Howard Sprague is a fictional character on the CBS television sitcomThe Andy Griffith Show, and its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D.. He was played by Jack Dodson from 1966-71. He was characterized by his demeanor, moustache, bow ties, and a penchant for philosophy and culture. Howard was a repressed Mother's boy who lived with his overbearing and manipulative mother, played by Mabel Albertson.. He appeared as the county clerk during the later color episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. While Jack Dodson made an earlier appearance as an insurance agent named Ed Jenkins, he first appeared as Howard in the sixth season This was not unusual on the show: other TAGS regulars were first introduced with different names: Hope Summers, who played Clara Edwards, first appeared as Bertha Johnson; Goober Pyle was first called Goober Beasley; and Arlene Golonka, who played Millie Swanson, was introduced as Millie Hutchins. Due to his upbringing, Howard was socially stymied, especially when it came to dating. His mother even tried to thwart a double date he had with Sheriff Andy Taylor, Helen Crump, and a nurse, by feigning heart palpitations. Later, when Howard was about to join a men's social club, his mother manipulated Goober Pyle with a sob story in an attempt to blackball his membership. Opie once said Howard threw a baseball "just like Aunt Bee". When his mother remarried and moved to Mount Pilot, Howard sought to metamorphosize into a swinging hipster. Wearing a smoking jacket and ascot, his plain home became a mod bachelor pad, with threshold-beads, and floor pillows. In the episode "Howard's New Life", he tried to recreate himself by moving to a Caribbean island to become a beachcomber. Bored, he soon returned to Mayberry and resumed his drab bureaucratic job.
Howard's brief love interest/fiancée on The Andy Griffith Show was Millie Swanson, a character who later dated Sam Jones on the spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. Millie and Howard soon realized their incompatibility and mutually agreed to dissolve the relationship right before they were to wed. Despite his awkwardness, Howard proved to be quite a sportsman. He caught "Old Sam", the much coveted legendary fish in Tucker's Lake, thus antagonizing the town's seasoned anglers. He also proved to be an excellent bowler, after joining Emmett Clark's bowling team and astonishing everyone by scoring a perfect game. Howard even parachuted from an airplane to appease a thrill-seeking lady friend. Howard had two brushes with stardom. First he appeared on the "Colonel Tims Talent Time" television show performing his stand-up comedy act, which consisted of personal affronts to his neighbors and "one-horse" jokes about Mayberry, causing him to be temporarily snubbed by the townsfolk. Mayberry city council once sent him with Emmett Clark to a New York CityTV station to promote traditional, small town values. Howard soon did a backspin and became an unabashed New Yorker, replete with a loud, paisley Nehru suit and hair bangs. In the 1986 television movieReturn to Mayberry, Howard was revisited. In a funk about aging, the clerk was seen throughout the movie in various hues of hair color. He appeared in character on It's Garry Shandling's Show in the 1990 episode 'The Day Howard Moved In'.
