The Andy Griffith Show: Season 2/ Episode 8: The Perfect Female: November 27, 1961. 4 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS.
In a number of episodes of The Andy Griffith Show- Barney makes an attempt to fix Andy up with someone- and it never works out. In this episode Barney and Thelma Lou- want to fix Andy and Thelma Lou’s cousin Karen Moore who was visiting from Arkansas up. Karen and Andy had both seemed reluctant so they both decide to get Andy- Karen to go to the coffee shop and accidentally run into each other.
Once they get to the coffee shop- Barney and Thelma Lou abandon the two- and Andy and Karen decide to have a cup of coffee and talk. It turns out they liked each other and Andy asks her on a date- to go crow shooting. The thing Andy doesn’t know is- Karen is a champion Skeet shooter. When they go out in the country to shoot- Andy isn’t having any luck. She seemed to make an attempt to say something about her shooting skills but Andy kind of talked over her- and she was happy with how things were going anyway so it never came up.
They meet again that night for supper at Andy’s and Aunt Bee and Opie both like her- and she likes them. Then of course Barney gets to running his mouth. The next morning he’s over at Thelma Lou’s and starts to tell Thelma Lou what a success Karen was- and what Andy was saying about her. Karen walks in- and Barney keeps running his mouth- while Thelma Lou tries to shut him up- to no avail. Barney tells Karen how she checked all the boxes etc- and Karen isn’t liking it at all. When Andy calls over at first she turns him down for a date- until she finds out it is to a skeet shooting contest.
Andy seems to be looked at as the favorite to win- and when it is his turn- he finds out his opponent is- Karen. They both shoot well- but Andy misses a couple while Karen doesn’t miss- and beats Andy- final score 25-23 Karen- Karen also had a perfect score. Barney is mad- and Andy looks a little bewildered- he didn’t realize how good of a shot she was- or that she even knew how to shoot. Karen then unloads on Andy with a bunch of questions- she is steaming. Before walking away she tells Andy she will evaluate his answers and get back to him to see if he passes her test. Andy’s reaction- is to tell Barney he had it coming- and calls after Karen and goes to talk to her.
The final segment- they are out with pistols shooting at bottles- Karen shoots all her bottles- Barney then speaks up and says its easy to aim and fire and hit the bottles but it takes skill to draw your pistol and hit them. Andy urges Barney to show them. Barney then draws his pistol- and fires- his shot goes into the ground near his foot. A frustrated Barney then walks over to the bottles and just knocks them over- and storms off.
I haven’t seen this episode in ages- and I am a regular watcher of Andy Griffith on television and they are always running the black and white episodes from seasons 1-5- do they skip over it for some reason?
Gail Davis who stars as Karen Moore- had a television show- Annie Oakley and appeared in many westerns back in the day when western television shows and movies were popular.
Karen and Andy hit it off well- you got it- this would be the only episode she would be in.
CAST
Andy Griffith- Sheriff Andy Taylor
Don Knotts- Deputy Barney Fife
Ronny Howard- Opie Taylor
Frances Bavier- Aunt Bee Taylor
Betty Lynn- Thelma Lou
Gail Davis- Karen Moore
Alfred Hopson- Skeet Shooting Referee
Directed by Bob Sweeney
Written by Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart
slicethelife 
There are times I’d like to wring Barney’s neck, and this episode was one of them. He’s the one that put the words “she passed muster” into Andy’s mouth. I don’t think Andy ever said that, either, except under duress from Barney.
I think Andy thought it was pretty cool that Karen was an expert shot, and the whole relationship would have taken a more positive turn if she had told him of her ability when he took her out to shoot crows, but she didn’t.
yes i think ol’ Barney was just running his mouth. I can’t imagine Andy saying any of that..
That’s the thing: Andy didn’t say any of those things. Barney said he did. Interesting, though, that Andy took the blame for it.
Barney makes it all worse in this one. One thing Barney doesn’t know…is women.
Barney thinks he does…. but never learns a thing does he.
It reminded me when Barney said something in another episode that he had Thelma Lou in his hip pocket…I believe Gomer was the culprit who told Thelma Lou…nope he never learns.