The BEST episodes of The Andy Griffith Show season 5
Every episode of The Andy Griffith Show season 5, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Andy Griffith Show season 5!
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.
#1 - 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.
#2 - 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."
#3 - 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.
#4 - 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.
#5 - 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.
#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.
#7 - 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.
#8 - 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.
#9 - 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.
#10 - 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.
#11 - Opie's Newspaper
Season 5 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/22/1965
Opie and his friend decide to spice up the newspaper they've started with a gossip column, which works great until Andy and Aunt Bee realize it's mostly about them.
#12 - 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.
#13 - 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.
#14 - 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.
#15 - Opie and the Carnival
Season 5 - Episode 31 - Aired 4/26/1965
Opie goes to the carnival to try and win a present for Andy's birthday but ends up spending all his money on a crooked shooting gallery. When Andy hears about it, he visits the gallery himself to teach the operators a lesson in straight shooting.
#16 - 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.
#17 - 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.
#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.
#19 - The Luck of Newton Monroe
Season 5 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/12/1965
Andy arrests a traveling salesman (Don Rickles)for selling faulty merchandise and puts him on work detail, where he manages to botch every job he's given. Now Andy has to restore the man's self-confidence and he may have to sacrifice his front porch to do it.
#20 - 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.
#21 - 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.
#22 - 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.
#23 - 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.
#24 - Aunt Bee's Invisible Beau
Season 5 - Episode 27 - Aired 3/29/1965
Andy and Barney go to investigate the man who Aunt Bee has told them she is dating and find out that not only is he married with children, but he has never dated Aunt Bee.
#25 - 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.