Opie Didn’t Really Throw a Rock in the Lake
In the summer of 1960, the cast and crew of the show ventured out to Franklin Canyon (near Beverly Hills) to film the opening credits. Their plan was for Andy and Opie to stroll along a dirt road with their fishing poles, and Opie was to pause and throw a rock into the water. But six-year-old Ron Howard couldn’t throw well.
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The little Ron Howard couldn’t hurl it far enough. They needed to either get him to throw the rock far enough or get someone else to do it. So they ended up coming up with a solution – they had a prop man hide in the bushes and throw the rock that made the right kind of splash. The timing was done to make it look as if Opie actually threw it. Oh, the good old days before special effects!
Next, the reason Barney never showed up after the 5th season…