Synopsis of The New Housekeeper – The Andy Griffith Show season 1
Andy’s son Opie, demands that their new housekeeper, Andy’s aunt, be fired after the old one leaves to get married.
Review of The New Housekeeper
The New Housekeeper is the very first episode of The Andy Griffith Show, and it introduces the central cast. But more than that, it’s a very simple, true-to-life story about people. And that’s probably the great strength of the series.
It begins at the Mayberry courthouse, where Sheriff Andy Taylor is acting as Justice of the Peace, performing a wedding. And his son Opie objects! The woman getting married is Rose, Andy’s housekeeper. And the only mother-figure that young Opie has ever known. It’s quite understandable that he’s upset that she’s leaving. He feels abandoned.
Rose: Opie, dear, I’m marryin’ Mr. Pine because I love him.
Opie: I thought you loved ME.
Rose: I do, Opie.
Opie: You don’t catch me marryin’ somebody else.
Andy needs a new housekeeper, and invites his Aunt Bee to come live with them. She raised Andy when he was a boy, and hopes she can do the same for Opie. But Opie objects to the “stranger” in his house. She doesn’t know any of the essentials of life — fishing, frog hunting, etc. And he goes out of his way to make her feel unwanted.
The last straw for Opie is when Aunt Bee accidentally lets his pet bird escape while cleaning its’ cage. Andy tries to make peace between the two, but fails. And Aunt Bee finally decides to not stay where she isn’t wanted. But strangely, it’s Opie who asks her to stay. So he can teach her the essentials of baseball, fishing, and other crucial life skills.
The New Housekeeper is a good combination of sweet and funny. It also introduces Andy’s new deputy — his cousin Barney Fife (Don Knotts).
Cast of characters
- Andy Griffith (A Face in the Crowd, Matlock) … Andy Taylor
- Ron Howard (The Music Man) … Opie Taylor
- Don Knotts (The Incredible Mr. Limpet) … Barney Fife
- Frances Bavier (The Stooge, The Day the Earth Stood Still) … Aunt Bee Taylor
- Cheerio Meredith … Emma Brand
- Mary Treen (It’s a Wonderful Life) … Rose
- Frank Ferguson (Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein) … Wilbur Pine
Trivia for The New Housekeeper
- Rose’s new husband is played by Frank Ferguson, who later in the series plays Mr. Foley the butcher in Bargain Day and Charles Foley in The Case of the Punch in the Nose, and plays Sam Lindsey in Ellie for Council and The Beauty Contest.
- Rose tells Opie she will “visit a lot”, but she is never seen again throughout the series.
Updated April 3, 2022