Breaking Mayberry
Society & Culture
About
Two idiots and their much more intelligent guests take on classic TV (mostly the Andy Griffith Show) to see the weird messages they broadcast into American homes, and assess what holds up and what caused permanent damage to the psyche of an entire generation. Join hosts Marty Schneider and Dan Ludwig as they descend into the madness of Boomer television, and occasionally break down their own childhood television addictions. New episodes bi-weekly on Thursday mornings!
Episodes
- MAD ABOUT MAD ABOUT YOU 3: Mr. Rogers' Waluigi (w/ Dr. Timaree)
Sex educator Dr. Timaree Schmit joins Breaking Mayberry to discuss season 3, episode 9 of 'Mad About You,' which covers Paul and Jamie's bedroom troubles. The conversation also references Dr. Ruth.
- MAD ABOUT MAD ABOUT YOU 2: My Husband, the Lawnmower Man
In this episode of Breaking Mayberry, hosts Dan and Marty, with guest Harris O'Malley, discuss the Mad About You episode "Virtual Reality." They cover Paul's virtual encounter with Christie Brinkley and Jamie's reaction.
- MAD ABOUT MAD ABOUT YOU #1: A Will They, Won't They, But They Already Have
Breaking Mayberry begins a new miniseries on the 90s sitcom Mad About You. This episode covers the pilot and Season 1, Episode 6, examining the relationship dynamics of Paul and Jamie Buchman.
- EXTENDED PATREON PREVIEW: Goon Royale
Breaking Mayberry introduces its Patreon series, Goon Royale, where 31 head-to-head matchups will determine which movie has the best goon deaths. The series examines henchmen deaths in a rowdy, macabre competition.
- 184: God is a 17-Year-Old Reese Witherspoon (Season Finale)
The hosts of Breaking Mayberry discuss the 1998 film Pleasantville, exploring its transition from black-and-white to color and the resulting societal reactions. They cover the movie's strengths and weaknesses.
- 183: Pika Petey and the Magic Dementia
In this episode we take on the worst Twilight Zone episode, featuring TV's most irritating man. Also Marty read a book and now everyone has to hear about it.
- UNLOCKED BONUS: Walker? I Hardly Know Her!
Note: Chuck Norris has died. In "tribute", enjoy this 2019 bonus episode we recorded about a particularly terrible episode of Walker Texas Ranger. For more bonus episodes, subscribe to our Patreon ! Original description: It's a special bon…
- 182: Help Me, Mumford and Step-Sons!
This episode gets weird as we talk about Ringo Starr's hypothetical podcast, decide another thing is a CIA psyop, and debate philosophically about threesomes. We relate to teens with the most relatable teen show in the country, a show love…
- 181: Manufactured Spokesman Fandom
In this episode we get into the TRUTH and ask HARD QUESTIONS. What really happened at the Battle of Mayberry? Who's horny for commercial pitchmen? How far will Dan go to avoid talking about an episode he hated? It's Season 6, Episode 27 "T…
- 180: Like Hooters, But A Gas Station
In this episode, Marty has some questions about a potato chip brand and Andy Griffith tells us all why it's bad for women to have jobs. It's Andy Griffith Season 6, Episode 28 "Goober's Replacement"
- 179: Aggro! at the Post Office
Marty and Dan return with good vibes for the new year and a new sidekick for Andy. Opie almost kills a baby and Marty has a scuffle in a government office. Andy Griffith Season 6, Episodes 24 and 25 "A Baby in the House" and "The County Cl…
- 178: We Don't Need to Create New Slurs
Honestly somehow our most Catholic episode, in spite of the slurs not because of them. We deal with some gross episodes from Season 6, including one we can't write the title of without using a slur, so have fun with that!
- 177: We All Have Our Own Dennis Hoppers to Bear
POP QUIZ HOTSHOT! There's an episode of Andy Griffith that's actually good and Dan doesn't want to talk about it, but if you don't do a schtick the podcast will explode. What do you do? What do you do? Well in our case you vamp and try to…
- 176: Wyatt Earp, Safe Sex Advocate
No longer in GLEE-land, the boys can't help but talk about Tombstone and funerals. A wild west show moves into town and Aunt Bee commits insurance fraud in Andy Griffith Season 6, Episodes 19 and 20 "Lost and Found" and "Wyatt Earp Rides A…
- The Final Gleekend: Ryan Murphy's Three Body Problem
As we cover our final Glee episode, Season 6's "Child Star", we break down our final therapy feelings about the New Directions, what happens when nostalgia comes for us, and the rich history of tentacle porn.
