The Andy Griffith Show
| The Andy Griffith Show | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Sheldon Leonard |
| Starring | Andy Griffith Ronny Howard Don Knotts Frances Bavier |
| Theme music composer | Earle Hagen |
| Opening theme | "The Fishin' Hole" |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 249 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes per episode (with commercials) 25-26 minutes per episode (without) |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | October 3, 1960 – April 1, 1968 |
| Related | |
| The Danny Thomas Show Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. | |
The Andy Griffith Show is an American situation comedy television show starring Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor, the sheriff of the fictional small town of Mayberry, North Carolina. The rest of the main cast consisted of Ron Howard, as Andy's young son Opie; Don Knotts as his high-strung deputy Barney Fife (for the first five seasons); and Frances Bavier as Andy's Aunt Bee, who took care of the housekeeping. Knotts won five Emmys for his work, while Bavier received one. First televised by CBS between October 3 1960 and April 1 1968, the show was a hit for all of its eight seasons, never placing lower than seventh in the Nielsen Ratings.
The show spawned a spin-off series, a sequel series, a reunion telemovie and is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution with reruns currently airing across the United States. The complete series is available on DVD.
Production notes
The genesis of The Andy Griffith Show lies in a February 1960 episode of The Danny Thomas Show. There, Griffith as Sheriff Taylor arrests Thomas for running a Mayberry stop sign. Frances Bavier appears as Henrietta Perkins, a widow being victimized by a shopkeeper, and Ron Howard is briefly seen as Opie. The following October, The Andy Griffith Show made its debut.
The show's production team included creator and executive producer Sheldon Leonard, producer Aaron Ruben and writers Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. All were closely associated with the success of the show's first five black and white seasons, with episodes "Opie, the Birdman", "Mr. McBeevee", "Man in a Hurry", and "The Pickle Story" ranking at the top of all-time favorites lists. In the sixth season, producer and story consultant Aaron Ruben left the show for Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a show he partly owned. Greenbaum and Fritzell departed as well. Writer Harvey Bullock left after season six, and, by season eight, the show had an entirely new team of writers.
The show was filmed at Desilu Studios in Hollywood with Mayberry exteriors shot on the former Selznick International Pictures lot (later known as Forty Acres). Woodsy locales were filmed at Franklin Canyon Lake, just north of Beverly Hills.
Accompanied by a whistled theme composed by Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer, the show's opening sequence follows Andy and Opie as they walk along a dusty lane to a fishing hole. The sequence remained the same throughout the series run, though it had to be re-shot as Ron Howard grew into a young teen.
The sole sponsor of The Andy Griffith Show was General Foods, though promotional consideration was paid for (in the form of all the cars) by Ford Motor Company. Griffith and other members of the cast appeared in commercials for General Foods during the course of particular episodes and some commercials have been released on various DVD's.
Characters
Andy Taylor
Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith), the sheriff of fictional small-town Mayberry, North Carolina, is a quietly confident, level-headed, easygoing man whose relaxed, common sense approach to law enforcement makes him popular with his fellow citizens. His workstyle occasionally brings him into conflict with his over-zealous, by-the-book deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts). In his private life, Andy enjoys fishing trips with his six-year-old son Opie (Ron Howard), and quiet evenings on the front porch with his aunt and housekeeper Beatrice "Bee" Taylor (Frances Bavier).
Andy was raised by Aunt Bee and attended Mayberry Union High, graduating in the class of '45. His high school girlfriend — anxious to experience more of life than what was offered in slow-paced Mayberry, broke off their relationship and moved to Chicago. Andy began his career as a lawman in 1952. One episode indicated that Andy was once married. Opie's mother is mentioned only once in the series run. Her whereabouts and her relationship with Andy are uncertain; she remains a question mark in the show's mythology. Except for his cousin Barney, aunt Bee, and son Opie, Andy has no relatives living in Mayberry or its vicinity.
