"The Andy Griffith Show" (1960) TV series 1960-1968

Creator:

Sheldon Leonard

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Release Date:

3 October 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Plot:

Widower Sheriff Andy and his son Opie live with Andy's Aunt Bee in Mayberry NC. With virtually no crimes to solve...

Plot Keywords:

Aunt | Sheriff | Mayberry | Widower | Deputy Sheriff

Awards:

Won 6 Primetime Emmys. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Andy Griffith	...	Sheriff Andy Taylor (249 episodes, 1960-1968)
Ron Howard	...	Opie Taylor (210 episodes, 1960-1968)
Frances Bavier	...	Aunt Bee Taylor (175 episodes, 1960-1968)
Don Knotts	...	Deputy Barney Fife / ... (141 episodes, 1960-1968)

Also Known As:

Andy of Mayberry (USA) (rerun title)

Runtime:

30 min (249 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (1960-1965) | Color (1965-1968)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) (video rating) | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Trivia:

Andy Griffith had been a successful stand-up comedian as well as an actor before beginning the show and he had fully expected to be the main funny character on it, and in the first few episodes even performed some of his stand-up routines, like his countrified versions of classic fairy tales. However, when Don Knotts became such a popular favorite as Deputy Barney Fife, Griffith decided for the good of the show to let Knotts be the main comic figure and let Sheriff Taylor react to him as his "straight man."

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: It's been established that the Mayor's Office is above the courthouse and jail. However there is no indication either inside or outside the courthouse that there is any access to the Mayor's office from the street level or inside the jail. At one point early in the series there was a door to the left of the jail cells which was later removed that could have been an access to the upstairs offices but since no one was ever seen using it and it was later removed from the set, there's no way of knowing.

Quotes:

Barney Fife: Inkem binkem notamus rex, protect us all from the man with the hex.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Growing Pains: Maggie Seaver's: The Meaning of Life (#6.18)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Fishin' Hole Theme

The Life and Times of Sheriff Andy Taylor

THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW (CBS, 1960-1968) is not only Andy Griffith's first TV show, but his best. Griffith, who made his mark on Broadway, then in a TV adaptation and screen version of NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS, along with so few movies to his credit, might have turned his NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS role into a weekly comedy series in the "Gomer Pyle" mode, but instead, the writers worked around with a more original premise about the day and the life of a sheriff in a southern town called Mayberry. Although the title might indicate a variety show, it is in fact a TV sit-com. With the opening fade-in and titles featuring a father and his young son walking down to the pond carrying their fishing poles over their shoulders with the underscoring to whistling properly titled "The Fishing Pole," concluding with the little boy throwing a rock into the pond, it's become one of those rare cases that a series, lasting eight successful seasons, to resume with the same opening, but with some minor changes over the years, converting from black and white to color and with the growth of the sheriff's young son.

During the show's eight seasons, this wholesome sit-com not only centers upon Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith), but on the citizens of the town from where this is set, Mayberry, North Carolina. Of course a series that would have such a long run would go through some dramatic or necessary changes, such as the loss of certain characters, (Deputy Barney Fife for example), the addition to others (Goober Pyle, Howard Sprague), but in fact, has become one basic show with two different formats.

Andy Taylor is an easy-going but sometimes laid back sheriff who is seldom in complete uniform, unlike his bumbling deputy, Barney Fife, who not only dresses accordingly, ranging from tie, hat and a gun in his holster containing one bullet, by which he would at times nearly shoot himself in the foot, but mainly goes strictly by the book of the law. Together Andy and Barney team up for some humorous police work, in spite of Mayberry's very low crime wave, whether it be riding along in their squad car or in the sheriff's office where Barney would accidentally lock himself inside a jail cell while cleaning up the cots. With Andy playing the straight man, it is Barney who supplies the full quota of laughs. At times, Barney becomes the bumbling fool in the eyes of the townspeople and it is up to Andy to prove the people wrong by helping Barney restore his confidence and setting matters straight, usually giving Barney the credit actually due to the sheriff himself. Aside from their professions in keeping law and order in Mayberry, certain episodes would set focus on their personal lives, particularly on Andy, a widower/ father to his young son named Opie (Ronny Howard), cared for at home by his matron Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier). The first season to THE GRIFFITH SHOW did find Andy romantically involved with Ellie Walker (Elinor Donahue), the lady druggist. After the Ellie character was written out of the series, seasons two and three found Andy sporatically having other love interests before finally settling on Helen Crump (Aneta Corsaut), Opie's school teacher. As for Barney, he's a carefree bachelor with his heart set on Thelma Lou (Betty Lynn), but unlike Andy (who would make Helen his bride in the premiere spinoff series of MAYBERRY RFD in 1968), Barney would never marry.

