Love, Laughter & Untold Stories

THE SERIES REFLECTS THE SWEETNESS OF SMALL-TOWN LIFE

- By LOUISE A. BARILE

Ron Howard learned the brutal limits of TV make-believe when he was handed an ice cream cone on the set of The Andy Griffith Show. “The hot lights melted any frozen dessert in a matter of seconds, so my cones were filled with cold, lumpy mashed potatoes,” he recalled. “I mean, try licking that and smiling ear to ear as a six-year-old. Now that is some acting to be proud of.”

From 1960 to 1968, The Andy Griffith Show welcomed viewers to Mayberry, NC, a fictional town populated by a diverse group of colorful characters. Wise, good-natured Sheriff Andy Taylor, played by Andy Griffith, served as the voice of reason and the sensible hub which all storylines revolved around. “The show is about friendship,” Daniel de Visé, the brother-in-law of Barney Fife actor Don Knotts and the author of Andy & Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show, tells Closer. “All of Mayberry is one big family. They all love each other, protect each other, and look out for each other.”

Andy created the series as a reaction to his acclaimed performance as ambitious and egomaniacal “Lonesome” Rhodes in 1957’s A Face in the Crowd. This dark political satire made Andy a movie star, but filming it exacted a real psychological toll. “I don’t ever want to do that again,” Andy told Ron, according to the Opie actor’s 2021 The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family. “I like to laugh when I’m working.” Ron noted that Andy also viewed the humorous, but largely realistic small-town characters that populated Mayberry as a good contrast to the southern stereotypes of “mush-mouthed hayseeds” and “buxom sexpots” on 1960s TV series like The Beverly Hillbillies and