dickie-cox

The Andy Griffith Show is considered by so many to be one of the finest examples of classic American television for many reasons, but there are basically three and one of them stands out again and again. That one reason is love. Human beings devote the majority of their time, effort, literature, conversation, thought, actions, intentions, in short, their lives to it with a few moments, in the grand scheme of things, spent in other endeavors. The town of Mayberry is the place where ideally, emotionally anyway, we would all like to live and the reason is that all of these people cared deeply for one another. They were willing to put aside all of the everyday concerns, personal comforts, monetary, personal or professional advancements to be of benefit to the others because they knew, without a doubt, that the others would do the same for them, if necessary. They all chose to really live by the Golden Rule and because they did, they were all the better off for it. It was the kind of devotion that we all constantly search for from others in our real lives. Not that there wasn't conflict for without it, as any good writer will tell you, there is no story and without a story, there is nothing to hold an audiences interest. Which brings us to the second ingredient in the success of the series. Writing. The comedy and drama which held our interest came from characters which had depth and substance, not just a bunch of shallow characters spouting bad jokes and one-liners at each other. All of these situations in which the good people of Mayberry found themselves were ones in which we have intimate knowledge. Falling asleep in church, being in too much of a hurry to stop and smell the roses, being put upon by outsiders which we were too polite to reprimand, trying to save face by bluffing our way through situations in which we were ignorant of the facts, putting up with well intentioned drunks, trying to provide a good example to children when we were really inclined to go with our baser instincts, being caught in situations which made us look guilty as sin when really, we weren't. We have all been there and that's why we find it so funny or sympathetic to see others in the same situation. Which brings us to the third ingredient in the success of the series. A talented cast. If a show is lucky, it may get by on one of these ingredients. If it is very lucky, it will have two. The Andy Griffith Show was fortunate in the extreme. It had the best comedy writers in town and they knew how to write portraying the Golden Rule and showing the characters always trying (though not always succeeding!) to do the right thing and the entire cast were all perfect for the characters which they portrayed. The show was never out of the top ten during it's entire eight year run and was number one in the ratings when it ended and was spun off into Mayberry R.F.D. There is a reason for this and anyone watching the entire series will see why for themselves. No one will have to explain it to them and that in itself is reason enough to call it great.