5 reviews
Has some funny moments, but, hey writers, we've seen this plot premise twice before!
- phantomcurator-178-818096
- May 13, 2015
- Permalink
The Darlings in the Black
The Darlings sell a plot of land for 300 dollars and Briscoe thinks the boys can now be married off. So they come to Mayberry to take four women back to the woods with them. Things get complicated when they set their sights on Helen. Andy is flummoxed. Helen is not happy. On another note: What happened to Warren?
Lot borrowed from previous episodes
The picking a wife downtown, and choosing Helen (then Thelma Lou) was taken from the Alan Hale Jr episode. A blackhorse reverse omen ridden by Don Knotts is now Goober dropping down an owl. But even with all the redos the episode was very good. Wonderful music throughout. Last of the Darlings. Overall added a lot to the series. Must be tough playing a banjo in the back of a moving truck with no closed tailgate. Andy goes against all common sense choosing imbecile Goober to be a fill-in part-time deputy. Andy & Goober certainly don't do a lot of work during the day.
- vitoscotti
- Jul 28, 2022
- Permalink
Love Denver, Maggie, & The Dillards
We're down to trying to mine previous plots it seems. TAGS without Barney seems as if the writers can't go to far without recycling. The Darlings hit town with intentions of marrying. This time it's "The Boys". After the family sells land making them "rich", the next order of business is getting the boys hitched. As previously ,when Charlene decides Andy is her betroved one due to folklore, so will it be for some "fortunate" females in Mayberry for marriage to the Darling boys. Never mind if the potential wives are interested, this is destiny. Rather familiar scenario which worked better with Andy as the groom. Truth is that with the boys je ne sais quoi had this been the first Darling marriage episode it would have probably fared better, comparatively speaking. As it is the thing over the years I've remembered over the story is the excellent rendition of "Salty Dog" performed by The Darlings in its entirety. This episode captured my attention in my youth, due to that song and it still is a real Appalachian gem professionally performed with Charlene's ( Maggies') excellent vocals. A real classic moment on TV. The song alone raises the rating from about a 5 to a solid 7.
- AudioFileZ
- Jan 11, 2024
- Permalink
Another Clunker
Why on earth do the writers keep bringing these losers back? The darlings are not funny. They have never been funny. They are obnoxious, pushy, overbearing, and their behavior borders on sexual harassment. Actually, it's not all of them, it's just Briscoe and Charlene. Nothing against Denver Pyle and Maggie Peterson; they did a good job of acting with the poor writing they had to deal with. The rest of the family is pretty much a non-entity since they do nothing but stand around silently looking slack jawed and stupid. The music is good; it's just too bad the writers didn't give them something decent to work with character wise.
- zombiemockingbird
- Aug 21, 2023
- Permalink