Ever wonder why Sheriff Andy wore a cast for two episodes?

We're used to seeing Andy slappin' wrists, not injuring his!

In "Aunt Bee the Warden," the funny premise finds town drunk Otis Campbell serving out his typical sentence not in the Mayberry jail, but in Sheriff Andy's home.

This is necessary because the Mayberry jail is full, and Andy has no room for the jail's most frequent occupant. He also doesn't have time to be in two places at once.

That's how Aunt Bee comes to serve as a guard over Otis in the Taylor home, keeping a watchful eye to make sure he serves his sentence.

"Aunt Bee the Warden" is an unusual episode of The Andy Griffith Show for a big reason other than Aunt Bee filling in as law enforcement. It's also one of the few times you actually see the Mayberry sheriff holding a gun — every Mayberry fan knows that Andy was a lawman who famously had no use for guns.

But perhaps the most unmissably out-of-place aspect of this episode is that, throughout it, Sheriff Andy's hand is all bandaged up. On the show, the audience is told that Andy hurt his hand valiantly fighting off criminals. It's seemingly just a minor detail the writers incorporated, choosing to not ever use it as a sight gag or play it for a joke.

However, it's long been whispered that the cast came on not as a creative choice but because Griffith actually hurt his hand on set one day. What actually happened is behind the scenes, the story goes, Griffith got upset and put his hand through a wall. To finish filming, the writers supplied the improvised explanation and Andy appeared throughout "Aunt Bee the Warden" wearing a cast.

Now, The Andy Griffith Show is not terribly big on continuity. At the beginning, Andy and Barney are cousins, but by the end, connected only through the bond of friendship. The actress who played Opie's beloved housekeeper in the first episode eventually comes back as a totally different Mayberry resident. Heck, even Andy and Opie go through slight character changes as the series goes on.

So clearly, one episode does not necessarily build on any other. It's more that when all The Andy Griffith Show episodes are taken together, they tell a tale of a place in time that many enjoy revisiting time and again. It's the stuff of a fond memory, not an ongoing adventure with an epic conclusion.

However, in the very next episode of The Andy Griffith Show, there is Sheriff Andy again, still wearing the cast from the prior episode when he supposedly got wounded in the line of his official duty. In this episode, the cast doesn't get a backstory, as it's already been explained in the previous episode.

That's not a common occurrence in this TV town where every day and every episode resets the clock, and the prior day's events are rarely referred to again. It's also a little bit of an eyesore in idyllic Mayberry where we rarely see anyone get seriously hurt. (Feelings got hurt way more often, but everything always got smoothed over in the end.)

By the next episode, "Andy and Barney in the Big City," the cast is off and long forgotten, and funnily enough, we actually get to see the boys go on an adventure with an epic conclusion — catching a jewel thief!

So whatever you want to say about The Andy Griffith Show, just remember: predictable it was not

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23 Comments

MrsPhilHarris 52 months ago
I think continuity with regard to how long Barney was a deputy. Barney has different middle names.
TomBurkhart 52 months ago
nah,he fell outta bed and broke his wrist........LOL
Wiseguy 52 months ago
"However, it's long been whispered that the cast came on not as a creative choice but because Griffith actually hurt his hand on set one day."

Of course, it wasn't a "creative choice." They wouldn't have gone to the trouble of putting a cast on his hand and then just explain it away. It would have been relevant to the plot of the episode and we would have probably even seen the injury happen.
Pacificsun 52 months ago
There was never any need for continuity in these shows. Most series were "happy" if they made it to the 2nd or 3rd season. (Most did not). And mainly because writers and directors changed. As did availability of actor-characters. If they had ever been so concerned (or distracted) they never would’ve met deadlines. Putting an episode together is complicated, meaning about coordination and maximization of peoples’ time. From concept to presentation, elements of an episode were often in simultaneous in development, per department!

However it's fun for us now because such shifts track the development and the maturity of the show in different ways. And (as the MeTV writers do so very well) is figuring out how the changes (sometimes coming from real life) are responsible. In the PM case a lot of those exceptions (which the actor powered through) were mysteries for a long time. Unless researched via the making of the show or actor's biography. Have enjoyed those kinds of books, especially around ST, before the fandom became massive!
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Pacificsun MikefromJersey 52 months ago
Who was the fourth brother on Bonanza?
Mitch Vogel (born January 17, 1956) is a United States former child actor who left show business at the age of 20. He is best known for his 1970-73 Bonanza role, where he played the teen orphan Jamie Hunter Cartwright.

Mitch Vogel | Bonanza Wiki | Fandombonanza.fandom.com (just to be honest about my answer)!! 😉😉
MikefromJersey Pacificsun 52 months ago
Mitch Vogel, as you note, was Little Joe's bro, but I didn't mean "who was the 4th brother on Bonanza", as in Adam, Eric(Hoss), Joe and Jamie. Rather, Joe had 4 brothers! Ha, ask those guys
at the Bonanza site to renew their Bonanza credentials, they ain't getting a date with Juanita
as a prize. They don't even rate a peck on the cheek from Hop Sing.
The MeTV guys, phooey, they never rise to a challenge, but maybe someone here will come up
with the name of Little Joe's other brother.
tyjacs MikefromJersey 41 months ago
Clay Stafford?
MikefromJersey tyjacs 41 months ago
Hokey Smokes, Tyjacs, you are spot on, Clay Stafford(Barry Coe) had the same mother -
Marie - as Little Joe, as revealed in "The First Born". Throw in Adam, Hoss and Jamie,
that makes 4 brothers for Joe. You win a date with Juanita, you can pick her up at
the diner after her shift.
jo 52 months ago
A little birdie tells us all the noise coming from AG's is not from prize fights on the radio. Most be true, I read it in "Mayberry After Midnight"
LisaLoveSlough jo 52 months ago
That's the same section that had Andy getting engaged to Helen via the Count. I wonder if she contributed to any of the "noise."
JHP 52 months ago
Gee and I thought I was the only one that the lack of continuity was irritating
dbalius 52 months ago
Linda Purl told me many years ago that Griffith had quite a temper, so I can believe he put his hand through a wall very easily. She also was very glad to get off Matlock.
Drich 52 months ago
I once read on another outlet somewhere that Andy broke his hand while on set because he had heard on the news that Kennedy had been assassinated during rehearsals 🤷
MichaelSkaggs Drich 52 months ago
The timeline is all wrong. JFK died on November 22, 1963. Andy Griffith wore the cast for the two episodes in March, 1962, and most likely at the time, they filmed the episodes six to eight weeks in advance.
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52 months ago
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OldTVfanatic 52 months ago
You’re not totally wrong about Nesmith threatening Don Kirshner. But Mike actually uttered those sinister words to Herb Moelis, who was Kirshner’s lawyer. Admittedly, Kirshner was a jerk but he never tried his heavy-handed tactics on Kansas. Those boys from the Midwestern US would have flattened Don in a millisecond.
SalIanni 52 months ago
There was a little continuity in the episodes during the 5th season. The 2nd-last episode is "Opie and the Carnival" where Andy pursues a pair of crooks who tried to con Opie at a carnival. The next episode "Banjo Playing Deputy" begins at the same carnival where Andy finds guest star Jerry Van Dyke looking for work.
MrsPhilHarris SalIanni 52 months ago
I always thought the Banjo episode should have come before Opie at the carnival.
Tony MrsPhilHarris 48 months ago
I think it was meant to introduce Jerry Van Dyke as the new deputy before he went with "My Mother, the Car" instead. Also, I believe it was the final B&W episode.
MrsPhilHarris Tony 48 months ago
You are probably right.
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