The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968.
Andy GriffithAndy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of
MayberryMayberry is a fictional community in North Carolina that was the setting for two American television sitcoms, The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. Mayberry was also the setting for a 1986 reunion television movie titled Return to Mayberry...
,
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. His life is complicated by an inept but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife (
Don KnottsJesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
), a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee (
Frances BavierFrances Elizabeth Bavier was an American stage and television actress. Originally from the New York theatre, Bavier worked in film and television from the 1950s...
), and a young son, Opie (
Ron HowardRonald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
, billed as
Ronny). Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life.
The series was a major hit, never placing lower than seventh in the
Nielsen ratingsNielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
and ending its final season at number one. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, itself a
spin-offIn media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of
The Danny Thomas ShowThe Danny Thomas Show is an American sitcom which ran from 1953-1957 on ABC and from 1957-1964 on CBS...
, spawned its own spin-off series,
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...
(1964), a sequel series,
Mayberry R.F.D.Mayberry R.F.D. is a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title, for the same sponsor, General Foods...
(1968), and a reunion telemovie,
Return to MayberryReturn to Mayberry is an American television reunion movie for the 1960s American sitcoms The Andy Griffith Show and, to an extent, Mayberry R.F.D. as well. The movie premiered on April 13, 1986 on NBC, and was the highest-rated telemovie of 1986. Sixteen of the original cast members reunited for...
(1986). The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air across the United States, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.
Origin
Sheldon LeonardSheldon Leonard was a pioneering American film and television producer, director, writer, and actor.-Biography:...
, producer of
The Danny Thomas Show and
Danny ThomasDanny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy . He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
, hired veteran comedy writer Arthur Stander (who had written many of the Danny Thomas episodes) to create a pilot show for Andy Griffith which featured him as justice of the peace and newspaper editor in a small town. At the time, Broadway, film, and radio star Andy Griffith was interested in attempting a television role, and the
William Morris AgencyWME is the largest talent agency in the world, with offices in Beverly Hills, New York City, Nashville, London, and Miami. WME represents elite artists from all facets of the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, theatre, publishing, and physical production...
told Leonard that Griffith's rural background and previous rustic characterizations were suited to the part. After conferences between Leonard and Griffith in New York, Griffith flew to Los Angeles and filmed the episode. On February 15, 1960, "Danny Meets Andy Griffith" was telecast on
The Danny Thomas Show. In the episode, Griffith played fictional Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, North Carolina, who arrests
ThomasDanny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy . He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
for running a stop sign. Future players in
The Andy Griffith Show, Frances Bavier and Ron Howard, appeared in the episode as townspeople, Henrietta Perkins, and Sheriff Taylor's son, Opie.
General FoodsGeneral Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the USA by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The name General Foods was adopted in 1929, after several corporate acquisitions...
, sponsor of
The Danny Thomas Show, had first access to the
spinoffIn media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
and committed to it immediately. On October 3, 1960 at 9:30 p.m.,
The Andy Griffith Show made its debut.
Casting
Frances BavierFrances Elizabeth Bavier was an American stage and television actress. Originally from the New York theatre, Bavier worked in film and television from the 1950s...
was cast as Andy's housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and
Ron HowardRonald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
as Andy's son, Opie.
Don KnottsJesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
, who knew Griffith professionally and had seen
The Danny Thomas Show episode, called Griffith during the developmental stages of the show and suggested the Sheriff character needed a deputy. Griffith agreed. Knotts auditioned for the show's creator and executive producer,
Sheldon LeonardSheldon Leonard was a pioneering American film and television producer, director, writer, and actor.-Biography:...
, and was offered a five-year contract. He joined the cast as Barney Fife. Griffith, Knotts, Bavier and Howard all made their series debut in the premiere, "The New Housekeeper."
Production team
The show's production team included producers
Aaron RubenAaron Ruben, was an American television director known for The Andy Griffith Show Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and Sanford and Son .-Early life:...
(1960–1965) and Bob Ross (1965–1968). First-season writers (many of whom worked in pairs) included Jack Elinson, Charles Stewart, Arthur Stander and Frank Tarloff (as "David Adler"), Benedict Freedman and John Fenton Murray, Leo Solomon and Ben Gershman, and Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. In the sixth season, Greenbaum and Fritzell left the show and Ruben departed for
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...
