most of opies friends seemed like nice enough kids but twice in 8 seasons he met 2 kids who seemed like real jerks 1 was aronld winkler the spoiled kid who caused havoc in mayberry and the other was tommy the convinced opie to help play that mean sprited joke on goober where he thought that his dog could talk and i was wondering wich kid do you all think was the bigger jerk ? my money is on tommy because even though arnold winkler was a spoiled brat i have a feeling that after he and his father paid a visit to the courthouse woodshed he may have learned his lesson whereas even though tommy told goober that he was sorry i have a gut feeling that he ended up learning how to make some really fancy license plates a few years down the road who do you all think was the bigger jerk?

Arnold got it turned around, I am convinced! I love that episode, we have used it to help our own children learn how to not be spoiled!

I'd say those 2 are pretty well tied. Tommy could be worse, though, because he's older and should know better.

Goober was much older, and he should have known better.

Goober seemed like a big kid.

Arnold had a dysfunctional father from the get go. I think the damage was done and the kid had no respect for his father. He thought his son was perfect.

I vote for that trouble maker who tried to turn Opie’s friends against him. He called him Dopey Opie and broke the street light. When Opie stood up to him he ran away.