The After Show to the popular CBS sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry R.F.D. aired for three seasons from 1968 to 1971. The show focused on widower Sam Jones (Ken Berry) and his son Mike (Buddy Foster), who'd been introduced during the final season of The Andy Griffith Show. Also appearing on the show were several supporting characters carried over from TAGS, including Aunt Bee Taylor (Frances Bavier), Goober Pyle (George Lindsey), Emmett Clark (Paul Hartman), Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson), and Clara Edwards (Hope Summers).
The show was fairly popular, which is unusual for an After Show, and finished in the Top 20 of the Nielsen ratings during the three seasons it was on the air (and in the Top 5 in its first two). Despite this, CBS decided to cancel the series as part of The Rural Purge.
This series provides examples of:
- The Bus Came Back:
- Barney Fife returns to be the best man at Andy and Helen's wedding in the first episode.
- Andy himself returns in several other episodes, while Helen joins him for "Andy's Baby" in season 2.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
- Neither Sam or Mike appear or get mentioned in the TAGS reunion movie Return to Mayberry. Neither does Andy and Helen's son Andy Jr., who's born in this show's "Andy's Baby" episode.
- Lethal Chef: Sam
- Missing Mom: Like Andy Taylor, Sam Jones is a widower.
- Moment Killer: Barney accompanies Andy and Helen on their honeymoon.
- Spinoff Sendoff: Andy and Opie Taylor, Helen Crump, and Barney Fife appear in the first episode.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
- Sam and Mike essentially fill the role of Andy and Opie from TAGS (even going so far as having Aunt Bee as their housekeeper).
- In the third season, Sam's cousin Alice replaces Aunt Bee as the Jones' housekeeper.
