The Andy Griffith Show, which first aired in 1960,
was one of the most beloved and highly rated shows in television history.
The untold truth of The Andy Griffith Show is that it was actually a spinoff series,
Andy Griffith had an on-set affair, and a contract issue led to Don Knotts's departure.
Not many people realize this, but The Andy Griffith Show was technically a spinoff of sorts.
The first time Sheriff Andy Taylor made his appearance on television,
he was a guest star on The Danny Thomas Show. In the episode, Danny Thomas drives through the town
of Mayberry and gets pulled over by Sheriff Taylor for running an unnoticed stop sign. However,
this version of Andy Taylor is far less kind than his later incarnation that we know today.
"Oooh, wee, that's quite a roll you got there!"
One of the series's running jokes is that Andy wields far more power in the small town
than a sheriff might typically have, but he's at least fair. This version of Andy
Taylor has no such scruples. When he fines Danny Thomas for his stop sign violation,
he soon realizes that the TV star has access to plenty of money and doesn't hesitate to
significantly increase the typical fine. Danny Thomas threatens to report Andy to the Justice
of the Peace — only to discover that Andy also serves that role as well. Next, Danny tries to
report Andy's corruption to the media, but Andy is also the editor of The Mayberry Gazette,
making his small-town power complete. The episode ends with Andy and Danny coming
to an agreeable resolution, and audiences were later given the beloved The Andy Griffith Show.
You wouldn't expect it as much from the mature Sheriff Andy Taylor, but Andy Griffith was quite
the jokester on the set. According to Biography, Griffith delighted in pulling practical jokes on
his fellow castmates. While his friend, Don Knotts , was napping, Griffith would often
deliberately drop a metal film canister right near Knotts, letting it smash to the floor for
maximum noise impact. Another time, Griffith sneaked into castmate George Lindsey's dressing
room while he was sleeping and strung up duck guts around the room. Although they were good friends,
Griffith also liked to needle Don Knotts about his real first name — Knotts's actual legal name
was Jesse Donald Knotts. Apparently, Knotts had a particular loathing for his original first name,
and whenever Griffith sought to rile him up, he'd refer to Knotts as "Jess."
But his fellow castmates could give it right back to Griffith. Seeking revenge,
some of his co-stars once stole one of his shoes, and Griffith had to borrow a pair
from the wardrobe crew to get himself home. At the end of the season, the cast ultimately did
return the stolen shoe to Griffith — completely bronzed. Griffith might have been a prankster,
but he could take it just as well as he could dish it out.
Frances Bavier might be best known for her role as the kindly Aunt Bee,
but she was actually a veteran stage actress — and a serious one at that. Bavier was a graduate
of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, worked in vaudeville, and later moved on to Broadway.
Bavier was always the perfect professional no matter what she was working on, be it drama or
comedy, television or film, or stage or screen. However, she always retained a serious demeanor
whenever she was working, regardless of whether the camera was on her or not.
Andy Griffith was a jokester and prankster along with the rest of the cast, but Bavier despised
practical jokes. She severely disapproved of Griffith's shenanigans around the set,
and while the rest of the cast liked to dance and sing when they weren't filming,
Bavier rarely joined them. At one point, she had an altercation with George Lindsey,
who played Goober Pyle. Bavier loathed coarse language, and one day Lindsey happened to be
cursing up a storm on the set of the sequel series Mayberry RFD, angering Bavier to the
point where she clocked him with her umbrella. She thought Griffith and most of the cast weren't
taking their jobs seriously, which caused some friction between her and Griffith.
Don Knotts didn't have a contract on-hand when he filmed his first episode of The Andy Griffith
Show. According to Biography, if things didn't work out, he might have only guest-starred for
a single episode. However, the chemistry between Knotts and Andy Griffith couldn't be ignored,
and Knotts was offered a one-year contract to start, followed by a five-year one. And with Don
Knotts's arrival, the show took a drastically different turn than originally planned.
Since the show was named after him, Andy Griffith was intended to be the leading funny man.
However, Knotts proved to be the audience's favorite comedic actor,
becoming the zany Barney Fife we all know and love,
while Andy became the mild-mannered and level headed member of the duo. When Knotts departed
the show after season five, many fans felt the show wasn't quite the same without him.
The gossipy Floyd Lawson, or "Floyd the Barber," as the character was better known, was played
by Howard McNear and was another fan-favorite. Floyd's barbershop — and Floyd himself — served as
the spot where Mayberry's men could get a haircut and get the lowdown on the latest happenings in
the small town. McNear was considered a great actor and comedian, having had a long career
in radio and later in television before he accepted the role of Floyd Lawson. However,
in the middle of the show's run, McNear suffered a severe stroke that left his left side paralyzed.
McNear was so beloved by fans and an excellent friend to the cast;
no one could bear to write Floyd out of the show. Instead, Floyd's scenes in the later season were
written to allow McNear to be seated or give him the appearance of standing using a bespoke stool.
McNear was able to continue playing Floyd until 1967. To this day,
Floyd the Barber remains one of the most memorable characters of The Andy Griffith Show.
