The New Andy Griffith Show

The New Andy Griffith Show
Andy Griffith and Lee Meriwether, 1971.
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Aaron Ruben
Written by	James Fritzell Everett Greenbaum Aaron Ruben
Directed by	Lee Philips
Starring	Andy Griffith Lee Meriwether Ann Morgan Guilbert Lori Rutherford Marty McCall
Composer(s)	Earle Hagen
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producer(s)	Richard O. Linke
Producer(s)	Aaron Ruben
Cinematography	Wilfred M. Cline
Editor(s)	James Galloway
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production company(s)	ADA Productions
Release
Original network	CBS
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	January 8 (1971-01-08) – May 21, 1971 (1971-05-21)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

The New Andy Griffith Show is an American situation comedy that was broadcast in the United States on CBS in 1971 on Fridays at 8:30 EST.

History

Actor Andy Griffith had left his first sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show, voluntarily after the 1967-68 season while it was still number one in the Nielsen ratings and despite a high-dollar offer from CBS to continue it, in order to pursue his other interests, singing and motion picture acting, and to prevent his being typecast solely as a rural Southern sheriff.

When he decided to return to network television two years later, in the fall of 1970, it was in Headmaster, a drama, in which he played the headmaster of an exclusive Californian private school. When that program very quickly sank in the ratings, Griffith replaced it immediately with this one, which was much closer in tone and content to his earlier, more successful role, and this program replaced Headmaster on the CBS Friday night schedule effective January 8, 1971.

Synopsis

This time the setting was a mid-sized North Carolina town called Greenwood (pop. 12,785, ten times the number of people that lived in Mayberry), with Griffith portraying Andy Sawyer, a returning hometown boy who instantly becomes the town's new Mayor pro tem.

Andy Sawyer was the model family man, always agreeable and understanding, spending lots of quality time with his children.

Lee Meriwether was cast as Andy's wife.

Marty McCall and Lori Rutherford were seen as Griffith's children, T.J. and Lori, and Ann Morgan Guilbert was Lee's sister Nora, a live-in relative. Nora was constantly complaining, neurotic, meddling and superstitious..

Rotund country comic Glen Ash was cast as town councilman Buff McKnight.

Reception

Despite a successful premiere and its greater similarity to his earlier, successful role and series, The New Andy Griffith Show was little more successful than Headmaster had been. In fact, after 10 first-run episodes of The New Andy Griffith Show had been exhausted (the last first-run episode airing March 12, 1971, with repeats through May 21, 1971), CBS chose to rerun Headmaster during the summer instead. CBS was in the process of overhauling its image to appeal to wealthier, more sophisticated audiences and no longer had interest in rural-oriented shows.

Episode list

Episode #	Episode title	Original airdate
1-1	"My Friend, the Mayor" (pilot)	January 8, 1971
1-2	"Get Me Glen Campbell"	January 15, 1971
1-3	"Berries, T.J. and the Law"	January 22, 1971
1-4	"Town Square"	January 29, 1971
1-5	"Nearly Nuptials For Nora"	February 5, 1971
1-6	"Otis Burfoot Is A Hundred Years Old"	February 12, 1971
1-7	"Big Noise, Small Claims"	February 19, 1971
1-8	"The Connection"	February 26, 1971
1-9	"The Millionth Vistor Is A Bum- Or Is He?"	March 5, 1971
1-10	"A Visit From Cousin Billy Jim"	March 12, 1971

References

• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows
• Leszczak, Bob, Single Season Sitcoms, 1948-1979: A Complete Guide (McFarland Publishing, 2012), ISBN 978-0786493050, p. 137. Excerpts available at Google Books.
• http://www.tvparty.com/newandy4.html

External links

• The New Andy Griffith Show at IMDb
• The New Andy Griffith Show at TV.com