After five seasons, which were initially filmed in black and white, the story went through format changes after shifting to color. With the Barney Fife character out of the story (Knotts left the series to spend more time starring in movies, and became the only performer of the series to leave the series and reprise his role once or twice a year in guest starring appearances for old times sake), Sheriff Andy Taylor acquired a substitute deputy named Warren (Jack Burns). Because no one could play the deputy as good as Don Knotts, Burns was written out of the show after some 12 episodes, thus, for the duration of the series, Andy would be sheriffing about town alone, leaving the deputy spot permanently vacant. Andy's police work would become less frequent in the storyline and would focus more on Andy's family life and the citizens around him.

While normally programs such as this losing a key supporting character such as Don Knotts would suffer in the ratings, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW continued to prosper over the next three years, becoming the number one show by the time Griffith decided to hang up his badge by the end of its eighth season in 1968. By then, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW acquired more new characters to the lineup, such as Goober Pyle (George Lindsay), Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson) and Emmett Clark (Paul Hartman), the handy man (who replaced Floyd, the Barber, as played by Howard McNear, who passed away midway during the 1967-68 season), all becoming familiar and likeable faces, thus, all part of the Mayberry family.

What has become the secret to the success of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW? Could it be the father and son relationship between Andy and Opie, (who affectionally calls addresses him as "Paw.")? The chemistry between best friends Andy and Barney? Or the now familiar faces and classic characters who took part as the citizens of Mayberry that made the show so special? One thing for sure, there is nothing really dated about THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. It could have been set anywhere and anytime, since it hardly deals with current issues of the day and discussion of present political issues. With the exception of the women's fashions or the automobiles used, the situations could very well be today. During its first few years, the sit-com of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW played funny without becoming too silly (except for some episodes featuring the wild Ernest T. Bass, as played by Howard Morris), and during its final years, focused more on serious issues without becoming overly sentimental. But even during those black and white years, for a comedy series, there were times when the show went strictly dramatic, including the most famous episode titled "Opie the Birdman" where Opie accidently kills a mother bird up a tree with his slingshot, and after going through his tearful period of guilt, makes amends by caring of her baby birds before they are able to fly off on their own; or another episode involving Aunt Bee and former visiting beaus (once played by Wallace Ford), plus her decision whether to marry or remain with her family and friends. However the final three seasons became more wholesome and down to earth with lots of character study and developments. Andy had lost his heavy Southern accent for a more natural tone. Sometimes he would take time to sing a song on the porch with his guitar. Aunt Bee, who earlier appeared as just a homemaker relying on Andy to take her grocery shopping in the squad car, would become more independent when not only learning and being able to drive a car for herself, but in one episode dedicated entirely to her as she is taking flying lessons and earning a pilot's license after going solo. Little Opie, who was about six years of age when the show premiered, would be an adolescent 14-year-old by the show's end, becoming more interested in girls and appearing in the band playing rock and roll music. Over the years he acquired new friends, ranging from Johnny Paul during the early years to Arnold during the final three seasons.

Aside from the series regulars as Clara Jackson, who later became Clara Edwards(Hope Summers), Bee's closest friend; there were semi-regulars as Otis Campbell (Hal Smith), the town drunk; The Darling Family (headed by Denver Pyle), Mayor Stoner (Parley Baer), among others. While the Andy Taylor character had been originally introduced in an episode to the family sit-com, MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY (1959) starring Danny Thomas, characters introduced on THE GRIFFITH SHOW would be spawned on their own, especially Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors), for GOMER PYLE, USMC, and Sam Jones (Ken Berry) for MAYBERRY, RFD.

After THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW finally ended its run in 1968, it has never gone from view. There are episodes that have become favorites, in fact, classics. Of the 249 episodes, there was only one Christmas episode, which aired during its first season, with the story taken from Charles Dickens A CHRISTMAS CAROL involving an unhappy and miserable modern day Scrooge (Will Wright) sitting outside the sheriff's courthouse watching the family he had put in jail singing Christmas carols, and tearfully singing silently to himself outside, thus, ranking one of my most memorable Griffith episode. There are more but it would be too intricate to detail. However, through frequent reruns over the years on various local and cable TV channels, it has found its way in becoming part of television history. Various episodes, particularly those involving Barney Fife, were the ones selected when distributed on video cassette. And finally, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW resumes its immortality with its distribution on DVD and frequent reruns on TVLand.