Mayberry RFD tarnished the original.

[sami dg]

In my opinion this show should have never aired. It was a spinoff that should have never spun. I loved Andy but I just couldnt love RFD.

[DarleneIllyria]

sami dg:

I agree with you 100%. I love The Andy Griffith Show, but am not a fan of RFD. I want to see 2 episodes of RFD. The episode where Andy and Helen got married, and the other one being where Helen had a baby. I bet those are the only 2 good episodes. Reading over my post the only good thing about RFD was Andy and Helen got married.

[cp]

Andy and Helens wedding would of made a great final episode of the Andy Griffith show.

Don Knotts appears as Barney on the wedding episode.

On the other one Andy and Helen have their baby baptised. I cannot at all understand why Don Knotts and Ronny Howard never appeared in this one. Goober,Howard and Emmett become little Andys godfather, but Barney should of been too.

Both episodes are great but the first one is hallarious when Barney tags along on Andys honeymoon, walks down the aisle with them and when he has trouble finding the wedding ring.

Andy appeared in a few other early RFD episodes but only for a few lines. Ken Berry was the main focus on those eps.

[This message has been edited by cp (edited 04-24-2001).]

[Richard]

I also noticed that in the Andy Griffith show reunion movie,there was no mention of Andy Jr. and Ken Berry wasn't in the film at all. That might have been a silent admission that those three years of Mayberry RFD were a mistake.

------------------
Richard Ranke

[Opie Taylor]

No. Not really. The reason there was no mention of Andy jr. in the movie "Return to Mayberry" is because Andy Griffith didn't think anyone would remember him. After all there was only one episode about him anyway. Also because of the fact that the reunion movie was about "The Andy Griffith Show" and not "Mayberry R.F.D." they decided to leave Andy jr. unmentioned. That is probably the same reason Ken Berry wasn't in "Return to Mayberry" either.
"Mayberry R.F.D." isn't a bad show. I'm thankful for it because it kept Mayberry alive for another three years after "The Andy Griffith Show" went off the air. A lot of folks who say they don't like "Mayberry R.F.D." haven't seen hardly any episodes of it. There are many really good episodes, without the original "Andy Griffith Show" cast like "The Camper". Better than a lot of b&w episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" (IMHO). And a few of the earily episodes had guest appearances of many of "The Andy Griffith" show's cast.
For instances:

Andy and Helen Get Married - Andy, Barney, Opie and Helen appeared.

Mikes Losing Streak - Andy appeared.

Help on the Farm - Andy appeared.

Youth Takes Over - Andy appeared.

Andy's Baby - Andy and Helen appeared.

Aunt Bee stayed with the show for it's first two seasons and countless other less common actors from "The Andy Griffith Show" made occasional appearances. It's a great show that is greatly under appreciated. I'm so glad TV Land is going to air it again. Get those VCRs and video tapes ready.

[Richard]

Thank you for telling us which episodes of Mayberry RFD Andy appeared in.The show was alright for what it was-and for the first year or so anyway it was just as popular as Andy Griffith had been.It was cancelled after three years not because of too much decline in viewership but because 1971 was the year that CBS wanted to de-Ruralize it's programming and cancelled it-along with Beverly Hillbillies,Green Acres,Hee-Haw,etc.

[Opie Taylor]

You're very welcome, Richard. I'm glad I was able to help. All the episodes with Andy are **** four stars! If you ever get the chance to see them, TAKE IT! It's worth it!

Mayberry R.F.D. was one of the top four shows it's first to seasons. I believe it was number 14th when it was cancelled. As Gomer would say shame, shame, shame.

[TV Guy]

I think "Mayberry RFD" should be shown with other sequel series on some cable channel. They could show "Archie Bunker's Place", "AfterMASH", "Three's a Crowd", "Little House: A New Beginning", and "Golden Palace".

It's silly, though, that they didn't even mention Andy's other son in the reunion. And it would have been nice to give Ken Berry a bit part -- after all, he helped keep the show going after Andy left.

