>>>What is the family connection that makes Barney and Andy cousins? And >>>where does "Aunt" Bea fit into the picture? Is she really anybody's aunt?
First off, it's Aunt BEE, not Bea. Her last name is Taylor, and we know from various episodes that she is Andy's aunt, so she must be the sister of Andy's father. This makes her Opie's great aunt. We know from three early episodes that Andy and Barney are cousins. If we assume they are FIRST cousins, then that means one of Andy's parents is a sibling to one of Barney's parents. There are four possibilities: A: Andy's father is the brother of Barney's father: this is impossible, because then Barney's last name would be Taylor 2: Andy's father is the brother of Barney's mother: this too is impossible, because we learn in "Aunt Bee's Invisible Beau" that Bee is not actually Barney's aunt. Her just calls her that out of affection and/or respect, like everyone else in town who is younger than she. c: Andy's mother is the sister of Barney's mother: again, impossible, because Barney often refers to "my mother's side of the family" (see "Cousin Virgil"), which means Andy does not know of Barney's mother's relatives. IV: Andy's mother is the sister of Barney's father: by the process of elimination, this must be correct. As far as Gomer and Goober go, if they are FIRST cousins (which we don't know for sure) then their fathers are brothers, because Gomer and Goober both have the same last time. And yes, the writers borrowed Denver Pyle's last name when creating these characters. Gomer's first name was borrowed from a country fiddler named Gomer Cool, and Goober's name was most likely chosen simply because it sounds similar to "Gomer." --Paul Mulik _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list [email protected] http://wbmutbb.com/mailman/listinfo/wbmutbb_wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
