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(More customer reviews)Paramount Home Video gives fans of the forever-entertaining "Andy Griffith Show" a good taste of that series' very funny rookie season with the release of this single-disc DVD featuring the first eight "TAGS" episodes.
For those who haven't yet taken the plunge and purchased the "Complete First Season" DVD set of this classic TV show, this budget-priced one-disc release is probably the next best thing. And after watching these eight humorous installments of the series, any self-respecting TAGS fan is certainly going to be longing to pick up the whole 32-episode first season (and probably Seasons 2 through 5 as well).
The video quality of all these Andy Griffith programs is positively outstanding. I don't think these episodes, which were all filmed in the year 1960, could possibly look any better than they do on this DVD. Even on a large-screen television, the crystal-clear nature of these DVD transfers shines through brilliantly.
The eight black-and-white episodes on this single-sided disc are presented in their original TV ratio (Full Frame; 1.33:1), along with crisp Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio. A "Play All" tool is included for marathon viewing of all 8 shows back-to-back. The Main Menu is non-animated and music-free. Chapter stops have been integrated into each episode.Here's a look at the episodes contained on this disc (along with a glance at what each program is about, plus some funny quotes from the shows):
1.) "The New Housekeeper" (Original airdate: October 3, 1960) .... The premiere episode of "TAGS" is just about as perfect a TV debut as I can think of. When Andy and Opie's housekeeper ("Rose") leaves to get married, "Aunt Bee" comes to live with the boys in Mayberry. But when Opie doesn't take a liking to the new housekeeper, Bee wants to leave. She doesn't get far, however, because Opie decides that Aunt Bee needs him -- after all, "she doesn't know how to do anything, like play ball, fish, or catch frogs; she'll be helpless". :)
That line of dialogue I just mentioned above, spoken by little Ronny Howard (one of the finest kid actors you'll ever see, in 1960 or any other year), places a perfect cap on this first TAGS episode; and the performances by Howard, Frances Bavier, and Andy Griffith in this debut program set the tone of love and mutual caring that would often show up in many later episodes of the series as well.
Another Funny Quote -- "Pretty soon people will be jaywalking all over the place and disregarding 'keep-off-the-grass' signs and everything! Why Mayberry is gonna turn into a regular SIN town!!" -- Bernard P. Fife
And be sure to keep an eye on Andy while Barney is blowing his stack via the dialogue shown above. Andy seems to be mouthing the words as Barney (Don Knotts) is saying them. The hick-sounding Andy Taylor is hysterical throughout this whole first season of TAGS, which makes these episodes all the more enjoyable to watch.
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2.) "The Manhunt" (October 10, 1960) .... Deputy Barney Fife has got some "big!" news for Andy in this second episode of the series. An escaped convict is headed for Mayberry, which has normally-idle Barney all keyed up. But when the State Police take over control of the manhunt, Mayberry's lawmen are left out in the cold. But Andy's beat-up fishing boat and a nifty little crook-catching scheme cooked up by the local "sheriff without a gun" soon make the State boys sit up and take notice.
Watch for 70-year-old Cheerio Meredith (as "Emma Brand") in "The Manhunt". Cheerio appears in several of the episodes on this disc, in fact. And she's always given some very funny lines to read too. Her character's last name was changed from "Brand" to "Watson", for some reason, in later episodes.
Funny Quotes -- "You know, this morning when we was fishing, I sure didn't enjoy having a hole in that boat. But I tell you the truth, right now I wouldn't take a dollar and a quarter for it." -- Andy Taylor
"Well, now that's a dandy little item there! Lookie there, a little button that just sticks there {to the bulletin board} and don't fall off! I'll be dogged! We're still using pins." -- Andy (as he marvels at the State Police map, which features the miracle of magnets). LOL.
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3.) "Guitar Player" (October 17, 1960) .... James Best puts in his first of two appearances as "Jim Lindsey" in this TAGS offering. Lindsey is a talented guitar player, but he's not getting very far in tiny Mayberry. That's where Handy Andy (Taylor) comes in. Andy schemes to get Jim an audition with a band travelling through Mayberry ("Bobby Fleet And His Band With A Beat").
The lively musical number performed at the jail near the end of this episode really rocks the joint! It's quite good indeed.