[NCVARick]

Originally posted by TV Guy:
I think "Mayberry RFD" should be shown with other sequel series on some cable channel. They could show "Archie Bunker's Place", "AfterMASH", "Three's a Crowd", "Little House: A New Beginning", and "Golden Palace".

Please no! A channel with those shows? They were all horrible! I'll take the originals, please. And I have to disagree that "Mayberry R.F.D." was a good show. Through the years (particularly in the '70s when it was rerun more) I've seen virtually every episode. It was never funny. In fact, I find it one of the most utterly boring series ever produced. And it is so far removed from the concept of what TAGS (a wonderful show) was supposed to be: a show about a small North Carolina town. I'm from a small North Carolina town and there is nothing authentic about the town in this series. For gosh sakes, Goober is the only person in town with a Southern accent! Please show me any small town in N.C. where nobody has a Southern accent.

TAGS was great during its first five seasons, but went into decline after Don Knotts left. Personally, I think they should have ended it after those five years (like they did with "The Dick Van Dyke Show"). It was a big enough mistake to continue without Don Knotts, but an unforgiveable one to continue without Andy Griffith and Ron Howard.

Re: the high ratings this series got, you have to keep in mind that in the late '60s, television stank. There was very little worth watching at that time. So the fact that Mayberry did better than other shows doesn't mean a whole lot. Besides, it was on a Monday night schedule, sandwiched in between some highly popular shows. And also, don't forget about the habit factor. It's hard for viewers to break a viewing habit with a show (or extension of a show) that's been on for a long time. The same thing happened with "Archie Bunker's Place," which was nowhere near as good as "All in the Family," but which got very good ratings nevertheless.

[Chad Palmer]

I actually found this show quite likable. Of course it doesn't compare to the B&W episodes, but I actually prefer it to the color episodes with Warren in them. I'd like to see it aired on a normal basis on some station besides Turner South.

[EMTJ]

I loved Mayberry RFD. I also loved the Andy Griffith show, yes, a lot more than I loved Mayberry RFD. However, I also loved the town and the ambience and characters like Sam and Emmett and Howard. I never tired of the show because they kept to its roots - a show about small town life and small town people. The kind of people you wish you had for neighbors, with their own quirks and foibles and good humour. AG is my favorite show of all time, just beating I Love Lucy by a hair. And I am grateful for the three years we had of Mayberry RFD. I wish there had been more!

[ficlopri]

I agree that Mayberry RFD was a little less inspired than the Andy Griffith Show. And the poster who said that Goober was the only one in the southern town with a southern accent had a good point. I want to add that Mayberry RFD opened up in it's opening credits with boring music and a dull shot of Sam and Mike playing catch. Not as countryish as Andy and Opie going fishing and the whistling theme opening in TAGS was much liveler and catchier. Also, Ken Berry was no Andy Griffith. I like Berry's work on F-Troop and other shows but he couldn't sub for Griffith (Andy or Melanie, sexy toes on that lady).
But Mayberry RFD does have it's moments. The Andy episodes chroniclng the further adventures of Sheriff and Mrs. Andrew Taylor in Mayberry is definitely a plous and all of themn are worth viewing. And it does have a warm feel (in its own right) to it like TAGS, but it is less warm than TAGS as it lacks a very strong central character to give it more purpose. Also, the late 60's/early 70's were not as warm a time as the early 60's had been, so Mayberry RFD is a little less charming than its parent show for that reason as well.
Other pluses are Sam's very comely girlfriend Millie and the comical and slightly strong character of Goober Pyle.
PS I do not think it was odd for Andy not to ask Barney to be the Andy JR's Godfather. He was Opie's godfather already wasn't he?

