Plot
Otis surprises everyone when he purchases a car.
Summary
Otis saves up to buy a used car and becomes the object of a full-time surveillance by a worried Barney. After catching Otis leaving a party drunk, the sheriff and deputy play a trick on Otis in order to convince him to give up the car. It works, but it wasn't necessary. When Otis wakes up, he reveals that he had already sold it.
Trivia/Notes
- Andy, Barney, and Otis are the only characters to appear in this episode, the fewest of any episode in the series.
- When Andy goes to Otis' cell to bring him a cup of water, he retrieves the cell keys from the wall between the cells where they are usually kept, opens the cell door and leaves the keys in the door. After giving Otis the water, he shuts the cell door, leaving the keys in it. He then returns to the back office. When Otis calls Andy again, this time implying a request for Andy to quote him 'Jack and the Beanstalk', Andy walks from the back office to the cell door, and again reaches up to the place on the wall where the keys are usually kept, opening the cell door with them.
- Look closely - you will notice that Otis's house is the same house where the wild party takes place later in the episode (notice the "X" shaped railings on the front porch). If you look even closer you'll notice that this house is actually next door to the Taylor house. All outdoor scenes were filmed at the 40 Acres backlot, a frequently used film and tv lot, so much of Mayberry is recycled from different camera angles and often shows up in other television shows and films.
- The song that Andy and Barney sing for Otis is "The Vacant Chair" and its lyrics are: "We shall meet, but we shall miss him, There will be one vacant chair, We shall linger to caress him, While we breathe our evening prayer."
- This episode is one of the few times Barney sings on key; every other time he is completely and horribly off key.
Quotes
Otis: I would've been here earlier but I fell in with some bad companions.
Barney: It's bad enough having a plain ole town drunk, now we got a mechanized one. Andy , face the facts. As of this minute, we are livin' in a disaster area.
Barney: Don't get facetious Otis, don't get facetious.
Gallery
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