8.9/10554 votes#1 - 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
9.1/10637 votes#2 - 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
7.9/10376 votes#3 - Ernest T. Bass Joins the Army
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 10/14/1963
When Ernest T. Bass is denied from joining the army, he blames Andy and threatens to break every window in Mayberry. When Andy learns the real reason for Ernest's denial, he finds a solution that benefits everyone...except Barney.
Director: Richard Crenna
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
7.6/10358 votes#4 - The Sermon for Today
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 10/21/1963
A visiting minister preaches the importance of relaxation and inspires Aunt Bee, Andy, and Barney to throw a Sunday afternoon band concert. When it ends up being more work than they imagined, it leaves them wondering if they'll ever have time to relax again.
Director: Richard Crenna
Writer: John Whedon
7.8/10363 votes#5 - Briscoe Declares for Aunt Bee
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 10/28/1963
While having dinner at the Taylor household, mountain man Briscoe Darling (Denver Pyle) mistakes Aunt Bee's usual hospitality for affection and whisks her away to his cabin to marry her, quite against her wishes. But when Aunt Bee takes it upon herself to "civilize" him, he wonders if hospitality is all it's cracked up to be.
Director: Earl Bellamy
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.0/10349 votes#6 - Gomer the House Guest
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 11/4/1963
Andy lets Gomer move in after he loses his job at the gas station and instantly regrets it after Gomer's night habits prove to be more than the Taylors can take. Now Andy must find a way to get Gomer's job back, or never sleep again.
Director: Earl Bellamy
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.3/10378 votes#7 - A Black Day for Mayberry
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/11/1963
All of Mayberry turns out to welcome a truck carrying gold to Fort Knox as it passes through town. When Barney sneaks a closer look at the loot, he sees that there may not be as much to celebrate as everyone thought.
Director: Jeffrey Hayden
Writer: John Whedon
8.0/10322 votes#8 - Opie's Ill-Gotten Gain
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/1963
Opie finally gets a good grade in math, and Andy is so proud he tells everyone in town. But when Opie's teacher tells him she made a mistake and his grade is actually an F, he goes home to tell Andy the bad news, only to find Andy has bought him a shiny new bicycle.
Director: Jeffrey Hayden
Writer: John Whedon
8.5/10393 votes#9 - A Date for Gomer
Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 11/25/1963
Thelma Lou's bachelorette cousin is coming to Mayberry for the town dance, and Barney decides to set her up with Gomer. On the big night, they all meet up at Thelma Lou's and everything seems to be going great, until Gomer suddenly disappears.
Director: Richard Crenna
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.5/10430 votes#10 - Up in Barney's Room
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 12/2/1963
Barney has an argument with his landlady Mrs. Mendelbright and gets evicted. After moving into the courthouse and having no luck finding a new place, he decides to mend fences with Mrs. Mendelbright, only to find she has decided to sell the house and run away to get married.
Director: Jeffrey Hayden
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.9/10485 votes#11 - 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
7.6/10343 votes#12 - Opie and His Merry Men
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 12/30/1963
Opie and his friends decide to play Robin Hood to a friendly hobo they meet in the local woods and take food from their own cupboards to give to him. Andy decides to meet the man and ends up teaching them all a lesson in who the rich and poor really are.
Director: Richard Crenna
Writer: John Whedon
8.3/10383 votes#13 - Barney and the Cave Rescue
Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 1/6/1964
The day of the town picnic, Barney watches as Andy and Helen go wandering into a cave just before the entrance collapses. He quickly rallies the town to their rescue, not realizing Andy and Helen have already found a way out.
Director: Richard Crenna
Writer: Harvey Bullock
7.4/10311 votes#14 - Andy and Opie's Pal
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 1/13/1964
After becoming jealous of the attention Andy give to the new boy in town, Opie comes to Andy wrapped in bandages and tells him he and the new boy got into a vicious fight. One peek under Opie's bandages, however, tells Andy the fight may not have been as bloody, or as real, as Opie says.