[matty]

Originally posted by ficlopri:
I agree that Mayberry RFD was a little less inspired than the Andy Griffith Show. And the poster who said that Goober was the only one in the southern town with a southern accent had a good point. I want to add that Mayberry RFD opened up in it's opening credits with boring music and a dull shot of Sam and Mike playing catch. Not as countryish as Andy and Opie going fishing and the whistling theme opening in TAGS was much liveler and catchier. Also, Ken Berry was no Andy Griffith. I like Berry's work on F-Troop and other shows but he couldn't sub for Griffith (Andy or Melanie, sexy toes on that lady).
But Mayberry RFD does have it's moments. The Andy episodes chroniclng the further adventures of Sheriff and Mrs. Andrew Taylor in Mayberry is definitely a plous and all of themn are worth viewing. And it does have a warm feel (in its own right) to it like TAGS, but it is less warm than TAGS as it lacks a very strong central character to give it more purpose. Also, the late 60's/early 70's were not as warm a time as the early 60's had been, so Mayberry RFD is a little less charming than its parent show for that reason as well.
Other pluses are Sam's very comely girlfriend Millie and the comical and slightly strong character of Goober Pyle.
PS I do not think it was odd for Andy not to ask Barney to be the Andy JR's Godfather. He was Opie's godfather already wasn't he?RFD is no Andy for sure. But it is a cute show. And Millie rules. I'd be hanging around that bakery shop all day.

[dawsongirl]

You guys can smack me around all you want, but I liked RFD better than TAGS. TAGS wasn't bad mind you, but I've never been able to sit through more that one ep. at a time. I watched like 3 eps. of RFD in a row last weekend and it was just fine.

[twinkle44301]

I watched most of the Mayberry R.F.D. episodes on TV Land this week and I was really surprised at how entertaining they were. Granted, they are not even in the same league as TAGS, but they were not bad when you compare them to the garbage that clogs the airwaves nowadays.

I did think that Mike's friends were rats! I liked Millie. I liked Howard without his annoying mother hanging around. I liked the charm of the town (even though it seemed to be an entirely different Mayberry). I also saw one episode where a waitress was the girl who played Charlene Darling.

I was surprised at how similar one episode was to the original TAGS. It is the one where Goober is lost in a cave, and manages to make it out. After he makes his way out, he discovers the entire town is looking for him. Just like Andy and Helen, he goes back inside the cave and is "rescued."

[ShermanW]

It's not hilarious; it's not as good as the Griffith show. But it is pleasant, interesting, and worthwhile. Plus, it's different. After years of watching the same sitcoms over and over again in reruns, it's refreshing to see something you haven't seen a million times before.
For those reasons, I enjoy watching reruns of "Mayberry R.F.D." As I say, it's not laugh-out-loud funny like the black-and-white Griffith shows, but let's face it: that's a VERY high standard for any show to live up to. "The Andy Griffith Show" is one of the five best sitcoms of all time. It's not fair to expect "RFD" to be THAT good.
And yes, Millie is hot.

[snowpeck]

I liked Mayberry RFD a lot. It was a lot better than most of the color Andy episodes. Of course the B&W eps were better, but those color Andys got boring humdrum.

[tdr]

The AGS b&w [Barney] years were 5, then the color AGS years + RFD were 6; but with rising production costs the number of eps in a season of series TV were diminishing. So the entire AGS/Mayberry run was just about split down the middle in the # of eps of the b&w and the color years.

Take any show that ran for 11 seasons, or anywhere even close to that, and you likely see the same pattern... most of the show's fans think the earliest years were the best-- at least after the roles became adjusted-- and then the fans held onto the show despite the cast aging and changing, recycled plots, etc. No show will last that long unless it DID become popular and liked in its early years, and that is what leads its fans to continue watching even though it may no longer be *as good* as its earlier seasons. *Some* characters and familiarity with settings still remain, even if not from the very beginning.

In Mayberry RFD, by its last season there was no one left who had been in the AGS its first season-- Aunt Bee being the last to exit the continuing show. Sam, Mike, Goober, Howard, Emmitt, and Millie had all been additions along the way of the lengthy run, with only Goober being introduced in the "first half," the b&w years. The significant changes were not additions, but subtractions, of characters. It was simply impossible for Sam to live up to Andy, Mike to Opie, Emmitt to Floyd, et al; though maybe Goober, the most continuous of the RFD cast, fit the rest of the Mayberry crowd a little better than Gomer. So if you have a good thing going, change is acceptable provided it is not too drastic; but finally the evolutionary process will diminish the resemblance to the 'original.'

