Mayberry RFD was one of the quinessential follow-ups to one of the most beloved and most wholesome sitcoms of all time("The Andy Griffith Show") which ran for three seasons before it became the onslaught on the network's crusade of eliminating its rural programming(which it was on CBS-TV and ran from 1968-1971).
The series here picked up where TAGS left off leaving the fictional town of Mayberry,North Carolina-USA under a new sheriff Sam Jones(played by Ken Berry)and leaving Andy Taylor into another position. However,just like Andy Taylor,Sam Jones was also a single dad raising a little boy as well named Mike(played by Buddy Foster) who was taken care of by Aunt Bee(played by Frances Bavier)while his dad has job duties as the law and order of the town and just like Sheriff Taylor,Sheriff Jones also didn't carry a gun,and what he carry was a heart of gold. However,this show did very well without Andy Griffith(who was the executive producer of the series along with Bob Ross)and it still had the same characters everyone has grown to love..........
However,you had Howard(Jack Dodson)who was head of the town council, Emmett(Paul Hartman)who ran the fix-it-shop,and then there's the unpredictable and lovable Goober Pyle(played by George Lindsey)who brought out and now runs Wally's Service Station and the rest of the town's folks.
The episode that was my favorite was the wedding of Andy Taylor during the show's first season where audiences would see Andy Taylor finally walked down the aisle of the church with his sweetheart Helen Crump (played by Aneta Corseaut) along with the rest of the original cast of TAGS (guest stars Don Knotts,Jim Nabors,Ronnie Howard,and even The Dillard's--and even town regulars Ernest T. Bass and Otis were there!)since this was the episode where after the wedding the scenary goes from Mayberry to sunny Florida where the newlyweds Andy and Helen Taylor are having their honeymoon.
But still,the show did have some great moments,even though it didn't last long on the air. The series was cancelled in the spring of 1971. This show was one of CBS' changing(or primary assault) of its rural programming of that year(1971) which included"Green Acres", "The Beverly Hillbillies","Petticoat Junction","Hee-Haw","The Glen Campbell Show","The Jim Nabors Hour",and this series. Catch the episodes on TV Land!
