Dinner at Eight

This is absolutely the best color episode of the series. The part where Howard is running into the kitchen saying "Mother! Mother!" is so funny. He is in a panic when Andy shows up to eat. Every single person in the show is great in this. Opie is great when he is telling his dad to eat (after Andy had to said the same to him earlier). Goober is great when it dawns on him he mixed up the messages. Even the guy who plays Helen's Uncle is great when Andy guesses the "secret ingredient". The color episodes are much criticized, but this is a wonderful episode. If you ever get the chance to see it, don't hesitate.

For the TAGS snobs who believe the color episodes are blasphemous... you may never appreciate the sheer genius of this episode. There is a reason Andy went out number one in the ratings (one of only three shows to end their run number one in the ratings in television history) and this episode in the final season illustrates why: the magic was still there. I won't bore you with a rehashing of the details but the previous poster is wrong... Howard and his mother didn't "forget"... she said "If Andrew thinks we invited him to dinner then we will serve him dinner. Now go!" It was a very funny scene. I will say if you have ever eaten too much spaghetti then this episode will make a ton of sense. Enjoy!

Aunt Bee and Opie are gone for the weekend and Andy is excited to live the life of a bachelor for a few days. However when he meets Howard Sprague at the market and word gets out of his solitary status he receives an unexpected (and unwanted) roommate for the weekend in the form of Goober Pyle. The events that transpire concerning two mixed up phone messages and a spaghetti dinner (with a secret ingredient) make this episode one of the funniest episodes of the color--post Barney--offerings. I must have seen this one thirty times and I still laugh myself silent as the plot unfolds. If you buy season 8 for only this episode it will be well worth your investment. The script is flawless, there are no dead spells, and the spaghetti recipe motif ties this story together in a very "Seinfeld-like" neatness.

If you need to get cheered up, watch this great episode. The comedy builds and builds and it all serves a purpose. This episode also proves you DONT need Barney to have a great time.

This is a fun episode where Andy not only loses his autonomy when Goober takes it upon himself to move in for two days, but Goober's incompetence forces a series of dinners which Andy feels he is obligated to attend. There's more, but speaking in too much detail will derail the plot. It's pretty good for a change.