Director: Richard Crenna
Writer: Harvey Bullock
7.6/10316 votes#15 - Aunt Bee the Crusader
Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 1/20/1964
Aunt Bee's friend Mr. Frisby tells her his house is about to be demolished to make way for a new highway. She decides to help her friend and campaigns to halt the county's plans, despite the fact that Andy is the one who must serve the eviction.
Director: N/A
Writer: John Whedon
8.6/10445 votes#16 - 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
8.5/10438 votes#17 - My Fair Ernest T. Bass
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 2/3/1964
Andy is called to arrest Ernest T. Bass once again for disturbing one of Mrs. Wiley's socials. Sympathizing with his search for true love, Andy and Barney teach him how to act like a gentleman and bring him to Mrs. Wiley's next social. But when Ernest falls for Mrs. Wiley's niece, his true colors shine through.
Director: Earl Bellamy
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.1/10443 votes#18 - Prisoner of Love
Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 2/10/1964
While guarding a gorgeous jewel thief one night, Andy nearly falls for her seductive charms. He decides to go home and leaves Barney to guard her for the night. But when it suddenly occurs to Andy what the thief's real plans are, he realizes he may not be able to warn Barney in time.
Director: Earl Bellamy
Writer: Harvey Bullock
8.2/10347 votes#19 - Hot Rod Otis
Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 2/17/1964
Andy and Barney are horrified to learn that Otis, the town drunk, has just bought a new car. After he passes out one night after a party, Andy and Barney put him in his usual jail cell and pretend that he is dead to teach him a lesson. Little do they know Otis may have already learned it.
Director: Earl Bellamy
Writer: Harvey Bullock
8.4/10362 votes#20 - The Song Festers
Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 2/24/1964
When Gomer replaces Barney in the Mayberry choir, Barney is heartbroken. Gomer hears about this and feigns illness so that Barney can sing on the night of the recital. But when Barney's pride gets in the way, the big performance threatens to become a big disaster.
Director: Earl Bellamy
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.7/10428 votes#21 - 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
8.3/10328 votes#22 - Andy's Vacation
Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 3/9/1964
Andy decides to take a vacation in the mountains and leaves Barney to guard a prisoner the state police have brought in. Inevitably, the prisoner escapes Barney's grasp and flees into the mountains -- the very same mountains Andy is vacationing in.
Director: Jeffrey Hayden
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
7.6/10308 votes#23 - Andy Saves Gomer
Season 4 Episode 23 - Aired 3/16/1964
After Andy extinguishes a small fire that started at the filling station while Gomer was napping, Gomer believes Andy saved his life and makes a pest of himself trying to repay the debt. Andy decides to stage an accident and let Gomer "rescue" him, but it's Gomer that ends up needing the rescuing.
Director: Jeffrey Hayden
Writer: Harvey Bullock
7.7/10333 votes#24 - Bargain Day
Season 4 Episode 24 - Aired 3/23/1964
Aunt Bee decides to buy 150 pounds of beef at a discount from a new butcher in town. She stores in in her "discount" freezer, which immediately breaks down. With her beef about to go bad, she learns that the only one in town with a freezer bug enough to save her beef is her original butcher.
Director: Jeffrey Hayden
Writer: John Whedon
7.5/10350 votes#25 - Divorce, Mountain Style
Season 4 Episode 25 - Aired 3/30/1964
Charlene Darling returns to Mayberry and announces that she has divorced her husband and now, according to folklore, must marry Andy. Desperate for a way out, Andy reads up on mountain folklore and finds a peculiar ritual that will void the marriage, if only he can get Barney to ride the horse.
Director: Jeffrey Hayden
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
The Best Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show Season 4
Every episode of The Andy Griffith Show Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show Season 4!
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
Season 4 Ratings Summary
"Opie the Birdman" is the best rated episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" season 4. It scored 8.9/10 based on 554 votes. Directed by Richard Crenna and written by Harvey Bullock, it aired on 9/30/1963. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "The Haunted House".