Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts) would probably tell you that a lawman is never really off duty — even in a bump in the road like Mayberry.
I'm pretty sure that would be his conclusion concerning the episode of the Andy Griffith Show that first aired on this night in 1962 — "Convicts at Large."
Barney and Floyd (Howard McNear) had been fishing and started to return to Mayberry — only to discover that they were out of gas. So they set off on foot to see if they could find some.
They stumbled onto a cabin in the woods that was owned by a friend of theirs who was known to be out of town — but they saw smoke rising from the chimney so they knew someone was there. They thought it was their friend; they didn't realize that the occupants of the cabin were three escaped convicts — three women.
When they went to the door, the convicts welcomed them — and then took them hostage.
The leader of the convicts was Big Maude, played by character actress Reta Shaw, who was recognized for her work on the big and small screens. She made appearances in many of the popular TV programs of her day — and returned to the Andy Griffith Show the following year in an appearance as Barney Fife's voice teacher.
In that episode Shaw played Barney's advocate. In this one she played his adversary. And when Floyd and one of the convicts went into town to pick up provisions, Big Maude warned him not to try any "funny business," or Barney would pay the price.
Well, none of the convicts called him Barney. They all called him Al because he reminded them of an old acquaintance. Before the show was over, it seemed they actually believed that Barney was Al.
During the excursion into town, Floyd bumped into Andy (Andy Griffith), and Andy gathered from what he heard and observed that there was some kind of party going on up at the cabin. But after Floyd and one of the cons drove off, the bus pulled up and Andy's friend stepped off. He was back from his trip.
And when Andy approached him and asked him a few questions, he insisted he hadn't rented his cabin to anyone while he was away and that no one should be living there.
That made Andy suspicious. He had heard a radio bulletin about the escaped cons and concluded something was amiss at the cabin so he and the friend drove up there.
Back at the cabin, the convicts played some records and wanted to dance.
They also did some cooking, but they needed some water so one went out — and was taken into custody by Andy and his colleague.
When the first one didn't return, a second one was sent to see what the problem could be. She, too, was taken into custody.
That left Big Maude. And Barney maneuvered her into position to be handcuffed be agreeing to dance with her.
Just about everyone was involved in capturing the escapees — except Floyd, who was mostly an observer.
But, in the end, he got all the credit in the local newspaper.
This was kind of a bittersweet episode. It was the final one before McNear suffered a stroke that rendered one side of his body virtually paralyzed.
McNear was absent from the series for awhile, then came back but was always seen in a seated position.
His character is probably one of the best loved from the series, but he never walked on screen again after this episode.
