Was The Andy Griffith show always intended to be nostalgic?
September 9, 2022 7:58 AM Subscribe
We visited some older relatives recently, and they were watching this show. I remember seeing reruns when I was growing up and always thought it looked like a period piece set in some mythical recent past.
It occurred to me though, that at the time, it might have been a contemporary show, just with an idealized presentation of small town life. Is that true? Would the audience at the time see it as something happening right now?
It occurred to me though, that at the time, it might have been a contemporary show, just with an idealized presentation of small town life. Is that true? Would the audience at the time see it as something happening right now?
Best answer: In this interview from 1996, Don Knotts & Andy Griffith talk about how "even if we shot it in the 60s, it had a feeling of the 30s. It was - when we were doing it - of a time gone by."
They start talking about it at the 1 minute mark.
posted by mhoye at 8:15 AM on September 9, 2022 [16 favorites]
They start talking about it at the 1 minute mark.
posted by mhoye at 8:15 AM on September 9, 2022 [16 favorites]
Best answer: So as not to abuse the edit window -- it's of course an extremely, extremely WHITE sense of the South. Erasure of anyone not white is near-total in that show. I hate to call that "idealized," but I grew up in Raleigh, and... yeah, for a fair few white folks the total absence of people of color sure was the ideal.
(I am white, by the way.)
posted by humbug at 8:17 AM on September 9, 2022 [6 favorites]
(I am white, by the way.)
posted by humbug at 8:17 AM on September 9, 2022 [6 favorites]
I'm old enough to remember it in prime time, and I'd say it was idealized, but I never thought of it as set in the past. And I wouldn't call it more idealized than something like Leave it to Beaver or My Three Sons (nor more white).
It was a spinoff of the Danny Thomas Show. In the episode in which it was introduced, Danny Thomas runs a stop sign in Mayberry and refuses to pay the fine. He is arrested by Andy Griffith and ends up in jail (with some jokes about small town corruption - when Danny wants to take the issue to higher ups, he discovers that Andy is also the justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper). Danny eventually comes around to seeing Andy as a good guy, especially after watching him with Opie. So it's basically an episode where the angry big city guy sees the good in idealized small town life.
You can see the episode here.
posted by FencingGal at 9:01 AM on September 9, 2022 [6 favorites]
It was a spinoff of the Danny Thomas Show. In the episode in which it was introduced, Danny Thomas runs a stop sign in Mayberry and refuses to pay the fine. He is arrested by Andy Griffith and ends up in jail (with some jokes about small town corruption - when Danny wants to take the issue to higher ups, he discovers that Andy is also the justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper). Danny eventually comes around to seeing Andy as a good guy, especially after watching him with Opie. So it's basically an episode where the angry big city guy sees the good in idealized small town life.
You can see the episode here.
posted by FencingGal at 9:01 AM on September 9, 2022 [6 favorites]
The Andy Griffith Show was produced contemporaneously with the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassination, the passing of the Civil Rights Act, the Selma marches, the Summer of Love, the introduction of the Pill, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Aretha's Respect, and the switch from B&W to color TV.
The best comparison might be to Norman Rockwell, who was still popular in the '60s for painting sentimental scenes that were immediately recognizable as "small town American life" but could in no way be considered reflective of American society as a whole.
posted by eschatfische at 9:03 AM on September 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
The best comparison might be to Norman Rockwell, who was still popular in the '60s for painting sentimental scenes that were immediately recognizable as "small town American life" but could in no way be considered reflective of American society as a whole.
posted by eschatfische at 9:03 AM on September 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Ted Koppel did a segment for CBS that may be of interest. Text version here.
posted by gudrun at 9:31 AM on September 9, 2022
posted by gudrun at 9:31 AM on September 9, 2022
The Andy Griffith Show was produced contemporaneously with the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassination, the passing of the Civil Rights Act, the Selma marches, the Summer of Love, the introduction of the Pill, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Aretha's Respect, and the switch from B&W to color TV.
And the sitcoms of the time were a break from all that. They did not get serious until MASH in the 70s. I'm not saying it was realistic, just that it was like every other sitcom of its era. (See also Gomer Pyle USMC, which ran during the height of the Vietnam War and was even supposed to be about marines.)
posted by FencingGal at 10:07 AM on September 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
And the sitcoms of the time were a break from all that. They did not get serious until MASH in the 70s. I'm not saying it was realistic, just that it was like every other sitcom of its era. (See also Gomer Pyle USMC, which ran during the height of the Vietnam War and was even supposed to be about marines.)
posted by FencingGal at 10:07 AM on September 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Ted Koppel did a segment for CBS that may be of interest. Text version here.
Relatedly, a WaPo article on the impact and reaction to that piece.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:26 PM on September 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
Relatedly, a WaPo article on the impact and reaction to that piece.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:26 PM on September 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
During the 60s Rockwell created Southern Justice (about the Goodman, Cheney and Schwerner murders), The Problem We All Live with (about Ruby Bridges...CW: N word) and New Kids in the Neighborhood, about a black family moving to a previously all white one.
posted by brujita at 11:41 AM on September 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by brujita at 11:41 AM on September 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I think in part you have to compare the show to other TV representations of the South and Southerners -- Dukes of Hazzard, for example. Compared to that stereotyped garbage, yes, the show is a good deal more naturalistic, despite Don Knotts's incessant annoying mugging.
posted by humbug at 8:14 AM on September 9, 2022