The Andy Griffith Show

The Andy Griffith Show
File:Andy Griffith Show1.jpg The opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show.
Created by	Sheldon Leonard
Starring	Andy Griffith Ron Howard Don Knotts Frances Bavier
Theme music composer	Earle Hagen
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	249 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes per episode (with commercials), 25-26 minutes per episode (without)
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	October 3, 1960 – April 1, 1968

The Andy Griffith Show is an American television series humorously depicting life in a fictional southern community. The show stars Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor, the sheriff of Mayberry, North Carolina. The rest of the main cast consisted of Ron Howard as Andy's son, Opie, Frances Bavier as Andy's spinster aunt and housekeeper, Beatrice "Aunt Bee" Taylor, and Don Knotts as Andy's deputy, Barney Fife.

The Andy Griffith Show was created by Sheldon Leonard, filmed at Desilu Studios, and televised by CBS from October 3rd, 1960 to April 1st, 1968. The show's first five seasons were filmed in black and white while the last three were in color.

The series was very popular from its inception and left the air when it was #1 in the Nielsen Ratings (one of only three shows to do so, the other two being I Love Lucy in 1957 and Seinfeld in 1998). It spun off two more TV series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and Mayberry R.F.D., as well as a 1986 reunion television movie, Return to Mayberry. It is widely syndicated and is available on DVD.

Origins

The Andy Griffith Show had its origin in a February 1960 episode of The Danny Thomas Show in which Danny Williams (Danny Thomas) is arrested by Sheriff Andy Taylor for running a stop sign in Mayberry. Both Frances Bavier and Ron Howard appeared in the episode; Bavier portrayed Henrietta Perkins, a widow being victimized by a shopkeeper, and Howard appeared briefly as Andy's son Opie. The Andy Griffith Show was retooled from this episode and made its debut on October 3, 1960.

Cast

Main characters

File:AndyTaylor1.jpg

Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor.

• Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) lives with his son Opie and his housekeeper Aunt Bee in Mayberry, an idealized community of country folk. Andy is single, though it is never made clear if he is a widower. Andy's love life served as material for many episodes. His first season sweetheart is Ellie Walker (Elinor Donahue), a pharmacist who works in her uncle's drug store. Ellie was dropped at the end of the first season. Andy then dates a few local ladies. Finally, in the third season, schoolteacher Helen Crump (Aneta Corsaut) arrives and becomes Andy's girlfriend for the remainder of the series. As a lawman, Sheriff Taylor has a relaxed style, preferring to settle squabbles with common sense advice, mediation and conciliation. Though Mayberry sports few local criminals save moonshiners, the community does attract more than its share of out-of-town bank robbers, scam artists, vagrants, and escaped convicts, none of whom prove to be a match for the wily sheriff. Griffith is the only actor to appear in all 249 episodes of the series.

File:Opie101.jpg

Ronny Howard as Opie Taylor in the second season episode "The Pickle Story" (December 18, 1961).

• Opie Taylor (Ronny Howard) is six years old when the show opens. He is a typical American boy, interested in football, baseball, and fishing with his father. Several episodes focus on the relationship between father and son and Opie's growing pains. Opie has several young girl friends during the course of the series run, but also has crushes on both Thelma Lou and Helen Crump. Although Opie is a well-meaning boy, he very occasionally gets into trouble: trespassing in a neighbor's barn, being a sore loser, and perhaps most famously, killing a bird. Opie can be generous, too. He uses his savings to buy a friend a winter coat and permits a boy with family money troubles to replace him as delivery boy at the grocery store. Howard appeared in the second highest amount of episodes, appearing in 208 of the 249 episodes of the series.

File:BarneyFife102.jpg

Don Knotts as Barney Fife in the third season episode "Aunt Bee's Medicine Man" (March 11, 1963).

• Barney Fife (Don Knotts) is Andy's high strung, by-the-book deputy sheriff, best friend, and cousin (in the first three episodes). Barney's ill-controlled zeal at the courthouse, his poor judgment in most matters, his pompousness, and his bravura cause Sheriff Taylor much trouble. Midway through the first season, pixie-like Thelma Lou (Betty Lynn) becomes his steady girl, though he occasionally dates diner waitress Juanita (who is never seen). Griffith had said early on that he only planned to do the show for five years. As that time approached, Knotts signed a movie contract to pursue a career in feature films. When Griffith reconsidered his earlier decision, Knotts tried to get out of or rework his contract. However, the film studio would not consider either option, so Knotts was forced to leave the show. He did make five guest appearances; his last one, in the eighth and final season, was the most watched episode of the entire series.

