The Best Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show Season 5
Every episode of The Andy Griffith Show Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show Season 5!
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. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.
Season 5 Ratings Summary
The best episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" season 5 is "Opie Loves Helen", rated 7.5/10 from 309 user votes. It was directed by Aaron Ruben and written by Bob Ross. "Opie Loves Helen" aired on 9/21/1964 and is rated 1.0 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "Barney's Physical".
7.5/10 309 votes#1 - Opie Loves Helen
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/21/1964
Opie develops a crush on his teacher, Ms. Crump, and Andy sees that the only way to get Opie to forget about it is to admit to him that he and Helen are an "item."
Director: Aaron Ruben
Writer: Bob Ross
8.5/10 377 votes#2 - Barney's Physical
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/28/1964
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.
Director: Howard Morris
Writer: Bob Ross
7.6/10 352 votes#3 - Family Visit
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 10/5/1964
Aunt Bee's sister Nora and her family come to visit and drive everybody crazy. When Nora's husband starts going around town acting like a police officer, Andy decides to give him a taste of the life of a real lawman.
Director: Howard Morris
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
8.0/10 356 votes#4 - The Education of Ernest T. Bass
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/12/1964
Ernest T. Bass returns to Mayberry to get an education so his girlfriend will marry him. But when he meets his new teacher Helen, he falls in love with her. Now Andy has to help Helen give Ernest all the facts he needs, including the one about the true object of his affection.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
7.0/10 309 votes#5 - Aunt Bee's Romance
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/19/1964
Aunt Bee's old flame Roger comes to town for a visit and starts driving Andy and Opie crazy. Andy tries to give him the benefit of the doubt for Aunt Bee's sake, until Roger threatens to stay forever.
Director: Howard Morris
Writer: Harvey Bullock
8.2/10 321 votes#6 - Barney's Bloodhound
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 10/26/1964
Barney buys an old bloodhound to help him and Andy track down a prison escapee, but he only succeeds in getting them both taken hostage. That's when Andy remembers the dog's one pet peeve.
Director: Howard Morris
Writer: Sam Bobrick, Bill Idelson
7.9/10 286 votes#7 - Man in the Middle
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 11/2/1964
A lover's spat between Barney and Thelma Lou blows out of proportion and ends up involving Andy and Helen. Soon all four are not speaking and it's up to Barney to fix things, but he'll have to make up with Thelma Lou first.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Gus Adrian, David Evans
8.4/10 358 votes#8 - Barney's Uniform
Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 11/9/1964
Barney angers a local businessman who threatens to break every bone in his body if he sees him out of uniform, so Barney starts wearing his uniform everywhere. Andy has an idea to help him by changing a little more than his clothes.
Director: Coby Ruskin
Writer: Sam Bobrick, Bill Idelson
8.4/10 308 votes#9 - Opie's Fortune
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/16/1964
Opie finds a change purse with $50 and Andy tells him he can keep it if no one claims it in seven days. On the seventh day the owner comes looking for the money, and Andy discovers Opie has already spent it.
Director: Coby Ruskin
Writer: Ben Joelson, Art Baer
8.3/10 297 votes#10 - Goodbye, Sheriff Taylor
Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 11/23/1964
While Andy is away in Raleigh considering a job offer, Barney is left as acting sheriff and dreams of the day he'll have the job. When he ends up causing more trouble than he prevents, he wonders if he really wants the job as much as he thought.
Director: Gene Nelson
Writer: Fred Freeman, Lawrence J. Cohen
7.3/10 283 votes#11 - The Pageant
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 11/30/1964
Aunt Bee is elated when she is cast in the lead role in the Mayberry Centennial Pageant. When it becomes apparent she is not the actress she thinks she is, Andy devises a way for her to get a first-hand look at some real talent.
Director: Gene Nelson
Writer: Harvey Bullock
7.6/10 348 votes#12 - The Darling Baby
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 12/7/1964
The Darling family returns to Mayberry seeking a future husband for their 3-month-old daughter. To Andy's horror, they choose Opie, and he finds he will have to scare up a little witchcraft to get out of this one.
Director: Howard Morris
Writer: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
7.8/10 310 votes#13 - Andy and Helen Have Their Day
Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 12/14/1964
Andy and Helen end up before a justice of the peace when Andy forgets his fishing license during their picnic. When word reaches Barney, he believes they are getting married and rounds up the whole gang to be there for the nuptials.