Aneta Corsaut played Andy's primary love interest, Helen Crump, on the show, but she wasn't intended
to stick around for the long-term. Sheriff Taylor enjoyed brief relationships with other
women on the show, but few ever stuck around for more than a few episodes. At one point,
writers tried to give Andy a serious long term girlfriend in the form of pharmacist Ellie Walker,
played by Elinor Donahue, but the chemistry between the two actors just wasn't there. Although
Donahue had signed a three-year contract, she asked to be released after one year, citing that
she and Griffith really didn't click onscreen. Griffith himself admitted that he struggled
to show real affection to Donahue's character, thus ending future appearances of Ellie Walker.
But everything changed when Aneta Corsaut was cast to play young Opie's new schoolteacher, Helen
Crump. Again, she wasn't expected to last long, but Corsaut and Griffith's chemistry was electric.
Arguably, maybe a little too electric. Andy Griffith was already married to Barbara
Edwards at that time, but he and Corsaut became romantically involved on the set.
Their relationship was apparently inadvertently discovered by a crew member delivering food to
Andy Griffith's hotel room while he happened to be with Corsaut.
Griffith and Edwards eventually divorced, but Corsaut never married Griffith.
After season five, Don Knotts left The Andy Griffith Show, and Barney's departure left a
noted and significant gap in the show. There was a reason for Knotts's exit,
and it all came down to communication issues. According to Biography, Andy Griffith initially
told Don Knotts that the show would only last five seasons. So, Knotts prepared for the coming
end of the show and started to line up more work in time for the season five conclusion.
He ultimately signed a five-film contract with Universal Studios. However, the network managed
to persuade Andy Griffith to do a sixth season of the show, and later a seventh and eighth. Sadly,
that meant Don Knotts had to decline due to his film contract.
However, Andy Griffith revealed that at one point, Knotts offered to return to the show if he could
have an ownership stake in the production. Griffith misunderstood Knotts's request,
assuming that Knotts wanted half of Griffith's own share when Knotts was actually only looking for a
much smaller stake. Knotts and Griffith were good friends and ultimately didn't feel comfortable
negotiating at this level with each other. The talks ended, and Knotts didn't return to the show.
But that didn't stop the two from remaining friends for the rest of their lives.
Before Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Gomer was Mayberry's dimwitted, but kind-hearted gas station attendant.
According to Biography, Jim Nabors was introduced as the character in season three and stayed for
two seasons, and audiences loved Gomer for his wacky hijinks and amiable personality.
"Shazam! Captain Marvel wouldn't've thought of that, Barney!"
After his two seasons, CBS proposed an entire spinoff show starring Nabors as Gomer Pyle.
Thus, Gomer left Mayberry to join the Marines, and gave audiences Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. in 1964.
Those who loved Gomer on Andy Griffith were more than happy to watch him in a new environment
where Nabors would really have a chance to shine in a starring role,
rather than just an ensemble. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., was a major fan favorite and
reached number one in the Nielsen ratings on quite a few occasions.
After eight seasons, The Andy Griffith Show came to an end in 1968 while it
held the number one spot in Nielsen ratings. Throughout the show's entire eight-year run,
The Andy Griffith Show never sank below number seven in Nielsen's rankings. Both Don Knotts
and Frances Bavier had won Emmys for their performances and the show itself was nominated
for Outstanding Comedy Series. And even after all that, the show didn't completely come to an
end at the time. Where The Andy Griffith Show ended, so began the spinoff show, Mayberry R.F.D.
Viewers just weren't ready to say goodbye to Mayberry just yet.
However, the focus of Mayberry R.F.D. was no longer on Andy Taylor. A new father-son duo:
a widowed farmer named Sam Jones and his son, Mike, became the leads.
Andy Taylor kicked off the first season of the new show with his wedding to his longtime girlfriend,
Helen Crump, but after that, he would only very occasionally pop up as a side character,
keeping the story focused on Sam and Mike. Other characters from The Andy Griffith Show did carry
on to Mayberry R.F.D. in more prominent roles, though, including Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee,
George Lindsey as Goober Pyle, and Jack Dodson as Howard Sprague.
The cast of The Andy Griffith Show did get back together one more time in 1986
for a TV movie special called Return to Mayberry. Most of the surviving original
cast made an appearance in the special, with the main exception being Francis Bavier,
who turned down the offer to appear. This may have been due to health reasons or
that Bavier felt she was finished playing the character — her reasons were never confirmed.
"What about this business?" "Oh, you know, Aunt Bea always said I had a short lip."
But audiences were delighted to see Andy Griffith and Don Knotts together again
in their iconic roles along with the rest of the beloved characters like Gomer and Goober Pyle,
Howard Sprague, and Ernest T. Bass. Fans were also happy to see the adult Ron
Howard appear as a grown-up Opie, married with a journalism career, and embarking on fatherhood.
The movie wrapped up most loose ends and brought a happy conclusion to our time in Mayberry.
Barney married his old girlfriend Thelma Lou after years apart,
and Andy was reelected as sheriff of Mayberry with Barney at his side as deputy
once again. A satisfying finish to one of the most revered shows in television history.
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