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The Best Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show Season 3

Every episode of The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show Season 3!

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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 sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 1 - Mr. McBeevee
    8.8/10(598 votes)

    #1 - Mr. McBeevee

    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?

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:Harvey Bullock, R. Allen Saffian

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  2. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 2 - Andy's Rich Girlfriend
    7.7/10(404 votes)

    #2 - Andy's Rich Girlfriend

    S3:E2

    Andy discovers Peggy comes from a wealthy family and starts to feel like he is unable to provide the kind of sophisticated company she is used to. He decides to stop seeing her and abruptly breaks it off, but without getting Peggy's Side of the story.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

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  3. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 3 - Andy and the New Mayor
    7.5/10(376 votes)

    #3 - Andy and the New Mayor

    S3:E3

    There is a new mayor in town who is immediately put off by Andy's laid back management style. When Andy lets a prisoner out of jail for a few days so he can harvest crops, he finds his job is suddenly on the line, especially when the prisoner doesn't return.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:Harvey Bullock, R. Allen Saffian

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  4. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 4 - Andy and Opie, Bachelors
    7.8/10(439 votes)

    #4 - Andy and Opie, Bachelors

    S3:E4

    Given Andy's habit of burning meals, Aunt Bee asks Peggy to look in on Andy and Opie while she's away visiting her aunt. When word gets around town, however, Andy is told Peggy's cooking may be her way of buttering him up to the idea of marriage.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

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  5. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 5 - The Cow Thief
    8.5/10(442 votes)

    #5 - The Cow Thief

    S3:E5

    Two cows suddenly go missing in Mayberry and Mayor Stoner has decided to bring in a professional investigator to solve the crime. The investigator's conclusion goes along with what the rest of the town already suspects, but Andy has his own idea of what happened, an idea just crazy enough to be true.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:Harvey Bullock, R. Allen Saffian

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  6. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 6 - Barney Mends a Broken Heart
    8.3/10(422 votes)

    #6 - Barney Mends a Broken Heart

    S3:E6

    When Andy and Peggy must break a date, Barney mistakenly sees this as the end of their relationship. He decides to play matchmaker to help Andy mend his broken heart, with disastrous results.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writer:Aaron Ruben

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  7. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 7 - Lawman Barney
    8.6/10(409 votes)

    #7 - Lawman Barney

    S3:E7

    Barney loses his self-confidence when two unlawful bullies laugh off his attempt to run them out of town. Andy tells them Barney is actually a trigger-happy lawman out for vengeance, but the bullies quickly see through the ruse and Barney now must find the courage within himself to stand up to them.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writer:Aaron Ruben

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  8. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 8 - The Mayberry Band
    8.1/10(431 votes)

    #8 - The Mayberry Band

    S3:E8

    When Mayor Stoner decides not to cover the expense of sending the Mayberry Marching Band to their annual competition in Raleigh because he thinks they're terrible, Andy helps out by having a few of his friends from "Freddy Fleet And His Band With A Beat" step in.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

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  9. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 9 - Floyd the Gay Deceiver
    7.6/10(418 votes)

    #9 - Floyd the Gay Deceiver

    S3:E9

    Floyd comes to Andy for help after telling his pen pal Ms. Grayson that he is wealthy and finding out she is coming for a visit. Andy helps Floyd keep up the appearance of wealth while she's in town and in the process learns just how deceiving appearances can be.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writer:Aaron Ruben

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  10. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 10 - Opie's Rival
    7.5/10(384 votes)

    #10 - Opie's Rival

    S3:E10

    When Andy starts seeing Peggy MacMillan, Opie feels like she's become more important to Andy than he is. He decides to sabotage Andy's dates and break them up and nearly succeeds, until Andy finds out.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writer:Sid Morse

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  11. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 11 - Convicts-at-Large
    9.4/10(788 votes)

    #11 - Convicts-at-Large

    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.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

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  12. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 12 - The Bed Jacket
    7.8/10(417 votes)

    #12 - The Bed Jacket

    S3:E12

    With Aunt Bee's birthday fast approaching, she begins dropping hints about the pale blue bed jacket she's been eyeing in the store window. When Andy doesn't catch on and buys the jacket for Mayor Stoner's wife instead, she is crushed. Now the only way Andy can get the jacket back is to trade it for his most prized possession: Ol' Eagle-Eyed Annie, his beloved fishing rod.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:Harvey Bullock, R. Allen Saffian

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  13. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 13 - The Bank Job
    8.9/10(501 votes)

    #13 - The Bank Job

    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.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

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  14. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 14 - One-Punch Opie
    7.9/10(406 votes)

    #14 - One-Punch Opie

    S3:E14

    A new boy named Quincy moves into town and starts getting Opie and his friends into trouble. When Opie is dared to break a streetlight, he refuses and is teased mercilessly. Andy tries to help by telling the boy's parents, but Opie sees that it's up to him to stand up to Quincy once and for all.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writer:Harvey Bullock