File:AuntBee3.jpg

Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee in the show's first episode "The New Housekeeper" (October 3, 1960).

• Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) manages Andy's household after the departure of his housekeeper Rose and becomes Opie's surrogate mother/grand aunt. Bee's character undergoes a dramatic change in the color seasons, leaving behind her traditional role of homemaker. She discards her frumpy wardrobe; dates a retired Congressman, a clergyman, and a distinguished professor; opens her own restaurant, hosts a television show, buys a car, runs for office, and takes flying lessons. Bavier received her sole opening credit nod in the final season.

Recurring characters

• Filling station attendant Goober Pyle (George Lindsey)
• Barber Floyd Lawson (Howard McNear). McNear suffered a stroke in the third season, but returned the worse for wear in season four. He left the show in the seventh season.
• Schoolteacher and Andy's sweetheart Helen Crump (Aneta Corsaut)
• County Clerk Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson)
• Aunt Bee's best friend Clara Edwards (Hope Summers), a gossiping widow who is sometimes Bee's rival.
• Town drunk Otis Campbell (Hal Smith). Smith departed at the end of the seventh season.
• Barney's girlfriend Thelma Lou (Betty Lynn). Lynn left at the end of the fifth season, though she made one guest appearance in the sixth season.
• Auto mechanic Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors). Nabors left the show after the fourth season to star in his own series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
• Fix-it man Emmett Clark (Paul Hartman)
• Pharmacist Ellie Walker (Elinor Donahue)
• Opie's friend Johnny Paul Jason (Keith Thibodeaux as Richard Keith)
• Deputy Warren Ferguson (Jack Burns)
• Father and daughter mountain folk Briscoe and Charlene Darling (Denver Pyle and Maggie Peterson)
• Spinster Emma Brand/Watson (Cheerio Meredith)
• Hillbilly Ernest T. Bass (Howard Morris)
• Farmer Sam Jones (Ken Berry)
• Emmett Clark's wife Martha (Mary Lansing)

Mary Lansing played 12 different roles in 15 episodes. Bob McQuain had 11 roles in 14 episodes. Veteran actor Allan Melvin played different roles in 8 episodes, while Burt Mustin portrayed 6 characters, notably Jud Fletcher, in 11 episodes.

Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Frances Bavier, and Hope Summers were the only performers to appear in every season.

Awards

• Knotts won five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, in 1961-63, 1966 and 1967, the last two for guest appearances.

• Bavier won one Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1967.

• In 1967, the show received its only Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, losing to a new show, The Monkees.

• In 2002, TV Guide ranked The Andy Griffith Show at #9 on its list of the 50 greatest television shows of all time.

Overview

The show operated on at least two levels: there were the corny, nitwit antics of the supporting players, who provided most of the humor, and there was also the straightforward presentation of the occasional story involving a criminal to be caught or a love interest to be established. There was often a storyline of a serious nature concerning Andy's being a single parent to Opie.

One of the show's dynamics was the relationship between Andy Taylor, the sensible, easygoing sheriff and Barney Fife, his high-strung, overzealous deputy. From a comedic aspect, Andy usually served as the straight man to Barney's over-the-top antics. Andy's laidback law enforcement style was more in step with the sleepy town he safeguarded than Barney's, whose "by-the-book" attitude towards law and order generally served to cause more problems than it resolved. Andy rarely wore his full uniform and almost never carried a weapon, as opposed to Barney, who was never seen on duty without his cap and tie and was so anxious to use his gun that Andy had to restrict Barney to only one bullet (which he usually carried in his shirt pocket) for the safety of all concerned.