, a show which he owned in part. Writer
Harvey BullockHarvey Bullock was an American television and film writer and producer. His work with R.S...
left after season six. Bob Sweeney directed the first three seasons save the premiere.
Other details
The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at
Forty AcresForty Acres was a film studio backlot that belonged to RKO Pictures and later Desilu Productions, located in Culver City, California. Best known as Forty Acres, or "the back forty", it had other names such as "Desilu Culver", the "RKO backlot" and "Pathé 40 Acre Ranch" depending on which studio...
in Culver City, CA. Woodsy locales were filmed north of Beverly Hills at
Franklin CanyonFranklin Canyon Park is a public park located near Benedict Canyon at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. The park comprises , and is located at the purported geographical center of the city of Los Angeles. The park features a lake, a duck pond and over five miles of hiking trails....
.
The show's theme music, "The Fishin' Hole", was composed by
Earle HagenEarle Harry Hagen was an American composer who created music for movies and television. He is remembered for co-writing and whistling "The Fishin' Hole", the melody of the main theme to The Andy Griffith Show, the instrumental classic "Harlem Nocturne" used as the theme to television's Mickey...
and
Herbert SpencerHerbert Winfield Spencer was a film and television composer and orchestrator.Spencer gained industry fame when he teamed up with fellow 20th Century Fox orchestrator Earle Hagen in 1953 to create the Spencer-Hagen Orchestra...
, with lyrics written by
Everett SloaneEverett Sloane was an American stage, film and television actor, songwriter, and theatre director.-Early life:...
, who also guest starred as Jubal Foster in the episode, The Keeper of the Flame (1962) . Whistling in the opening sequence, as well as the closing credits sequence, was performed by Earle Hagen. One of the show's tunes, "The Mayberry March", was reworked a number of times in different tempo, styles and orchestrations as background music.
The show's sole sponsor was
General FoodsGeneral Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the USA by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The name General Foods was adopted in 1929, after several corporate acquisitions...
, with promotional consideration paid for (in the form of cars) by
Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
(mentioned in the credits).
Plot and characters
The series' plot revolves around Sheriff Andy Taylor (
Andy GriffithAndy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
) and his life in sleepy, slow-paced fictional
MayberryMayberry is a fictional community in North Carolina that was the setting for two American television sitcoms, The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. Mayberry was also the setting for a 1986 reunion television movie titled Return to Mayberry...
,
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. Sheriff Taylor's level-headed approach to law enforcement makes him the scourge of local
moonshineMoonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
rs and out-of-town criminals, while his abilities to settle community problems with common-sense advice, mediation and conciliation make him popular with his fellow citizens. His professional life, however, is complicated by the gaffes of his comically inept deputy,
Barney FifeBernard "Barney" Fife is a fictional character in the American television program The Andy Griffith Show, portrayed by comic actor Don Knotts. Barney Fife is a deputy sheriff in the slow paced, sleepy southern community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
(
Don KnottsJesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
). Barney is portrayed as Andy's cousin in the first, second, and sixth episodes, but is never referenced as such in the later episodes. Andy socializes with male friends in the
Main StreetMain Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...
barber shop and dates various ladies until a schoolteacher becomes his steady interest in the third season. At home, Andy enjoys fishing trips with his son,
OpieOpie Taylor is a fictional character in the American television program, The Andy Griffith Show which was televised on CBS from October 3, 1960 to April 1, 1968...
(
Ronny HowardRonald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
), and quiet evenings on the front porch with his maiden aunt and housekeeper,
Aunt BeeBeatrice Taylor is a fictional character from the 1960s American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. The show was televised on CBS from October 3, 1960, until April 1, 1968...
(
Frances BavierFrances Elizabeth Bavier was an American stage and television actress. Originally from the New York theatre, Bavier worked in film and television from the 1950s...
). Opie tests his father's parenting skills season after season, and Aunt Bee's ill-considered romances and adventures cause her nephew concern.
Andy's friends and neighbors include barber
Floyd LawsonFloyd Lawson was a fictional character on the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, which was inspired by a real barber in Andy Griffith's real-life hometown of Mt. Airy, North Carolina named Russell Hiatt who actually cut Andy Griffith's hair on a regular basis while Andy was young and living...
