Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Comedy
    Comedy TV Shows - 1960s 3 Mins Read

    Andy Griffith Show, The

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 6 0 – 1 9 6 8 (USA)
    249 x 30 minute episodes

    This sitcom – spun-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show in which Thomas was arrested in a small North Carolina town – focused on Andy Griffith as Sheriff Andrew Jackson Taylor in the small town of Mayberry.

    Taylor was a widower with a young son, Opie (played by a young Ron Howard, later of Happy Days fame and a renowned movie director) and the pair of them lived with Andy’s Aunt Bee (Francis Bavier), who was famous for her pies.

    Crime in Mayberry was of the distinctly petty variety and much of the comedy centred around Andy, his family life and working life, especially with his somewhat stupid deputy (and cousin) Barney Fife (Don Knotts).

    Andy wouldn’t allow Barney to load his weapon for fear he would shoot his own feet off! He also only allowed him to carry a solitary bullet (usually in his left shirt pocket).

    Throughout the show’s run, Andy had two love interests – the first was druggist Ellie Walker (Elinor Donahue), and later schoolteacher Helen Crump (Anita Corsaut), who Andy ended up marrying in 1968.

    When Andy Griffith decided to call it quits, the show was still popular and the network decided to carry it on under the new name of Mayberry RFD with Ken Berry in the lead as councilman Sam Jones.

    Griffith helped with the change over by appearing in the first episode (it was in this episode that he married Helen and the pair then moved away from the town).

    The opening scene of The Andy Griffith Show – with Andy and Opie walking to their favourite fishing hole – is one of the most familiar in television history. Perhaps even more memorable is Earle Hagen’s whistled Andy Griffith Theme, which accompanies Andy and Opie’s stroll. The theme also has seldom-heard lyrics, written by actor Everett Sloane, who played moonshiner Jubal Foster in the “Keeper of the Flame” episode.

    There were two spin-offs from the series – the 1964 sitcom Gomer Pyle USMC which concerned Gomer (Jim Nabors), the Mayberry gas station attendant, joining the Marines, and also The Don Knotts Show (a variety series) in 1965.

    The show was eventually canned when CBS, concerned about its audience demographics (which were skewed to the rural Midwest and west of the USA) cancelled all shows “with trees”.

    A New Andy Griffith Show – in which Griffith played the mayor of a small southern town – lasted a single season in 1971, and in April 1986 the whole cast reunited for a TV movie called Return to Mayberry. It was the highest-rated film on American television for the 1985-86 season.

    In re-runs, The Andy Griffith Show is sometimes aired as Andy of Mayberry.

    TRIVIA
    The Andy Griffith Show was shot in three locations. The interior scenes were shot at Desilu Studios (the jail, Andy’s house etc).

    The exterior scenes of Mayberry were shot at a lot in Culver City (where the main street was constructed). And the bucolic shots (the opening scene etc) were filmed at Franklin Canyon, a Los Angeles reservoir.

    Sheriff Andy Taylor
    Andy Griffith
    Deputy Barney Fife 

    Don Knotts
    Opie Taylor 

    Ronny Howard
    Aunt Bee Taylor 

    Francis Bavier
    Ellie Walker 

    Elinor Donahue
    Helen Crump 

    Anita Corsaut
    Gomer Pyle 

    Jim Nabors
    Goober Pyle 

    George Lindsay
    Floyd Lawson 

    Howard McNear
    Otis Campbell 

    Hal Smith
    Howard Sprague 

    Jack Dodson
    Emmett Clark 

    Paul Hartman
    Thelma Lou 

    Betty Lynn
    Clara Edwards 

    Hope Summers
    Warren Ferguson 

    Jack Burns
    Mayor Stoner 

    Parley Baer
    Sam Jones 

    Ken Berry
    Jud Crowley 

    Burt Mustin
    Ernest T Bass
    Howard Morris

    Related Posts

    • Joe's World
      Joe's World
      1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 0 (USA) 11 x 30 minute episodes This short-lived NBC sitcom revolved around…
    • Adam's Rib
      Adam's Rib
      1 9 7 3 (USA) 12 x 30 minute episodes 1 x 60 minute episode An attempt to generate a weekly…
    • Mayor Of The Town
      Mayor Of The Town
      1 9 5 4 - 1 9 5 5 (USA) 39 x 30 minute episodes Thomas Russell (Thomas Mitchell) had first…
    • Conjugal Rites
      Conjugal Rites
      1 9 9 3 - 1 9 9 4 (UK) 13 x 30 minute episodes Almost 10 million people tuned in…
    • New Andy Griffith Show, The
      New Andy Griffith Show, The
      1 9 7 1 (USA) 10 x 30 minute episodes This show replaced Headmaster which lasted only 13 weeks. This replacement lasted even…
    • Guns of Will Sonnett, The
      Guns of Will Sonnett, The
      1 9 6 7 - 1 9 6 9 (USA) 50 x 30 minute episodes Ex-cavalry scout and gunfighter Will Sonnett…
    • Gomer Pyle, USMC
      Gomer Pyle, USMC
      1 9 6 4 - 1 9 6 9 (USA) 150 x 30 minute episodes The character of Gomer Pyle was…
    • Bus Stop
      Bus Stop
      1 9 6 1 - 1 9 6 2 (USA) 26 x 60 minute episodes Grace Sherwood (Marilyn Maxwell) owned the…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleA Life Of Bliss
    Next Article All At No. 20

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Moon Zero Two (1969)
      In 2021, a space salvage expert and his partner become embroiled […]
    • Star Maidens
      1 9 7 6 (UK/West Germany) 13 x 60 minute episodes Star Maidens […]
    • A-Z
      1 9 5 6 – 1 9 5 7 (UK) 24 x 30 minute episodes BBC […]
    • Skiffle
      Without skiffle there might have been no Quarrymen and hence […]
    • Crown Court
      1 9 7 2 – 1 9 8 4 (UK) 879 x 30 minute episodes This […]
    • Edge Of Night, The
      1 9 5 6 – 1 9 8 4 (USA) 7420 x 30 minute episodes A […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Sport Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.