Andy had an understanding of the townspeople, and he regularly made exceptions to the rules. Mayberry rarely saw any major crime. His familiarity with the small town and his intricate relationships with the individuals residing there made him a natural choice for sheriff. In contrast, Barney's heavy-handedness went steadily against the grain. On one occasion, Andy had to leave town for a day and left Barney in charge as acting sheriff. When Andy returned, he discovered dozens of the townspeople had been arrested, including Aunt Bee and her ladies group (for "Unlawful Assemblage and Inciting a Riot"—they were standing in front of the courthouse chatting), and the mayor (for "Vagrancy and Loitering"). Andy held a brief trial for each "criminal," with every case being promptly dismissed.

Andy did what he thought was right, and that sometimes meant he lied to protect the feelings of others. He regularly used reverse psychology on people to get them to do the right thing. He seemed to have a keen eye for surreptitious or otherwise questionable situations, which the people of Mayberry sometimes lacked. If somebody made a poor decision, he would find a way to get them out of difficult situations without letting them know their mistake. He regularly had to rescue Barney from various troubles (usually self-inflicted), letting his deputy believe he had been right all along. Andy also often gave credit to someone else (usually Barney) for something he had done himself.

Another of the show's dynamics was Andy's relationship with his son, Opie. Andy was constantly teaching Opie moral lessons and having him think through situations. One of the most memorable examples of this is when Opie accidentally kills a mother bird, leaving her three babies orphaned. Rather than punishing him, Andy makes his son listen to the baby birds crying outside his window for the night. Opie then decides on his own to take care of the birds himself. He raises them until they are able to take care of themselves. This experience teaches Opie a sense of responsibility and that actions have consequences.

In the show, Opie and Andy's 'man-to-man' conversations were very serious, though often there was a certain amount of comedy. Often Andy had to think of ways to explain things so that Opie could understand. In the episode "Opie and the Spoiled Kid", Opie becomes jealous of another child, whose rich father who gives him a much larger allowance without him having to work for it. Opie tries holding his breath and throwing a temper tantrum to make his father do the same. Opie eventually realizes the other boy and his father do not have the close relationship that Opie has with Andy.

Later seasons

Beginning with the sixth season, the series was broadcast in color. The opening credits were reshot, but retained the father and son walk to the fishing hole and the scene's familiar musical theme.

Perhaps the most significant changes to the show in the sixth season, however, were the departures of show producer and story consultant Aaron Ruben and episode writers Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell. Writer Harvey Bullock left after season 6, and, by season 8, an entirely new team of writers was working for the show.

The Mayberry of the color years was not the Mayberry of the black and white years. Business suits and up-to-date attire ousted the dusty bib coveralls, frumpy housedresses, battered straw hats, and sweaty, wrinkled attire of the earlier seasons. Moonshine and moonshiners disappeared and Otis Campbell's role as town sot was curbed when a sponsor purportedly objected to his alcoholic shenanigans.

The color episodes of The Andy Griffth Show were quite popular,although Griffith says that after Knotts left that the show was kind of stale. With the show consistently finishing in the top 10. The final season climbed to the top of the Nielsen Ratings.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Andy Griffith Show episodes

Color episodes in syndication

Over the years, several classic sitcoms of the 1960s began as black and white shows, but went color after a year or two (e.g., Gilligan's Island, My Three Sons, Bewitched, I Dream Of Jeannie, The Beverly Hillbillies, Adventures of Superman). When these series were shown in syndication, TV stations tended to run the color episodes more often than the black and white ones. In some instances, TV stations would drop the black and white episodes altogether and occasionally the black and white episodes would be colorized, to make them saleable on the syndication market. With Andy Griffith, however, the opposite would happen. In syndication, the five black and white seasons were aired more often than the three color seasons.

In the 1990s, WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, and WMAZ-TV in Macon, Georgia started airing the color episodes in black and white, the thinking being these episodes would be more likely to be watched if viewers thought they were watching an episode from the black and white years. Within the past few years, however, the stations have started showing the color episodes in color once again.

In recent years the TV Land network has shown color episodes nearly as frequently as the black and white ones.

Cultural impact

Some Christian viewers feel the show has a moral backbone virtually unrivaled by other television sitcoms and have singled out particular episodes for use as instructional and/or inspirational materials among their congregations. Others question the use of the show for Christian instruction.

The show has been satirized as communist propaganda.

In 2007, a line of foods was marketed called "Mayberry's Finest".

