History Series / TheAndyGriffithShow

** Barney is a ''terrible'' actor, and not a great choir voice either. This, of course, is the writers lampshading that Don Knotts was considered a very talented actor at the time. (he won 3 Emmys in the show's first 5 years), and was at least a decent singer.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Andy's girlfriend (and Opie's teacher) Helen Crump.

[[Creator/RonHoward Ronny Howard]]. [[AndStarring Also starring]] Creator/DonKnotts." [[note]] (And Creator/FrancesBavier.) [[/note]] ]]

The series also focuses on the widowed Andy's relationship with his young son Opie, with Andy trying to strike a balance between being a fun [[TheConfidant confidant]] and instilling a strong sense of right and wrong. Andy dated a few women over the course of the series, but Opie's mother figure was Aunt Bee,[[note]] Yes, "Bee" (as short for "Beatrice") is the correct spelling, though many people assume it's "Bea". The character's name is shown in the opening credits of later seasons. [[/note]] who lived in the Taylor home and took care of the housework. Andy was also alternately amused and exasperated by the eccentricities of the various townsfolk, including gossipy barber Floyd Lawson, affable drunkard Otis Campbell, highly repressed bureaucrat Howard Sprague, and good-natured but totally moronic hayseed Gomer Pyle, who was [[Series/GomerPyleUSMC spun off into his own series]] and replaced with his even more idiotic cousin Goober.

The series also focuses on the widowed Andy's relationship with his young son Opie, with Andy trying to strike a balance between being a fun [[TheConfidant confidant]] and instilling a strong sense of right and wrong. Andy dated a few women over the course of the series, but Opie's mother figure was Aunt Bee,[[note]] Yes, "Bee" (as short for "Beatrice") is the correct spelling, though many people assume it's "Bea". The character's name is shown in the opening credits of later seasons. [[/note]] who lived in the Taylor home and took care of the housework. Andy was also alternately amused and exasperated by the eccentricities of the various townsfolk, including gossipy barber Floyd Lawson, affable drunkard Otis Campbell, highly repressed bureaucrat Howard Sprague, and totally moronic hayseed Gomer Pyle, who was [[Series/GomerPyleUSMC spun off into his own series]] and replaced with his even more idiotic cousin Goober.

Andy is TheSheriff in the small, friendly town of Mayberry, North Carolina. Despite his authoritarian role, Andy is an easy-going, good-humored guy. He can be tough when the situation demands it, but he prefers to play loose with the rules, and adapt punishments according to the nature of the crime and the individual. His deputy and [[strike:cousin]] friend Barney Fife prefers the opposite approach, but since he is clumsy and totally lacking in gravitas, no one takes him seriously. Most of the humor from the early years of the show comes from Barney's attempts to bring law and order to an already lawful and orderly town, and Andy's subsequent ribbing of Barney when his plans go wrong. Frequently, Andy will resort to a counter-scheme to protect Barney's fragile ego, and what's left of his reputation as a lawman.

The series also focuses on the widowed Andy's relationship with his young son Opie, with Andy trying to strike a balance between being a fun [[TheConfidant confidant]] and instilling a strong sense of right and wrong. Andy dated a few women over the course of the series, but Opie's mother figure was Aunt Bee[[note]]Yes, "Bee" (as short for "Beatrice") is the correct spelling, though many people assume it's "Bea". The character's name is shown in the opening credits of later seasons.[[/note]], who lived in the Taylor home and took care of the housework. Andy was also alternately amused and exasperated by the eccentricities of the various townsfolk, including gossipy barber Floyd Lawson, affable drunkard Otis Campbell, highly repressed bureaucrat Howard Sprague, and totally moronic hayseed Gomer Pyle, who was [[Series/GomerPyleUSMC spun off into his own series]] and replaced with his even more idiotic cousin Goober.

Supporting actors included Creator/DonKnotts as Deputy Barney Fife; [[Creator/RonHoward Ronny Howard]] (pre-''Series/HappyDays'') as Andy's son, Opie; Creator/FrancesBavier as Andy's Aunt Bee Taylor, and George Lindsey and Jim Nabors as the Pyle cousins, Goober and Gomer Pyle.

Andy is TheSheriff in the small, friendly town of Mayberry, North Carolina. Despite his authoritarian role, Andy is an easy-going, good-humored guy. He can be tough when the situation demands it, but he prefers to play loose with the rules, and adapt punishments according to the nature of the crime and the individual. His deputy and [[strike:cousin]] friend Barney Fife prefers the opposite approach, but since he is clumsy and totally lacking in gravitas, no one takes him seriously. Most of the humor from the early years of the show comes from Barney's attempts to bring law and order to an already lawful and orderly town, and Andy's subsequent ribbing of Barney when his plans go wrong. Very frequently, Andy will resort to a counter-scheme to protect Barney's fragile ego and what's left of his reputation as a lawman.

