gossip too. She spreads a rumor that a down-on-his-luck visiting shoe salesman is really a talent scout for the television show Manhattan Show Time.
The men of Mayberry believe the rumor and visit the salesman with their bands and children hoping that one of them would be discovered. The salesman eventually leaves town after achieving record shoe sales.
Notes/Trivia[]
Lucy's TV Guide
As Andy walks into the drug store, there is a TV Guide with Lucy on the cover.
This TV Guide cover is from 1954. Another mistake.
Barney offers to serenade the shoe salesman with a few selections on his jaw harp (harmonica), including ”Finiculi, Finicula”, an old Neapolitan song, as well as “Vagabond Lover” and “Animal Crackers”.
Goofs[]
On the wall behind Andy's desk are upside-down maps of Idaho and Nevada.
According to Barney, New York City is 900 miles from Mayberry. It's actually about 550 miles from New York City to Mt. Airy, NC (Andy Griffith’s hometown).
Floyd's Temporary Son
Floyd's son, Randall, auditions on the saxophone. He plays a selection from Saxomania. The boy is mentioned again in The Jinx. Later in the series, however, Floyd is said to have no children.
You can see the boom mic in the windshield of the car.
In The Merchant of Mayberry Barney requests size 10 and a half socks but in this episode, he tells Wilbur Finch he wears a size 7 and a half B shoes.
Music[]
Quotes[]
Aunt Bee: "I suppose you think men aren't capable of gossip."
Andy : "Oh, we're capable enough, it just doesn't come as natural to us."
Aunt Bee: "According to you, the Lord made two sexes... men and blabbermouths."
