I will always remember that scene. The second Andy suggests he go home to his wife, He bolts from his drunken stooper and scream for police and then scream, "HELP!!!!".
@@tutankhamenii8772 Mayor Stoner was married He bought a Bed Jacket for his wife.Andy traded his fishing rod for it so he could give it to Aunt Bea for her birthday.
One more example of the unparalleled acting talent on the Andy Griffith show. No cast could top this collection of off the wall loonies. I didnt realize Hal Smith portrayed Owl in the Winnie the Pooh series. Also I agree wholeheartedly with the comment on Smith being much funnier than Foster Brooks. The great Don Knotts and Smith alone make this show sparkle like diamonds in green grass. These two geniuses are only the first course in a 12 course comedy meal. Best show ever. Open and shut case.
He played the mayor of the Western town of Boracho in the movie "The Great Race" (1965). At one point the mayor, in the midst of toasting the racers with champagne, gets clonked on the head by a falling wooden sign, and staggers briefly in a direct callback to Smith's performance as Otis.
Back in my day, those days, everybody had a town drunk. Shoot, we had several NEIGHBORHOOD drunks. Some had houses, some lived in the bushes. This comedy was just something everybody saw every day, anyway. It wasn't considered offending anybody, but it was comedic to see a drunk in action. Shoot, I saw a man across the street get in his car, proceed to crank it, then bump my next door neighbor's parked car and proceed to push it about 5 feet down the road in three attempts, with my next door neighbor standing on his porch, screaming the man's name the whole time. Tires were squealing, smoke was billowing,,, you tell me that's not comedy!
Back in the mid 90s I worked at a pizza place in a small town and we had a guy that would come into the place about 1:30 am after the bars closed and order a pizza to go at least 4 to 5 times a week. The guy would always be pretty drunk and I use to call him Otis.
I notice that on Andy Griffith, they never had a pastor who did outreach to these people. You can see how Christianity was banned from television so early on. Everything was made psychological or social, never real Christian spirituality even though the entire decency of the life we admired in these shows is based upon those moral certainties and facts.
@@PeteMcCorvey You didn't read my message well. They never showed a minister or pastor visiting the Sheriff's office to help with Otis or working in the community. Church on these shows was merely a cultural decoration and not a central part of life.
@@michaelbabbitt3837 Yeah, that always bothered me, especially in the episodes where it _did_ show them in church. The sermons were about good things like brotherhood, but they weren't connected to the Savior that makes brotherhood possible. Without him, there's no forgiveness of sins, no life, no joy. But with him, there's infinite joy and eternal life!
there is *a single episode where they're attending **_All Souls Church,_** and a visiting pastor from New York* gives a sermon about people rushing through life and not slowing down to enjoy the little things (the irony being that Mayberry is a sleepy little town where everything except rumors moves at a snail's pace.) as the above mentioned, the sermon is explicitly not God-oriented; Barney tries to fake having paid attention after the sermon by claiming "no one can talk about sin like you can!" and then is led away by Andy chastising Barney "he didn't talk about sin!...." the closest the episode gets to even mentioning God is the lyrics of the Hymn _Holy Spirit Truth Divine_ sung towards the beginning.
there was, and still is today, an enormous and coordinated push to keep God and the Bible off the screen and out of the media except in a mocking or derogatory manner. _Davey and Goliath_ as well as _A Charlie Brown Christmas_ had to fight broadcasters multiple times to prevent them from editing out the Christ-based messages the shorts conveyed, and _Veggietales'_ Christian messages were completely gutted through heavy editing of each episode when re-aired (the iconic "God made you special and He loves you very much" was replaced with a hollow "bye!") People just don't want to hear the message, because they either do not believe God is real and that Christians are an "evil" cult that is out to "get" them (most common) or believe that God has ill intentions for them or is their enemy (less common)
Guy, alcohol and drug rehabilitation treatment was available for much of the last century, likely earlier than even that through private doctors. My aunt worked in that field when I was a little kid.
Otis lived in marital hell when divorce was frowned on. He would get arrested for being drunk but with the minimal fine jail with Aunt Bees cooking was better than home.
There is no comparison between Foster Brooks and Hal Smith. Brooks had more subtlety, in that he was trying to portray a man who'd had just a little too much, to be able to make a speech, coherently. But he acted as if he didn't think he was that way, which was why it was so classic. Smith, on the other hand, was too generic and formulaic, a type of performance one sees too often, which makes it stale. I'm not trying to completely condemn Smith, but Brooks was in a different league.
I remember this was the last scene of which me and my great grandfather was watching the Andy Griffith show run on a tv network that played old shows. I forgot what it was called but he used to laugh at it. He died sadly a few months ago. Rest In Peace
@@ILoveOldTWC I think Otis actually tipped them off to the location of stills in some episodes. I can't remember if he did intentionally or because he was drunk though
You mean there was no racial strife and the law was enforced by judgement, common sense and community spirit rather than by the book. Well, when there is a lack of judgement you need laws.
kinda weird to frame this as inappropriate humor. just look at the hurtful, sarcastic, judgmental, mean-spirited name calling frequently passing as "comedy" today.
Living back in the mid-20th century was like a utopia. Sure in the South there was always racial tensions but all over the country if you came from a small town everybody knew your name so you didn't act up and you didn't have to lock your doors at night.
You don't have to lock your doors now. When was the last time you saw a stranger go up to your door and try to open it? People are just more paranoid now.
I believe most of the racial tension is the fault of politicians. Lived in the south all my life and patriotic Christians of all races live, work and worship together and want everyone to succeed. There are always mean people and they are going to find a way to cause a problem.
If a soldier in battle can perform surgery, Barney can provide some kind of help. Not a psychiatrist, since you have to be a medical doctor for that, but maybe a psychologist.
