Question: Who was Ralph Henderson?
Question: In what episode was the tune that became the theme for Mayberry RFD originally used? I remember it was B/W and had something to do with a bank robbery and the old guard Acer.
Answer: The episode with the bank robbery and old guard named Asa is from season 3, episode 13 "The Bank Job," but the music can be heard much earlier than that. The theme music for Mayberry RFD is named "The Mayberry March" and a few bits here and there can be heard in several episodes of season 1, such as "Bringing Up Opie, " however, in season 2, episode 4 "Mayberry Goes Bankrupt" about half a minute of the music is heard while Frank's house is being renovated.
Question: The star on the uniform patch (right sleeve) has five points and the star on the patrol car has five points but the actual badge has six points. Why the discrepancy?
Answer: There's probably no known reason for the discrepancy, and it's unlikely related to the story line. It may simply be that the show's props department were lax about small details like that. It could also be explained that Mayberry being such a small town with a limited budget may have acquired surplus badges and other second-hand equipment from some other town's police department.
Question: Why did they always get in and out of the passenger side of the car on the Andy Griffith show?
Answer: Back in the 50's and early 60's it was a law that you had to get into and out of your car from the sidewalk side, so I assume they were following that procedure.
Answer: I found this online, as apparently others wondered the same thing. It is only one explanation but it seems plausible: (paraphrased) It could be equipment-related. Getting in on the passenger side can be shot as a locked-down tripod shot. Getting in on the driver side means the guy has to walk around the car, requiring at minimum a pan/tilt/zoom and probably a dolly shot to make it look good (they didn't have Steadicams back then, so any time the camera had to move, a dolly track had to built for it to roll on). That would add expense and time to what was really just an establishing shot. This was a low-budget TV show, and it was cheaper to shoot it that way.
Question: Were black actors ever shown in the black and white versions of the Andy Griffith show?
Answer: I believe Rockne Tarkington (from season 7) was the only black person with a speaking line in the entire show, which is what I'd say qualifies someone to be an actor in the show. That being said, there were at least a handful of black and white episodes (season 1-5) where black extras were used and seen on screen. For example, "Barney Gets His Man" (season 1) and "Opie and the Carnival" (season 5). But none of them had any lines and weren't credited for their appearance.
Answer: In S3 x E11 Convicts-at-Large, there is a character named Big Maude Tyler, who is the leader of three female escaped convicts. Andy listens to the radio as the news announcer says that Big Maude's aliases include Clarice or Annabelle Tyler and also one amusingly named Ralph Henderson.
Super Grover ★