Andy's romantic life is source material for many plots. Pharmacist Ellie Walker (Elinor Donahue) is Andy's first-season sweetheart. When she disappears without explanation after twelve appearances, he dates several ladies, until schoolteacher Helen Crump (Aneta Corsaut) arrives in the third season to become his steady partner. Helen is not aggressive like Ellie, nor overtly sexual like some of Andy's dates; according to Richard Kelly, she is more like Andy's sister than his lover.[1]
Opie
Opie Taylor (Ronny Howard) is a typical American boy, interested in football, baseball, comic books, and fishing with his father. Although Opie is a well-meaning boy, he occasionally gets into trouble, most famously when he unintentionally kills a bird with his slingshot. Over the course of the series, he grows into a young teenager.
Barney Fife
Barney Fife (Don Knotts) is Andy's high strung, overzealous, by-the-book deputy sheriff, best friend, and cousin. Barney's poor judgment, his pompousness, and his bravura cause Sheriff Taylor much trouble and embarrassment. Midway through the first season, Thelma Lou (Betty Lynn) becomes his steady girl, though he occasionally dates Bluebird Diner waitress Juanita (who is never seen). Knotts left the show at the end of the fifth season to pursue a film career (Barney is said to have taken a job in the Raleigh Police Department). Knotts did however make five guest appearances. The last one, in the final season, was the most watched episode of the entire series.
Beatrice Taylor
Beatrice Taylor (Frances Bavier) is Andy's paternal aunt and known in the show as Bee or Aunt Bee. She returns to Mayberry in the premiere episode to manage Andy's household. She undergoes a dramatic change in the color seasons, when she leaves behind her role as homemaker to open her own restaurant, host a television show, and run for office, among other things. Bavier received her sole opening credit nod in the final season.
Recurring characters and guest stars
Andy's buddies and neighbors include barber Floyd Lawson (Howard McNear), service station attendants Goober Pyle (George Lindsey) and Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors), town drunkard Otis Campbell (Hal Smith), and Fix-it Shop owner Emmett Clark (Paul Hartman). Aunt Bee's friend Clara Edwards (Hope Summers) and Opie's pal Johnny Paul Jason (Keith Thibodeaux) are visitors. County Nurse Mary Simpson (Julie Adams), skeet-shooter Karen Moore (Gail Davis), and rich girl Peggy McMillan (Joanna Moore) are Andy's romantic interests until Helen arrives on the scene mid-third season.
First-season Mayor Pike and second-season Mayor Stoner (Dick Elliott and Parley Baer respectively) sometimes meet Andy during the course of his work day, while Reverend Tucker (William Keene) provides spiritual guidance on Sundays. Mild-mannered County Clerk Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson) and his domineering mother (Mabel Albertson) make their debuts in season six. Warren Ferguson (Jack Burns) briefly fills in as deputy after Barney's departure prior to season six. Department store owner Ben Weaver (Will Wright) make several first-season appearances with the series' only Christmas-themed episode focused on his Scroogy sourness. Telephone operator Sarah is an unseen character but one making an "appearance" in almost every episode.
Mayberry is a target for mischief-makers. Jug-playing widower Briscoe Darling (Denver Pyle), his daughter Charlene (Maggie Peterson), and his bluegrass-playing sons (The Dillards) descend from the hills at odd times to complicate Andy's life with their shenanigans. Hillbilly Ernest T. Bass (Howard Morris) tries Andy's patience with his window-shattering stone-throwing. Scam artist Melissa Stevens (Beverly Tyler) inveigles Barney in a breach of promise lawsuit, pickpocket Sheldon Davis is mistakenly made Mayberry's Guest of Honor, and sneaky attorney's associate Jean Boswell (Ruta Lee) tries to smear Andy's professional reputation.
