Mike and his friend Harold (Richard Steele) still aren't speaking to one another a few days after having an argument. It concerns Emmett and Howard who suggest to Sam inviting the boys on a camping the three are planning. Howard feels it will show the boys how real friends get along. Harold's father (James McCallion) is also concerned about the boys' rift and is also on board with the idea. The boys like the idea of the camping trip- if they don't have to speak to one another. Sam, Howard, Emmett, Goober, Mike and Harold load up a camper and set out for the wilderness. The four men lay their friendship for one another on thick for the boys, singing Cole Porter's "Friendship" and calling each other "buddy" and "pal" at every opportunity. Confined by a storm, the men's tolerance of one another becomes strained, leading to unintended consequences.
3 Reviews
Going camping
jarrodmcdonald-130 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of the better episodes of season 1. It provides us with a sense of friendship, Mayberry style, and some intergenerational bonding. The show is heavy on male-dominated stories. Except for Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee and Arlene Golonka as Millie, the entire cast is male. In some ways the Sam-Mike relationship is just a replay of Andy and Opie in the parent series. And Howard is there as the more eccentric pal, a la Barney...with Goober and Emmett thrown in for good measure.
Probably the funniest character among the townsfolk is Goober. He doesn't necessarily get the funniest lines of dialogue, but the way George Lindsey plays the sillier aspects of his character is consistently amusing. It was great that they gave him a bit of slapstick to play in this episode involving the cake and the tumble in the mud.
There was never any doubt that Mike and his friend Harold wouldn't patch up their disagreement. But it was cute how they ended up becoming friends again, while the adult men inside the camper were getting on each other's nerves. While I am sure those scenes were not filmed inside an actual camper, at least the studio set was sufficiently limited in space so it was believable that all of them were climbing over each other and getting in the way of one another.
Frances Bavier had very little to do in this episode, since most of the action took place outside town at the campsite and that part of the story didn't include Aunt Bee. She isn't in every episode, but when she appears it would still be nice to see her with more to do than bake a cake.
Probably the funniest character among the townsfolk is Goober. He doesn't necessarily get the funniest lines of dialogue, but the way George Lindsey plays the sillier aspects of his character is consistently amusing. It was great that they gave him a bit of slapstick to play in this episode involving the cake and the tumble in the mud.
There was never any doubt that Mike and his friend Harold wouldn't patch up their disagreement. But it was cute how they ended up becoming friends again, while the adult men inside the camper were getting on each other's nerves. While I am sure those scenes were not filmed inside an actual camper, at least the studio set was sufficiently limited in space so it was believable that all of them were climbing over each other and getting in the way of one another.
Frances Bavier had very little to do in this episode, since most of the action took place outside town at the campsite and that part of the story didn't include Aunt Bee. She isn't in every episode, but when she appears it would still be nice to see her with more to do than bake a cake.
First big laughs in first 19 episodes.
vitoscotti29 October 2023
First half setting up the camping trip was horrendous tv. Three men willing to give up their comfy home life to rough it camping to teach a friendship lesson to a buddy's kid is ludicrous. But once the campers reach their destination the episode got progressively better. Goober holding the cake like an idiot trying to open the door and falling out into the rainy night stumbling over Howard was the first big laugh of the series in 19 episodes. That scene ignited the hilarity. We get to see another side of the four adult characters we never see on MRFD. Cranky, short tempered, and highly agitated. One of the worst episodes of season 1 midway point turned into one of the best episodes.
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