User Reviews

Great verbal sparring between Emmitt & Goober discussing fine music then Goober & Opie. Like how Opie went after Goober balling him out for mocking his craft. Lots of depth to the episode. TAGS sanitizers all problems but a kid could spiral astray in an environment of older kids. We see Andy at wits end. But trying to be fair and manage the situation. I love Andy's "yeah yeah yeah" in disgust to Bee usurping his authority. Lame acting by the rest of the band. Get to see Kay Lenz (Phoebe) early in her acting career.

Would Opie have a high-end amplifiable accoustic guitar & specialized pricey amplifier?

What happened to the afternoon piano lessons?

It's a decent story, I guess, to bring a rock band into the Mayberry scene. It allows Andy and Bee to act like the old fogies they are. How about a guest appearance from Rudy Valee. We immediately get the evils of Rock and Roll business going. Then we have Andy jumping to conclusions again. The sad thing is that the producers grabbed up any instrument they could get their hands on and threw them at the kid actors. The sound the produce is not what one would get with those instruments. Also, the British invasion had happened and the airwaves would have been filled with their sounds. It was fun but really not very realistic at times.

No place is an island and kids are like sponges to changing times and varied outside influences. Mayberry seems to be a kind of island however, and Opie, Andy's pride and joy, has been the perfectly adjusted child in a slow to change environment. Enter rock and roll music. Music can be the great divider, especially when a dramatic shift like amplified rock occurs. I assume the producers of TAGS wanted to "modernize" the show with something both parents and their kids could kind of relate to. While the "amplified rock" here is milquetoast, it serves the purpose as a bookmark for those changes between the generations and a mindful tolerance of both. As this is still TAGS we get a nice reconciliation recognizing both sides. Mayberry ain't going Haight-Asbury! I imagine the young audience at the time likely enjoyed this episode that seems pretty innocent actually. It kind of brings up thoughts in my head that as a viewer I liked the time of the first three seasons of the show best. Opie at that age wasn't going to last for unlimited episodes and TAGS was going to have to address it. I think it was done pretty well here.

Baby Ron Howard playing the guitar with an enormous grin on his face, then looking disinterested and telling people "groovy" is great. Effusively explaining to Andy that he needs new "threads" and can't go to church or make other family commitments because he has to go hang out in front of the drug store is absolutely classic.

The budding rock star issue is the perfect context for Aunt Bee's neurosis, and the episode brings in a nice twist. A period episode that explores an issue that had just begun, but persists to this day. The only reason I would go 9 instead of 10 is the absence of Barney, who could have been worked in to wonderful effect.