Otis from Mayberry

Drin = drunk. I hate typing on this phone.

We named a dog after him in the '60s.

Dog answered to "Big Otis."

The Andy Griffith show is actually satire, most people fail to grasp that at the time the show, and AG, were poking fun at the idea of "Mayberry" not setting it up as an ideal.

The funny drunk as a supporting player was a stock character in movies and TV into the 1970s - not so much anymore.

"Bewitched" frequently used a drunk witnessing Samantha's witchcraft to get a laugh.

Foster Brooks made a career of playing the funny drunk, but he was more known for his performances in the "Dean Martin Roasts" than as a part of an ensemble cast.

No, not PC.

I thought Floyd the Barber was the offensive character.

I thought they both were pretty innocuous. Like most of the characters.

Aunt Bea's friend Clara Edwards was part of a group that had an unknowing girl impregnated with the devil's baby

Aunt Bea and Clara were so close - you know Aunt Bea had to know about that shit

There were secrets in Mayberry

Who's walking down the streets of May-berry waving at everybody she sees? Who's looking round for Andy and Opie? Everyone knows it's Aunt Bee!

Tonight's episodes:

SEASON 2 • EPISODE 26 • ANDY ON TRIAL • COMEDY / SITCOM

A vengeful newspaper publisher (Roy Roberts) sends a reporter (Ruta Lee) to dig up dirt on Andy, after Andy tracks him down for a traffic violation. Miss Fenwick: Sally Mansfield. Milton: Robert Brubaker. Commissioner: Byron Morrow. Opie: Ronny Howard...

*and*

SEASON 2 • EPISODE 28 • COUSIN VIRGIL • COMEDY / SITCOM

Barney's inept cousin, Virgil (Michael J. Pollard), pays a visit and destroys everything he touches, until Andy discovers his true gift. Barney: Don Knotts. Aunt Bee: Frances Bavier. Otis: Hal Smith. Driver: Rance Howard...

[quote]until Andy discovers his true gift

Go on...

Foster Brooks turned down the role of Carleton the Doorman on Rhoda. It's hard to believe they'd offer it and he'd decline a steady paycheck.

Carleton may have been the last drunk character played for laughs on a sitcom.

My sister and I watch TAGS all the time, and every time Otis shows up I see AG Barr.

(With nary a speck of Otis's sweetness)

Otis is my spirit animal.

WHET...

r10 Rance Howard was Ron's daddy.

People used to find characters drinking and being falling down drunk funny, they don't anymore.

There also were a lot of pill-poppers in comedy. I remember Joe Flynn in some Disney (I think) movie. He played an uptight business exec but when the stress got too much for him, he'd empty a bottle of pills (downers) into his mouth then wash them down with a pitcher of water.

Kinda funny now that I think about it.

Back in the day, syndicated shows in rerun seemed to require a new title when the show was still in production. The title of this thread reminded me that the Andy Griffith show was thus renamed “Andy of Mayberry.”