The Andy Griffith Show
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MEMORIES:
PHOTOS:
Cast:
Opie Taylor...Ron Howard
Barney Fife (1960-65)...Don Knotts
Ellie Walker (1960-61)...Elinor Donahue
Aunt Bee Taylor...Frances Bavier
Bertha Johnson...Hope Summers
Clara Edwards...Hope Summers
Gomer Pyle (1963-64)...Jim Nabors
Helen Crump...Aneta Corsaut
Goober Pyle (1965-66)...George Lindsey
Floyd Lawson...Howard McNear
Otis Campbell (1960-67)...Hal Smith
Howard Sprague...Jack Dodson
Sam Jones (1968)...Ken Berry
Emmett Clark (1967-68)...Paul Hartman
Thelma Lou (1960-65)...Betty Lynn
Studio:
Network:
Release History:
9/23/68 - 9/6/71 - Mayberry, R.F.D. - CBS
A father and son walk down to the creek, fishing poles in hand, accompanied by a happy whistling tune (The Fishin’ Hole, written by Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer). It’s as iconic an opening as television ever produced. The lives and times of the simple folk of Mayberry, North Carolina, proved a popular tonic for the tensions and social upheaval of the 1960’s, and Andy Griffith’s Sheriff Taylor set an indelible standard for the laid-back but wise and compassionate father figure.
Andy Griffith had made an impression as a master of folksy comic monologues, and he showed a flair for comedy in No Time For Sergeants, as well as dramatic skill in A Face In The Crowd. In 1959, The Danny Thomas Show provided an introduction to Mayberry, as Thomas’ character is pulled over by Sheriff Andy Taylor and spends a day in the courthouse. The episode proved popular, and The Andy Griffith Show was launched in 1960, one of the earliest TV spin-offs.
Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) is a single father, raising his red-headed son Opie (Ron Howard) with the help of his loving Aunt Bee (Francis Bavier). He gently asserts his authority over the local population, aided by his deputy, the over-eager Barney Fife (Don Knotts), a man who goes strictly by the book, even when it makes no sense to do so. (He also has a pronounced tendency to get himself and Andy locked into their own jail cell.)
Mayberry is populated with eccentrics, including the dim but big-hearted mechanic Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors), the absent-minded barber Floyd Lawson (Howard McNear), lovable drunk Otis Campbell (Hal Smith), and gun-totin’ mountain man Ernest T. Bass (Howard Morris).
Most of the crises in Mayberry can be solved by talking them out, so Sheriff Taylor hardly ever carries a gun, though he allows Deputy Fife to keep a single bullet in his breast pocket just in case. But don’t let this bucolic image fool you. More than a few bank-robbers, frauds and small-time crooks stumbled across Mayberry, and came to grief by assuming that these simple folk were too dumb to catch them.
Andy’s duties also extend to Justice of the Peace. He officiates at marriages, moderates for bickering couples, and counsels the lovelorn, particularly Barney Fife, ever in trouble with his intended, Thelma Lou (Betty Lynn). Andy often uses sly psychology, allowing people to discover their own mistakes and save face. He also provides loving guidance to Opie, whether giving him a comic rundown on Romeo and Juliet, or encouraging him to care for the baby birds whose mother Opie accidentally killed.
Mayberry saw its share of changes over the years. Gomer Pyle joined the marines (and got his own spin-off, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.), to be replaced at the garage by his cousin Goober (George Lindsey). Teacher Helen Crump (Aneta Corsaut) became Andy’s girlfriend, and eventual bride. Most significantly, Barney Fife moved to Raleigh to become a detective. (Don Knotts left at the end of the 1964 season to pursue his own film career.)
Beginning in 1965, The Andy Griffith Show was broadcast in color. A new deputy was brought on board for a brief time, (Jack Burns as Warren Fergusen), but this new sidekick disappeared without explanation mid-season. Local lonely heart Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson) became a regular fixture in later years.
In April, 1968, Andy Griffith left the show, while it was still #1 in the ratings. It continued as Mayberry R.F.D. with Ken Berry as the new star. This redo lasted for three seasons.
The lasting appeal of this show came from a fortuitous combination of perfect cast and quality writing. Griffith supervised scripts along with producer Sheldon Leonard and writer/producer Aaron Ruben. Their easy-going take on small town life was so engaging, tourists through North Carolina began to ask locals how to get to Mayberry. (Rumor was that Mayberry was inspired by Griffith’s hometown of Mount Airy, an association which that town still encourages to this day.)
Andy Griffith went on to further TV success as the star of Matlock. Don Knotts earned matinee god status in The Reluctant Astronaut, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The Apple Dumpling Gang, among many other films. Ron Howard found fame as Richie on the smash series Happy Days before he became one of the most successful directors in Hollywood history, with Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind to his credit. The Andy Griffith Show lives on, in syndication, on DVD and in the imaginations of all who long to get away to a quiet friendly place for a little while.