Some sources say Andy Griffith came to regret leaving his show, as he had 2 failed series in the next 2 or 3 years, and began taking movie roles as much meaner characters than Sheriff Taylor. But in the color years of AGS he became tired of playing the same character and often it showed. Nevertheless he was really ticked when CBS canceled RFD, equating it with GREEN ACRES and THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES. I think he was right-- both of those shows had hayseed characters who had not heard of income taxes, thought the Eiffel Tower was in Washington, DC, and such crud. Mayberry was just a pleasant state of mind removed from the urban problems we saw every night on the news. But the audience the network wanted to appeal to more was the suburban, 'sophistocated' young-to-median adults, so any show that smacked of 'rural' was gone; but also "Ed Sullivan" and "Red Skelton," since their audiences were older than the target audience. But in 30 years there has been more changing and reshifting. There would be virtually no market for these 'rural' shows in syndication if some younger viewers who were not around during their original runs had not become interested enough to watch.

[MsLulu]

I really enjoyed watching Mayberry RFD during the fandemonium on TV Land. I hadn't seen it in years! There were a couple of episodes that I didn't care for. But most were enjoyable. It has its own charm. The characters are likeable. As much as I like TAGS and I Love Lucy, I get tired of them after awhile. I guess because they're on so much. Watching Mayberry RFD is like watching a new show.

[This message has been edited by MsLulu (edited 07-30-2001).]

[Sean Snow]

Originally posted by dawsongirl:
You guys can smack me around all you want, but I liked RFD better than TAGS. TAGS wasn't bad mind you, but I've never been able to sit through more that one ep. at a time. I watched like 3 eps. of RFD in a row last weekend and it was just fine.

I agree! I think "Mayberry RFD" was better the TAGS

[One Bullet]

I love Mayberry R.F.D., it is not the show that TAGS was, but it beats the trash on t.v. today by a longshot. I loved how the show gave more roles for Goober, and I thought about 75 out of 78 episodes were GREAT. There are 3-4 episodes that some people seem to talk about all the time that gives R.F.D a bad name, but there are some great Mayberry stories in that show, I don't care about Andy Taylor or Sam Jones, it was about Mayberry to me, and Mayberry was there for 11 years, from start to finish, from the first sound of "ACTION !", to the last sound of "CUT!" eleven years later, Mayberry was always there, whether some "actors" thought they could make more money by leaving TAGS or not, Mayberry never sold out the fans as some of the actors did. By the way, R.F.D still comes on t.v., and it's NOT TV LAND, it comes on in a regular line-up 4-5 times a week on the cable premium station "Turner South", you have to pay extra for this channel, and it's offered on most satellite and cable companies. It's worth it, it has much great programming, not just R.F.D. But the show still DOES come on t.v. in a regular lineup, you don't have to wait another year for TV Land to play it again.

One Bullet

[PPatters]

I must disagree that "Mayberry R.F.D." was funnier than "The Andy Griffith Show" (at least the black and white episodes), though I do agree that it still was a wonderful show. Albeit, the characters weren't all the same (as a matter of fact, were very different) from the original "The Andy Griffith Show" cast, but they were still funny at times. I really enjoy this series, and I think it would have been WONDERFUL with Andy actually in it, but he wasn't, BUT it was still good. Andy wasn't going to be the executive producer of a show that he didn't think was good, and what's good for Andy is good enough for me.

[Sean Snow]

He was executive producer for M RFD for it's three seasons along with Richard O. Linke

[NCVARick]

Originally posted by One Bullet:
By the way, R.F.D still comes on t.v., and it's NOT TV LAND, it comes on in a regular line-up 4-5 times a week on the cable premium station "Turner South", you have to pay extra for this channel, and it's offered on most satellite and cable companies.
One Bullet

Turner South is only available in the South, unless, I guess, you have a satellite dish.