[[Creator/RonHoward Ronny Howard]]. [[AndStarring Also starring]] Creator/DonKnotts."]]

[-[[caption-width-right:350:"''[[TheAnnouncer The Andy Griffith Show]]''! Starring [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Andy]] [[Creator/AndyGriffith Griffith]]... with [[Creator/RonHoward Ronny Howard]]. [[AndStarring Also starring]] Creator/DonKnotts."]]-]

* EverybodyOwnsAFord: From the police cruisers to Andy and Barney's daily drivers … to every other car parked on Main Street, it was Fords all the way. (Presumably, the only car dealership in town, where everyone did their business, sold Fords.) Of course, to keep it in the family, the only deviation was the rich characters, who drove Mercurys and Lincolns (the Ford Motor Company's upscale brands.)

** Otis rarely appeared on the show once it switched to color, partly due to sponsors' complaints about his excessive drinking, and partly because his actor, Hal Smith, wanted to concentrate more on his increasingly lucrative side career as a voice actor for Creator/{{Disney}}, specifically his roles as WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} and as Owl in ''WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh''. In "Opie's Most Unforgettable Character", Andy reveals that Otis has been going to Mount Pilot to do his drinking and doesn't come to the jail anymore. He did, however, return for the reunion movie.

** "Gomer Pyle, USMC", which had the character join the Marines and led to the [[Series/GomerPyleUSMC spinoff show of the same title]].

** The final episode of the series, ''Mayberry R.F.D.'', focuses on the character of Sam Jones (who was introduced three episodes prior), in order to set up the AfterShow [[Series/MayberryRFD of the same name]].

** The final episode of the series, ''Series/MayberryRFD'', focuses on the character of Sam Jones (who was introduced three episodes prior), in order to set up the AfterShow of the same name.

* LaughTrack: Like all [[TheSixties 60s]] sitcoms, however, a number of local syndication markets actually remove the laugh track from certain episodes.
* LethalChef: Although Aunt Bee was a good cook most of the time, her homemade pickles definitely fall into this category -- literally in fact as they managed to kill a fly that landed too close to them.

** In one of the color episodes, Andy briefly hires Ernest T. Bass as a crossing guard - and naturally, Ernest starts heaving rocks at cars that don't stop. Andy tells him not to do that, and Ernest agrees - but he pulls out a brick after Andy leaves. Andy then catches him hurling the brick, and Ernest protests "You said rock! You didn't say anything about no brick!" Andy fires him.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Goober, initially, although he did show up later on and became a recurring character after Gomer joined the Marines. Also Sarah the switchboard operator, and Barney's girlfriend Juanita from the diner, both of whom are only ever spoken to on the phone - we don't even get to hear their voices ourselves.

** Also, for most of the first season, Griffith played Andy as more of a country bumpkin type than the StraightMan role he played in the rest of the series.

** Also, for most of the first season, Griffith played Andy more as a country bumpkin than the straight man role he played in the rest of the series.

* TheBarber: Floyd

** A very young boy named Leon (played by star Ron Howard's brother, Clint Howard), who would silently offer a bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich to whoever was around. Invariably, the response would be: "No thanks, Leon."

* SingingVoiceDissonance: Gomer's surprisingly operatic singing voice makes him the perfect candidate for the choir's big solo. This is also something of an ActorInspiredElement, as Jim Nabors actually did sing like that in RealLife... unless singing novelty/country songs.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Ellie Walker, the "lady druggist" who worked at the local pharmacy and was a fairly major character in early episodes where she played Andy's kinda-sorta love interest, until she just... stopped showing up. She never got a send-off or even a mention of why she left; she just vanished. In real life, the actress who played Ellie, Elinor Donihue, decided to leave the series because she felt that her character and Andy didn't have any on-screen chemistry whatsoever. Griffith later admitted that it was his own fault for this because he had a hard time showing affection on screen, and as a result, the relationship didn't appear either real or believable.

This idyllic SitCom, which ran on Creator/{{CBS}} from 1960 to 1968, starred Creator/AndyGriffith as Andy Taylor. It remains ''enormously'' popular in reruns. At any hour of any day, some television station in the U.S. is airing the show (if you happen to live in North Carolina, you cannot go a week without finding it in your local listings... which is not a bad thing), and it's safe to say that it's one of the most influential programs in American television history; damn near every sitcom, and possibly every show in ''any'' genre, produced between 1970 and 2000 owes something to ''The Andy Griffith Show''.

* CriticalResearchFailure: An in-universe example. In "Alcohol and Old Lace," a man successfully obtains alcohol from moonshiners who only sell it for "special occasions" by claiming to be a Muslim celebrating Mohammed's birthday. The Koran strictly prohibits alcohol consumption.