Just watched "Opie the Birdman" and was puzzled over the fact that the entire episode was lacking a laugh track, even prior to Opie's tragic killing of the mama bird. The beginning scene in the courthouse had a comical interchange where Barney cautioned Opie not to stick his tongue out, then does it himself-no audience laughter! Has anyone else noticed this? Also, can anyone remember the last episode with Howard McNear before his stroke and the first to feature him again? I remember an episode towards the last of the 3rd season where Andy and townspeople are in the barber shop and allude to Floyd being out for lunch. I had the feeling that Howard McNear had already suffered his illness and they wrote him into the script as a reference out of respect. I later remember Floyd's appearance in the 5th season in "Goober takes a car apart". He was seated and showed little physical movement but was as hilarious as ever.Any thoughts on this? Best Wishes Eric Swolgaard Sacramento, CA _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
