I watched the Andy Griffith Show growing up and it has always been one of my favorites, but I didn't enjoy the later episodes for some reason. Recently, I've been binge watching it back to back on a popular streaming website and that has given me opportunity to view it in a different light now that I can watch any episode of any season instantly, at any time. It's very clear to me now why the show only lasted eight seasons.
One is the switch from black and white to color at the beginning of season 6. I believe this started the slow chipping away from the show's authenticity. This is also when Don Knotts stopped appearing as a regular character on the show and the introduction of the terrible character Warren, who as another reviewer put it, is annoying and you just want him to go away. This was a poor attempt at a substitute for Barney Fife. I also noticed that the writers and directors changed at this point too.
In the earlier episodes, at the end, there was some sort of lesson you felt that you had learned, you felt uplifted or that the characters somehow had a closer bond. In the latter episodes, some of the issues seem a little too serious for the show's theme at times, and the characters sometimes seem overly annoyed with each other, so you don't get the same feeling. Add some awkward camera angles that they used in some of the last three seasons and it gets even worse. The departure of Floyd, and the addition of the ever boring character Sam didn't help matters either.
In the end, it's still one of the best classic shows, and I'll still watch them end to end, even if I do skip over some of the episodes in the last three seasons. I still maintain that Peg from season four would have made and better girlfriend for Andy than Helen.
One is the switch from black and white to color at the beginning of season 6. I believe this started the slow chipping away from the show's authenticity. This is also when Don Knotts stopped appearing as a regular character on the show and the introduction of the terrible character Warren, who as another reviewer put it, is annoying and you just want him to go away. This was a poor attempt at a substitute for Barney Fife. I also noticed that the writers and directors changed at this point too.
In the earlier episodes, at the end, there was some sort of lesson you felt that you had learned, you felt uplifted or that the characters somehow had a closer bond. In the latter episodes, some of the issues seem a little too serious for the show's theme at times, and the characters sometimes seem overly annoyed with each other, so you don't get the same feeling. Add some awkward camera angles that they used in some of the last three seasons and it gets even worse. The departure of Floyd, and the addition of the ever boring character Sam didn't help matters either.
In the end, it's still one of the best classic shows, and I'll still watch them end to end, even if I do skip over some of the episodes in the last three seasons. I still maintain that Peg from season four would have made and better girlfriend for Andy than Helen.