For the past five years, Neal Brower has written a column called "Professor Brower's Class" in the Bullet, the official newsletter of The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club. Each column centers on one episode from the popular television series, The Andy Griffith Show. Brower researches each episode with help from the show's writers, actors, and producers. His essays include their insights as well as Brower's own observations about production, photography, musical scoring, etc.

In this first volume of a projected three-volume series, Brower covers the 79 episodes that were written by writers Harvey Bullock, Everett Greenbaum, and Bill Idelson and their partners. Some of the episodes covered in Mayberry 101 include: "The Pickle Story," "Man in a Hurry," "My Fair Ernest T. Bass," "Opie the Birdman," "Mr. McBevee," "Prisoner of Love," "Rafe Hollister Sings," "Class Reunion," "Opie's Hobo Friend," "A Date for Gomer," and "The Darlings are Coming."