The Andy Griffith Show | |
---|---|
Opening sequence including
"The Fishin' Hole" |
|
Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | Sheldon Leonard |
Starring |
Andy Griffith Ronny Howard Don Knotts Frances Bavier |
Theme music composer | Earle Hagen and Herbert W. Spencer |
Opening theme | "The Fishin' Hole" |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 249 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Sheldon Leonard Danny Thomas |
Location(s) |
Desilu Culver (1960–67) Paramount Studios (1967–68) |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 25–26 minutes |
Production company(s) |
Danny Thomas Enterprises Mayberry Enterprises |
Distributor | CBS Films (before 1971) Viacom Enterprises (1971–95) Paramount Domestic Television (1995–2006) CBS Paramount Domestic Television (2006–07) CBS Television Distribution (2007–present) |
Release | |
Original network | CBS |
Picture format |
Black-and-white (1960–65) Color (1965–68) |
Audio format | Monaural |
Original release | October 3, 1960 | – April 1, 1968
Chronology | |
Followed by | Mayberry R.F.D. |
Related shows |
The Danny Thomas Show Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. |
The Andy Griffith Show is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from October 3, 1960 to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning over eight seasons, first in black-and-white and then in color, which partially originated from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show. It stars Andy Griffith, who portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), a spinster aunt and housekeeper, and Opie (Ron Howard), a precocious young son. Eccentric townspeople and temperamental girlfriends complete the cast. Regarding the tone of the show, Griffith said that despite a contemporary setting, the show evoked nostalgia, stating in a Today Show interview: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the 1960s, it had a feeling of the 1930s. It was, when we were doing it, of a time gone by."
The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. On separate occasions, it has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best and 13th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The series spawned its own spin-off, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964), a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D. (1968), and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry (1986). Reruns of the show are often aired on TV Land, MeTV, and SundanceTV, while the complete series is available on DVD. The show has also been made available on streaming video services such as Netflix. An annual festival celebrating the show, Mayberry Days, is held each year in Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina.