The Andy Griffith Show Season 4, Episode 31: Back to Nature

1

Opie the Birdman

Opie decides to raise a nest of baby birds after accidentally killing their mother with his new slingshot and ends up learning one of the hardest lessons of motherhood in the process.

25 min

2

The Haunted House

Barney is sent into a reputed "haunted" house to retrieve Opie's baseball and sees things that make even the skeptical Andy wonder if there really are ghosts, until Andy discovers who's really doing the haunting.

25 min

3

Ernest T. Bass Joins the Army

When Ernest T. Bass is denied from joining the army, he blames Andy and threatens to break every window in Mayberry. When Andy learns the real reason for Ernest's denial, he finds a solution that benefits everyone...except Barney.

25 min

4

The Sermon for Today

A visiting minister preaches the importance of relaxation and inspires Aunt Bee, Andy, and Barney to throw a Sunday afternoon band concert. When it ends up being more work than they imagined, it leaves them wondering if they'll ever have time to relax again.

25 min

5

Briscoe Declares for Aunt Bee

While having dinner at the Taylor household, mountain man Briscoe Darling (Denver Pyle) mistakes Aunt Bee's usual hospitality for affection and whisks her away to his cabin to marry her, quite against her wishes. But when Aunt Bee takes it upon herself to "civilize" him, he wonders if hospitality is all it's cracked up to be.

25 min

6

Gomer the House Guest

Andy lets Gomer move in after he loses his job at the gas station and instantly regrets it after Gomer's night habits prove to be more than the Taylors can take. Now Andy must find a way to get Gomer's job back, or never sleep again.

25 min

7

A Black Day for Mayberry

All of Mayberry turns out to welcome a truck carrying gold to Fort Knox as it passes through town. When Barney sneaks a closer look at the loot, he sees that there may not be as much to celebrate as everyone thought.

25 min

8

Opie's Ill-Gotten Gain

Opie finally gets a good grade in math, and Andy is so proud he tells everyone in town. But when Opie's teacher tells him she made a mistake and his grade is actually an F, he goes home to tell Andy the bad news, only to find Andy has bought him a shiny new bicycle.

25 min

9

A Date for Gomer

Thelma Lou's bachelorette cousin is coming to Mayberry for the town dance, and Barney decides to set her up with Gomer. On the big night, they all meet up at Thelma Lou's and everything seems to be going great, until Gomer suddenly disappears.

25 min

10

Up in Barney's Room

Barney has an argument with his landlady Mrs. Mendelbright and gets evicted. After moving into the courthouse and having no luck finding a new place, he decides to mend fences with Mrs. Mendelbright, only to find she has decided to sell the house and run away to get married.

25 min

11

Citizen's Arrest

A minor argument between Barney and Gomer over a traffic ticket erupts into an all-out feud that leads to reckless driving, staged burglaries, and eventually Barney's resignation from the force. Can Andy get the two friends to make up before things really get out of hand?

25 min

12

Opie and His Merry Men

Opie and his friends decide to play Robin Hood to a friendly hobo they meet in the local woods and take food from their own cupboards to give to him. Andy decides to meet the man and ends up teaching them all a lesson in who the rich and poor really are.

25 min

13

Barney and the Cave Rescue

The day of the town picnic, Barney watches as Andy and Helen go wandering into a cave just before the entrance collapses. He quickly rallies the town to their rescue, not realizing Andy and Helen have already found a way out.

25 min

14

Andy and Opie's Pal

After becoming jealous of the attention Andy give to the new boy in town, Opie comes to Andy wrapped in bandages and tells him he and the new boy got into a vicious fight. One peek under Opie's bandages, however, tells Andy the fight may not have been as bloody, or as real, as Opie says.

25 min

15

Aunt Bee the Crusader

Aunt Bee's friend Mr. Frisby tells her his house is about to be demolished to make way for a new highway. She decides to help her friend and campaigns to halt the county's plans, despite the fact that Andy is the one who must serve the eviction.

25 min

16

Barney's Sidecar

Barney buys an antique motorcycle in order to set a speed trap for speeding truckers on Highway 6. After Barney makes a complete nuisance of himself to all of Mayberry, Andy realizes that the answer may be to make the motorcycle more valuable to the town than to Barney.

25 min

17

My Fair Ernest T. Bass

Andy is called to arrest Ernest T. Bass once again for disturbing one of Mrs. Wiley's socials. Sympathizing with his search for true love, Andy and Barney teach him how to act like a gentleman and bring him to Mrs. Wiley's next social. But when Ernest falls for Mrs. Wiley's niece, his true colors shine through.

