Bookie Barber, The (TAGS Episode)

Episode Info

The Bookie Barber

S2.E28
Filmed: 60
Aired: 60
Original Air Date: 1962/04/16
Writer(s): Ray Saffian Allen and Harvey Bullock
Director: Bob Sweeney

Plot Summary

Floyd gets his chance at being a proprietor of a two-chair shop when semi-retired barber Bill Medwin arrives with a proposition of expansion. Floyd jumps at the chance since Medwin promises to supply the chair and the customers. As it turns out, the barber is a bookie, and Barney jumps in to bust the criminal.

Summary

Floyd Lawson is overworked in his Mayberry barbershop. When semi-retired barber Bill Medwin (Herb Vigran) comes in looking for work, Floyd sees a chance to expand. Andy Taylor encourages him to hire Medwin so Floyd can finally achieve his dream of running a two-chair shop ("Two Chairs, No Waiting"). Medwin offers to work on commission, supply his own chair and equipment, and bring in his own customers. Floyd agrees.

Business quickly picks up, with many new "out-of-town" customers. Andy grows suspicious after noticing the same men repeatedly entering the shop. Information from the town's telephone exchange operator (Sarah) confirms that Medwin is actually a bookie running an illegal gambling/bookmaking operation out of the barbershop. The regular visitors are delivering the day's collections (betting slips and money) from various betting spots rather than seeking haircuts.

To catch them in the act, Barney Fife goes undercover dressed as an elderly woman (the first time he dresses in women's clothing on the series; he does so again later in "The Bank Job"). The plan succeeds: Andy and Barney confront and arrest Medwin and his associates with the betting slips and proceeds. Floyd remains largely unaware of the true nature of his temporary partner's business.

Odd Facts Known by Few

Tom Jacobs is seen twice - waiting in the barbershop and reading a tabloid newspaper on the bench outside the courthouse.

Tom Jacobs is seen on the bench when Andy & Barney get out of the car (time 9:13 to 9:26) but the next shot, six seconds later, in front of the courthouse (time 9:32) he is gone.¹

Barney's sideburns are uneven because one of his earlobes hangs lower than the other. He tells Andy that he and Floyd should team up and be Frick and Frack.

Bill Medwin charges 80 cents for a shampoo and a dollar fifty for a facial.

Bill Medwin is said to charge 80 cents for a shampoo (and $1.50 for a facial), which everyone treats as exotic. Yet a sign visible in Floyd's shop advertises shampoo for 75 cents.

When Mr. Medwin leaves Floyd's barber shop, the camera starts moving right to left and Ron Howard looks right into the camera before turning back toward Andy.

Only two-chair shop appearance: Although Floyd frequently talks about wanting a "two-chair shop" (and the famous line "Two Chairs, No Waiting"), this is the only episode in which Floyd's barbershop actually has two chairs on screen.

When Aunt Bee is cooking, she touches her cooking pot lid, acts like it's hot and uses a pot holder. She later picks up the lid of a second pot on the stove without using the pot holder. The third time she picks up same lid she had first picked up and she uses the potholder. This has be recorded by many fans as a continuity error believing she picked up the same lid three times. It's possible the second pot was not as hot as the first so there is not continuity error.

The "girlfriends" Aunt Bee mentions (Lindy Lou, Brown-Eyed Mary, Tiger Lil) are actually racehorse names used as part of the bookie operation's coded language.

Legal irony: Andy learns about the bookie operation through Sarah the switchboard operator eavesdropping on calls. In a later episode (The Tape Recorder), Andy himself notes that evidence obtained by eavesdropping would be problematic ("fruit of the poisonous tree").

Real North Carolina reference: Andy mentions needing to go to Stewart Simmons' place in Triplett. There is a real town named Triplett in North Carolina, roughly 85 miles from Mount Airy (the inspiration for Mayberry).

The bookmakers Lincoln Continental license plate is RD-757.

Barney talks about "Compelsion nuts". Barney invents (and repeatedly mispronounces) a psychological term—"compelsion complex" (for "compulsion")—to explain why the same men keep returning to the barbershop. He compares it to people who wash their hands all day and declares the customers have a "hair-cuttin' compelsion." Fans still quote this bit.

When Opie and his friend Joey spot Barney in the dress, Opie exclaims that he looks like "Mrs. Cox from the second grade."

Barney's first time in drag: This marks the first time Barney dresses as a woman (as an elderly lady to place a bet). He would do it again later in "The Bank Job.

Actor Herb Vigran appeared on several episodes of "The Adventures Of Superman" as various villains.

When Barney dresses up like a woman, he has on one dress as he steps outside the door to the courthouse (time 17:53) and another on the streets of Mayberry (time 18:14). Notice the pattern of the dresses. The first has small light color pattern on a dark background and the second has a much more busy light color pattern on a dark, but lighter than the first, background. The second dress is seen in all future scenes in which Barney is dressed as a woman.¹

In the epilogue, Andy is seen smoking a cigarette while coming out of the courthouse with Barney and heading to Floyd's shop (a relatively uncommon sight for the character in later seasons).

TAGS Executive Producer Sheldon Leonard stars in the post-episode sponsor spot for Sanka Coffee (this cane be seen on the season 2 DVD release).

Podcast connection: The episode's "Two Chairs, No Waiting" line inspired the title of the long-running Andy Griffith Show fan podcast Two Chairs No Waiting, hosted by Floyd tribute artist Allan Newsome.

¹Times are from season two DVD.

More Information

TCNW 903: The Bookie Barber

Quotes

Opie Taylor: A haircut and a bath in one day. Pa, what am I bein' punished for?

--

Andy Taylor: You... You could put a sign in the window sayin' "Two Chairs - No Waitin'".
Floyd Lawson: Yeah. Yeah! Gee, whiz! Two chairs! And I got the magazines to swing it!

Character List

Andy Griffith - Andy Taylor
Don Knotts - Barney Fife
Ronny Howard - Opie Taylor
Frances Bavier - Aunt Bee Taylor
Howard McNear - Floyd Lawson
Herb Vigran - Bill Medwin
Taggart Casey - bookie with striped tie
Harry Swoger - barbershop customer
Tom Monroe - barbershop customer
Joe Stannard - undetermined