Watching "Andy Griffith Show Reunion" tonight?

[Faygo Kid]

Always watched it as a kid, and still watch it (black and white Barney episodes only, please). No blacks, no political angst, certainly not perfect. But some essential truths about human nature, and a warm sense of humor, keep the show humming 43 years after its debut. Flame me if you want, but I will take it over the crap that airs today (Fear Factor, etc.). CBS, 8 p.m.

[Liberal_Andy]

1. I'm watching it right now (a rerun)

It's been on at 5:30 in the afternoon as long as I can remember.

Best show ever!

LA

[MrBenchley]

2. I will....

Griffith is/was a pretty good actor...ever see "Face in the Crowd"?

And you're right...it was better than most of what airs today...

[Faygo Kid]

3. "Pray for the Wildcats"

I think that was the name of a made for TV movie from the '70s, in which he was chilling. He was a good actor, and could play some really bad dudes - like one of my favorite TV dads, Fred MacMurray, a VASTLY underrated actor (see, "Double Indemnity," "The Caine Mutiny" and "The Apartment."). Looks like not many responses coming to this thread. Guess I am a little old for DU.

[mlawson]

4. Dems tried to get Andy to run against jesse helms in 1984,

but he didn't want to play in the gutter with jesse. The story was, that Griffith's son had some sort of susbstance abuse problem, and he knew that helms' machine would run the boy through the wringer.

But he could have beaten helms!! Imagine what a great senator Andy would have been!!!

[Skittles]

5. ABSOLUTELY

:thumbsup:

[Sequoia]

6. Hooray!

I like the b&w when Barney was in it. Those two were so great together and yes "A Face in the Crowd" was a really great movie. I like the part near the end when he was getting out of control and he kept playing the appaluse button. Chilling really. He was also in "No Time for Sargents" and I remember seeing him in one of those made for TV movies where he was an evil judge. That man can really act and when he came out with a gospel album a few years back I told my husband we should get it and he laughed. My favorite episodes were when the Darlings came down from the hills to sit around and jam with Andy, and rock-throwing Ernest T.

[Piperay]

7. POSITIVELY...

I'm watching, I always LOVED :loveya: that show. :-)

[Zomby Woof]

8. yes

Don Knotts is comic genius. Barney Fife is one of the greatest comic characters in TV history, bar none.

I saw a rerun of the show with Jack Nicholson in it, before he was well-known!!! He played it so straight! I am a sucker for reunion/nostalgia shows, and Andy Griffith was one of the best, so it deserves a look.

True Story: Andy Griffith was a family friend of some neighbors of ours back in VA. He and his family would visit for a couple of days each summer, and we spotted him at the local Sears store - this was 1974 I believe. He was cussing his daughter out over the purchase of a sofa. I am not sure whether to be disillusioned or not, but I guess we can all piss off our parents once in a while. :o :-)

[Elidor]

11. Funny you should mention that

A friend of mine related the story of a fellow actor who worked with Mr. Griffith once. Supposedly he was a huge asshole to most of the people around him. Insufferable. I was almost stricken at the thought of Uncle Andy being a jerk. There were other things said that I won't go into.

I still love the show, but you can't go home again. And Mayberry never existed. It's a whitewash of small-town America, without all the ugliness inherent to the scenario. I'd love to live there, but it's bogus, unreal. I find it insidious and unsettling, an unintentional, ironic parody of itself.

[Liberal_Andy]

9. Well, I taped it,and I'm glad...

I did! I thought it was very well done. Andy and Don and Ron remembering eight great years.

[linazelle]

10. I loved it

Watched with my mom. She asked me if I realized how many people we actually knew like that. I was born in a very small town in southern Virginia (one high school, one post office, one jail, one elementary school) and it was soooo Andy Griffith.

I love that show because it was just plain heartwarming and because I can personally identify with it. A classic.