Dinner at Eight

We've seen Aunt Bee reluctantly leave a couple of times. This one is different. Opie will be out too for a Boy Scout's camping trip. This setup is perfect for Andy's reprise from his usual existence into a short and, much anticipated, couple days as a bachelor. We really do not know Andy like this and a chance meeting with Howard Sprague kind of sets the tone. Andy's shopping list, as recited to Howard, signals a bit of a nutty detour from his usual. Andy's excitement kind of bleeds into the viewer. Yes, we want to see Andy's wild side.

Of course, Aunt Bee can never just leave. Andy being by himself horrifies her and when she gases up at Wally's she urges Goober to look in on Andy. In true Goober style he takes it to much more than looking in. He's going to move in, cook, and be Andy's insurance against feeling lonely. Dinner made by Goober along with Goober's confusion over phone messages for Andy sets up a great gag.

This is one of the best color episodes and, for once, Barney isn't missed at all. The joke revolves around having to eat three dinners and because of the "secret ingredient" and Helen's pointedly angry instruction to eat, combined with Opie's recitation of Andy's previous speech, there's real golden humor here. Also, as is Aunt Bee's motherly ways the first thing she does when she gets back is to cook a certain dish. Thoroughly enjoyable with some tucked in wicked good reoccurring humorous elements.

I can't believe so many reviewers loved this episode. Some said it was the best episode of the last 3 color episodes, and one even said it was the best episode of all 8 seasons. OK they must have been watching a different episode from this one that i watched because I really thought it was one of the worst. Definitely in the bottom five or worse. Andy was over acing I guess to make up for the loss of Barney Fife - right? I watched it solely for the ridiculousness, I guess.

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!

My main reason for writing the review is to agree with a couple of others that this is one of the better color episodes. There are several good color episodes, despite what many people are led to believe. While the BEST episodes are from the first five (B&W) years, several of the color years are equally as good as some of the B&W ones... this is one of those better ones.

As others have said, confusion (and ill timing) over a phone message from an unwanted house guest with only the best of intentions leads to some pretty funny dialogue. Goober is at his finest, kindhearted self with his intentions, but his bumbling demeanor leads to some confused friends and one very, very full Andy.

BUT... this is not from Season eight. It is (as you can see from the episode guide) the 17th episode of season seven. Not a big deal, but if you're looking for it on Netflix or in your DVD collection, you'll need to find in the right season.

The reviewer who scored this episode a 2 misses the mark. If one stops analyzing and simply recognizes the humor, this TAGS episode proves to be one of the funniest in the entire series. Lighten up, Francis.