‘The Andy Griffith Show’: 7 Errors the Series Forgot To Fix
Many television shows contain small mistakes in their episodes that creators may miss. A common example is the coffee cup in Game of Thrones. The most recent instance is the crewmember that was half-hidden in The Mandalorian.
The Andy Griffith Show has its fair share of errors. There were at least 11, and some of them may be hard to spot. The cast and crew show up in reflections, and some microphone wires are visible in a few shots.
‘The Andy Griffith Show’ centers around Andy Taylor
The Andy Griffith Show takes place in Mayberry, North Carolina. It follows the life of Sheriff Andy Taylor as he protects the town and raises his son.
Some characters that viewers meet throughout the series include Deputy Barney Fife, Opie Taylor, and Aunt Bee. There are a host of other minor characters, and a few of them never appear on-screen.
One of them is Sarah, the phone operator, and the other one is Barney’s girlfriend, Juanita. Their appearances got left to the viewer’s imagination.
In the show, Andy remains a single father. However, he did get a couple of love interests throughout the series. In the first season, he is in a relationship with Ellie Walker. Later, Andy becomes the boyfriend of Peggy McMillan in the third season.
There were mirrors, reflections, and license plate errors
The Andy Griffith Show sometimes needed to film a scene about 20 times to get it right. The actors would often lose their composure and laugh. Despite the retakes, small errors still made their way into the final product.
According to MeTV, there were a couple of times that the show had mirrored, or flipped, the scene. In the episode “Bringing Up Opie,” there is a close-up shot of Andy sitting by Opie’s bed. The badge is on the right side of his shirt instead of the left. In “Ernest T. Bass Joins the Army,” the words “SNACK BAR” appear reversed while Ernest jogs down the street.
There is a scene outside the barbershop in “The Bookie Barber” where Andy walks off camera. In the reflection on the window, the actor is hunching over and then standing there. The viewer can see the mirror image of the film crew on a horn in “The Mayberry Band.”
“Barney and the Governor” shows a close-up of a license plate that reads “DRLVE GAFTDEYE” and “NOTH CAPOLNIA.” Another license plate error occurs in multiple episodes where the same plate shows up on various cars. If the viewer looks closely, they might notice that they read “DC 269.”
More minor errors include wires and animals
Some viewers may have noticed that the intro sequence had some lag when Opie throws a rock into the water. This was due to the creators using an adult to toss it far enough. There were a few other errors that pop up during the episodes.
In one of the early scenes of “The Darlings are Coming,” Andy walks up to a vehicle with a microphone wire running up his pant leg. Another blooper involving wires occurs in “Opie the Birdman.” Barney’s actor also has a wire going up inside his pant leg when he is talking to Opie, who is in a tree.
A chicken in “Aunt Bee the Crusader” is stumbling around. The crew tied a wire around its neck to do this, and the viewer can see the thin, white line. A black bear chases a character up a tree in “Andy and the New Mayor.” The animal handler is somewhat visible in the shot behind some trees.
In “Goober Goes to the Auto Show,” the characters are at a gas station. A Coors truck drives behind them. The beer is a Rocky Mountains brand that was not available on the East Coast until the 1980s.