(
Howard McNearHoward Terbell McNear was an American film, television and radio character actor. McNear is best remembered as Floyd Lawson, the barber in The Andy Griffith Show and as Doc Charles Adams in CBS Radio's Gunsmoke .-Career:McNear was born in Los Angeles, California to Luzetta M. Spencer and Franklin...
), service station attendants and cousins
Gomer PyleGomer Pyle is a bubbly, gentle, rural auto mechanic character played by American singer/ television actor Jim Nabors. Gomer Pyle became a character on the TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, when actor Howard McNear, who played Floyd the barber, suffered a stroke and took a respite from acting. Jim...
(
Jim NaborsJames Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing...
) and
Goober PyleGoober is a fictional character in the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show and its later sequel series Mayberry RFD. He was played by George Lindsey. Lindsey initially read for the part of Gomer Pyle, which went to singer Jim Nabors...
(
George LindseyGeorge Lindsey is an American character actor, best known for his role as "Goober Pyle" on The Andy Griffith Show, as well as for his tenure on Hee-Haw.-Early life and career :...
), and local drunkard
Otis CampbellOtis Campbell is the fictional "town drunk" in Mayberry on the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. Otis was played by Hal Smith and made frequent appearances on the show from 1960 to 1967,...
(
Hal SmithHarold John "Hal" Smith was an American character actor and voice actor. Smith is best known as Otis Campbell, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show, and was the voice of many characters on various animated cartoon shorts...
). On the distaff side, townswoman
Clara EdwardsClara Edwards is a fictional character on the American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show . Clara was portrayed by actress Hope Summers....
(
Hope SummersHope Summers was an American character actress known for her work on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD, portraying Clara Edwards.-Career:...
), Barney's sweetheart
Thelma LouThelma Lou is a character on the American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show . The character appeared in 26 episodes. Thelma Lou is Barney Fife's girlfriend and is portrayed by Betty Lynn.-Overview:...
(
Betty LynnBetty Lynn is an American actress. She is best known for playing Thelma Lou in The Andy Griffith Show.-Career:...
) and Andy's schoolteacher sweetheart
Helen CrumpHelen Crump is a fictional dramatic character on the American television program The Andy Griffith Show . Helen made her debut in the third season episode "Andy Discovers America" . Helen was a schoolteacher and became main character Sheriff Andy Taylor's girlfriend...
(
Aneta CorsautAneta Louise Corsaut was an American actress. She is best known for playing Helen Crump on The Andy Griffith Show ....
) become semi-regulars.
Elinor Donahue made twelve appearances as Andy's girlfriend, Ellie Walker, in the first season. In the color seasons, County Clerk
Howard SpragueHoward Sprague is a fictional character on the CBS television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show , and its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D. He was played by Jack Dodson from 1966-71....
(
Jack DodsonJack Dodson Born John S. Dodson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was an American television actor best remembered for the milquetoast character Howard Sprague in The Andy Griffith Show and its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D. From 1959 until his death in 1994, Dodson was married to television art director...
) and handyman Emmett Clark (
Paul HartmanPaul Hartman was an American dancer, stage performer and television character actor.-Biography:Born in San Francisco, California, Hartman, like Fred Astaire, began performing as a dancer with his sister...
) appeared regularly, while Barney's replacement deputy
Warren FergusonWarren Ferguson is a fictional character in the American television program The Andy Griffith Show . Warren Ferguson is portrayed by Jack Burns.-Overview:...
(
Jack BurnsJack Burns is an American comedian and voice actor.-Biography:In 1959, he began his career as a comedy team with George Carlin when both were working for radio station KXOL in Fort Worth, Texas...
) appeared in the sixth season. Unseen characters such as telephone operator Sarah, and Barney's love interest, local diner waitress Juanita Beasley, as mentioned in first season episode "Andy Forecloses", are often referenced. In the series' last few episodes, farmer Sam Jones (
Ken BerryKenneth Ronald "Ken" Berry is an American dancer, comedic actor and singer. He began on stage as a dancer and later starred in television sitcoms.-Life and career:...
) debuts, and later becomes the star of the show's sequel series,
Mayberry R.F.D.Mayberry R.F.D. is a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title, for the same sponsor, General Foods...
.
