The Andy Griffith Show (TV Series) Barney and the Governor (1963) User Reviews

Upholding the Law

[MichaelMartinDeSapio · 8/10 · 30 August 2016]

One morning a sleek black limousine pulls up in Mayberry. It's the governor's car! Mayberry's cadre of old codgers goad Barney into tagging the limousine for being illegally parked. When Barney finds out it's the governor's vehicle he is mortified for a split second, but then - imagining the mockery he will endure from the old codgers if he backs down - he sticks to his guns and gives the chauffeur a ticket.

Andy supports Barney for holding to the law, while Mayor Stoner is furious. It turns out that the governor, instead of being angry, is pleased with what Barney did and wants to stop by to meet and congratulate him. But will the visit go as planned?

This memorable episode examines themes of authority, peer pressure, herd mentality, and the individual versus the crowd. The chauffeur is played by Rance Howard, Ronnie's dad.

Stereotypical Drunkeness

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 5 December 2019]

Barney is living in terror of what will happen now that he has ticketed the Governor's fancy car. He thinks his reputation and job are lost. But the Governor admires his spunk and decides to commend the deputy. Enter Otis, who spikes the water cooler Barney has about five drinks and soon is at the corner of rubber legs and wobbly. He manages every stereotype of inebriation Soon the mayor is involved.

Some funny scenes

[vitoscotti · 7/10 · 17 April 2022]

Getting to hear the town loafers actually speak was rare. Funny scene Barney harassing them, then subsequently them setting Barney up. Don Knotts playing drunk is always a treat. Many things though in the episode made no sense. Why would the governor's driver visit the Mayberry post office? Why didn't the driver just claim official business? As well as Barney to get out of writing a ticket. What if Opie drank from the spiked crock? A lu-lu of oddities & inconsistencies.

Written by Bill Freedman & Henry Sharp

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 27 April 2020]

The plot is memorable, and I was curious to know if the two writers had done any other stories for The Andy Griffith Show. They did not. It's the only episode they wrote for this series. Interestingly, Henry Sharp lived to 106 years old and his last TV credit occurred when he was 86.

I think what makes the story work is the amount of hypocrisy that is on display in Mayberry, and how the writers are able to poke fun at that as the story involving the governor plays out. Barney, we learn, is a deputy of integrity who doesn't back down from issuing a ticket to the governor. He refuses to overlook the slightest infraction in town no matter who's committed the crime. He is humorously teased by a few old wisenheimers who think Barney operates too much by the letter of the law.

But Andy backs Barney up when the mayor intervenes and tries to smooth things out with the governor. Mayor Stoner is probably the biggest hypocrite in Mayberry, more worried about his political career than doing right by the citizens of his fair town. As such, he is often at odds with Sheriff Taylor and Deputy Fife. Added into the mix is town drunk Otis who comes to stay at the precinct for a long weekend, and when Otis spikes a cooler of spring water, both Barney and the mayor end up drunk!

The drunk scenes seem a bit overplayed, and ironically it is a sober Otis who comes across more subdued, watching everyone else make fools of themselves. The scenes where Andy takes a smashed Barney home to give him a shower have a slight homoerotic feel to them. Especially the parts where Andy has to keep touching Barney to keep him from falling over, and Barney gets Andy to admit that he likes Barney. At the end of the story, they are going to give the mayor a shower.

The relationship between Andy and Barney is the major focus here, since neither Aunt Bee, Opie nor any of the other recurring townsfolk appear in the story. The best part is Andy sticking up for Barney, when the mayor asks Andy to overlook giving the governor a ticket. At the core of their relationship, Andy and Barney share the same mutual respect for the law and for each other.

Dedication,Duty&Drunk

[greggaver · 10/10 · 3 May 2019]

Barney writes a ticket on the governor's car because of the old guys teasing him that he won't. Finds out from the mayor that the governor is coming to Mayberry to see him. Otis comes in drunk & to hide the booze he has dumps it into the water cooler. Barney is upset & start drinking what he thinks is just water & he gets wasted.Andy comes in looking for him & asked Otis have you seen Barney & he points to back room. Andy flips out & takes Barney home for cold showers & pots of coffee to sober him up. Between the two of them they figure out Otis spiked the cooler.They go back to jail & the governor is there & thanks Barney for doing his job.But where's the Mayor? They find him smashed in the back room he had been drinking the water too! Just a funny episode & Mayor Stoner gets his for being so tuff on Andy,since he arrived as new Mayor.