#Mayberry andy griffith movie#
#Mayberry andy griffith series#
#Mayberry andy griffith tv#

#Mayberry andy griffith series#

Starring producer and actor Danny Thomas, the series focused on entertainer Danny Williams and his family.

#Mayberry andy griffith tv#

Actors Andy Griffith and Don Knotts in a scene from ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ | CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ began on another TV showĪndy Griffith’s show began in 1960 on a completely different program, The Danny Thomas Show.

Here’s how the still-popular program starring Griffith and Don Knotts concluded. Starting out in black-and-white film, by 1965 the show went full-color and had changed significantly. Visit to read more of local travel writer Debi Lander’s stories and travel tips.The classic comedy The Andy Griffith Show ran for eight years on CBS, beginning in 1960. A getaway to the area featuring mountains, bluegrass music, Mayberry, and Merlot makes a budget-friendly but memorable escape. Pilot? Actual Pilot Mountain State Park, nearby, invites a drive to the top and a hike around “the Knob.” Views of the Yadkin Valley, a booming wine region, are spectacular. The Mayberry Motor Inn dedicates a room to the late Frances Bavier - “Aunt Bee.” A window inside the inn provides the portal to the “warm and fuzzy” she brought to every situation. I found his tour a hoot, and not just for the generous moonshine tastings. Other sites of note include the Mayberry Distillery, run by Van McCoy, surprisingly a retired monk and another hometown boy. They spend hours in the museum, which the less dedicated can do in 45 – 60 minutes. Rerun Fan Club members descend upon Mount Airy each September for Mayberry Days to celebrate the down-home town and show. The museum memorializes Andy’s career from his early radio days to his role as Matlock in a 1986 – 95 television series Iconic signs from the show’s courthouse doors read “Sheriff” and “Justice of the Peace” and the original items from Sheriff Taylor’s office remain on display, with video clips as background. The inside features original cast costumes and set props. It’ll get you whistling the show’s theme song. A bronze statue of Andy and Opie heading for the fishing hole stands outside. The Andy Griffith Museum offers a small gem packed with memorabilia. I still recall the nervous, ineffective antics of Don Knotts as Barney Fife, girlfriend Thelma Lou, Floyd the barber, and, of course, Goober and Gomer Pyle, the mechanics.

#Mayberry andy griffith movie#

Don’t count the years, but Baby Boomers like me grew up with Opie - Andy’s son on the show, played by Ron Howard, who left Mayberry behind to become an acclaimed movie director and producer. Like Otis, you can lock yourself in.įloating in Mayberry’s easy atmosphere took me all the way back to childhood.

The two memorable jail cells (town drunk Otis’s home away from home) still stand across from the room. Visitors can sit behind Andy’s desk, type on the vintage typewriter, and pretend to place phone calls through the operator. Wally’s stands next to a replica of the Mayberry Courthouse. Jumping out of the squad car, a bit less fidgety that Deputy Fife, brings you to photo-worthy Wally’s Service Station, built in 1937. Forrest returned the favor with the town highlight, the Andy Griffith Museum.Īllen relays bits of history about the town and its famous landmark, the world’s largest open-face granite quarry that still operates today. Griffith kept a lifelong friendship with childhood pal Emmett Forrest. His parents lived there until Andy moved them to Hollywood. The childhood home of Griffith, a small, one-story bungalow is available as an overnight rental.