Category: The Andy Griffith Show
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A Weekend of Shadows: The Striking Pause on The Andy Griffith Show Set Amidst President Kennedy’s Tragic Assassination
While our favorite television series don’t always cover the more serious issues that afflict our society, that doesn’t mean that they don’t live through those moments just as we did as viewers. For example, a show like The Andy Griffith Show wouldn’t try to cover something as serious as a presidential assassination for a multitude…
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How a 2006 Tribute to Don Knotts Turned Into a Public Relations Nightmare Over Barney Fife
Five months after he passed, Don Knotts was still in the news in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Unfortunately for fans, it wasn’t because of any posthumous awards or long-lost-but-recently-unearthed performance. Instead, there were headlines regarding a tribute in the town that inspired Mayberry. The details were recorded for posterity in an article written by reporter…
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The Last Act of Forgiveness: Did Andy Griffith and Frances Bavier Mend Fences?
Andy Griffith and Frances Bavier were two legends of American television in the mid-20th century. Known for their iconic roles in The Andy Griffith Show, they left a mark on popular culture. However, behind the scenes, their relationship was marred by a real-life feud that contradicted their harmonious on-screen rapport just like the tension between…
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The Power of Love in Mayberry: How Andy Griffith Inspired Ron Howard’s Parenting
After spending eight seasons and eight years playing father and son, it’s no wonder that Andy Griffith and Ron Howard still felt a kinship toward one another, even after cameras stopped rolling on The Andy Griffith Show. In an article for the Los Angeles Times, Howard called Griffith “like a wonderful uncle to me.” Like…
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Andy Griffith Worked Hard To Make Mayberry Feel Like A Real Southern Town
If you’re from the South, chances are that more often than not, the representations of it on screen feel less than accurate. When you’re actually from a place that is being depicted on screen, you have a respect and understanding for it that many television and film creators aren’t able to harness. Therefore, the places…
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Betty Lynn’s Bold Stand: Refusing a New Storyline After Don Knotts’ Departure from ‘The Andy Griffith Show’
Some people have tried to make the argument that The Andy Griffith Show just wasn’t the same after Don Knotts left his regular role in season five, but would it have perhaps softened the blow of Barney Fife’s absence if Thelma Lou had stuck around? We may never know, but for a brief moment, it…
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The Power of Andy Griffith: George Lindsey’s Startling Confession about the Show’s Maestro
If you were Andy Griffith, would you rather be loved or respected? Because the man in charge was more concerned with the latter. There’s only one name in the title of The Andy Griffith Show, and ol’ Ange took his role seriously. His was the face that kept everyone employed, and he didn’t intend to…
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Andy Griffith’s Costly Christmas: Calculating the Price of Love in ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ Gifts
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” is, at its heart, a song about someone showing their love through gifts. After all, what’s more romantic than… waterfowl? We’ll take the five golden rings happily, but the lords a-leaping… well, people have given worse gifts. In a 1969 Christmas episode of The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, that was…
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Critical Acclaim or Backlash? Decoding Reviews for The Andy Griffith Show’s Inaugural Episode
Hindsight isn’t always 20/20, because nostalgia can cloud our memory. Sometimes our rose-tinted glasses trick us into thinking everyone shared the same experience. The way that pop culture history, in particular, is remembered doesn’t always reflect what happened. There are critical darlings that people assume were mega-hits when truthfully they were hardly watched. On the…
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What Andy Griffith Really Thinks About the Future of The Andy Griffith Show Sans Don Knotts
Saying goodbye to friends is always hard, but for two pals like Don Knotts and Andy Griffith, who spent five seasons together on The Andy Griffith Show before Knotts decided to call it quits, it must have been especially rough to say goodbye. While Barney Fife often made guest appearances after he stopped his run…