25 min

18

Prisoner of Love

While guarding a gorgeous jewel thief one night, Andy nearly falls for her seductive charms. He decides to go home and leaves Barney to guard her for the night. But when it suddenly occurs to Andy what the thief's real plans are, he realizes he may not be able to warn Barney in time.

25 min

19

Hot Rod Otis

Andy and Barney are horrified to learn that Otis, the town drunk, has just bought a new car. After he passes out one night after a party, Andy and Barney put him in his usual jail cell and pretend that he is dead to teach him a lesson. Little do they know Otis may have already learned it.

25 min

20

The Song Festers

When Gomer replaces Barney in the Mayberry choir, Barney is heartbroken. Gomer hears about this and feigns illness so that Barney can sing on the night of the recital. But when Barney's pride gets in the way, the big performance threatens to become a big disaster.

25 min

21

The Shoplifters

Andy and Barney must find a shoplifter that's been hitting Ben Weaver's store, so Barney volunteers to dress up as a mannequin. He ends up accusing a little old lady and is ridiculed for another one of his famous blunders by everyone except Andy, who believes he might be onto something.

25 min

22

Andy's Vacation

Andy decides to take a vacation in the mountains and leaves Barney to guard a prisoner the state police have brought in. Inevitably, the prisoner escapes Barney's grasp and flees into the mountains -- the very same mountains Andy is vacationing in.

25 min

23

Andy Saves Gomer

After Andy extinguishes a small fire that started at the filling station while Gomer was napping, Gomer believes Andy saved his life and makes a pest of himself trying to repay the debt. Andy decides to stage an accident and let Gomer "rescue" him, but it's Gomer that ends up needing the rescuing.

25 min

24

Bargain Day

Aunt Bee decides to buy 150 pounds of beef at a discount from a new butcher in town. She stores in in her "discount" freezer, which immediately breaks down. With her beef about to go bad, she learns that the only one in town with a freezer bug enough to save her beef is her original butcher.

25 min

25

Divorce, Mountain Style

Charlene Darling returns to Mayberry and announces that she has divorced her husband and now, according to folklore, must marry Andy. Desperate for a way out, Andy reads up on mountain folklore and finds a peculiar ritual that will void the marriage, if only he can get Barney to ride the horse.

25 min

26

A Deal Is a Deal

When Opie and his friends are scammed into selling a useless skin ointment, Barney and Gomer try to help convince the company their product is more valuable than they think. When the scheme backfires, however, the whole gang learns a lesson in the art of the deal.

25 min

27

Fun Girls

Helen and Thelma Lou are horrified to see Andy and Barney escorting a couple of "fun girls" from Mount Pilot the night before the big dance. The boys know they were innocently making sure the "girls' got home alright, but it will take some fancy two-steppin' at the dance to get Helen and Thelma Lou to believe it.

25 min

28

The Return of Malcolm Merriweather

Everybody's favorite Englishman Malcolm Merriweather stops by Mayberry once again. This time he's having trouble finding money to finish his bicycle tour of America. Andy decides to hire him to help Aunt Bee around the house, but Malcolm only succeeds in making her feel useless.

25 min

29

The Rumor

After Barney sees Andy and Helen kissing in a jewelery store, he becomes convinced they are secretly engaged and decides to throw a surprise engagement party, much to the chagrin of the un-engaged Andy and Helen.

25 min

30

Barney and Thelma Lou, Phfftt

After an off-hand comment puts Barney in the doghouse with Thelma Lou, he sees her spending her free time with Gomer instead. Not wanting to hurt his friend, Gomer tries to get her to stop seeing him by falsely professing his love, but ends up engaged to her instead.

25 min

31

Back to Nature

While on a camping trip with Opie and his friends, Barney brags to Gomer about his outdoor skills and promptly gets them lost in the woods. When Andy finally does find them, he and Gomer hatch a plan to save Barney the embarrassment and prove to everyone what a mountain man he really is.

25 min

32

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Gomer decides to join the Marines, and Andy helps out by secretly convincing the drill instructor that Gomer is the son of a decorated general. The drill instructor takes Gomer under his wing and gets him to pass his inspection with flying colors, only to find out later the truth behind Gomer's lineage. (Pilot episode for the spin-off series "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.")

25 min