Funny Quote -- "I'm a mean man when I get riled; it takes some doin', but you can bring out the bear in me!" -- Barney
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4.) "Ellie Comes To Town" (October 24, 1960) .... Elinor Donahue makes her first appearance as the likable (but "by-the-book") new "lady druggist" ("Ellie Walker"). This is one of my very favorite TAGS episodes, which has Cheerio Meredith putting in another funny appearance. Emma Brand (Meredith) can't get that new female druggist to sell her any pills without a prescription. This forces Emma to her sick bed. But by episode's end, Ellie caves in and sells Emma her 10-cent (sugar) pills.
Funny Quotes -- "I always did think that {ten cents} was kind of a low price for a miracle drug." -- Andy
"Come Christmastime, don't expect me to buy my cotton balls from YOU!" -- Emma Brand
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5.) "Irresistible Andy" (October 31, 1960) .... Andy gets it into his head that Ellie Walker is out to trap him into marrying her. This motivates Andrew into putting Ellie "on the scent of other game" (i.e., potential male suitors). ~wink~
Funny Quotes -- "You see what kind of a dance she trapped me into?! Not a Legion dance, not a Chamber of Commerce dance, not an Uplifter's dance -- a CHURCH dance! Kinda gettin' me used to the location." -- Andy (all in a dither about what he believes is Ellie's underhanded matrimonial scheme; once more, Andy Griffith is a howl here as the thick-accented sheriff from North Carolina).
"If I wasn't absolutely, positively sure before, I am now! That ice cream ain't no present -- it's a down payment on a husband!" -- Andy (via another "Ellie's A Desperate Determined Hunter" Tirade). ~ROFL!~
"What's that Barney? The pickpockets, they're yours, all yours?" -- Ellie
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6.) "Runaway Kid" (November 7, 1960) .... This cute episode has Andy getting his "breeches caught on his own pitchfork" just prior to solving a problem as only Andy can (with a good deal of love and compassion). The "problem" in this case being a "runaway kid", who has run away from home and wants to stay with his friend Opie at the Taylor house in Mayberry.
To make matters worse, Andy has just given Opie a lecture on "not going back on your word". And when Opie promises the runaway boy he wouldn't tattle on him or tell where he lives, it puts Andy on a spot. But Andy employs some child psychology to soon convince young "George Foley" that running away ain't all it's cracked up to be. Why, just the thought of lugging around all those sandwiches needed for his long journey is enough to make George think twice.
Funny Quote -- "That's twice in one day you've run afoul of the law! You keep this up and I'm gonna have to draw your face next!" -- A very upset Barney Fife :)
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7.) "Andy The Matchmaker" (November 14, 1960) .... This ep. has Andy trying to build up Barney's morale (a common theme throughout many TAGS episodes). Barney is sick and tired of having no crime to fight in sleepy ol' Mayberry. And Andy stages a $24 fake robbery at Ellie's drugstore to give Barney a case to solve.
Actress Amzie Strickland (who passed away of Alzheimer's Disease on July 5, 2006) plays "Miss Rosemary" in this episode. She serves as an early first-season love interest for Barney, prior to "Thelma Lou" (Betty Lynn) joining the cast.
Funny Quote -- "There once was a deputy called Fife, who carried a gun and a knife; the gun was all dusty, the knife was all rusty, 'cause he never caught a crook in his life." -- Poem written on the wall of the Mayberry Bank (Andy's reaction when Barney reads this poem to him is also hilarious). :)
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8.) "Opie's Charity" (November 28, 1960) .... This hilarious episode is really sort of two episodes in one, so to speak. There are two distinct plotlines that play out in "Opie's Charity". One has Opie refusing to give more than "three measly pennies" to a charity fund at his school (which doesn't please father Andrew at all). And the other storyline involves "Tom Silby" seemingly rising from the dead to return to his hometown of Mayberry after Tom's wife had him buried at a fake funeral two years earlier.
The "Tom Silby" plotline springs forth several funny moments, especially when Andy first encounters ol' Tom on the street one day --- "Tom, you can't come back after you're gone -- it just ain't decent!" (LOL.)
More Funny Quotes -- "Are you sure you don't want to make that four cents, Opie? It's tax-deductible, ya know!" -- Andy
"Andy, all I did was go down to Charlottesville." --> "Well, Tom, we all thought you was a lot further 'down' than that!"
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Every one of the above Andy Griffith shows contains large doses of Mayberry humor. So pick up this disc and introduce...Read more›
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The Andy Griffith Show - The Premiere Episodes (Season One, Episodes 1-8) (1960)Includes the first eight episodes from the first season.
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