Bill Maher made the observation that in Mayberry everyone was single. Andy, Floyd, Barney, Howard,Aunt Bee, Helen, and on it goes. I always suspected Floyd and Howard were gay, but after watching Maher, I am beginning to think the whole town was.

This has to be my all time fav show. Bill Maher is an asshole IMHO.

BTW Not everybody on the show was single. Emmett is married to Martha.

If it really were "Gayberry", wouldn't Gomer Pyle have enlisted in the NAVY instead of the MARINES?!?

Relax, Mig. This isn't a threat to National Security, just Bill Maher being funny.

There were an awful lot of single women on that show, and they all owned their own houses! Thelma Lou was a catch, but old Barney would rather live at the Y than get hitched and move into a house free and clear?

But all kidding aside, one of my favorite shows of all-time.

Oh yeah, if Aunt Bee wasn't a dyke, then I don't know who is.

DT may be on to something. Consider that Barney suddenly leaves Mayberry for no apparent reason. Why did he leave? Then Opie leaves and moves to Milwaukee and changes his last name to Cunningham. But get this: he changes his first name also (to Ritchie). Now that's quite unusual if not actually weird. Who's he running away from? Then you have Andy who never talks about Opie's mother. Of course, we wonder what happened to her. Is she dead? If so, how did she die? Wouldn't the Sheriff be in a unique position to control the probe into her death? It's all very curious!

Maybe Hollywood will make an updated movie version of The Andy Griffith Show...with Aunt Bee-otch!

Dick Van Dyke?

Next you'll be saying Mr. French was gay.

Say it ain't so! I love "Mr. Fray-unch, Mr. Fray-unch"!

Buffy and Jody were child pornographers.

Yeah, I said it.

That's it, I can't take any more! Frankie Five Angels; pass me that razor blade...

Helen Crump and Thelma Lou each had their own house, but whenever Andy and Barney wanted to get "intimate" with them they'd go on a double date and drive out to the lake (illegally using the town owned police car). If Andy went to the lake with Helen alone, it seems Barney always stalked him out there.

And Aunt Bee and Sarah....how obvious can you get?

Aunt Bee and Sarah...is that the earliest depiction of phone sex on television?..

Mig ... any liberal comedian you like?

Emmett had Martha as a beard. He aight rarely spent evenings at home, preferringto hang out in the shop to catch a glimpse of Andy or Barney on patrol. The other married person was Otis the drunk...clearly they were ridiculing straight people.

If you don't want gay people portrayed just watch The Skipper and his Lil Buddy/

Floyd was a God damned beautician!

A fudgepacker and a fornicator.

Gay marriage in North Carolina!!!!

I'm starting to rethink what it really meant when Ralph yelled out the window; "Norton! Come on down, pal!"

The Mayberry gay routine was first cracked 25-30 years ago. Maher is doing what he does best...being unoriginal and arrogant while pretending to be edgy and ground breaking. But in his mind he's a genius.

Can't argue with you there, Klyd. The guy is a dick. Sorry, there's really not a better word to describe him. I'm just having some fun with Miggie.

I know that. Your Aunt Bee line made me burst out laughing.

Anyway, someone once asked me why Gomer and Goober never got married, and I said because they were first cousins. It is funny how the show writers were hesitant to have the characters get married as if that would present a story line that might detract from the show. I thought Thelma Lou was prettier than Helen Krump, and frankly, too nice for Barney. I thought he'd have more fun with those hot waitresses from Mount Pilot.

It was interesting how the show evolved. Andy slowly lost his drawl as the series progressed. Barney started out as Andy's cousin, but that relationship was eschewed pretty quickly by the writers.

I use the show somewhat in my government classes to illustrate local government organization. For example, Andy held two elective offices: sheriff and JP. I'm sure that is in violation of the North Carolina constitution just as it would be a violation of many state's constitutions if not all of them. The show sometimes errantly represented the Sheriff's Department as reporting to Mayberry's mayor or as being a city department. And what about only one patrol car? An entire county patrolled with one unit - and no dispatch to boot. Still, I watch every rerun I can.

You're right. There was an episode where Andy ticketed an out of towner for a minor traffic offense, and the offender demanded a hearing, at which point Andy removed his "Sheriff" desk sign and replaced it with "Justice of the Peace." Talk about a conflict of interest. In that era there was less suspicion of our local servants. We're surrounded by and expect corruption today.

But back to the single man status, when the series ran its course and evolved into Mayberry RFD, Ken Berry took over the lead, and there we have again a single down-home dad with a young all-American son. Just trying to recycle the same old theme.

The 60s had other shows with single dads or guardians too, like Family Affair and Courtship of Eddie's Father.

I'm nice and relaxed. You guys seem to forget about the two Gay women in Milwalkie Laverne and Shirley.

Someone mentioned Buffy and Jody. I remember that show. Maybe Uncle Bill was a child molester

Also, their two gay friends Lenny and Squiggy.

What was Carmine "The Big Ragu" Ragusa then?

Klyd, I remember loving those shows you mentioned. My friends and I would always have plotlines we wanted to see, like having Eddie's father marry Mrs. Livingston. And don't forget "My Three Sons" and "Petticoat Junction"! Were ANY of the parents married on TV in the 60s??

I always wanted to see wrestling matches.... The Addams Family vs. The Munsters; The Leave it to Beaver clan vs. The Ozzie & Harriet clan, etc.

So the "L" on her shirt wasn't for "Laverne".

He'd then be Mr. Livingston I presume?

Good points Olivant. As the show progressed Andy was really some kind of benevolent dictator, or philosopher-king if you will. He had no compunction about bending the rules when he thought it served the greater good: e.g. using someone's vacant house so Floyd could pretend he was a millionaire; putting jazz musicians in jail on trumped up charges so a local inger could join the band; consistently covering up for Barney's ineptitude by giving him credit for things Andy really did; allowing Otis to pretend he was a deputy sherriff; putting an out of towner under arrest and causing Gomer to slow down the fixing of his car to keep him in Mayberry until he learned his lesson; turning Barney's michrophone off in the Mayberry choir; lying to the mayor about the quality of the Mayberry band so they could use taxpayer's money to go to Raleigh; lying to Helen about his romping around with a starlet in Hollywood (that was after the show jumped the shark and had plots about things like Bea's flying lessons, and the belated appearance of one African American who played a football coach).

In many ways he was the Vito Corleone of Mayberry, and Barney was the Fredo. Barney even betrayed Andy in one episode by having Andy investigated for irregularities.

Andy jumped the shark as soon as it went color. Which coincidentally, was when Don Knotts left. The show was never the same after that. When I watch it at night, if I see it's an episode filmed in color, I usually pass it up. I really didn't care for Howard too much. The corniest episode is when he got a "bachelor" apartment. I cringe when they show that one.

My favorite episode is when Andy gets the English butler----the guy who played Dr. Bombay on BEWITCHED. Opie asking for bubble and squeak and saying cheerio to Aunt Bea is priceless.

I like it when Barney say's "nip it in the bud". I like the epi's when the Darling family comes to town.