"Opie the Birdman" is the first episode of the fourth season of ''
The Andy Griffith Show
''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color.
The ...
''. It aired on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
on September 9, 1963. In the episode, Opie accidentally kills a mother songbird and bears the responsibility of rearing her three young birds.
The episode was #24 in
''TV Guide's'' ''Top 100 Episodes of All Time'' 1997 list,
and moved up to #18 when the list was revised in 2009.
Plot
Barney makes an old-fashioned slingshot for Opie. Looking on, Andy tells him to be careful with it. When Barney demonstrates one of his trick shots, he breaks a window in a bookcase, prompting Andy to remind Opie to never shoot it indoors.
Playing outside, Opie is pretending to shoot at various targets with his new toy. Seeing something in the tree in his front yard, he aims and shoots and kills a bird, which falls to the ground in front of him. Opie refuses to believe the bird is dead and pleads for it to fly away. When he realizes what he has done, he runs to his room, sobbing.
At the dinner table that evening, Opie is melancholy, barely touching his meal. Andy comments to Aunt Bee that he found a dead songbird in the yard and that he believes the neighbors cat is responsible. Aunt Bee tells him it can't be the cat because their neighbor, Mrs. Snyder, has been away for over a week and she took her cat with her. Opie leaves the table and rushes to his room.
It is easy for Andy to recognize what has happened and he confronts Opie about it. Opie admits his mistake and says that he is sorry, but Andy tells him that being sorry is not enough. He opens Opie's bedroom window where he can hear the baby birds calling for their mother, who will never return.
In the morning, Opie has decided that he will take care of the baby birds, and begins by feeding them breakfast. When Mrs. Snyder has returned with her cat, Andy moves the birds to a cage on the front porch. When Opie names the birds, Andy reminds him that someday they will grow up and he will have to release them.
When the birds have grown big enough to be released, Andy tells Opie that their mother would have set them free, and Opie acknowledges that he must release them. After this, Opie comments that the cage looks empty, to which Andy replies, "But don't the trees seem nice and full?"
Cast
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Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characte ...
as
Andy Taylor
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Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...
as
Opie Taylor
Opie Taylor is a fictional character played by Ron Howard in the American television program ''The Andy Griffith Show'', which was televised on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968. Opie Taylor appeared in 209 of the 249 episodes of ''The ...
*
Don Knotts
Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on ''The Andy Griffith Show'', a 1960s sitcom for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He also ...
as
Barney Fife
Bernard "Barney" Fife is a fictional character in the American television program ''The Andy Griffith Show'', portrayed by comic actor Don Knotts. Barney Fife is a deputy sheriff in the slow-paced, sleepy southern community of Mayberry, North C ...
*
Frances Bavier
Frances Elizabeth Bavier (December 14, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American stage and television actress. Originally from New York theatre, she worked in film and television from the 1950s until the 1970s. She is best known for her role o ...
as
Aunt Bee
Aunt Bee is a fictional character from the 1960 American television sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show''. Played by Frances Bavier, the character migrated to the spinoff ''Mayberry R.F.D.'' (1968–1971) when ''The Andy Griffith Show'' ended its run ...
Reception
The episode was #24 in
''TV Guide's'' ''Top 100 Episodes of All Time'' 1997 list,
and moved up to #18 when the list was revised in 2009.
The episode is regarded by critics as one of the show's best episodes. In ''The Platinum Age of Television,'' American TV critic
David Bianculli
David Bianculli is an American TV critic, columnist, radio personality, non-fiction author and university professor. Bianculli has served as the television critic for NPR's radio show ''Fresh Air'' since the Philadelphia-based show went national ...
wrote that it is the show's best episode, noting that it displays a firm yet thoughtful parenting style at a time when corporal punishment was common. Saul Austerlitz cites this episode as a specific example in describing ''The Andy Griffith Show'' as groundbreaking in its balance of poignancy and dramatic subplots.
It is listed as one of the top twenty all-time favorite episodes in ''The Andy Griffith Show Book''.
References
External links
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{{TV Guide 100 Greatest Episodes 2009
1963 American television episodes
The Andy Griffith Show