I have blogged many times before of my love for “The Andy Griffith Show”. I freely admit that I pride myself on my knowledge of minutiae related to this beloved television program. So much so that few things bring me as much pleasure as does the uncovering of some heretofore unknown bit of trivia related to what I consider the greatest situational comedy ever produced.
For this reason, I have particularly enjoyed the emails sent out by the folks over at www.metv.com, the home of MeTV, which bill itself as “America’s #1 Classic Television Network”. Their daily emails contain numerous articles dealing with “behind the scenes” details of this and many other shows.
One such article recently caught my attention. It had to do with “Floyd the Barber”. The article begins by explaining why one specific episode the “The Andy Griffith Show” is particularly significant. According to the article…
The Andy Griffith Show episode "A Date for Gomer" holds historical significance, and not just in the love life of Mr. Pyle. The episode was originally slated to air on November 25, 1963, the Monday before Thanksgiving. However, television plans were tossed out upon the assassination of President John F. Kennedy the previous Friday. Network news continued to cover the death of JFK and its aftermath for days in primetime. Thus, "A Date for Gomer" was given a rain check until December 9, 1963.
When it finally aired, the episode still held some historical curiosities. Mary Grace Canfield, best known for her later role as Ralph Monroe on Green Acres, portrayed a character with her same name, Mary Grace Gossage. She was Gomer's date and Thelma Lou's cousin.
But there is something even weirder — and far harder to sight — in the first scene. Andy and Opie exit Floyd's Barbershop. The camera is set up in the Mayberry Street and follows the father and son down the sidewalk. "Why Floyd always has to get that little bit of hair down the back," Andy complains while rubbing his palm along the nape of his neck.
At this point, the article directs us to focus on something most of us, including me, have overlooked…
Peer through the window in the barbershop. Pay close attention to "Floyd." The barber is dressed just like Floyd in glasses and white coat… but it is clearly not the familiar Floyd Lawson we know and love. That is not actor Howard McNear.
The article then explains what is going on…
A year prior, in December 1962, McNear suffered a serious stroke. His brush with death occurred after season three's "Convicts-at-Large." Lawson would not return to The Andy Griffith Show until "Andy Saves Gomer," which aired on March 16, 1964. He would return, but much worse for the wear. McNear performed sitting down, for the most part, with his left side immobilized. That was a span of more than 40 episodes without the friendly barber.
Well, excepting this imposter, of course.
Lastly, the article concludes with one last bit of trivia…
We could not find out the identity of this alternate Floyd. It was seemingly not Walter Baldwin, the actor who first played the character in "Stranger in Town." That means that at least three men played the character onscreen!
For this reason, I have particularly enjoyed the emails sent out by the folks over at www.metv.com, the home of MeTV, which bill itself as “America’s #1 Classic Television Network”. Their daily emails contain numerous articles dealing with “behind the scenes” details of this and many other shows.
One such article recently caught my attention. It had to do with “Floyd the Barber”. The article begins by explaining why one specific episode the “The Andy Griffith Show” is particularly significant. According to the article…
The Andy Griffith Show episode "A Date for Gomer" holds historical significance, and not just in the love life of Mr. Pyle. The episode was originally slated to air on November 25, 1963, the Monday before Thanksgiving. However, television plans were tossed out upon the assassination of President John F. Kennedy the previous Friday. Network news continued to cover the death of JFK and its aftermath for days in primetime. Thus, "A Date for Gomer" was given a rain check until December 9, 1963.
When it finally aired, the episode still held some historical curiosities. Mary Grace Canfield, best known for her later role as Ralph Monroe on Green Acres, portrayed a character with her same name, Mary Grace Gossage. She was Gomer's date and Thelma Lou's cousin.
But there is something even weirder — and far harder to sight — in the first scene. Andy and Opie exit Floyd's Barbershop. The camera is set up in the Mayberry Street and follows the father and son down the sidewalk. "Why Floyd always has to get that little bit of hair down the back," Andy complains while rubbing his palm along the nape of his neck.
At this point, the article directs us to focus on something most of us, including me, have overlooked…
Peer through the window in the barbershop. Pay close attention to "Floyd." The barber is dressed just like Floyd in glasses and white coat… but it is clearly not the familiar Floyd Lawson we know and love. That is not actor Howard McNear.
The article then explains what is going on…
A year prior, in December 1962, McNear suffered a serious stroke. His brush with death occurred after season three's "Convicts-at-Large." Lawson would not return to The Andy Griffith Show until "Andy Saves Gomer," which aired on March 16, 1964. He would return, but much worse for the wear. McNear performed sitting down, for the most part, with his left side immobilized. That was a span of more than 40 episodes without the friendly barber.
Well, excepting this imposter, of course.
Lastly, the article concludes with one last bit of trivia…
We could not find out the identity of this alternate Floyd. It was seemingly not Walter Baldwin, the actor who first played the character in "Stranger in Town." That means that at least three men played the character onscreen!
