Juicy Details

The Andy Griffith Show aired an episode called "Opie's Newspaper" in which Opie's friend received a small printing press. The boys started a one-page newspaper, but business was slow. They gathered ideas from the gossip column, titled "Mayberry after Midnight," and then they began printing the gossip around town. After they delivered the papers, Barney noticed the headline "Barney Fife Says Sue Grigsby Blonde from a Bottle." Andy, Barney, and Aunt Bea are chagrined to read insider news about the people of town that would definitely hurt the feelings of those being gossipped about. After a desperate scramble, they successfully retrieve all the papers before scandal hits. All papers but one, that is. The preacher has already read Andy's comment about his sermons being as "dry as dust." Consequently, Andy receives the ironic assignment of teaching Sunday School to see if he can do any better. This is a gentle episode that demonstrates the all-to-human temptation to spread salacious gossip about others, also the near-impossibility of retrieving those words once they are delivered.

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