View Full Version : Dinner at Eight


Scrabjan1
05-31-2020, 11:48 AM
Just watching this late season episode on Netflix and I’m sure it’s been said before but don’t want to search for the post.

The problem wasn’t that Andy had to eat three spaghetti meals in one evening. The real problem was that Andy allowed Goober to move into his house, cook for him and sit Indian style on his sofa. Didn’t Goober have to pump gas?

The other problem, and it’s a biggie, is that Howard Sprague actually still lived with his mother at 35 and was contented. Maybe Goober and Howard should have married.

GentlemanJim
05-31-2020, 12:18 PM
Maybe Goober and Howard should have married.

Seems like the only people who were happy in Mayberry were the ones who were single. Anyone who was married was either a drunk or liked to fight.

As far as the main plot device of this episode, I just took it as a satire on what we have to endure in order to get along with one another..

aka "Oh, I guess I'll just suffer rather that risk hurting someones feelings"

GentlemanJim
05-31-2020, 02:13 PM
If you are a big Jack Dodson fan, you sure should watch a movie titled The Getaway (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068638/?ref_=tt_ch) featuring him opposite Sally Struthers.

vitoscotti
06-01-2020, 01:41 AM
There's no logic throughout the whole episode.
Still, one my favorite tags all-time episodes.

- Goober abandoned his job
- Aunt Bea doesn't ask Andy's permission about Goober
- Andy buys crazy off-the-wall goceries
- Andy doesn't kick Goober out.
- Goober eating breadstick on couch(crumbs everywhere )
- Goober doesn't write phone messages down
- Goober developed memory problem for episode
- Andy trusts idiot Goober's memory without double checking
- young boy Opie trusted with axe
- Opie keeps axe in his room
- Goober forces Andy out of his own home
- same secret recipe 3x
- usually snotty, arrogant Mrs Sprague a sweetheart in this episode.
- Sprague's have leftovers for 3 adults
- didn't Opie's scout leader look at the weather forecast?
- Goober doesn't leave Taylor's kitchen a pig stye.
- scout leader honks for Opie right after he enters Taylor home
- Helen's uncle fellow Aunt Bea juror
- Opie gone a long time. Still hasn't eaten.
- Andy doesn't get a bellyache
- Andy doesn't tell now home Bea...No spaghetti!

[https://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/748/AndyG85.jpg
https://cfm.yidio.com/images/tv/2191/110714/episode-image-320x180.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/04/37/e5/0437e52bf7bda2ca44961dd119e31740.jpg

Scrabjan1
06-04-2020, 07:45 AM
Wow so perfect. You really picked out all the inconsistencies of this episode. The only consistency is that look that Helen has on her face telling Andy he’s late. She always has that extreme exasperated face that we all recognize.

All Andy had to do was call Howard and Helen and check on their message.

Why would Helen call late in the afternoon to invite Andy to dinner with the uncle?

Imagine depending on Goober’s memory without checking.

someguy23475
06-07-2020, 03:14 AM
Andy should have put his foot down and told Goober he can’t stay there, but he didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Plus, there wouldn’t be much of an episode.

MrMattyMatt
08-05-2020, 09:08 PM
I love any episode with Ms Sprague. Helen was at peak level nasty in this episode, yet she actually had a good reason this time.

Was "oregano" such new and unique ingredient in the 60s?

TheLittleFaerie
09-25-2020, 09:13 AM
Seems like there were a LOT of single men in Mayberry, it seemed odd since Mayberry was such a traditional town. Andy, Barney, Gomer, Goober, Howard

GentlemanJim
09-25-2020, 11:50 AM
Don't forget Floyd and Ernest T.

hifijohn
10-27-2023, 07:28 PM
Just watching this late season episode on Netflix and I’m sure it’s been said before but don’t want to search for the post.

The problem wasn’t that Andy had to eat three spaghetti meals in one evening. The real problem was that Andy allowed Goober to move into his house, cook for him and sit Indian style on his sofa. Didn’t Goober have to pump gas?

The other problem, and it’s a biggie, is that Howard Sprague actually still lived with his mother at 35 and was contented. Maybe Goober and Howard should have married.

Goodgod who would marry a goofball like goober.

stevea
10-27-2023, 07:47 PM
There's no logic throughout the whole episode.
Still, one my favorite tags all-time episodes.

- Goober abandoned his job
- Aunt Bea doesn't ask Andy's permission about Goober
- Andy buys crazy off-the-wall goceries
- Andy doesn't kick Goober out.
- Goober eating breadstick on couch(crumbs everywhere )
- Goober doesn't write phone messages down
- Goober developed memory problem for episode
- Andy trusts idiot Goober's memory without double checking
- young boy Opie trusted with axe
- Opie keeps axe in his room
- Goober forces Andy out of his own home
- same secret recipe 3x
- usually snotty, arrogant Mrs Sprague a sweetheart in this episode.
- Sprague's have leftovers for 3 adults
- didn't Opie's scout leader look at the weather forecast?
- Goober doesn't leave Taylor's kitchen a pig stye.
- scout leader honks for Opie right after he enters Taylor home
- Helen's uncle fellow Aunt Bea juror
- Opie gone a long time. Still hasn't eaten.
- Andy doesn't get a bellyache
- Andy doesn't tell now home Bea...No spaghetti!



Andy doesn't get a bellyache or get really sick. No real world person would or could eat three spaghetti dinners.

One has to suspend reality for this one. One of George Lindsey's, and my, favorite episodes.

rusty spike
10-28-2023, 01:11 AM
I enjoy watching grumpy Andy being obligated to eat all 3 dinners because he was very condescending to Opie about finishing his plate. He wouldn't hear him out so if Andy received a tummy-ache, then good for him.

stevea
10-28-2023, 07:30 AM
I enjoy watching grumpy Andy being obligated to eat all 3 dinners because he was very condescending to Opie about finishing his plate. He wouldn't hear him out so if Andy received a tummy-ache, then good for him.

Yeah, one of the best lines was something like, I'm gonna go eat my third spaghetti dinner, and when I get back, I'm gonna kill you.

SarahBellum
10-31-2023, 09:51 AM
Goodgod who would marry a goofball like goober.

Maybe Lydia Crosswaithe.

Road Dog
11-03-2023, 09:09 AM
To me "Dinner at Eight" is the best of the color episodes. Goober's inability to take a simple phone message leads to the kind of mass confusion you would see in a Seinfeld episode.

stevea
11-03-2023, 09:25 AM
I love any episode with Ms Sprague. Helen was at peak level nasty in this episode, yet she actually had a good reason this time.

Was "oregano" such new and unique ingredient in the 60s?

When Andy was hemming and hawing, trying to stall off his third dinner, Helen yells EAT! lol!

Then always-helpful Opie launches into parroting Andy's earlier lecture about starving people in the world and not wasting food.

It was non-stop comedy from start to end.

Willbo
11-03-2023, 03:56 PM
I have not seen this episode. Sounds like a good one.

Will Dockery
11-09-2023, 09:51 AM
If you are a big Jack Dodson fan, you sure should watch a movie titled The Getaway (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068638/?ref_=tt_ch) featuring him opposite Sally Struthers.

Jack Dodson was also great in a small part in Pst Garret and Billy The Kid.

Will Dockery
11-09-2023, 09:54 AM
I enjoy watching grumpy Andy being obligated to eat all 3 dinners because he was very condescending to Opie about finishing his plate. He wouldn't hear him out so if Andy received a tummy-ache, then good for him.

Opie exposed the hypocrisy of Andy so many times, it was always amusing to see Andy get his comeuppance.