The Andy Griffith Show

The Best Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show

Genres:ComedyFamily
Network:CBS

Every episode of The Andy Griffith Show ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show!

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed...
Episodes
249
Avg. Rating
7.6
S1
S2
S3
S4
E1
E2
E3
8.1
8.3
8.7
8.9
8.6
7.8
7.7
9.1
7.7
7.6
7.6
7.9

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  1. 9.3/10(733 votes)

    #1 - Convicts-at-Large

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    S3:E11

    Barney and Floyd stumble upon a cabin in the woods where three dangerous female convicts are hiding out. They are taken prisoner and it's Andy to the rescue when he manages to capture two of them. But it's up to Barney to get the third using all the charm he can muster, along with his best Rudolph Valentino impression.

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  2. 9.1/10(842 votes)

    #2 - Christmas Story

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    S1:E11

    Mayberry's local "Scrooge," storeowner Ben Weaver, manages to have harmless bootlegger Sam Muggins thrown into jail on Christmas -- but the Mayberry folks manage to celebrate Christmas with Sam in a most unusual way.

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    Director:Bob Sweeney
  3. 9.1/10(666 votes)

    #3 - The Pickle Story

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    S2:E11

    Andy and Barney are horrified when Aunt Bee decides to enter her prized pickles -- with a taste described as "kerosene cucumbers" -- in a county fair contest, hoping to claim first prize over the competition's perennial winner.

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  4. 9.1/10(596 votes)

    #4 - Barney's First Car

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    S3:E27

    Barney learns that the car he's spent his life savings on is a lemon, and the little old lady he bought it from may have put one over on him. When Barney and Andy set out to return the car and arrest her, however, they find the hardest part may be just getting there.

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  5. 9.1/10(648 votes)

    #5 - The Haunted House

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    S4:E2

    Barney is sent into a reputed "haunted" house to retrieve Opie's baseball and sees things that make even the skeptical Andy wonder if there really are ghosts, until Andy discovers who's really doing the haunting.

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  6. 9.0/10(635 votes)

    #6 - Man in a Hurry

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    S3:E16

    Malcolm Tucker, a business tycoon from Charlotte, has the unfortunate luck of having his car break down in Mayberry on a Sunday. Now he's willing to do just about anything to be on his way, including stealing Gomer's truck. Andy invites the man over for Sunday dinner to try and teach him the importance of relaxation before he does something he'll really regret.

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show

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  8. 8.9/10(529 votes)

    #7 - Barney and the Choir

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    S2:E20

    Things hit a sour note when Barney joins the Mayberry choir -- and it's quickly determined that his singing voice isn't exactly harmonious to the other members of the group.

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  9. 8.9/10(461 votes)

    #8 - The Bank Job

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    S3:E13

    Barney becomes convinced the Mayberry bank is ripe for a robbery and tries to prove his point by staging a fake one. When he discovers a weak spot in the security system, he unknowing relays this information to a couple of actual robbers.

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  10. 8.9/10(565 votes)

    #9 - Opie the Birdman

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    S4:E1

    Opie decides to raise a nest of baby birds after accidentally killing their mother with his new slingshot and ends up learning one of the hardest lessons of motherhood in the process.

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  11. 8.9/10(491 votes)

    #10 - Three Wishes for Opie

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    S5:E14

    Opie makes three wishes on a "magic lamp" Barney bought. When one of his wishes doesn't come true, Barney dismisses the whole thing. Opie learns there are many different ways for a wish to be granted.

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  12. 8.8/10(478 votes)

    #11 - Barney Gets His Man

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    S1:E30

    Barney's reputation as a deputy soars when he inadvertently helps capture Eddie Brooke, an escaped convict. But Brooke vows to escape again and head straight back to Mayberry to exact his revenge.

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  13. 8.8/10(496 votes)

    #12 - Citizen's Arrest

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    S4:E11

    A minor argument between Barney and Gomer over a traffic ticket erupts into an all-out feud that leads to reckless driving, staged burglaries, and eventually Barney's resignation from the force. Can Andy get the two friends to make up before things really get out of hand?

