Mayberry R.F.D.

When TV viewers were introduced to Mayberry in 1960, they were instantly immersed into this idyllic small town. A place to tune out the troubles of the world and easily transport yourself among the "real" characters that became friends. And I've seen real-life friendships made between strangers discussing "The Andy Griffith Show". Most of the country lives "in the country"- rural settings that make the show all the more relatable. Other fans live in bustling cities where their TV connection to Mayberry is the link to escape to that quieter place. I've lived in both... and returned to the rural setting, lucky enough to share similarities to Mayberry.

Fans widely agree that "The Andy Griffith Show" began a steady decline when Don Knotts left the show following the fifth season. But, the ratings never dropped, and it ended it's run as the number one rated TV show on air (a feat only shared with "I Love Lucy" and "Seinfeld"). The characters were less interesting; the plots weaker. But, the viewers kept tuning in. They had long become residents themselves of Mayberry. It was home.

"Mayberry R.F.D." (Rural Farm Delivery) allowed these "citizens" of Mayberry a little longer in their beloved, fictitious escape. The sequel was essentially a continuation of "The Andy Griffith Show". The sitcom follows life in Mayberry after Andy (Andy Griffith), Helen (Aneta Corsaut), and Opie (Ron Howard) depart the spotlight for a new life. Widower farmer and town council president Sam Jones (Ken Berry, "F Troop", "Mama's Family") raises his young son Mike (Buddy Foster) as he grows through life lessons. The father and son are cared for by their housekeeper Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier, and later Alice, played by Alice Ghostley). Sam also balances his love life with his girlfriend Millie (Arlene Golonka). As the series progresses, plots increasingly revolve around Goober (George Lindsey), who now owns Wally's Filling Station, county clerk Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson), and handyman Emmett Clark (Paul Hartman) who still runs his fix-it shop. The series ran for three successful seasons (1968-71) before falling victim to CBS's "rural purge".

"Mayberry R.F.D." had some good episodes, but generally carried on the steady decline. A few episodes stand out for its comedy, namely Don Knott's sole appearance in the very first episode. The tone in the series is much softer than "The Andy Griffith Show". The stories are often light and not very developed, and the laughs few and far between. It's just a sweet little visit with old friends. "Mayberry R.F.D." merely allows us to mingle in the most idyllic town ever created for a little longer, and for that we're appreciative.

I am about to say something that no-doubt will annoy many. While "The Andy Griffith Show" was one of the best shows in television history, after a while it really outlived its usefulness. Without Barney as a series regular, the show tried a variety of either annoying replacements (Warren!!!) or insipid ones (Howard and Emmett)--none of which gave the show the wonderful comedic balance it once had. To make matters worse, after the show limped through three mediocre such seasons, the powers that be at CBS decided to continue the show even when Andy left!!! The 'clever' plan was to introduce a widower, Sam (Ken Berry), who would move to town with his son AND apparently buy Aunt Bee! Talk about a contrived premise--and a poor copy of the original. So now without either leading man, the show was nothing but insipid characters...period. That, in a nutshell, is "Mayberry R.F.D."--like the original show but with none of the humor or interesting characters. Now this isn't to say that the show was bad--it just was bland and inoffensive and that still made it better than some shows. But who wants to live on a steady diet of bland toast--which is, metaphorically speaking, "Mayberry R.F.D.".

As many people know this show is essentially a sequel to the Andy Griffith Show. The producers decided that instead of canceling the show all together, they would continue it with essentially the same cast except for the leads. Ken Berry and Arlene Golonka were okay replacements for Andy Griffith and Aneta Corsaut, but Sam and Millie were no Andy and Helen. Also, even though this show was still popular at the time of the rural purge of 1971, I don't think that its cancellation hit people as hard as the cancellations of The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.

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!

Andy Griffith made an end to his TV show but the citizens of Mayberry still had a couple of years of life left in them with Mayberry, RFD.

Sheriff Andy Taylor and school teacher Helen Crump married and moved away from Mayberry. To give the new show a central character Ken Berry fresh from F Troop plays Sam Jones, a farmer just elected to the Mayberry town council is brought in. He's a widower like Andy Taylor was and raising a small son Buddy Foster. He even hires Aunt Bea to be his housekeeper now that Frances Bavier no longer had to keep house for Andy and Opie.

All the other Mayberry regulars and semi-regulars were retained and the show did well for two seasons. But at that point CBS pulled all its rural based shows to get a different market. And at that point those Mayberry characters like Paul Hartman, George Lindsey, Jack Dodson etc. all went to television Valhalla.

Sad the show ran into CBS's determination to get younger viewers. It's the seniors who watched this and other rural type shows and the seniors least likely to respond to advertising pitches.

Other than reunion movies this ended our look into Mayberry, North Carolina.