Mrs Sprague (Mabel Albertson) is the highlight with her "shooting pains". Mommies boy Howard is as dry as they come. A unique addition to the cast. He'll have some funny series moments, but he's not a laugh machine. The lovely Nina Shipman & Colleen O'Sullivan were pleasant to look at. Jim Begg looks like everybody's twirp. A well written story that was entertaining despite so many dry characters. A 10* rating but without the memorable Mabel Albertson performance would be a 4*. Helen (Aneta Corsaut) has more screen time in the color episodes which certainly is a plus.
5 Reviews
Nice episode!
alexbogue388917 October 2020
Pushy Helen
Hitchcoc26 December 2019
It would seem that Andy and Helen are not on an even footing. It doesn't seem to matter what Andy thinks, even if it's good advice. She obviously is withholding affection to get what she wants. All in all, she is pretty tiresome and Andy is shown to be quite weak. We are introduced to Howard Sprague (although Jack Dodson appeared in another episode as a different character). This episode gets silly.
One That Might Have Been Left On The Cutting Room Floor
AudioFileZ8 January 2024
This is TAGS dealing again with no Barney Fife. We have here an episode dealing with county clerk Howard Sprague. Howard is the quintessential nerd outcast. Devoted to his job, and mt ore so his mother whom he lives with, is as stiff as a 4X4. There's only so much that can be done with the character. Mabel Albertson (later to even better effect with Oliver Douglass' mother) offers some comedic relief though, overall, a largely not very funny episode. Helen Crump shows that she can manipulate Andy into setting up a dinner with the new county nurse as Howard's date much against Andy's own instincts. It's little surprise the date is a fail. What's more surprising is how flat the whole episode comes off. Barney's absence looms large when things go this bland.
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