The Gypsies

A gypsy once told my father that as long as he had a dollar in his pocket, he would never be broke. He was right! In this episode there still seem to be these traveling folk who have as their talent, getting people to buy cheap stuff from them. Andy moves in on them, giving them ultimatums. There is a subplot involving rain.

Some of TAGS best one-time casting. Vito Scotti especially & Jamie Farr give epic performances. The gypsy singing set the tone for the stellar episode. Aunt Bee & battle axe Clara turning on Andy was hilarious. Helen sure has the high fashion pricey outfits for a small town 60s grade school teacher's salary. There are some dud episodes after Don Knotts left. But, a lot of winners too, like this one. Both Vito Scotti & Jamie Farr will also both shine in "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Andy Griffith is very good when he's fighting a one-man battle like this one. Some very fresh writing that all the talented actors excelled with. Have to believe N. Carolina's weather coming from the Arctic has to be inaccurate. Since the state's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean & Appalachian Mountains they'd have a significant influence.

TAGS has a need to find a new rhythm as the show can't be the same as it was with Don Knotts absence hanging heavy. The writing and the guest stars need to fill in the hole. That's what is evident here. Long before the WOKE movement, one could poke innocent fun at a person's ethnicity. Colorful, and somewhat, shall we say "resourceful" Gypsies make for good fodder. Jamie Farr and Vito Scotti, as the two male Gypsies, give memorable performances. Andy gives some of his famous conflicted "creased brow" wisdom throughout to great effect. Goober says they've all learned a lesson. Perhaps, but I think we can all relate to at being fooled and not seeing things clearly as we should have. A good spin on the lovely "pre-internet" connected world when scams were pretty easy to spot. TAGS is always in addition to entertainment a bit of good time capsule of an era gone by. I still miss the original rhythm of TAGS that hung on the Andy-Barney dynamic.