In this episode Otis Campbell, the town drunk, is the descendant of Mayberry's Revolutionary War hero Nathan Tibbs. The ladies representing the Women's Historical Society visit the Sheriff's office and tell Taylor and Fife that Mayberry was the residence of a former Revolutionary War hero. The ladies do some research and return to the Sheriff's office with the news that Otis Campbell is Tibbs' descendant. Taylor is pleasantly surprised and Fife has a look of shock. When the ladies shared this information with Taylor and Fife Fife assumed the descendant would be himself. He was wrong. The Sheriff makes the right call and gives Otis his due allowing him to be the proud descendant. This decision is not supported by Fife and the Mayor. They believe they will be embarrassed and recommend the Sheriff choose another person to accept the plaque. The Sheriff disagrees and tells Otis (and his wife) who shows up at the plaque awarding ceremony very sober and very proud. In the final scene Otis receives the plaque and turns it over to the Mayor giving a very humble acceptance speech. This is one of my favorite episodes.
4 Reviews
Significant that characters are taking shape.
vitoscotti9 October 2022
Some decent scenes throughout. Nothing spectacular except the best scene Barney (Don Knotts) giving Otis (Hal Smith) a hilarious classic sobriety test. Mayor Pike (Dick Elliott) who's usually funny plays it pretty straight here. Otis is funny making drunken noises when his name is mentioned by the old biddies looking for Nathan Tibbs' descendant. Why is Otis singled out? Wouldn't his blood relatives also be descendants? Otis really hit it on the head when he brought up that he really didn't do anything to be put in this position except be born. We get an early look at classic Barney foolishly jumping to conclusions prematurely.
Otis's Moment
Hitchcoc27 November 2019
When it is discovered by the Women's Historical Society that a descendant of Revolutionary War hero is still living in Mayberry. Barney begins the process of proving that he is the descendant, using charts and graphs. Then it is discovered that not only is Mr. Fife not the guy, but Otis, the town drunk, is. How do they deal with it.
Hal Smith is excellent in a few rare, sensitive scenes
lrrap13 November 2022
Yeah, the sobriety test scene is funny, another example of two really fine, comic actors doing their thing. But the clowning stuff is by NO MEANS the highlight of this excellent episode...not for me, anyway.
What stands out is the total sincerity and sensitivity of Hal Smith's portrayal of the "real" Otis; with good material and direction, Smith was a fine actor. Too bad the series rarely gave him a chance to show off his "legit" acting chops.
The scenes between Hal and Dorothy Neumann (Mrs. Campbell) are very touching, as is Hal's brief speech near the end (I wish it were longer).
If you want comedy, there's plenty of it with Dick Elliot's wheez-bag, blustery, teddy-bear performance as Mayor Pike; the scene just outside his office door (when he learns that Otis is about to show up for the ceremony), with his frustration boiling over at Andy and Barney...brief as it is.... is an example of light comedy at its finest, written, timed, and delivered to perfection; three true pros doing their best work, effortlessly.
Alas, many AG fans seem to be more interested in the slapstick-y aspects of these shows, and generally overlook the depth which a bufoonish character like Otis was occasionally allowed to display. LR.
What stands out is the total sincerity and sensitivity of Hal Smith's portrayal of the "real" Otis; with good material and direction, Smith was a fine actor. Too bad the series rarely gave him a chance to show off his "legit" acting chops.
The scenes between Hal and Dorothy Neumann (Mrs. Campbell) are very touching, as is Hal's brief speech near the end (I wish it were longer).
If you want comedy, there's plenty of it with Dick Elliot's wheez-bag, blustery, teddy-bear performance as Mayor Pike; the scene just outside his office door (when he learns that Otis is about to show up for the ceremony), with his frustration boiling over at Andy and Barney...brief as it is.... is an example of light comedy at its finest, written, timed, and delivered to perfection; three true pros doing their best work, effortlessly.
Alas, many AG fans seem to be more interested in the slapstick-y aspects of these shows, and generally overlook the depth which a bufoonish character like Otis was occasionally allowed to display. LR.
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