The Andy Griffith Show is coming to DVD--Finally! (Review)

IGN.com ^ | 11012-2004 | Steve Butts

[silent_jonny]

November 12, 2004 - You can't grow up in North Carolina without being subjected to endless reruns of The Andy Griffith Show. Though the show was a bit harder to find once I moved to San Francisco, I still made a point of seeking out the reruns wherever I could find them. The nostalgic show, produced by Sheldon Leonard and Danny Thomas, looks back to an idealized time and place that never really existed. The popularity of the show lasted a full eight seasons and it was, along with I Love Lucy and Seinfeld, one of the few shows to ever end its run while still at the top of the Nielsen ratings. Though the show has thrived in syndication ever since it went off the air (or morphed into the decidedly unfunny Mayberry R.F.D.), fans have long been waiting for a comprehensive DVD version of the show. Thankfully, Paramount has finally consented to release the entire first season in a remastered DVD format, available November 16.

[TontoKowalski]

Warren. That was his name. Pitiful compared to Barney.

[SoCal Pubbie]

I have several 1950's episodes of Dragnet on DVD. The original version was much more hard boiled than the 60's stuff I grew up on.

[silent_jonny]

Andy and Howard Sprague go out drinking? That's quite a trick, seeing as how Howard died over ten years ago.

[small voice in the wilderness]

"Dogs. Nothing but dogs. If you flew a quail in, ever woman in here would point."

[TontoKowalski]

Bobbi Joe was smokin hot!

All the sisters were good looking, but she was a boyhood fantasy.

I think Petticoat Junction was a spin off of Green Acres, but I can't be sure. Come to think of it, it might have been Beverly Hillbillies.

[Mjaye]

Thelma Lou was a cheap tart. Andy laid more pipe in that town than Waubesha Plumbing.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Thelma Lou was Barney's girl, as I recall, and Helen Crump was Andy's.

[Cloud William]

Tons of innuendo in that show, too. Hooterville? LOL! Lots of curves, you bet.

[Mjaye]

I picked up the "Dukes of Hazzard -- Season 1" DVD set last weekend. They don't make TV shows like they used to.<<<<<<<<<<<

One of my favorite theme songs, some good music to drive to!

[Enlightiator]

My kids have all grown up watching re-runs of the Andy Griffth show, so you're not alone. We still watch them!

[silent_jonny]

I think Petticoat Junction was a spin off of Green Acres, but I can't be sure. Come to think of it, it might have been Beverly Hillbillies.

You're right--PJ was a spin-off of GA. But all three shows were created by the same person.

[asgardshill]

Thelma Lou was Barney's girl, as I recall, and Helen Crump was Andy's.

You're right of course. I haven't seen that show in years - I might have to invest in this DVD set.

[TontoKowalski]

I was almost certain that it was GA, but I recall an episode where the Clampett's and associated bankers all went to Hooterville at Christmastime. So that's where I thought those shows were linked.

Of course, the Ma on PJ and Jethro/Jethrine's mother on BH were the same actress... Bernadette something, I think.

[BallparkBoys]

You are quite correct. Ok, how about they USED to go out drinking.. :) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0230284/
.
As I said, this was rumor, but its what I heard....

[Commie Basher]

There was definitely a Petticoat Junction--Green Acres connection. I'm not sure about Beverly Hillbillies.

My boyhood fantasy was The Bionic Woman. I much preferred Lindsay Wagner even to Kate Jackson, my favorite Charlie's Angel.

[silent_jonny]

Pearl Bodine!

[silent_jonny]

You were right about Aunt Bea--the old lady was a nut. She also left a chunk of her money to her "hired man" that lived in the house with her and her many, many cats (cue Psycho music).

[Keyes2000mt]

I have several 1950's episodes of Dragnet on DVD. The original version was much more hard boiled than the 60's stuff I grew up on. --Yeah, I've got a total of 15 episodes '50s episodes on 3 DVDs. As someone mentioned earlier regarding Andy Griffith, the current DVDs are only of public domain episodes. I have to say they are amazingly good. "The Big Break" was a classic IMHO. I'd like to see all the episodes from the '50s and the '60s on DVD some day, but in PC Hollywood that may be too much to hope for. BTW, worst DVD so far on Dragnet was the the Digiview one. 2 of the 3 episodes, I'd seen nowhere else, but they replaced the classic theme with some awful sounding junk.

[Enlightiator]

My brother is a private pilot and he loves to fly into Mt. Airy (Andy's real hometown and the inspiration for Mayberry) every once in a while to eat at Snappy's Lunch. My son and I just flew there with him last weekend, and we had the "world famous" porkchop sandwich at Snappy's Lunch - it was great! The Mt. Airy airport was great, the guy running the place loaned us his truck to drive into town - hows that for friendliness and trust? (Of course, we left our airplane, lol.) As usual, there was a line, but we got there around 11:30AM and the wait wasn't long at all.

I am told that Snappy's was mentioned on one episode of Andy Griffith. I also bought a 4 DVD (16 episode) set of Any Griffith show across the street, they were taking orders for the new set you posted about. The set I got has some good episodes, but the quality isn't very good. The review you posted rated the video quality of the new set at 7 out of 10, and the writeup sounds like it should be better than what I have. I will probably buy it at some point. Thanks for the post!

[silent_jonny]

You're very welcome.

[Mjaye]

Floyd suffered a stroke midway through the series<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

I believe he lost the use of an arm, as well, so I'm trying to recall how he faked cutting hair. His speech was somewhat slower after the stroke. What a bunch of great folks were on this show, all of them.