The Manicurist – The Andy Griffith Show season 2
A beautiful young lady (guest star Barbara Eden, best known for I Dream of Jeannie) comes into town after breaking up with her boyfriend. She sets up a manicure booth in a flustered Floyd’s barber shop. The wives of Mayberry get upset when their husbands line up for manicures by the pretty young lady, and when Andy tries to explain the situation to her, she thinks that he’s trying to propose.
Sheriff Andy Taylor: It won’t take her long to find out there’s no work for her. I’ll give her twenty-four hours – but while she’s here she sure is pretty to look at, ain’t she? Yeah? Kinda like a calendar come to life.
Andy, having unintentionally insulted Ellen, breaks the ice by being her first manicure customer. And then … “Barney, you’re next!”
[a nervous Barney is getting a manicure. Ellen, the manicurist is being very patient with him]
Ellen Brown: [Barney pulls his hand away] I won’t hurt you. Honest.
[Ellen swipes with her nail file. Barney reacts and backs away, clutching his right fingers]
Barney Fife: [scared] Ah-hah!
Ellen Brown: [concerned] What’s the matter?
Barney Fife: [sick with fear] Makes my skin crawl.
Ellen Brown: I’ll be very careful.
Barney Fife: [lifts his right index finger] Be extra careful with that one. That’s my trigger finger. Damage that and I might as well quit the business!
Ellen wants to talk to Floyd. But Floyd’s afraid to tell her that all of Ellen’s appointments have been cancelled. Thanks to the jealous wives of her clients. So, when Andy tries to break it to her …. She thinks that he’s proposing marriage! Thankfully, she’s made up her mind to marry her boyfriend, Pierre, and the conflict’s resolved.
Cast of characters
- Andy Griffith (The Andy Griffith Show, A Face in the Crowd) … Andy Taylor
- Don Knotts (The Incredible Mr. Limpet) … Barney Fife
- Howard McNear (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) … Floyd Lawson
- Dick Elliott (Mr. Smith Goes To Washington) … Mayor Pike
- Sherwood Keith … Sam
- Cheerio Meredith (The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm) … Emma Watson. The replacement manicurist at the end of the episode!
- Frank Warren … Art
- Barbara Eden (Five Weeks in a Balloon, I Dream of Jeannie) … Ellen Brown