Season two is rife with special guest stars including Buddy Ebsen as vagrant David Browne, Alan Hale, Jr. as farmer Jeff Pruitt, Sterling Holloway as peddler Bert Miller, Andy Clyde as addle-pated oldster Frank Myers, Jean Hagen as speeding motorist Elizabeth Crowley, and Barbara Eden as manicurist Ellen Brown. In following seasons, Maudie Prickett makes an appearance as Bee's sister Nora and Jack Albertson her cousin Bradford J. Taylor. A young Morgan Brittany makes an appearance as Opie's two-timing date as a teen party. Bit players Mary Lansing and Bob McQuain appear in a combined total of 29 episodes as various characters while venerable Burt Mustin plays several "old geezer" characters (principally Jud Fletcher), and Allan Melvin has eight substantial "tough guy" roles through the series' run. While guest stars and secondary characters briefly take center stage in some episodes, such episodes are really about Andy as counselor, morale booster, or problem solver.
Mayberry
Mayberry is a sleepy, picture-book small town with Andy's house, the courthouse, and Floyd's barbershop being principal settings. Fictional, fast-paced Mount Pilot (a few miles east of Mayberry) and actual North Carolina locales Raleigh and Siler City are sometimes settings. While early seasons depict Mayberry as a xenophobic community happily out-of-touch with the larger world, the Mayberry of the later seasons takes an interest in life beyond its borders and cultural diversity: Andy visits Hollywood with his family, Aunt Bee travels to Mexico, and Howard briefly becomes a Caribbean beachcomber. Mayberry folk attend a visiting adventurer's lecture about distant lands and welcome three Italian immigrants as permanent residents in the final episode.
Unlike other sitcoms of the period, church-going is a prominent element in the series. The Taylors attend All Souls Church, a generic Protestant church and the only house of worship seen on the show. Bee sings in the choir, Opie yawns in the front pew, and Andy serves on the finance committee. A few episodes feature visiting clergymen and situations such as buying choir robes and finding a new organ. Protestant ethics color many episodes. Some viewers feel the show has a moral backbone virtually unrivaled by other television sitcoms and have singled out episodes for use as instructional and inspirational tools for their congregations.[2] Others question the use of the show for Christian instruction.[3]
Although the program was produced during a turbulent period in American history, the people of Mayberry are oblivious to the controversial issues and news topics of the day. The Vietnam War is alluded to in a late season dinner conversation as "the situation in Asia", and, with the exception of Rockne Tarkington who plays Opie's football coach in one seventh season episode, African Americans only appear as anonymous, non-speaking extras in crowd scenes. Women are the victims of sexism. In his book The Andy Griffith Show, Richard Kelly states, "[The show] may not have been sexual, but it certainly was sexist. The male population of Mayberry rules the town, and the women, for the most part, joyfully accept their positions as homemakers whose function is to keep their men happy."[1]
Seasons
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 Bavier coming in second at 239. Only Griffith, Howard, Bavier, Knotts, and Hope Summers appear in all eight seasons — Knotts as a regular character for the first five seasons and a recurring one for the last three.
Black and white seasons, 1960-1964
The show's four stars — Griffith, Howard, Knotts and Bavier, are introduced in the premiere episode with all announced in the opening credits save Bavier. The first season sees the show's only Christmas-themed episode. Andy's first-season sweetheart Ellie Walker leaves after twelve appearances. Recurring characters Floyd Lawson, Clara Edwards, Otis Campbell, and Thelma Lou debut in the first season with Gomer Pyle debuting in the second season and Helen Crump in the third. Goober Pyle joins the show in its fourth season. Aunt Bee has the first of her several series romances in season two. Howard McNear suffers a stroke in the third season and leaves the show, but returns in the fourth season to play Floyd from a seated position. Jim Nabors leaves the show in the fourth season to star in spin-off series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. At the end of the fifth season, Barney leaves the show for a job in Raleigh. In real life, Knotts left the show to pursue a film career. His departure forced the cancellation of character Thelma Lou. In the season's final episode, Jerry Van Dyke appears as Andy's replacement deputy but never returns.
