9.3/10711 votesLoading...#1 - Convicts-at-Large
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 12/10/1962
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
9.1/10812 votesLoading...#2 - Christmas Story
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/19/1960
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Frank Tarloff
9.1/10649 votesLoading...#3 - The Pickle Story
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 12/18/1961
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Harvey Bullock
9.1/10580 votesLoading...#4 - Barney's First Car
Season 3 Episode 27 - Aired 4/1/1963
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
9.1/10634 votesLoading...#5 - The Haunted House
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 10/7/1963
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.
Director: Earl Bellamy
Writer: Harvey Bullock
9.0/10613 votesLoading...#6 - Man in a Hurry
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 1/14/1963
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.9/10517 votesLoading...#7 - Barney and the Choir
Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 2/19/1962
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Jack Elinson, Charles Stewart
8.9/10448 votesLoading...#8 - The Bank Job
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 12/24/1962
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.9/10551 votesLoading...#9 - Opie the Birdman
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/30/1963
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.
Director: Richard Crenna
Writer: Harvey Bullock
8.9/10483 votesLoading...#10 - Citizen's Arrest
Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 12/16/1963
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?
Director: Richard Crenna
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.9/10473 votesLoading...#11 - Three Wishes for Opie
Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 12/21/1964
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.
Director: Howard Morris
Writer: Richard M. Powell
8.8/10459 votesLoading...#12 - Barney Gets His Man
Season 1 Episode 30 - Aired 5/8/1961
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Ben Gershman, Leo Solomon
8.8/10399 votesLoading...#13 - The Big House
Season 3 Episode 32 - Aired 5/6/1963
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Harvey Bullock
8.7/10546 votesLoading...#14 - Mr. McBeevee
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 10/1/1962
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?
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Harvey Bullock, R. Allen Saffian
8.6/10668 votesLoading...#15 - The Manhunt
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/10/1960
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.
Director: Don Weis
Writer: Jack Elinson, Charles Stewart
8.6/10513 votesLoading...#16 - The Manicurist
Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 1/22/1962
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Jack Elinson, Charles Stewart
8.6/10391 votesLoading...#17 - Jailbreak
Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 2/5/1962
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Harvey Bullock
8.6/10444 votesLoading...#18 - Andy on Trial
Season 2 Episode 29 - Aired 4/23/1962
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.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Jack Elinson, Charles Stewart
8.6/10441 votesLoading...#19 - Barney's Sidecar
Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 1/27/1964
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.6/10423 votesLoading...#20 - The Shoplifters
Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 3/2/1964
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.5/10538 votesLoading...#21 - Opie's Charity
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/28/1960
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.
Director: Don Weis
Writer: Arthur Stander
8.5/10473 votesLoading...#22 - Alcohol and Old Lace
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/30/1961
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!
Director: Gene Reynolds
Writer: Jack Elinson, Charles Stewart
8.5/10429 votesLoading...#23 - Opie's Hobo Friend
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 11/13/1961
Andy is wary when Opie becomes fascinated by a wily hobo (Buddy Ebsen) who begins to influence the boy with his carefree, conniving ways.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Harvey Bullock
8.5/10436 votesLoading...#24 - Aunt Bee the Warden
Season 2 Episode 23 - Aired 3/12/1962
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!
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Jack Elinson, Charles Stewart
8.5/10393 votesLoading...#25 - Andy and Barney in the Big City
Season 2 Episode 25 - Aired 3/26/1962
While on a trip to Raleigh, Andy and Barney find themselves swept into an adventure involving a jewel thief being watched by a hotel detective.
Director: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Harvey Bullock
The Best Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show
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...
Genres:ComedyFamily
Network:CBS
Best Episodes Summary
"Convicts-at-Large" is the best rated episode of "The Andy Griffith Show". It scored 9.3/10 based on 711 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".