The Andy Griffith Show
1960
Original language: English
- comedy
- family
The story
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.
What it’s like
Warm, sun-washed small-town light: a sheriff's office with a potted plant and a coffee pot, the courthouse square under big shade trees, Main Street storefronts and a slow Southern afternoon. The camera stays mostly in the three-camera sitcom grammar of the era, wide two-shot setups and clean medium close-ups, with the staging built around doorways, a single cell in the jail and the front porch. The sound is a bright, banjo-and-whistle theme over a laugh track, with ordinary sounds of screen doors, footsteps on wood and a lazy courthouse clock. The vibe is nostalgic and gently comic, a cozy, unhurried Americana that feels like a time gone by. Its gags run on rhythm and character more than bite: the pace is brisk within each half-hour, and the emotional arc is a widowed father and his household finding steady comfort in one another and in a town that looks after its own. It contains no violence, no sexual content and no real menace, just mild bluster, misunderstandings and affectionate ribbing. It suits a rainy Sunday, a comfort rewatch or background while cooking, and it is for viewers who want something reassuring, funny and kind.
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