Broadcast History
| Season | Day & Time | Preceded or Followed by |
| 1 (1960-1961) |
Mondays at 9:30 pm |
The Danny Thomas Show The Danny Thomas Show is an American sitcom which ran from 1953-1957 on ABC and from 1957-1964 on CBS...
at 9:00 pm |
| 2 (1961-1962) |
| 3 (1962-1963) |
| 4 (1963-1964) |
| 5 (1964-1965) |
Mondays at 8:30 pm |
I've Got a SecretI've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
at 8:00 pm |
| 6 (1965-1966) |
Mondays at 9:00 pm |
HazelHazel is a Screen Gems television series about a fictional live-in maid named Hazel Burke and her employers, the Baxters. The five-season, 154-episode series aired in primetime from September 1961 until April 1966...
at 9:30 pm |
| 7 (1966-1967) |
Family Affair Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional...
at 9:30 pm |
| 8 (1967-1968) |
Griffith's development of Andy Taylor
Initially, Griffith played Taylor as a heavy-handed country bumpkin, grinning from ear to ear and speaking in a hesitant, frantic manner. The style recalled that used in the delivery of his popular
monologueIn theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
s such as "
What it Was, Was Football"What it Was, Was Football" is a monologue by comedian Andy Griffith. It was recorded in Raleigh, NC for the Colonial label in 1953. Soon, Colonial had sold nearly 50,000 copies of the record and then sold the masters to Capitol Records...
". He gradually abandoned the 'rustic Taylor' and developed a serious and thoughtful characterization. Producer Aaron Ruben recalled:
"He was being that marvelously funny character from No Time for SergeantsNo Time for Sergeants is a 1954 best-selling novel by Mac Hyman, which was later adapted into a teleplay on The United States Steel Hour, a popular Broadway play and 1958 motion picture, as well as a 1964 television series. The book chronicles the misadventures of a country bumpkin named Will...
, Will Stockdale [a role Griffith played on stage and in film]...One day he said, 'My God, I just realized that I'm the straight manA double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
. I'm playing straight to all these kooks around me.' He didn't like himself [in first year reruns]...and in the next season he changed, becoming this LincolnesqueAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
character."
As Griffith stopped portraying some of the sheriff's more unsophisticated character traits and mannerisms, it was impossible for him to create his own problems and troubles in the manner of other central sitcom characters such as Lucy in
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
or Archie Bunker in
All in the FamilyAll in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
, whose problems were the result of their temperaments, philosophies and attitudes. Consequently, the characters around Taylor were employed to create the problems and troubles, with rock-solid Taylor stepping in as problem solver, mediator, advisor, disciplinarian and counselor. Aunt Bee, for example, was given several wayward romances requiring Andy's intervention, Opie suffered childhood missteps that needed a father's counsel and discipline, and Barney engaged in ill-considered acts on the job that required Sheriff Taylor's professional oversight and reprimand.
Andy Griffith has also said that he realized during the earlier episodes of the program that it was much funnier for him to play the straight man to Knotts' "Barney," rather than his being the originator of the comedic scenes between them.
Episodes
The show comprises 8 full seasons and 249 episodes — 159 episodes in black and white (seasons 1–5) and 90 in color (seasons 6–8). Griffith appears in all 249 episodes with Howard coming in second at 209. Only Griffith, Howard, Bavier, Knotts, and Hope Summers appeared in all eight seasons.
Knotts left the show at the end of the fifth season to pursue a career in films (on the show it is told that he takes a job as a detective in
RaleighRaleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
) but returned to make five guest appearances as Barney in seasons six through eight. His last appearance in the final season in a story about a summit meeting with Russian dignitaries "ranked eleventh among single comedy programs most watched in television between 1960 to [1984], with an audience of thirty-three and a half million."
The color episodes of the show in its later years are markedly different from the black-and-white episodes of the first five seasons. New writers took over the scriptwriting for the post-Knotts color seasons, and they generally abandoned the character-based sitcom format in favor of dry humor revolving around rather mundane aspects of life in a small town.
Reruns, spinoffs, and reunion movie
In 1964, daytime reruns began airing and the show was retitled
Andy of Mayberry to distinguish the repeat episodes from the then-new episodes airing in prime time; this alternate title continued to turn up in syndication over the ensuing decades. Reruns continue to be seen on many local television stations to this day, and its 47 years (as of 2011) in syndication has proven to be exceptionally long; most syndication series, in comparison, rarely last more than ten years, if that.