Spin-offs and television movie

The Andy Griffith Show generated two spin-off series. In September 1964, Jim Nabors reprised his character in his own series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. The spin-off followed Gomer's life in the United States Marine Corps and his clashes with tough drill instructor Vince Carter (Frank Sutton).

Following the end of The Andy Griffith Show in 1968, Bavier, Summers, George Lindsey, Paul Hartman, Ken Berry and Jack Dodson reprised their roles in the spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. (1968-1971) as regulars or semi-regulars. The series starred Ken Berry as farmer Sam Jones with Buddy Foster as his son Mike. Both characters were introduced to viewers in the final episodes.

In 1986, the reunion television movie Return to Mayberry was broadcast. Many cast members appeared in their original roles. Absent however was Frances Bavier. She had retired from acting and was in poor health. In the telemovie, Andy visits Aunt Bee's grave.

Mayberry

File:Mayberry Shops.JPG

Mayberry shops adjacent to the courthouse from a late season episode of The Andy Griffith Show.

According to roadside signs seen in various episodes, the population of Mayberry varied between 2,000 and 5,360 during the course of the show. Raleigh was a few hours' drive away, but the nearest city was Mount Pilot, located to the east in Pilot County. Mt. Pilot had a population of 30,000 and was known for its fast pace. Another nearby (and actual) city mentioned numerous times on the show is Siler City, in Chatham County. Frances Bavier retired to Siler City, died, and was buried there. One episode had a fictional neighboring district called Pierce County.

Andy Griffith has repeatedly denied that Mayberry was based on his hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina. It is more probable that Mayberry was the creation of the many artists working on the show. Nonetheless, Mt. Airy annually hosts a week-long celebration in late September known as "Mayberry Days". Though the event attracts thousands of visitors from around the world, some residents eschew the festivities.

Mayberry has become synonymous with the charm and wholesomeness of rural, white, conservative, tradition-bound, Protestant America. In a negative sense, the term has also been used to connote the ignorance and lack of sophistication often associated with people from rural areas, and as an example of an idealized, fictional white south that never existed.

Real locations

Years after the series ended, tourists driving through rural North Carolina still asked for directions to Mayberry, not realizing that the town didn't exist. There is a Pilot Mountain (believed to be the inspiration for Mount Pilot), though it is better known as a mountain than as a town. Mount Airy, Griffith's hometown, caters to fans of the show with a large gift shop of show memorabilia, a museum, replica of the patrol car, jail, large statue of Andy and Opie, the Snappy Lunch (which was mentioned in many episodes), garage, and the "real" Floyd's barber shop. There is a large fan club reunion in September, with character look-alike contests and visits by surviving cast members.

Filming locations

The TV show itself was filmed entirely in Hollywood, at Desilu Productions on the former RKO Pictures lot (now merged with the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood proper). Mayberry exteriors were shot on the former Selznick International lot, later known as Forty Acres, which is recognizable to fans of the 1950s program Adventures of Superman and was used in many other TV shows and movies, including Gone with the Wind and three episodes of Star Trek ("Miri", "The Return of the Archons", and "The City on the Edge of Forever", in which Captain Kirk and social worker Edith Keeler walk past the front window of Floyd's Barber Shop).

The apparently rural fishing hole that led off each episode was actually in the Los Angeles area: Franklin Canyon Lake, just north of Beverly Hills. The 1986 reunion TV movie Return to Mayberry used the small California town of Los Olivos as Mayberry.

Music

The whistled theme song, "The Fishin' Hole" was composed by Earle Hagen (the show's music coordinator as well as the whistler) and Herbert Spencer, with unsung lyrics by Everett Sloane. Hagen wrote the music for the series, and also for Andy Griffith's later, short-lived sitcom The New Andy Griffith Show in 1971. Many, many styles and genres of music were heard on the show over the years: bluegrass, classical, folk, rock, pop, jazz, broadway, traditional hymns, and classical airs like "Endearing Young Charms". Unlike other sitcoms, the music was often an integral part of the plots -- not merely soundtrack to accompany scenes.

Sponsor

The sole sponsor of The Andy Griffith Show was General Foods, maker of Post Cereals, Jell-O and Sanka Coffee, though promotional consideration was paid for (in the form of the squad car) by Ford Motor Company.