- The Glee-kend Six: Inaccurate Twerking Instruction
We spend a lot of this episode talking about Lea Michele's insane broadway career because it's the least upsetting part of what we're going to discuss. This is the Season 5 Glee episode "The End of Twerk" (or something like that, I'm not l…
- Gleekend 5: Singing "More Than Words" to a Racist Cat
NOTICE: This is the Glee school shooting episode. We talk about the school shooting parts from about 40:00 to 51:30. Okay look there's really nothing funny here but Glee's gonna try to find something they can use! Ryan Murphy's never met a…
- TTRPG-TV: I Have No Mouth and I Must Sheldon
Host, gamer, and mighty little man Jeff Stormer from the Party of One Podcast comes by to talk about some TV with RPG elements - namely 00's Disney Channel hit Lizzie Mcguire and the hottest TV show we almost did a podcast about - Young Sh…
- The Gleekend 4: Smoke A Whole Pack of Asking Boys Out
The Glee Club is back in session and the boy's recording studio - like the Glee club's practice room on GLEE - is in a state of flux.There are crushes that make no sense, songs that shouldn't be good, and a joke that didn't not-age-well be…
- The Gleekend 3: Some Bomer That I Used To Know
Okay, so the Glee-kend continues and we were pretty drunk at this point, I don't know what to tell you. Angry showers and Duran Duran montages happen in this one. Also, texting and driving is bad, kids. It's Season 3, Episode 3, "Big Broth…
- BEWITCHING MAYBERRY: Chimp In a Hat (w/ 80s TV Ladies)
Marty and Dan meet the Susan and Sharon, the 80s TV Ladies for a two-parter dedicated to the magical '60s sitcom Bewitched. We learn the barbaric nature of early pregnancy tests, talk about the "secret sexy magic lady" subgenre, and mostly…
- The Gleekend 2: (Someone Else's) Papa Can You Hear Me?
Hey pal, are you going through a tough time? Trouble at home? Parents not doing well? Well, how do you think that makes ME feel, huh?! I gotta like, live while you're over there being sad? Have you ever thought about how your being sad aff…
- The Gleekend 1: The Groban Drones Are Coming
Marty and Dan leave the '60s for the bizarre 2010s. We meet the Glee Club, the weirdest, meanest, most annoying group of people ever to make your grandparents uncomfortable. It's all pop tunes and Obama-era optimism here in the Gleekend, a…
- 157: The Last Literate Man in Mayberry
Ol Barn's back in town, bay-bee and he is as infuriating as ever! We finally get #justiceforthelmalou and the Manhunt franchise ends with an inevitable wet thud. At least Warren's almost gone, though. Season 6, episodes 17 and 18 "The Retu…
- 156: Art Project Trolly Problem
Okay so you know how just like... the general concept of "art" is mostly considered good, like a good thing that most people enjoy. Well, that's wrong, and Andy Griffith is gonna tell you why. It's Season 6. Episode 14 "Otis the Artist" If…
- 155: Opie the Loan Shark
Content Note: This episode discusses media's portrayal of sexual assault for laughs Well, when you do enough AG double-headers, there's gonna be ones like these. We start with an episode that is absolutely nothing, and then move to a deepl…
- 154: Garf-sterday
In an episode that's dedicated to talking dogs, we focus on a famous talking cat. It's AG Season 6, Episode 12 "Man's Best Friend" and Episode 13 "Aunt Bee Takes the Job" If you like this, leave a rating and review, follow us on Bluesky ,…
- 153: Mayberry's Designated Survivor
Okay a lot of weird stuff happened to Marty before and during this episode and we're going to talk about it a lot. But you'll be thanking us because it's a lot better than talking about Andy Griffith Show season 6 episodes 10 and 11, "Aunt…
- 152: Frankie Muniz, Political Consultant (w/ David Dylan Thomas, Kae Lani Palmisano, and Harris O'Malley)
It's an extra-long BREAKING MAYBERRY ALL-STARS featuring three of our favorite returning guests to talk about the three-no-wait-four-part Andy Griffith Epic - "The Hollywood Arc". Yes, for the first (only?) time in the show's run, the Tayl…
- 151: Talkin TimeCop
Dan and Marty take a little break from the doldrums of Mayberry with the classic(?) action movie TimeCop, starring our favorite cokehead gymnast Jean-Claude Van Damme. Dan remembers a repressed shame, we talk JCVDs terrible acting, and we…
- 150: B-Plot K-Hole (w/ Max Ludwig)
We go back to the 80s-restaurant-of-debatable-quality of "It's A Living" with Max Ludwig. This time around we explore a few episodes with Andy Griffith ties, including one where a group of grown adult women dress as children's fairy-tale c…
- 149: Phoebe Bridgers and the Gay Parachutes (w/ David Dylan Thomas)
Filmmaker and author David Dylan Thomas stops by the Mayberry studios to talk about 2024's I Saw The TV Glow, a movie that's about the horrors and freedoms of nostalgia but also about trans/queer stuff and also maybe about a short-lived Mc…
- 148: Jokerize Me, Daddy
Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone... Barney Fife is gone and in his place arises a great evil, so terrible that not even the Andy Griffith Show can tolerate it for very long. Warren Ferguson has…
- 147: Bullock, Is That Man Dead?