Color seasons, 1965-1968
The opening sequence is reshot, retaining the father and son walk to the fishing hole and the musical theme. Jack Burns debuts in the sixth season as Warren Ferguson but is dropped after eleven appearances. Jack Dodson debuts in the same season as County Clerk Howard Sprague. Bavier wins an Emmy in the seventh season and is announced in the opening credits for the first time in the final season. Howard McNear and Hal Smith leave the show in the seventh season. Paul Hartman and Arlene Golonka join the show in the final seasons as Emmett Clark and bakery worker Millie Hutchins. Ken Berry plays widower Sam Jones in a few final episodes and moves on to star in the sequel series Mayberry, R.F.D. with Golonka as his name-changed sweetheart Millie Swanson. Knotts returns to make five guest appearances with his final appearance being the most watched episode of the series. In 1968, Griffith feels he has contributed all he can to the character Andy Taylor and the show was cancelled. [4] The last season closes at number one in the Nielsen Ratings.
Spinoffs and other developments
At the end of the show's fourth season (May 1964), the backdoor pilot "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." aired, and, the following September, spinoff series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. debuted with Jim Nabors in his Gomer role and Frank Sutton as drill instructor Sergeant Vince Carter. Ron Howard made a guest appearance as Opie during the show's run.
In the last episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, character Sam Jones was introduced and a sequel series Mayberry R.F.D. was fashioned around him. Several performers reprised their original roles in the sequel, with Bavier becoming Sam's housekeeper. Andy and Helen were married in the first episode, remained for a few episodes then left the show with a move to Raleigh being the explanation given the audience. After the sequel series' cancellation in 1971, George Lindsey reprised his Goober character over a ten year period on the popular variety show Hee Haw.
In 1986, the reunion telemovie Return to Mayberry was broadcast with several cast members appearing in their original roles. Absent, however, was Frances Bavier. She had retired from acting, was in poor health, living in North Carolina, and declined to participate. In the telemovie, Aunt Bee is dead and Andy visits her grave.
Merchandise
Dell Comics published two The Andy Griffith Show comic books during the show's first-run. In 2004, copies in Near Mint condition were priced in excess of $500 each.[5] The show's enduring popularity has created 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 Mt. Airy, North Carolina annually hosts a week-long "Mayberry Days" celebration featuring concerts, parades, and appearances by the show's players.
Between 2004 and 2006, CBS Home Entertainment 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 Show, the telemovie Return to Mayberry, and an episode from Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. featuring Ron Howard. Sixteen episodes from the show's third season are in the public domain and available on discount DVDs.
Ratings, honors, and awards
The Andy Griffith Show consistently placed in the top ten during its run.[6]
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A Neilsen study conducted during the show's last season (1967) indicated the show ranked #1 among blue collar workers followed by The Lucy Show and Gunsmoke. Among white collar workers, the show ranked #3 following Saturday Movies and The Dean Martin Show.[7]
Don Knotts won five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, 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 Series in 1967. The show received its only Emmy nomination in 1967 for Outstanding Comedy Series, losing to a new show, The Monkees. In 2002, TV Guide ranked The Andy Griffith Show ninth on its list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
References
- ^ a b Kelly, Richard. The Andy Griffith Show. Blair, 1981. (ISBN 0895870436).
- ^ "Finding the Way Back to Mayberry". Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ "Sunday School: What Would Andy Do?". Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ Griffith, Andy
- ^ Overstreet, Robert M.. Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. 34th edition. House of Collectibles, Random House Information Group, May 2004.
- ^ Classic TV Hits: TV Ratings
- ^ Kelly, Richard. The Andy Griffith Show. Blair, 1981. (ISBN 0895870436).
Further reading
- Beck, Ken, and Clark, Jim. The Andy Griffith Show Book. St. Martin's Griffin, 2000.
- 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. Blair, 1981.
- Rueter, Ted. What Andy, Opie, and Barney Fife Mean to Americans, Even in the 1990s.
- ScottC. The Andy Griffith Show: Complete First Season (1960). Needcoffee.com.
- Vaughn, Don Rodney. Why "The Andy Griffith Show" is Important to Popular Culture. Journal of Popular Culture, 2004.
Viewings
- The Andy Griffith Show. CBS Television Network, 1960-1968. Syndicated distribution: CBS Paramount Television.
- The Andy Griffith Show: Complete Series Collection. Paramount, 2007. (ISBN 1415731594).
External links
