The Andy Griffith Show

My favorite Andy Griffith show episode is the Christmas show when mean old Ben Weaver tries to get himself arrested. (Enter "Will Wright" in the database search box and note #6 under Notable TV guest appearances) On Christmas Eve, Ben Weaver (a legitimate liquor dealer) insists that Andy arrest a farmer for making some illegal moonshine to celebrate Christmas with. Andy brings the farmer's wife and two kids to the jail and, with Barnie, Opie, Aunt Bea, and Ellie, the whole lot of them celebrate Christmas right there in the jail. Ben becomes aware of this; feels left out; and tries to get himself arrested so he can join in the festivities. Thanks to some brilliant acting by Will Wright you start off intensely disliking Ben Weaver and end up feeling genuinely sorry for him.

In celebration of the show's anniversary this was one of the most endearing sitcoms in television history for the eight seasons that it ran on CBS. The basis came from an episode of "Make Room For Daddy",aka "The Danny Thomas Show" titled "Danny In Mayberry"(Season 7,Episode 20) that originally aired on February 15, 1960. On the strength of that episode which was a bonafide hit the producers Sheldon Leonard along with Danny Thomas and Ronald Jacobs(who served as executive producers)gave the greenlight for this series which was placed on CBS' Monday night prime-time schedule producing a total of 249 episodes that ran from October 3, 1960 until the final episode of the series on April 1, 1968. Out of the 249 episodes,only 159(Seasons 1 thru 5)were in black and white from October 3, 1960 until May 3, 1965. Seasons 6 thru 8 produced 90 episodes in color from September 13, 1965 until April 1, 1968. Only Danny Thomas, Sheldon Leonard, Ronald Jacobs and Aaron Ruben were the producers from Seasons 1 thru 5. Bob Ross was the producer for Seasons 6 thru 8. The show launched two spin-offs "Gomer Pyle,USMC" (1964-1969),and "Mayberry RFD"(1968-1971). Throughout its eight-year run the show won six Emmys and was nominated for 8 Emmys including Best Comedy Series. Between 1961,1962,1963,1966 and 1967 actor Don Knotts won back-to-back Emmys for Outstanding Performance in a Supported Role for Prime-Time as Deputy Barney Fife for the episodes "The Return of Barney Fife"(Season 6, Episode 17-airdate January 10, 1966),and for the episode "Barney Comes To Mayberry"(Season 7, Episode 19-airdate January 23, 1967). Actress Frances Bavier(Aunt Bee) won the Emmy in 1966 for Best Supporting Actress for Outstanding Role in a Prime Time Series. The show's sponsors throughout it's run were The General Foods Corporation and the Ford Motor Company. The Chrysler Corporation sponsored its final season.

The Andy Griffith Show was just that: the sheriff with a heart of gold and a big smile to match along bringing the moral values and lessons that you see in today's shows of this magnitude or any other,and it still holds up to this day. What really made that show what it is brings up to the great writing and storytelling,combining that with good ole North Carolina humor along with country comedy and add just a touch of Southern Gothic for a good measure. What really made that show hum like a fine motor for the first five seasons was the feisty spit and polish and by the book lawman deputy Barney Fife played with great precision and timing by Don Knotts who won five emmys for his work on that series. What really brought that show out was the father and son relationship of Sheriff Taylor and his son Opie(played by Ron Howard). Andy taught Opie valuable lessons on character and important values and morals as well as development of him from a boy into manhood. The characters that really brought that show out were certain individuals the gave Sheriff Taylor major fits(and Barney as well)like Goober,his cousin Gomer,and the nuttiest of them all: Ernest T. Bass,as well as Otis the town drunkard. After Knotts left the show to pursue other interests in 1965,the show wasn't the same as it was,but it never gave up on interest on the situations that went on in Mayberry. The black and white episodes were simply the greatest ever with Knotts in them,but kinda changed course when the show went to color. One of my all time best ever. Interesting Note on Andy Griffith: When the show left the airwaves on April 1, 1968 on the CBS network,it was the #1 show on television. *Commentary revised on December 10, 2015 in collaboration with the show's golden anniversary.

"The Andy Griffith Show" is probably the greatest sitcom of all time. The writing, the direction, the characters, and the stories all combined to make one of the greatest television shows of any era. Andy Taylor (Griffith) is the sheriff of a small, fictional North Carolina town named Mayberry. He has all sorts of adventures that are so realistic and pure that one feels that they are really in Mayberry when watching the show. Andy lives with his Aunt Bea (Frances Bavier) and his young son Opie (Ron Howard) and works with his deputy sheriff Barney Fife (Don Knotts). The thing that sets "The Andy Griffith Show" apart from almost all other television shows is the realism of the characters. Even though the characters are silly at times, often you can relate these people to actual people that you know or have known. The amazing insight by the writers is truly uncanny. The number of characters that are well-developed is also amazing when one considers how poor writing for television shows usually is these days. The show started out a bit silly in the beginning, but hit a peak from seasons two to five when characters like Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors), Otis Campbell (Hal Smith), Floyd Lawson (Howard McNear), and Goober Beasley (George Lindsey) became more prevalent in the series' plot. However, after the departure of Don Knotts in 1965, the series went from being exceptional to being fair at best the rest of the way. The magic that Knotts brought to the show was even more evident when he was gone. Also Nabors left to create his own series and McNear suffered from health problems throughout the entire run of the series. Smith and Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou) also had very little to do with the series after Knotts left. All in all a great series for about five years, but the show's magic slowly disappeared when the series went to color. 5 stars out of 5 for 1960-1965. 2.5 stars out of 5 for 1965-1968.

The Andy Griffith Show will always be remembered as one of the great slice of life series that ever came on television. It represented the ideal small town full of not only ordinary citizens but the crazies that inhabited it as well, especially characters like Ernest T. Bass and the Darlings. The thing that really made this show great was the relationship between the ever cool Sheriff Andy Taylor and the hyperactive Barney Fife. It was Barney as well as the characters of Aunt Bea, Floyd, Otis, Gomer, Goober and, later, Howard and Emmitt that made this show the classic that it was. Also, in later years this show was criticized for not having any black characters on it. If you think about it, this show was merely a reflection of the times that the show took place in, the early to mid 1960's. Despite that, this show will always be a classic.

Also, one of my favortite episodes will always be the bootlegging episode with the two sisters when you get to see Barney let loose and go POW, POW, POW with his trusty ax.

The black and white episodes of this program were the best, and I don't know what it was, but when it went to color, all the "magic" the show possessed disappeared!! I can tolerate the color episodes, but I HATED Jack Burns's character of Warren. That "Huh?, Yeah, Huh?" routine was a royal pain in the neck.

And what happened to Andy in the color episodes?? He turned into a man who was always griping about something--cranky and mean. It seemed that no matter what Aunt Bee wanted to do, Andy was there to put a stop to it, or at least, he tried to. Remember the time when Aunt Bee wanted to learn how to drive a car? Wanted to learn how to fly a plane? When she wanted to wear a wig? When she wanted to open a restaurant? Andy Taylor was a very hateful character in the color episodes. They should have stopped production of the show when they changed to color.