At this point, I’m sure some of you may be asking, “Okay, okay, but what’s your point?” My answer is that it is obviously fairly easy for impostors to slip in among the folks we consider authentic. Hey, if it can happen in Mayberry, it can happen anywhere. Even the church! And if it can happen to the cast of “The Andy Griffith Show”, it can happen to most any group of people. Even God’s people!
A famous evangelist once said that just being inside a garage does not automatically make someone an automobile! His point was that not everyone who affiliates with the church is in fact a true Christian. Why would he say this? Because Jesus Himself had already said as much! In the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 21, He stated: “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Clearly, Jesus knew that the day would come when some, at least, would purport to be among His followers, even though they clearly were not. Whoever the anonymous “Floyd the Barber” was in the 10th Episode of Season 4 of “The Andy Griffith Show”, it is probably a good thing that he did not show his faced and/or open his mouth, or else he would most likely have been shown to be the impostor that he was!
Alas! How true this might be for many who purport to be true believers as well!
Another way to put it is this way: How many could withstand genuine scrutiny in the light of God’s Word?! Of course, the answer has already been given by Jesus: “Only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
The impostor Floyd does not cut hair. He does not even engage in conversation with true believers. He does not do anything but merely blend in and look the part. But when we freeze the shot and zoom in, we realize that he does not “cut the mustard”, let alone the hair! And the reason is self-evident. He was not a true Mayberrian. He was merely an impostor.
All of this points us to the day when our Lord will separate the wheat from the chaff, and the sheep from the goats. At that time, He, and He alone, will reveal who was and who was not truly one of His followers. Those who were will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant… Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Those who were not will hear Him say, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Which of these do you want to hear? In light of this, would you prefer to be real or to be fake? After all, fake news in this world is one thing; but fake news on the Day of Judgment is altogether different matter!
ARTICLE SOURCE: “Did You Ever Notice This Impostor Floyd the Barber on The Andy Griffith Show?” at https://metv.com/lists/did-you-ever-notice-this-imposter-floyd-the-barber-on-the-andy-griffith-show.
SEE ALSO: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0512387/.
NOTE: The aforementioned article also contains a link to another interesting article about the real “Floyd the Barber” titled: “6 Little Snippets You Never Knew About Howard McNear of The Andy Griffith Show”, found at: https://metv.com/lists/6-little-snippets-you-never-knew-about-howard-mcnear-of-the-andy-griffith-show. All true “The Andy Griffith Show” fans should enjoy it.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-21.htm;
https://biblehub.com/matthew/25-23.htm;
https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-23.htm.
A famous evangelist once said that just being inside a garage does not automatically make someone an automobile! His point was that not everyone who affiliates with the church is in fact a true Christian. Why would he say this? Because Jesus Himself had already said as much! In the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 21, He stated: “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Clearly, Jesus knew that the day would come when some, at least, would purport to be among His followers, even though they clearly were not. Whoever the anonymous “Floyd the Barber” was in the 10th Episode of Season 4 of “The Andy Griffith Show”, it is probably a good thing that he did not show his faced and/or open his mouth, or else he would most likely have been shown to be the impostor that he was!
Alas! How true this might be for many who purport to be true believers as well!
Another way to put it is this way: How many could withstand genuine scrutiny in the light of God’s Word?! Of course, the answer has already been given by Jesus: “Only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
The impostor Floyd does not cut hair. He does not even engage in conversation with true believers. He does not do anything but merely blend in and look the part. But when we freeze the shot and zoom in, we realize that he does not “cut the mustard”, let alone the hair! And the reason is self-evident. He was not a true Mayberrian. He was merely an impostor.
All of this points us to the day when our Lord will separate the wheat from the chaff, and the sheep from the goats. At that time, He, and He alone, will reveal who was and who was not truly one of His followers. Those who were will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant… Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Those who were not will hear Him say, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Which of these do you want to hear? In light of this, would you prefer to be real or to be fake? After all, fake news in this world is one thing; but fake news on the Day of Judgment is altogether different matter!
ARTICLE SOURCE: “Did You Ever Notice This Impostor Floyd the Barber on The Andy Griffith Show?” at https://metv.com/lists/did-you-ever-notice-this-imposter-floyd-the-barber-on-the-andy-griffith-show.
SEE ALSO: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0512387/.
NOTE: The aforementioned article also contains a link to another interesting article about the real “Floyd the Barber” titled: “6 Little Snippets You Never Knew About Howard McNear of The Andy Griffith Show”, found at: https://metv.com/lists/6-little-snippets-you-never-knew-about-howard-mcnear-of-the-andy-griffith-show. All true “The Andy Griffith Show” fans should enjoy it.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-21.htm;
https://biblehub.com/matthew/25-23.htm;
https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-23.htm.