At the end of the show's fourth season (May 1964), the backdoor pilot "Gomer Pyle,
U.S.M.C.The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
" aired, and, the following September, the spinoff series
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...
debuted with Jim Nabors in his Gomer role and
Frank SuttonFrank Spencer Sutton was an American actor best remembered for his role of Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter on the CBS television series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.-Early life:...
as
drill instructorA drill instructor is a non-commissioned officer or Staff Non-Commissioned Officer in the armed forces or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. In the U.S. armed forces, they are assigned the duty of indoctrinating new recruits entering the military into the customs and...
Sergeant Vince Carter.
In the last episodes of
The Andy Griffith Show, the character Sam Jones, played by
Ken BerryKenneth Ronald "Ken" Berry is an American dancer, comedic actor and singer. He began on stage as a dancer and later starred in television sitcoms.-Life and career:...
, was introduced and a sequel series,
Mayberry R.F.D.Mayberry R.F.D. is a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title, for the same sponsor, General Foods...
, was fashioned around him for the fall of 1968 (in essence replacing Andy Griffith — the '68 season would be his last). Several performers reprised their original roles in the sequel, with Bavier becoming Sam's housekeeper. To create a smooth transition from the original series to
Mayberry, Andy and Helen were married in the first episode, remained for a few additional episodes, and then left the show, with a move to
RaleighRaleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
being the explanation given the audience. After the sequel series' cancellation in 1971, George Lindsey played a Goober-like character over several years on the popular variety show
Hee HawHee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
.
In 1986, the reunion telemovie
Return to MayberryReturn to Mayberry is an American television reunion movie for the 1960s American sitcoms The Andy Griffith Show and, to an extent, Mayberry R.F.D. as well. The movie premiered on April 13, 1986 on NBC, and was the highest-rated telemovie of 1986. Sixteen of the original cast members reunited for...
was broadcast with several cast members reprising their original roles. Absent, however, was
Frances BavierFrances Elizabeth Bavier was an American stage and television actress. Originally from the New York theatre, Bavier worked in film and television from the 1950s...
. She was living in
Siler City, North CarolinaSiler City is a town in Chatham County, North Carolina, United States. The population is right at 8,747 within corporate limits and 14,005 within corporate limits and ETJ...
in ill health, and declined to participate. In the telemovie, Aunt Bee is portrayed as deceased (and in fact Bavier did die three years later), with Andy visiting her grave.
Two cast reunions of the show were subsequently filmed and aired on CBS in 1993 and 2003.
Merchandise
Dell ComicsDell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
published two
The Andy Griffith Show comic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s during the show's first run. In 2004, copies in near mint condition were priced in excess of $500 each. The show's enduring popularity has spawned considerable merchandise since its first run, including board games, bobblehead dolls, kitchenware, books, and other items. In 2007, a line of canned foods inspired by the show was made available in grocery stores across America. Griffith's hometown of
Mount Airy, North CarolinaMount Airy is a city in Surry County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,388.-History:Mount Airy was settled in the 1750s as a stagecoach stop on the road between Winston-Salem and Galax, Virginia. It was named for a nearby plantation...
, annually hosts a week-long "Mayberry Days" celebration featuring concerts, parades, and appearances by the show's players.
DVD releases
Between 2004 and 2006,
Paramount Home EntertainmentParamount Home Entertainment is the division of Paramount Pictures dealing with home video founded in late 1975.-History:...
and later in 2006, CBS DVD released all eight seasons as single-season packages on Region 1 DVD. The complete series was released as a boxed set in 2007 (ISBN141573159) and includes the pilot from
The Danny Thomas ShowThe Danny Thomas Show is an American sitcom which ran from 1953-1957 on ABC and from 1957-1964 on CBS...
, the telemovie
Return to MayberryReturn to Mayberry is an American television reunion movie for the 1960s American sitcoms The Andy Griffith Show and, to an extent, Mayberry R.F.D. as well. The movie premiered on April 13, 1986 on NBC, and was the highest-rated telemovie of 1986. Sixteen of the original cast members reunited for...
