Classic 1960's TV: 1968 CBS-TV "Mayberry R.F.D." Promo Spot

[fromthesidelines]

Incidentally, the late Art Gilmore was the announcer in this promo...

[luno44]

what a boring promo

[FaerieCrone]

@luno44 Agreed. It's a yawnfest.

[ftsjr]

I loved the Andy Griffith Show, but only for the years that Don Knotts was on it. When he left, and the series went to color (from black & white), it seemed to lose something. And I never warmed up to Emmet, of the fix-it shop.

[68lincoln]

I watched both The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD when I was a kid growing up in the 1960s/70s. The Andy Griffith Show is my all time favorite tv program and I kind of like Mayberry RFD in the first season 1968-69..is that the season when Andy finally marries Helen? Also, the sign in tis video says Mayberry population 5,300 but in a 1962 episode of TAGS Andy mentions the town having 2,000 people. I guess Mayberry really grew in a few years!

[fromthesidelines]

I wouldn't say "MAYBERRY R.F.D." was "boring". It followed the same path Andy's series did- gentle humor, with dramatic conflicts and great character studies stirred in....and situations everybody could identify with. What more could you ask for?

[steveb802000]

Mayberry RFD was a great spin-off! Even though he had big shoes to fill, Ken Berry did a good job.

[DocWyoming]

Ken Berry = Kiss of death for a sitcom

[reprobacious]

@DocWyoming Huh? I'll admit Mama's Family would halve the IQ of any viewer every 2 minutes, but F-Troop was one of the best shows ever.

[vividwatch47]

This is from C.B.S.' 1968 Fall Preview.

[kingmackattack42]

Does RFD in this title stand for Rural Free Delivery? Or what?

[LKKruse]

Yes, it does.

[kingmackattack42]

Thanks for the confirm.

[lrd9999]

@kingmackattack42 I believe that was the idea. RFD routes are the ones on which the houses are far enough from the street or each other that mailboxes are required to be on the side of the road, so you wouldn't expect it to apply to a whole town. But it emphasized the rural atmosphere of the show. Unfortunately, with Ken Berry as the leading man, it also stood for "Really F***ing Dull". Taking place in 1968-1970, it was also a rouges gallery of bad haircuts. Andy Griffith was sorely missed.

[kingmackattack42]

@lrd9999 I agree and thanks for the laugh!

[jsilence418]

Show looks like a big snooze, andy griffith was funny however.

[comet1952]

What ever happened to Opie? If Aunt Bee was in this show, where were Andy and Opie?

[CadillacL]

Andy & Helen got married in the last episode of Andy Griffith/Pilot of Maberry RFD. Aunt Bea stayed.

[LKKruse]

Andy, Opie and Helen moved to Raleigh. The reason Andy was talked back into doing an eighth season on The Andy Griffith Show was the guarantee that it would be his last. That's when the idea about Sam Jones got involved in the show.

[mcfrdmn]

Haven't seen this show in years

[jed6271]

There was truly the "illusion" that Andy was still there in Mayberry until early in season 2. When he left RFD for good, Andy Griffith was given the shot at two new shows by CBS, "Headmaster" (fall 1970) and then, when that failed, CBS tried "The New Andy Griffith Show", which oddly referenced TAGS in a few odd ways but with a new cast (except for Goober, Emmett, and "Barney" in episode 1). I remember it's premier in early 1971, and was confused as a 9-year old kid what it was supposed to be.

[fromthesidelines]

Yes, this promo seemed to suggest Andy is more involved with "MAYBERRY R.F.D." that he actually was, 'garrison', but viewers accepted Ken Berry as the new "star" of the series, along with the strong supporting cast, and the show was virtually as popular as Andy's was (it could have continued for at least FIVE seasons if CBS hadn't been so eager to erase its "rural image", and eliminate virtually every series like it from their schedule in 1971).

[3dartistguy]

MAYBERRY RFD WAS BORING. In fact, the color seasons of ANDY were boring. It was the wild,eccentric,loopy chracters like Barney, the Darlings and Earnest T that kept the show exciting. Barney shuld have never left the series as he was the lieblood of that show. without him, the show just died of neglect.

[fromthesidelines]

Andy was "itchin'" to leave his own series as early as 1965, but CBS and sponsor General Foods insisted he stay on for several more seasons. By 1968, he got the idea that the show COULD continue without him, IF he got the right "leading man" to front it. He found Ken Berry, introduced "Sam Jones" in the last episodes of his series, and co-produced the "follow-up", occasionally appearing as "Andy Taylor" during the first two seasons, which was how he wanted it- and everyone involved was happy.

[joebradio]

wow ! I never knew the population of Mayberry until I saw this clip... but I'm sure that's trivia that's old hat to the TAGS faithful..

[garrisonskunk]

Isn't it a bit misleading to feature Andy Griffith so blaintently? Wasn't he only in the pilot of "Mayberry R.F.D."?

[vividwatch47]

@garrisonskunk, he was in the first three epsiodes, then was gone from Mayberry for good.