The BEST episodes of The Andy Griffith Show

Every episode of The Andy Griffith Show ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Andy Griffith Show!

Down-home humor and an endearing cast of characters helped make The Andy Griffith Show one of the most beloved comedies in the history of TV. The show centered around widower Andy Taylor, who divided his time between raising his young son Opie, and his job as sheriff of the sleepy North Carolina town, Mayberry. Andy and Opie live with Andy's Aunt Bee, who serves as a surrogate mother to both father and son. Andy's nervous cousin, Barney Fife, is his deputy sheriff whose incompetence is tolerated because Mayberry is virtually crime-free.

Last Updated: 2/23/2024Network: CBSStatus: Ended
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Christmas Story
star
8.53
138 votes

#1 - Christmas Story

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/19/1960

Mayberry's local "Scrooge," storeowner Ben Weaver, manages to have harmless bootlegger Sam Muggins thrown into jail on Christmas -- but the Mayberry folks manage to celebrate Christmas with Sam in a most unusual way.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
Writer: David Adler
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Citizen's Arrest
star
8.35
78 votes

#2 - 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?

Directors: Dick Crenna
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Andy's Vacation
star
8.12
77 votes

#3 - 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.

Directors: Jeffrey Hayden
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Bringing Up Opie
star
7.98
48 votes

#4 - Bringing Up Opie

Season 1 - Episode 32 - Aired 5/22/1961

After being scolded by Aunt Bee, Opie decides to run away from home -- a plan that quickly turns into a series of eye-opening, and sometimes dangerous, adventures for Opie and a scare for both Aunt Bee and Andy.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
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The Haunted House
star
7.90
101 votes

#5 - 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.

Directors: Earl Bellamy
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Crime-Free Mayberry
star
7.89
88 votes

#6 - Crime-Free Mayberry

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/20/1961

Two crooks masquerade as an FBI agent and a professional photographer in a scheme to honor the Mayberry Sheriff's Department for preserving the community's low crime rate -- but they actually have their eye on the town bank.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
Writer: Paul Henning
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High Noon in Mayberry
star
7.86
81 votes

#7 - High Noon in Mayberry

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/21/1963

Andy gets a letter from a criminal he had wounded years before and learns the man is coming to Mayberry to see him. Barney becomes convinced the man wants revenge and enlists Gomer and Otis to secretly protect Andy, which ends up wreaking more havoc than any criminal ever could.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
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Back to Nature
star
7.86
66 votes

#8 - Back to Nature

Season 4 - Episode 31 - Aired 5/11/1964

While on a camping trip with Opie and his friends, Barney brags to Gomer about his outdoor skills and promptly gets them lost in the woods. When Andy finally does find them, he and Gomer hatch a plan to save Barney the embarrassment and prove to everyone what a mountain man he really is.

Directors: Coby Ruskin
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Three Wishes for Opie
star
7.86
71 votes

#9 - 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.

Directors: Howard Morris
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Alcohol and Old Lace
star
7.74
131 votes

#10 - Alcohol and Old Lace

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/30/1961

Opie comes home talking about a "flower-making machine" owned by sisters Clarabelle and Jennifer Morrison, the spinsters who run the local flower shop. Andy and Barney do a little investigating -- and discover the contraption is actually a still and the kindly sisters are in the moonshine business!

Directors: Gene Reynolds
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The Bank Job
star
7.74
77 votes

#11 - The Bank Job

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/24/1962

Barney becomes convinced the Mayberry bank is ripe for a robbery and tries to prove his point by staging a fake one. When he discovers a weak spot in the security system, he unknowing relays this information to a couple of actual robbers.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
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Andy Forecloses
star
7.73
99 votes

#12 - Andy Forecloses

Season 1 - Episode 28 - Aired 4/24/1961

Andy, faced with the unpleasant task of serving an eviction notice on a family who has fallen on hard times, tries desperately to come up with a way for the tenants to keep their home.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
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Sheriff Barney
star
7.71
92 votes

#13 - Sheriff Barney

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/25/1961

When Barney gets an offer to become the sheriff of nearby Greendale, Andy decides to let him be the sheriff of Mayberry for a day to give him a taste of what the top law-enforcement spot entails.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
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The Sermon for Today
star
7.68
79 votes

#14 - 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.

Directors: Dick Crenna
Writer: John Whedon
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Barney's Sidecar
star
7.68
84 votes

#15 - 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.

Directors: Coby Ruskin
Watch Now:Apple TV
Opie's Charity
star
7.65
115 votes

#16 - Opie's Charity

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/28/1960

Andy is dismayed when Opie refuses to contribute money to the school charity drive -- but there's a secret reason for Opie's apparent selfishness.

Directors: Don Weis
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Ellie Saves a Female
star
7.65
102 votes

#17 - Ellie Saves a Female

Season 1 - Episode 27 - Aired 4/17/1961

Ellie Walker takes pity on a shy tomboy named Frankie Flint and is determined to give a "Cinderella" makeover to the young girl -- much to her gruff father's displeasure.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
Writer: David Adler
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Barney Comes to Mayberry
star
7.64
22 votes

#18 - Barney Comes to Mayberry

Season 7 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/23/1967

Barney returns to Mayberry and rediscovers an old girlfriend who has become a movie star.

Directors: Lee Philips
Writer: Sidney Morse
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Quiet Sam
star
7.58
102 votes

#19 - Quiet Sam

Season 1 - Episode 29 - Aired 5/1/1961

Barney is convinced that the new, mysterious farmer in town warrants further investigation. Andy finally agrees to pay a visit to the man's farm -- and finds himself drawn into a predicament he never imagined he'd find himself in.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
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Barney and the Choir
star
7.52
79 votes

#20 - Barney and the Choir

Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/19/1962

Things hit a sour note when Barney joins the Mayberry choir -- and it's quickly determined that his singing voice isn't exactly harmonious to the other members of the group.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
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Aunt Bee, the Swinger
star
7.50
32 votes

#21 - Aunt Bee, the Swinger

Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/4/1965

Aunt Bee and a retired politician experience a very fast-paced relationship.

Directors: Lawrence Dobkin
Writer: Jack Elinson
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Andy and the Gentleman Crook
star
7.50
107 votes

#22 - Andy and the Gentleman Crook

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/27/1961

A notorious, nationally known con man dubbed "Gentleman Dan" becomes a hero of epic proportions to Aunt Bee, Opie and Barney when he is held for two days in the Mayberry jail.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
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Andy and Opie's Pal
star
7.42
43 votes

#23 - 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.

Directors: Richard Crenna
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Man in a Hurry
star
7.42
77 votes

#24 - Man in a Hurry

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/14/1963

Malcolm Tucker, a business tycoon from Charlotte, has the unfortunate luck of having his car break down in Mayberry on a Sunday. Now he's willing to do just about anything to be on his way, including stealing Gomer's truck. Andy invites the man over for Sunday dinner to try and teach him the importance of relaxation before he does something he'll really regret.

Directors: Bob Sweeney
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Opie Loves Helen
star
7.39
38 votes

#25 - 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."

Directors: Aaron Ruben
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