, and an episode from
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...
featuring Ron Howard. Sixteen episodes from the show's third season (in
public domainWorks are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
) are available on discount DVDs.
| 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 |
Note: The Region 1 release of Season 3 contains two episodes edited for syndication: "The Darlings Are Coming", which had several scenes cut and "Barney Mends a Broken Heart", which had its epilogue cut. The Region 1 release of Season 4 has the laugh tracks missing on discs 1 and 2. It remains to be seen if Paramount will provide complete restored episodes of
The Andy Griffith Show on DVD.
Ratings, honors, and awards
The Andy Griffith Show consistently placed in the top ten during its run.
Ratings
| Season |
Rank (Rating) |
| 1) 1960–61 |
# 4 (27.8) |
| 2) 1961–62 |
# 7 (27) |
| 3) 1962–63 |
# 6 (29.7) |
| 4) 1963-64 |
# 5 (29.4) |
| 5) 1964-65 |
# 4 (28.3) |
| 6) 1965-66 This was the television schedule on all three networks for the fall season beginning in September 1965. All times are Eastern and Pacific.New fall series are highlighted in bold....
|
# 6 (26.9) |
| 7) 1966-67 This was the television schedule on all three networks for the fall season beginning in September 1966. All times are Eastern and Pacific.New fall series are highlighted in bold....
|
# 3 (27.4) |
| 8) 1967-68 This was the television schedule on all three networks for the fall season beginning in September 1967. All times are Eastern and Pacific.New fall series are highlighted in bold....
|
# 1 (27.6) |
As a Top 30 series,
The Andy Griffith Show has an average rating of 28.
A Nielsen study conducted during the show's last season (1967) indicated the show ranked #1 among blue collar workers followed by
The Lucy ShowThe Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...
and
GunsmokeGunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
. Among white collar workers, the show ranked #3 following
Saturday Movies and
The Dean Martin Show. The show is one of only three shows to have its final season be the number one ranked show on television, the other two being
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
and
SeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
. In 1998, more than 5 million people a day watched the show's re-runs on 120 stations.
The show received Emmy Award nominations in 1961, 1962 and 1967 for
Outstanding Comedy SeriesThe Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series is an Emmy given to the best television comedy series of the year.-Winners and nominees:...
. Don Knotts won five Emmy Awards for
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy SeriesThis is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.-1950s:*1954: Art Carney – The Jackie Gleason Show as Ed Norton*1955: Art Carney – The Jackie Gleason Show as Ed Norton...
, in 1961–63, 1966 and 1967, the last two for guest appearances. Frances Bavier won one Emmy Award for
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy SeriesThis is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.-Superlatives:-1950s:*1953: Vivian Vance - I Love Lucy as Ethel Mertz** Audrey Meadows - The Jackie Gleason Show as Alice Kramden...
in 1967. In 1997, the episode "Opie the Birdman" was ranked #24 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2002,
TV GuideTV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
ranked
The Andy Griffith Show ninth on its list of the
50 Greatest TV Shows of All TimeTV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time is TV Guides list of the 50 most entertaining and influential television series in American pop culture...
. Bravo ranked Andy Taylor 63
rd on their list of the 100 greatest TV characters.
A bronze statue of Andy and Opie was erected in both in
Pullen ParkPullen Park is a public park in Raleigh, North Carolina west of downtown, adjacent to the campus of North Carolina State University, between Western Boulevard and Hillsborough Street. The park features picnic areas, a concessions stand along with several small rides including the Pullen Park...
in
RaleighRaleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, and at the Andy Griffith Playhouse in
Mount AiryMount Airy is a city in Surry County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,388.-History:Mount Airy was settled in the 1750s as a stagecoach stop on the road between Winston-Salem and Galax, Virginia. It was named for a nearby plantation...
.
Further reading
- Beck, Ken, and Clark, Jim. Mayberry Memories. Rutledge Hill Press, 2000.
- Fann, Joey. The Way Back to Mayberry. Broadman and Holman, 2001. ISBN 0805424202.
- Kelly, Richard. The Andy Griffith Show. John F. Blair, 1981. ISBN 0895870436.
Viewings
- The Andy Griffith Show. CBS Television Network
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, 1960–1968. Syndicated distribution: CBS Paramount TelevisionCBS Television Studios is an American television production/distribution company that was formed on January 17, 2006 by CBS Corporation merging Paramount Television and CBS Productions...
.
- The Andy Griffith Show: Complete Series Collection. Paramount, 2007. (ISBN 1415731594).
External links