Andy Griffith Show (DVD)

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Popular and critical acclaim aren't exactly the same thing, but it's tough to find a lot wrong with a television show that ranked among the top 10 shows every year of its eight-year run.

And season three was a big year for "The Andy Griffith Show." It was the season that introduced dim-witted mechanical wizard Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors), schoolteacher-love interest Helen Crump (Aneta Corsaut), the rowdy, bluegrass-playing Darlings, and rock-throwing, poetry-spouting nut-case, Ernest T. Bass (Howard Morris).

This is the season that churned out many of the episodes now regarded as classics and near-classics. This year, Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts) is at his bumbling-but-earnest best, and he and barber Floyd Lawson (Howard McNear) tangle with three escaped convicts—females whom, in order to capture them, "Al" (Barney) has to charm with his Rudolph Valentino impression and his dancing. Veteran character actress Reta Shaw is hilariously intimidating as the gum-chewing Big Maude. And Opie (Ron Howard) has to fight for his honor to prove that he's not seeing imaginary men.

This is also the year that Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) gets plastered on "medicine" with her entire ladies' club, sold to her by a snake-oil peddler (John Dehner) who has thoughts of wooing Aunt Bee. This year, Barney buys a lemon of a first car, and the hapless deputy goes undercover as a washwoman and a bride. And when the mountain people descend on Mayberry, it's nothing short of hilarious—fun to listen to, too, because aside from clan leader Briscoe Darling (Denver Pyle), the other guys in the clan were really The Dillards, a talented bluegrass band whose frequent quest spots on the show rivaled Earl & Scruggs' on "The Beverly Hillbillies."

What kept "The Andy Griffith Show" on top was a combination of things. It was pure slice-of-life Americana, with frequent moral lessons embedded in the scripts that didn't feel so didactic because it was part of Sheriff Andy Taylor's style to dispense such wisdom. There were also very funny lines, and a killer ensemble cast delivered them with verve. And the characters grew on you. When you saw Barney and Floyd week after week, it was almost like living in a small town. You felt as if you knew them, and the show had a comfortable feel to it.

Here's the rundown on this season's 32 episodes:

1) "Mr. McBeevee"—A near-classic episode often seen in reruns. Opie is accused of lying when Andy tells him enough is enough with this imaginary friend of his who climbs trees, jingles, and blows smoke.

2) "Andy's Rich Girlfriend"—When Andy discovers that the county health worker he's dating is the daughter of a rich Mt. Pilot man, he feels so uncomfortable that he breaks up with Peggy (Joanna Cook Moore).

3) "Andy and the New Mayor"—Andy butts heads with a new mayor (Parley Baer) who objects to his laid-back style and habit of releasing prisoners on their honor to return to serve time, and nothing but a bear can convince the mayor otherwise.

4) "Andy and Opie, Bachelors"—When Aunt Bee asks Peggy to sub for her while she's away and cook for Andy and his son, the gossip mill churns out a rumor that marriage is in the works.

5) "The Cow Thief"—Another often-seen episode finds Mayor Stoner bringing in an investigator to help break a cow-rustling ring, but Andy's hunch turns out to be right. Who knows? This episode may have inspired the Zucker brothers to include a boot-wearing cow scene in "Top Secret!"

6) "Barney Mends a Broken Heart"—When it looks like quitsville for Andy and Peggy, Barney decides that Andy needs a new female diversion—someone who turns out to be a gravel-voiced "party girl."

7) "Lawman Barney"—When two itinerant produce sellers bully the deputy when he tries to run them out of town, Andy coaches Barney to stand up to them and handle the situation.

8) "The Mayberry Band"—When the mayor threatens to pull the plug on the Mayberry Marching Band's annual trip to a contest in Raleigh because they're so awful, Andy throws in a few ringers—Freddy Fleet and his Band with a Beat.

9) "Floyd, the Gay Deceiver"—Barber Floyd Lawson has been lying in his pen pal letters that he's wealthy. But when she comes to visit and Floyd tries to keep up appearances, he learns that she's been lying too.

10) "Opie's Rival"—Opie, feeling jealous, tries to sabotage Andy and Peggy's relationship.

11) "Convicts-at-Large"—When Barney and Floyd stumble across three escaped convicts at a remote cabin, it takes some smooth talk and tango (with help from Andy) to get the cuffs on them. One of the classic episodes.

12) "The Bed Jacket"—Andy does some serious swapping to get a jacket for Aunt Bee.

13) "The Bank Job"—Another classic episode finds Barney going undercover as a washwoman to prove Mayberry's bank is vulnerable . . . and gets locked in the vault.

14) "One-Punch Opie"—Opie faces another bully in this episode, squaring off against a new boy, Quincy, whose idea of fun is breaking streetlights.

15) "Barney and the Governor"—A near-classic episode. Barney tickets the governor's car and freaks out when he learns the governor's coming to see him about it—a visit complicated by Barney drinking from a water cooler that town-drunk Otis (Hal Smith) spiked.

16) "Man in a Hurry"—The quintessential "slow-down and smell the roses" episode. Businessman Malcolm Tucker has to kill time while Gomer gets his car up and running on a Sunday, and learns the value of relaxation.