Do movies and TV provide clues to Living in the City of Bloomfield Hills and the Art of Being Neighborly ?

Andy Grifffith the star of a show by that same name recently passed away at age 86. In the program he is best known for, he Played Sheriff  Taylor of Mayberry North Carolina. The show ran ran from 1960 to 1968 and since then in syndication virtually no stop. It has been reported that some some episodes are on file at the Smithsonian.The one below titled Stranger in Town is good candidate for such honors. A stranger comes to town and .an outbreak of mass hysteria is avoided when cool,calm, and collected Sheriff Andy gets the facts and delivers them in a dramatic speech in the denouement scene.  It was one of the few times Griffith in the heat of passion and exasperation actually speaks Southern. Episodes in later years  feature a more refined  sage and sheriff.. Maybe that happened after the interstate went in.

This episode available in it's twenty five minute entirely on You Tube. Most of the early Andy shows from fifty years ago have gone into public domain but the may not stay there. Public Domain means that copyrights have not been renewed. That can always change if  somebody wants to take them out and pay for the rights. That could  happen with Andy via   commemorative  box sets  for the holidays. The You Tube version above also features the final gag which often gets cut for commercials on over the air or cable re-runs.

Ya'll been watchin summer reruns of Hart of Dixie ? Can't help but like a show about comeuppance, community,and purgatory  that  features show titles like Pariahs and Parades or Gumbo and Gumption. We'll give ya little sample. But First an administrative detail however. For those unfamiliar with the CW  or what is being shown on Television these days, the clip below is rated PG13. Parental Guidance suggested.  There is, in keeping with the Southern literary tradition of writers like Tennessee Williams author of  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Street Car Named Desire a mildly  steamy scene with fully clothed participants. There is also  a couple of  incidents of barn yard language in which what you sit on is referred to as a small beast of burden or a conjunction.

Catch that little bit of Charles Dickens  towards the end ? Did you see it coming  ? Sweet Potato Pie and hush my mouth, I  did not. Maybe that's why I like the show. I am easy to fool. I did however catch the substitution of "Hart" the lady's last name for "Heart" which if I am not mistaken is play on words.

Funny that they toss out a bombshell in the preview rather than  saving it for the  season one finale  Either the writers are short on ideas or have more than we know of. Oh the suspense!

I would also be amiss if I didn't tell you that I see in the show some of the folk that occasionally appear on these pages. Check out the Mayor(of Bluebell) who verbally and adroitly wears many hats.

Sad but true, this report is late and we are four weeks into the re-run cycle. However if you want just drop in that would be fine. Not a lot has changed and you already know who everybody is. The re-runs are also scheduled  to run outwhen it is about time for season two to begin Clever.

So much for a stranger in a strange land. Now for something completely different from the 1965 gem A Thousand Clowns, a movie nominated for Best Pictureand drawn from the play by the same name by Herb Gardner.

The protagonist Murray Burns knows everything about Manhattan and the other  four Burroughs. He is also a man of definite ideas. In fact he  shouts community improvement tips to all residents in ear shot. Why exactly is the first question the movie asks. Murray's problem  if there  is one is getting  in sync with the rest of the world. The tune in the movie's  beautifully choreographed opening (once you get through the snare drums and cymbals) is The Battle Cry of Freedom a 1862  song used on both sides of the Civil War. It is also Murray's anthem. Regrettably we run out of film just as the movie gets going. We are told the film is available on Amazon and it does turn up on Turner Classic Television. It is also performed  quite frequently in community theatres.

So what about it City of Bloomfield Hills ? We are known as not particularly outgoing or neighborly but is that a fair 
assessment ? If it is any comfort the Isle of Manhattan gets the same rap. Do TV shows or Movies provide answers ? How about Magazines.How about one called Living in Bloomfield Hills ? Naturally there is more. Stay tuned....