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You heard that right, Goober had a different name in one 'Andy' episode
Who the heck is Beasley?
"TV or not TV" marked the 10th appearance of George Lindsey on The Andy Griffith Show. The sitcom had introduced his character, Goober, a year earlier. In his first scene in Mayberry, in the season-four episode "Fun Girls," Goober met Andy at the jailhouse. Gomer introduces the two, naturally.
"Hey, Andy! Say hey to my cousin Goober!" Gomer announces. The two cousins are about to go to "the picture show." Goober then performs his hilarious Cary Grant impression — "Judy! Judy! Judy! Judy! Judy!" — not to mention his Edward G. Robinson impersonation. Then he limps around the room like Chester from Gunsmoke. It is an unforgettable first impression.
The first time we see cousin Goober in ''Fun Girls''But they never mentioned his last name. We all just assumed it was Pyle, too.
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*available in most MeTV marketsJump forward to season five. In "TV or Not TV," a magazine article about Andy, titled "Sheriff Without a Gun," lures curious "television producers" to Mayberry. Andy introduces these out-of-towners to the fellas sitting outside the barbershop.
"Mr. Harvey, I'd like you to meet Floyd Lawson and Goober Beasley, our barber and filling station attendant," Andy says.
Wait, what? Beasley?
Why is it that Goober had the surname Beasley in this episode? It was only mentioned in this single episode. He would later become Goober Pyle.
The Mayberry Historical Society calls it an "error by the writers that was never caught." Or, it could be that they originally intended to call him Goober Beasley — not all cousins share a last name, after all — but later changed it to Pyle to avoid confusion. As you know, Gomer was off headlining his own sitcom by this point.
Whatever the reason for the anomaly, Goober was in good company. The last time "movie people" came calling to Mayberry in "Mayberry Goes Hollywood," Floyd was named Floyd Colby! What is it with these Hollywood folk confusing Hollywood writers?
Of course, these are two of many name discrepancies on the sitcom.
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