SYNOPSIS: Andy Sawyer had been working in a government capacity in the state capital when he was informed that the mayor of his hometown of Greenwood was retiring and looking for someone to take over the unexpired portion of his current term. Andy moved home,with his wife,Lee,and his two small children,to take the job. Greenwood was a small,rural Southern town and the role of mayor star Andy Griffith the opportunity to return to the type of gentle,homespun comedy that had made the original "The Andy Griffith Show" so very popular. This was on the heels of his failure in the much different title role that Griffith had in the short-lived series "The Headmaster",but it only lasted one season.
After eight seasons as Andy Taylor on the very popular "The Andy Griffith Show"(CBS-TV,1960-1968),audiences could not see him as Andy Sawyer,and here's the reasons why....For one it was pretty obvious since it wasn't the original "Andy Griffith Show" at all,much less being a disappointed to one of the worst shows the came out during the 1970-1971 season. Never the less,"The New Andy Griffith Show",which lasted one season on CBS-TV from the premiere episode on January 8, 1971 until its demise on May 21,1971 produced less than 20 episodes,all under the supervision of Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard (who again return as the executive producers of the series along with Andy Griffith himself,who was the executive in charge of production)along with Ronald Jacobs and also Richard O. Linke,as one of the producers of the show. Sheldon Leonard,who was one of the producers was also behind the original series also. In all aspects,Andy Griffith's new sitcom series was just as bad as it was-a train wreck waiting to happen and it did just that within one season. Another was when Andy Griffith's new sitcom comedy series came out,audiences who wanted to see it so badly and to see is this another reincarnation of Mayberry were it for quite a surprise. And a surprise it was. This was not like Mayberry at all,and for one the town of Greenwood was just similar to the likeness Mayberry,but with one expectation. This was a pretty pale continuation of another spin-off or sequel to cash in on the success of the "Andy Griffith Show",but this time around the magic that made the original series a bonafide hit and also made it one of the most beloved television shows of all time was gone in this one it really shows. At the time this show premiered in January of 1971,the spin-off "Mayberry R.F.D.",was closing in on its three-year run and also was the focus of the CBS'decision to terminated some of its rural programming which included other rural type country shows like "The Beverly Hillbillies","Green Acres",and "Petticoat Junction" and not to mention the musical country variety show "Hee Haw". While the new show was just starting out however,the original version of the "Andy Griffith Show" at the time was still in syndicated repeated episodes(and still is to this day)and it was still reaping in television profits,but not the new version which sucked.
Another reason why audiences didn't like Andy Sawyer because for one having a different wife was totally wrong. In the original,Andy Taylor at the end of the series' run of "The Andy Griffith Show",and during the premiered episode of its spin-off "Mayberry,RFD", Andy Taylor finally married the girl of his dreams,Helen Crump,and announced during that episode that he wasn't coming home to Mayberry,where he had grown up and also become the Sheriff of the town leaving his beloved Aunt Bee and son Opie behind. But to Greenwood? Where he is now and where he had grown up? Greenwood was nowhere like Mayberry and this was a shock. This was totally unacceptable and it was a total insult to his beloved fans of the original series too. This was ridiculous and way out of line. It was an atrocious revolting disgrace of the original "The Andy Griffith Show". In other words,it was an insult to begin with leaving Helen Crump behind for a different wife. His new wife Lee Sawyer(Lee Meriwether,a former Miss America-1955,an actress of several TV shows, and also later on of Barnaby Jones fame)was in fact no Helen Crump. The two kids,daughter Lori(Lori Rutherford),and son T.J.(Marty McCall)were cutting board material with the son T.J. for instance was nowhere near the cuteness of Opie Taylor from the original series. What really made it suck was in some of the episodes,some of Andy's "Mayberry" friends from the original series like Barney Fife(Don Knotts),Emmett Clark(Paul Hartman),Goober Pyle(George Lindsey),and not to mention other regulars from the original show like Goober's cousin,Gomer Pyle,who in one episode by the way comes back home from military service in the Marines(Jim Nabors)came by to wish him well on being the new mayor of his hometown. What??? Why all of these characters were back in this fiasco is beyond me. Even one of his co-stars,his administrative secretary Nora(Ann Morgan Guilbert-aka Millie Helper from the original Dick Van Dyke Show from the 1960's)was seen in several episodes by that didn't help save it. None even were some of the musical guests that came on board either,one episode featured country music artist Glen Campbell. It was truly absymal and it was a failure for the start.