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  15. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 15 - Barney and the Governor
    8.5/10(426 votes)

    #15 - Barney and the Governor

    S3:E15

    Barney believes his job is on the line when he accidentally gives the governor's car a parking ticket. When he learns the governor is coming to town to see him about it, his nervousness causes him to drink cup after cup of water from the water cooler, the very same cooler Otis has spiked with alcohol.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:Bill Freedman, Henry Sharp

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  16. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 16 - Man in a Hurry
    9.0/10(686 votes)

    #16 - Man in a Hurry

    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.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

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  17. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 17 - High Noon in Mayberry
    8.2/10(423 votes)

    #17 - High Noon in Mayberry

    S3:E17

    Andy gets a letter from a criminal he had wounded years before and learns the man is coming to Mayberry to see him. Barney becomes convinced the man wants revenge and enlists Gomer and Otis to secretly protect Andy, which ends up wreaking more havoc than any criminal ever could.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

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  18. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 18 - The Loaded Goat
    8.2/10(481 votes)

    #18 - The Loaded Goat

    S3:E18

    Cy Hudgins has a pet goat with a taste for dynamite and Andy and Barney are forced to put it in a padded cell until the danger "passes." But when Otis unknowingly lets their new prisoner out, it's up to Barney and his harmonica to safely lead the goat out of town.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writer:Harvey Bullock

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  19. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 19 - Class Reunion
    7.6/10(467 votes)

    #19 - Class Reunion

    S3:E19

    Andy and Barney reminisce about old flames and decide to throw a class reunion. When the big night finally comes, they both find they have a lot to learn about how much things have -- and have not -- changed.

    Director:Charles Irving
    Writers:James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

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  20. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 20 - Rafe Hollister Sings
    8.5/10(529 votes)

    #20 - Rafe Hollister Sings

    S3:E20

    Rafe Hollister stops by the auditions for the Ladies League Musicale and shocks everyone with his beautiful voice. But Mayor Stoner and Mrs. Jeffries are aghast at his shabby appearance so Andy and Barney decide to give him a makeover, despite Rafe's objections.

    Director:Charles Irving
    Writer:Harvey Bullock

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  21. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 21 - Opie and the Spoiled Kid
    8.3/10(473 votes)

    #21 - Opie and the Spoiled Kid

    S3:E21

    Opie's new friend Arnold is a spoiled brat used to getting his own way. He convinces Opie to try and get a raise in his allowance by throwing a temper tantrum, showing Andy that he must teach Arnold's father the importance of discipline before Opie picks up any more of Arnold's spoiled habits.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

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  22. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 22 - The Great Filling Station Robbery
    8.0/10(393 votes)

    #22 - The Great Filling Station Robbery

    S3:E22

    Andy suggests to Gomer that he hire a troubled young man named Jimmy to help out at Wally's gas station. But everyone soon suspects Jimmy of being a thief after valuable items start disappearing from the station. Andy believes Jimmy is innocent but must prove it, even when all the evidence is against him.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writer:Harvey Bullock

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  23. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 23 - Andy Discovers America
    8.4/10(441 votes)

    #23 - Andy Discovers America

    S3:E23

    Opie complains to Andy about how his new history teacher Ms. Crump is a mean old woman who likes to assign extra homework. Andy tells Opie it's not important if he doesn't know every answer, which leaves Opie believing history isn't important. Now Andy has to show Opie, and his class, how much history matters before Ms. Crump decides to quit.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writer:John Whedon

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  24. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 24 - Aunt Bee's Medicine Man
    8.2/10(438 votes)

    #24 - Aunt Bee's Medicine Man

    S3:E24

    Aunt Bee becomes depressed about her age and falls for the charms of Colonel Harvey, a traveling medicine man selling a magic elixir to restore her youth. By the time Andy and Barney discover the secret behind the elixir, they find he has gotten the entire Ladies Aid Church Committee under his spell!

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writer:John Whedon

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  25. The Andy Griffith Show Season 3 Episode 25 - The Darlings Are Coming
    8.3/10(505 votes)

    #25 - The Darlings Are Coming

    S3:E25

    A family of musicians who live in the mountains descend on Mayberry to await the arrival of their daughter Charlene's fiancee. When Andy tries to help by putting them up in the courthouse, he gets more than he bargained for when Charlene suddenly sets her sights on him.

    Director:Bob Sweeney
    Writers:James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum

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Season 3 Ratings Summary

"Mr. McBeevee" is the best rated episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" season 3. It scored 8.8/10 based on 598 votes. Directed by Bob Sweeney and written by Harvey Bullock, R. Allen Saffian, it aired on 10/1/1962. This episode is rated 1.1 points higher than the second-best, "Andy's Rich Girlfriend".