The Return Of Mayberry: veterans return for CBS reunion

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/17/television.mayberry.reut/index.html From Reuters:



LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts and Jim Nabors will take a sentimental journey back to the fictional town of Mayberry next month in a CBS reunion special 35 years after the "Andy Griffith Show" ended its run.

Griffith, 77, who starred as the affable, folksy sheriff and widowed father, Andy Taylor, will host and narrate the one-hour special, slated for November 11, shot on a replica of the courthouse set that appeared in the classic comedy series.

He will be joined by former co-stars Howard, 49, who played his red-haired son, Opie; Knotts, 79, who portrayed Andy's bumbling deputy Barney Fife; and Nabors, 73, the naive but lovable gas station attendant at Wally's filling station.

The special will feature the four veterans reminiscing about the series, highlights from the show, and separate interviews with other surviving cast members, including George Lindsay (Goober) and Betty Lynn (Barney's girlfriend, Thelma Lou).

Griffith and Howard also will return to the spot in the Hollywood Hills where the famous "fishin' hole walk" from the show's original opening sequence was shot. Their re-creation of the segment will be intercut with the original footage, with the grown-up Howard throwing a rock in time with his 6-year-old self.

Set in the small, sleepy town of Mayberry, North Carolina, the homespun situation comedy debuted in 1960 and ran for eight seasons, until Griffith left the show in 1968, leaving the supporting cast to carry on with a new star, Ken Berry, in the retitled series "Mayberry R.F.D."

A nostalgic reunion of the original cast members -- the made-for-TV film "Return to Mayberry" -- aired in April 1986 and was the highest-rated movie that season.

Griffith went on to star as a canny defense lawyer in the long-running 1980s-'90s murder myster drama "Matlock." Knotts quit "The Andy Griffith Show" in 1965 to host his own variety series and later appeared for five years on the sitcom "Three's Company," playing landlord Ralph Furley. He later became a regular on "Matlock."

Nabors, who joined "The Andy Griffith Show" in 1963, left Mayberry after a year and a half to join the Marines as the star of his own spinoff, "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C."

Howard has had perhaps the most storied post-Mayberry career. He appeared as a child actor in such films as "The Music Man" and "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" before landing a starring role a decade later as a teenager in George Lucas' landmark film "American Graffiti." That role led in turn to his signature portrayal of all-American teenager Richie Cunningham in the long-running ABC comedy "Happy Days."

Howard later segued into a career as a filmmaker, directing such box office hits as "Splash," "Cocoon," "Apollo 13" and the Oscar-winning drama "A Beautiful Mind."

Reruns of "The Andy Griffith Show" currently air on TVLand.

 

They are wheeling out these old fogies for another reunion? This will be right up there on my viewing list with the Murder She Wrote reunions.



Sorry for the thread crap.

 

Got to hand it to Andy Griffith though. He still racks up gold albums and works his butt off.

 

My wife and I have a running joke between ourselves. One of us will try to whistle the theme to the AG Show in front of the other - after many years neither of us can do it without cracking up

 

I saw an interview with Ron Howard, who credited his success as a director to Andy Griffith. He said that Andy had a great work ethic, that he made sure everyone working on HIS show understood that they were priveleged to be working steadily on a hit show, and that they should all pitch in and make that extra effort. Ron said that today, he tries to convey that to his people. Seems to be right!!!!

 

Any Broadcast date available for this?! We don't get CBS by antenna here so I'm going to have to get this recorded for me by a friend
Thanks...

 

According to the Reuters article, this one is scheduled for November 11th.
I'll be watching! I'm a fool for anything relating to the Andy Griffith Show. (Even my dog is named Mayberry.)

Anyone every been to Mt. Airy N.C.? (Andy's hometown). It's the real life Mayberry. If you go, you must try a pork chop sandwich at Snappy's Lunch.
A little piece of heaven on a paper plate! The old Mayberry jail is a letdown but the Andy Griffith museum has some nice memorabilia.

 

Thanks Mike, Me too! I have the 16 Public domain shows on DVD
Why is the Mayberry Jail a letdown? We need season Box Sets!

 

The "Mayberry Jail" in Mt. Airy is nothing like the jail on the show. It's an old beat up series of cells that are very dirty (and smell like er....Otis didn't make it to the chamber pot (sorry but it's true!). If you skip that and go to Wally's Service Station for a pop, down to Snappy's for a pork chop sandwich and over to the Andy Griffith museum, it's a great trip. Andy modeled the TV version of the town much like the town he grew up in. Mt. Pilot is only a few miles away, just like Mayberry, though I didn't go over there to see if they have a chinese restaurant like the town on the show.
Mt. Airy is sort of "touristy" but it's as close to a real life Mayberry as you will find.

 

Mike, I'd love to make the trip one day Just think, The Andy Griffith Show started out as a bit on the Danny Thomas Show! What a success story Just kicking back and watching an AGS episode puts me in a wonderful place