Notable crew members

• James L. Brooks was a frequent writer. An award-winning producer, writer and director, Brooks produced such hits as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Simpsons and Taxi.
• Gene Reynolds directed "Alcohol and Old Lace", "Andy the Marriage Counselor", and "Mayberry on Record." Reynolds later co-created Lou Grant with James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and produced the TV series M*A*S*H.
• Richard Crenna directed "The Sermon for Today."
• Theodore J. Flicker directed "The Lucky Letter." Flicker later co-created Barney Miller.
• John Rich was a frequent director. Rich later co-produced MacGyver.
• Sam Bobrick wrote "Barney and Thelma Lou, Phfftt" and "Girl Shy." Bobrick later created Good Morning, Miss Bliss and Saved by the Bell.
• Dick Bensfield and Perry Grant were frequent writers. The two later created Hello, Larry.

Cultural references

• The Nirvana song "Floyd the Barber" heavily references the show, mentioning several of the characters' names.
• Pop idol Elton John is a fan of the show and frequently makes a pun-ish reference to the show when he covers the song "Goober Peas" in live performances.
• The Rascal Flatts song "Mayberry" is a reference to the show.
• In Almost Famous, the character William Miller is referred to as Opie because of his young appearance.
• An episode of Even Stevens references the show's opening sequence when the character Louis Stevens pictures an upcoming boating trip with a neighbor by imagining them walking to the lake in a manner similar to Andy and Opie walking to the fishing hole.
• In The Simpsons episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious", the family watches a fictitious scene from The Andy Griffith Show on TV. In the scene, Charles Bronson has replaced Andy as sheriff, drawing its humor from the stark contrast between the brutal nature of Bronson's characters and Andy's mild-mannered persona.

Distribution

The Andy Griffith Show remains popular today, principally among babyboomer viewers who recall seeing the show's first run. It is syndicated by CBS Paramount Television (formerly Viacom and later Paramount) for reruns to be broadcast across the United States. It is also broadcast nationally on cable television on TV Land.

DVD Releases

CBS DVD has released all eight seasons of The Andy Griffith Show on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
The First Season	32	November 16 2004
The Second Season	31	May 24 2005
The Third Season	32	August 16 2005
The Fourth Season	32	November 22 2005
The Fifth Season	32	February 14 2006
The Sixth Season	30	May 9 2006
The Seventh Season	30	August 29 2006
The Final Season	30	December 12 2006
The Complete Series	249	May 29, 2007

Copyright status

The Mayberry FAQ says that the copyrights on some episodes have expired. These are all from the 1962-63 season, about a dozen and a half of them in total. The episodes are available on discount home video DVDs. It also says that composers don't receive royalties, but they do get performance money. The difference is that royalties are determined by a guild negotiating re-use payments with the producers. These payments diminish over time by the number of repeat plays of the program. Performance money is paid by the broadcasters who have to secure licenses to perform the music under the copyright laws of the world. This appears to be the reason why many of the discount home video versions of the public domain episodes replace the original show theme music with generic music (to avoid the need to pay such fees). In any event, official versions of the public domain episodes are available via Paramount Home Entertainment's box sets of the entire series.

See also

• List of The Andy Griffith Show cast members
• List of Andy Griffith Show guest stars

References

• The Andy Griffith Show (television program) produced by CBS Television Network 1960-1968. Distributed in rerun syndication by CBS Paramount Television.
• The Andy Griffith Show by Richard Kelly (John F. Blair, Publisher, 1994).
• The Andy Griffith Show Book by Ken Beck and Jim Clark (St. Martin's Griffin, Publisher, 2000).
• Mayberry Memories by Ken Beck and Jim Clark (Rutledge Hill Press, Publisher, 2000).

External links

• The Andy Griffith Show at IMDb
• The Andy Griffith Show at epguides.com
• Mayberry.com home of The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club w/ Interviews, Episode Guides, newsletters, and forums.
• Behind The Scenes of The Andy Griffith Show A behind the scenes look at The Andy Griffith Show and the real Mayberry, includes filming locations, the stars made on the show, and Mayberry trivia.
• Remembering Mayberry
• Mayberry Articles & Events
• Searchable Andy Griffith Show Episode Guide
• The Andy Griffith Show on TVLand.com
• Interview with Michael Rosen on Archive of American Television in 1998.