The Andy Griffith Show: Season 2/ Episode 4: Mayberry Goes Bankrupt. October 23, 1961. 4 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS.
The episode opens in the Mayor’s office- a big meeting -the town wants a poor man named Frank Myers evicted from his house for not paying taxes. Everyone is on board with this but the man whose job it will be to evict Frank- Sheriff Andy Taylor. Andy can’t talk Mayor Pike and the rest of them out of it. He goes to Frank Myers house-which is the first house you see coming in to Mayberry from the north- and it is an eyesore. The house is unpainted, falling apart and junked up inside and out. Myers knows why Andy is there and while Andy is very reluctant and feels awful about what he has to do- he has to hand the eviction notice to Myers.
That evening out on the porch with Aunt Bee and Opie- Andy is still bothered by evicting Myers. When Opie asks where Myers will go- Andy doesn’t have a good answer because of course he has no idea- who would take him in? Opie speaks up and suggests they invite Frank Myers to stay with them- to which of course Andy is kind of stumbling to come up with reasons why that isn’t a good idea. When they can’t come up with a good reason why not- both Andy and Bee warm to the idea and Frank moves in to the Taylor house.
When looking over a box of valuables Frank has- to see if there is anything that could be sold to raise money to pay the taxes- they find out that most of it is just sentimental things with no value- until- they come across a bond which was issued in 1861 by the town of Mayberry to Frank’s great great grandfather. It was a $100 bond with 8 1/2 percent interest compounded annually. The shoe is now on the other foot.
A special meeting his held- and Andy reveals that the city of Mayberry owes Frank Myers a total of $349.119.27. Myers says he will take it in cash. The problem is the City of Mayberry has a little over $10,000 and can’t pay Myers. Of course Mayor Pike and the banker wants Andy go to smooth things out with Frank by offering him- $25 a month! Andy goes to talk to Myers- and there is Frank Myers looking through catalogs -he is ordering all kinds of things to improve his house with the money he has coming. Andy breaks the news to him that Mayberry can’t pay up even if they wanted to. Frank is clearly stung by this but in the discussion he has with Andy he reveals that he would like his house not to be an embarrassment- that he had planned on spending money on improvements etc. A bell rings in Andy’s head- and the next thing we see is a team of workers including Mayor Pike working on the house. It looks 100% improved- Frank will no longer have the worst looking house in town but one of the nicest.
Frank then makes a mistake- he talks of a photo of his great great granddaddy with General Robert E. Lee. The banker then realizes something- the bond issued to his great great grandfather- would have been in Confederate money- it was worthless. All the sudden Pike and the rest turn against Frank and demand Andy evict him. Andy steps in and saves Frank from eviction- talking about how the house looks so good and it will draw visitors into town. He even fast talks the banker into giving Frank a loan to pay his back taxes. Just then a car with a couple of out of towners come by and ask if there is a hotel to stay in in town. Andy asks if it was the house that drew them to town- and when they find out its Mayberry- the folks say they thought they were in Elm City.
The final segment -has Andy and Frank in Mayor Pike’s office. Andy playing a joke on Pike tells him that Frank has a letter from the president- stating he might stop in an visit soon. Pike perks up- then Andy finishes reading the letter- it is signed by- President Jefferson Davis.
Another strong episode- and this one was without an appearance by Don Knotts who while credited does not appear.
The name of the character- Frank Myers you see in the credits of most episodes- They took the name of the character from one of the members of the crew.
This would be the only time the character Frank Myers- appears in the entire series.
CAST
Andy Griffith- Sheriff Andy Taylor
Ronny Howard- Opie Taylor
Frances Bavier- Aunt Bee Taylor
Dick Elliott- Mayor Pike
Andy Clyde- Frank Myers
Warren Parker- Harlen Fergus
Phil Chambers- Jason
Jason Johnson- Councilman
Directed by Bob Sweeney
Written by Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart.
slicethelife 
Frank was one of my favorite part time characters. Sometimes the council of Mayberry could be a little mean spirited…
This was about as mean as I’ve seen Mayor Pike.. now Stoner was nasty most of the time.
Yes I agree…Stoner was downright unlikable at times.
Where Pike was easily influenced by others- back and forth back and forth- Stoner had a mean disposition!
Notice how, every time someone else gets a bug up his ass about something, they make Andy the bad guy. Ben Weaver wants someone evicted, he turns to Andy, John Masters wants Barney out of the choir, he tells Andy to do it. Some ladies’ historical society wants to recognize Otis for his famous relative and the Mayor doesn’t like it, they tell Andy to tell Otis not to come. When Mayor Stoner doesn’t want Rafe Hollister, who’s the best singer in town, to sing in his overalls, he tells Andy to dress him “appropriately.” And there’s Frank Myers, down on his luck and with his only skill being making berries for women’s hats, and Andy has to put him on the street. If I was him, I’d walk out and let them figure out how to do it themselves…
Yes- let’s have Andy handle it- let’s blame Andy.. you have a great point there. I don’t think it was all because he was the sheriff- they knew he could and would handle it -better than they could… plus of course they didn’t want to be the bad guys.