Opie the Birdman

"Opie the Birdman" is the first episode of the fourth season of The Andy Griffith Show. It aired on CBS on September 9, 1963. In the episode, Opie accidentally kills a mother songbird and bears the responsibility of rearing her three young birds.

"Opie the Birdman"
The Andy Griffith Show episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 1
Directed byDick Crenna
Written byHarvey Bullock
Original air dateSeptember 10, 1963 (1963-09-10)
Running time30 minutes

Plot

Barney makes an old-fashioned slingshot for Opie. Looking on, Andy tells him to be careful with it. When Barney demonstrates one of his trick shots, he breaks a window in a bookcase, prompting Andy to remind Opie to never shoot it indoors.

Playing outside, Opie is pretending to shoot at various targets with his new toy. Seeing something in the tree in his front yard, he aims and shoots and kills a bird, which falls to the ground in front of him. Opie refuses to believe the bird is dead and pleads for it to fly away. When he realizes what he has done, he runs to his room, sobbing.

At the dinner table that evening, Opie is melancholy, barely touching his meal. Andy comments to Aunt Bee that he found a dead songbird in the yard and that he believes the neighbors cat is responsible. Aunt Bee tells him it can't be the cat because their neighbor, Mrs. Snyder, has been away for over a week and she took her cat with her. Opie leaves the table and rushes to his room.

It is easy for Andy to recognize what has happened and he confronts Opie about it. Opie admits his mistake and says that he is sorry, but Andy tells him that being sorry is not enough. He opens Opie's bedroom window where he can hear the baby birds calling for their mother, who will never return.

In the morning, Opie has decided that he will take care of the baby birds, and begins by feeding them breakfast. When Mrs. Snyder has returned with her cat, Andy moves the birds to a cage on the front porch. When Opie names the birds, Andy reminds him that someday they will grow up and he will have to release them.

When the birds have grown big enough to be released, Andy tells Opie that their mother would have set them free, and Opie acknowledges that he must release them. After this, Opie comments that the cage looks empty, to which Andy replies, "But don't the trees seem nice and full?"

Cast

Reception

Listed as one of the top twenty all-time favorite episodes in The Andy Griffith Show Book.[1]: 171 

The episode was included in TV Guide's ''Top 100 Episodes of All Time'' (2009).

References
  1. Beck, Ken; Clark, Jim (1985). The Andy Griffith Show Book - From Miracle Salve to Kerosene Cucumbers: the Complete Guide to One of Television's Best-loved Shows. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-03654-X. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  2. Cahn, Victor L. (2014). Walking Distance: Remembering Classic Episodes from Classic Television. Resource Publications. ISBN 978-1-62564-794-8. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  3. Robinson, Dale; Fernandes, David (2014). The Definitive Andy Griffith Show Reference. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-2068-5. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
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