Director: Howard Morris
Writer: Sam Bobrick, Bill Idelson
8.9/10 469 votes#14 - 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
7.9/10 312 votes#15 - Otis Sues the County
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 12/28/1964
Otis is talked into suing the county by a shady lawyer, thinking Andy will support his efforts to attract more money for the courthouse. To his surprise, Andy decides to fight the case.
Director: Howard Morris
Writer: Bob Ross
8.2/10 315 votes#16 - Barney Fife, Realtor
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 1/4/1965
Andy catches Opie trying to sell his broken bike to a friend and teaches him a lesson in honest dealing. But when Barney talks Andy into selling his house, the lesson comes to haunt him as Opie points out all the faults of the Taylor house to Barney's potential buyers.
Director: Peter Baldwin
Writer: Sam Bobrick, Bill Idelson
7.6/10 323 votes#17 - Goober Takes a Car Apart
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 1/11/1965
Andy is horrified to find Goober has brought a car into the courthouse after being left in charge while Andy was away at a sheriff's conference. That's when he learns that a couple of law-enforcement friends from the conference are coming for a visit.
Director: Peter Baldwin
Writer: Sam Bobrick, Bill Idelson
7.7/10 295 votes#18 - The Rehabilitation of Otis
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 1/18/1965
Barney's attempts at getting Otis to stop drinking through psychotherapy only succeed in driving him away to Mount Pilot. When Andy sees how bad Barney feels, he takes him up to Mount Pilot to convince Otis to come back, only to find that Otis prefers their jail over Andy's.
Director: Peter Baldwin
Writer: Fred Freeman, Lawrence J. Cohen
8.3/10 295 votes#19 - The Lucky Letter
Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 1/25/1965
Barney feels he's become "hexed" after Andy persuades him to throw away a chain letter. Now with the annual law-enforcement officers' pistol-shooting qualifications coming up, Andy has to soothe Barney's nerves or he may lose his job.
Director: Theodore J. Flicker
Writer: Richard M. Powell
7.8/10 314 votes#20 - Goober and the Art of Love
Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 2/1/1965
Goober starts to annoy Andy and Barney by hanging around during their dates with Helen and Thelma Lou. They decide to set him up with a girl he likes, only to find they now have twice the trouble.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Fred Freeman, Lawrence J. Cohen
8.1/10 308 votes#21 - Barney Runs for Sheriff
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 2/8/1965
Andy is offered a job in Minnesota so Barney decides to run for sheriff in the upcoming election. But when Andy's job offer falls through, he returns to Mayberry to find Barney with a case of campaign fever, aiming to unseat Andy.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Richard M. Powell
8.3/10 298 votes#22 - If I Had a Quarter Million Dollars
Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 2/15/1965
Barney sets up a sting operation to catch a crook who may be returning to Mayberry for some stolen loot and ends up arresting an undercover FBI agent instead. But a suspicious Andy realizes Barney's operation may not have been as far off as he thought.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: Bob Ross
8.1/10 348 votes#23 - TV or Not TV
Season 5 Episode 23 - Aired 3/1/1965
An article written up about Andy attracts the attention of a Hollywood film crew who come to make a television show about him. Andy is flattered, until he notices the crew's strange fascination with the Mayberry town bank.
Director: Coby Ruskin
Writer: Ben Joelson, Art Baer
7.2/10 347 votes#24 - Guest in the House
Season 5 Episode 24 - Aired 3/8/1965
The pretty daughter of a friend of Aunt Bee's comes to stay with the Taylors and develops a crush on Andy, who tries to be nice for Aunt Bee's sake without getting in trouble with Helen.
Director: Coby Ruskin
Writer: Fred Freeman, Lawrence J. Cohen
8.4/10 360 votes#25 - The Case of the Punch in the Nose
Season 5 Episode 25 - Aired 3/15/1965
Barney uncovers an old assault case between Floyd the barber and his friend Charlie that never went to trial and ends up re-igniting an old feud that spreads to the whole town. Now Andy has to find a way to resolve the dispute and keep everyone out of court.
Director: Coby Ruskin
Writer: Sam Bobrick, Bill Idelson