Like Billy Pilgrim, Dan has become unstuck in time. That's why he keeps saying how tired he is after mentioning perfectly normal amounts of time to be awake. We say good-bye to the weirdest recurring characters, right as we were starting t…
- 146: Is Goober My Best Friend?
We're back in Mayberry for season 6 and the vibes are OFF for reals. Everyone's really tense and awkward and somehow Goober is the highlight. It's a really low point friends. But on the other hand, Marty gets to use a joke he's been holdin…
- Parental Control: Escape From Olive Garden (w/ Kurt Schiller)
Blood Knife Editor and co-host of Podside Picnic , Kurt Schiller drops by to talk about all things mystery with a pair of Poirots! We discuss the ins and outs of a great detective fiction, including bumbling cops and pedantic wealthy peopl…
- Side of M*A*S*H: A New Thanksgiving Tradition
The boys start a new tradition, watching the Thanksgiving episodes of the beloved war dramedy MASH... what's that you say? There aren't any Thanksgiving episodes of MASH? ... The boys start a new tradition, painfully burrowing their way th…
- BACKDOOR LOVERS: Lee Majors, Come Again
The failed Backdoor Pilot from the Six Million Dollar Man asks, what if there was like, a computer in your brain, man? The answer is, it would suck! But also some other weird stuff would be like, way better than that. Look there's a bunch…
- ELECTION SPECIAL: Welcome Home, Congratulations on Dying!
Look we didn't want to do this one but circumstances forced our hand. We're talking about the Ron Howard-directed Hillbilly Elegy, a movie that Ron Howard is too stupid to understand is political. We all know that JD Vance's memoir is bull…
- BACKDOOR LOVERS: No Self-Care Until You Kill A Man
Marty and Dan go back to Hazard County to revisit the Duke boys and their new, laid-back friend, Jude Emery. We get a narrator of our very own, name as many country singers as possible, and learn too much information about Marty's car. Spe…
- Doc McGee is Chip Magoo: A Scooby-Doo Podcast (Unlocked Patreon Episode)
The day has finally come - we're talkin' Doo. We discuss the weird place of Scooby Doo in popular culture, horniness, 80's rock band dynamics, horniness again, Jack Kirby, and the weird current state of the series. Marty gets really mad. Y…
- PARENTAL CONTROL: Gimme da Big Cabbie! (w/ Grant)
We've got Grant from Chip & Ironicus, Six Feats Under, and WSKRS, here to tell us about a show his father loves but can't remember the name of. We're covering The Amazing Race, CBS' not-quite-a-juggernaut world-crossing reality competition…
- BACKDOOR LOVERS: Why Not Just Call It "Ninja Cops!"
BACKDOOR LOVERS is back with another failed spinoff pilot! This time it's FORCE SEVEN, a tale of ninjas, Teamsters, and racist puppets that spins off of... hmmm... hold on, I've got it somewhere... oh well, who cares what show this is spin…
- PARENTAL CONTROL: Mike Wallace or Everyone Dies! (w/ Max Ludwig)
Parental Control is back with a new season of mom-and-dad shows. Dan's brother Max stops by to discuss a sitcom that only Mom Ludwig remembers, with a theme song out of Sondheim and one of the most bizarre plots we've ever seen on TV. We'r…
- BACKDOOR LOVERS: Watery Gollums
We're back to Backdoor Lovers, the series about failed spinoff attempts! This time around, it's early-00's witch-core hit Charmed , a show that does not care if it gets a spinoff or not. We meet a whole new version of Dan, learn that the o…
- 136: Pocketknives, Cars, and Moisturizers Monthly (w/ Evan Dalton Smith)
Hey look we brought someone on that actually knows anything about The Andy Griffith Show, it only took us six years or so. Evan Dalton Smith, author of " Looking for Andy Griffith " out in May from UNC Press, joins the boys for a wide-rang…
- 135: The Crimes Of Fife
It's our big send-off to Don Knotts (bigger than what the Andy Griffith show did anyway) and we "celebrate" by counting down Barney Fife's biggest crimes against humanity. Then we cover more of Don Knotts' film career, including "The Ghost…
- UNLOCKED BONUS: Lasagna Boys - A Garfield Cast
We're! (we're!) Ready! (ready!) To! (to!) Podcast! In what is basically an extended episode of Marty's Comix Korner, Marty and Dan watch 2006's Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties. We grapple with the existential question of "What is Garfield?…
- 134: The Case of Vulvanator v. Labia-Lifter (w/Christine Clarke)
We lawyer up once again with personal injury/medical malpractice attorney Christine Clarke, who shares with us the best cross-examination twist ever heard. Marty and Dan debate which fast-casual restaurant is the best to die from, and Otis…
- 133: Mr. T, Killer of Fools
Listen close because there is a VERY IMPORTANT Public Service Announcement at the beginning of this episode that you're not gonna want to miss. Also we say good-bye to Mr. Fife (kinda), and a famous comedian shows up to do absolutely no jo…