The Andy Griffith Show

It may be impossible to find the greatest tv series of all time, but The Andy Griffith Show is definitely in the top ten. It had the warmest most realistic characters and the best writing ever. This show created the best characters out of Andy, Barney, Opie, Aunt Bee, Otis, Floyd, Ellie, Helen and Thelma Lou. Unfortunately, it had just as many clunkers with the extremely irritating and illogical Gomer, Goober, Warren, Howard and Emmett. The best thing about the show was the camaraderie of Andy Griffith and Don Knotts; despite their fights and teasing, you knew they cared about each other. It was this kind of compassion that made everyone connect with the series. Knotts' departure from it was the removal of all the heart as during the rest of the show's run Andy went around irritated all the time. It's these color episodes that are the only thing wrong with the otherwise impeccable show. If Bewitched can be divided into two different series, one black and white, one in color, then the same ought to be done for Andy, and spare the lovers of the series from having to see the worst.

"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 Andy Griffith Show", in my opinion, will always be in the top 10 of my favorite shows, and I've watched the reruns numerous times since the first episode in 1960. I'm sure Danny Thomas has received many accolades for creating this timeless classic. My only criticism is that it stayed on the air three years too long. When Don Knotts exited, that's where it should have ended. The support characters of Goober, Howard and Emmitt never captured the comic timing or spirit of the original cast, and the storylines were bland. I especially detested Jack Burns' character Warren. He was very annoying. The last three years just weren't funny or even compelling enough to bother watching. Even Andy became more cranky and less down-home. He even lost his southern accent and laid-back ways.

When Television programming was entertaining, AND wholesome, and funny.

Andy Griffith fits the bill for all three. One of my favorite episodes is when Aunt Bee wins some expensive prizes as a game show contestant. I love the shows with the Darlings (The Dillards), and one where Barney Fife tries to find Andy a girlfriend.

As I was growing up, my brothers and I were allowed to watch this show freely, and we used to compete with each other to see who could whistle the theme song the best.

I highly recommend watching this show whenever you can. It's incredibly funny without being skanky, like many modern day sitcoms, and wholesome without being preachy. It just WAS.