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  14. 8.7/10(563 votes)

    #13 - Mr. McBeevee

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    S3:E1

    Opie tells Andy about his new friend Mr. McBeevee, who Andy believes to be a figment of Opie's imagination. But when Andy begins to suspect Opie is using his new-found friend as an excuse to lie, he decides to set the record straight and prove Mr. McBeevee doesn't really exist. Or does he?

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  15. 8.7/10(411 votes)

    #14 - The Big House

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    S3:E32

    Andy is told to keep two big-time bandits in his jail until detectives from Tennessee come to get them. Knowing that the bandit's friends will try to break them out, Barney spots two suspicious men outside the jail and promptly arrests them. As it turns out, they are the detectives from Tennessee, giving the bandit's real friends the opportunity they've been waiting for.

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  16. 8.7/10(440 votes)

    #15 - The Shoplifters

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    S4:E21

    Andy and Barney must find a shoplifter that's been hitting Ben Weaver's store, so Barney volunteers to dress up as a mannequin. He ends up accusing a little old lady and is ridiculed for another one of his famous blunders by everyone except Andy, who believes he might be onto something.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  17. 8.6/10(688 votes)

    #16 - The Manhunt

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    S1:E2

    Andy and his bumbling deputy, Barney Fife, offer to help track down an escaped convict, but the captain of the state police scoffs at the small-town sheriff's help.

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  18. 8.6/10(526 votes)

    #17 - The Manicurist

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    S2:E16

    The men of Mayberry become infatuated with Ellen Brown (Barbara Eden), a curvaceous manicurist who sets up shop in Floyd's barbershop. But the women of Mayberry are less than enthusiastic about the situation.

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  19. 8.6/10(401 votes)

    #18 - Jailbreak

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    S2:E18

    Barney must attempt to salvage his reputation after he inadvertently allows a criminal to escape from the Mayberry jail and the state police are called in to assist in the manhunt.

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  20. 8.6/10(449 votes)

    #19 - Aunt Bee the Warden

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    S2:E23

    With the town jail full, Andy reluctantly decides to have the town drunk, Otis Campbell, incarcerated in Andy's own home. But when Aunt Bee takes charge as the "warden," Otis is soon howling to be locked up in the real jail!

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  21. 8.6/10(455 votes)

    #20 - Andy on Trial

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    S2:E29

    A newspaper publishing mogul is ticketed for speeding and retaliates by sending an undercover reporter to Mayberry to dig up whatever dirt she can on Andy and his department.

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  22. 8.6/10(453 votes)

    #21 - Barney's Sidecar

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    S4:E16

    Barney buys an antique motorcycle in order to set a speed trap for speeding truckers on Highway 6. After Barney makes a complete nuisance of himself to all of Mayberry, Andy realizes that the answer may be to make the motorcycle more valuable to the town than to Barney.

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    Director:N/A
  23. 8.6/10(385 votes)

    #22 - Barney's Physical

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    S5:E2

    New height and weight requirements go into effect for all law enforcement officers, which threatens to put Barney out of a job unless Andy can figure out a way to throw around some much-needed weight.

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    Director:Howard Morris
    Writer:Bob Ross
  24. 8.5/10(555 votes)

    #23 - Opie's Charity

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    S1:E8

    Andy is dismayed when Opie refuses to contribute money to the school charity drive -- but there's a secret reason for Opie's apparent selfishness.

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    Director:Don Weis
  25. 8.5/10(485 votes)

    #24 - Alcohol and Old Lace

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    S1:E17

    Opie comes home talking about a "flower-making machine" owned by sisters Clarabelle and Jennifer Morrison, the spinsters who run the local flower shop. Andy and Barney do a little investigating -- and discover the contraption is actually a still and the kindly sisters are in the moonshine business!

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  26. 8.5/10(446 votes)

    #25 - Opie's Hobo Friend

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    S2:E6

    Andy is wary when Opie becomes fascinated by a wily hobo (Buddy Ebsen) who begins to influence the boy with his carefree, conniving ways.

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Best Episodes Summary

"Convicts-at-Large" is the best rated episode of "The Andy Griffith Show". It scored 9.3/10 based on 733 votes. Directed by Bob Sweeney and written by James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum, it aired on 12/10/1962. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Christmas Story".