In reality, Griffith broke it while punching a wall. In season 2, he wears bandages and says he was hurt arresting some criminals. Sheriff Taylor hurt his arm too, but for a totally different reason. The whole series, it stays right on February. You’ll notice Floyd doesn’t move his left hand. So they made him a special stool and he could casually lean when needed, but most of the time he was seen sitting, usually outside of the barbershop. During the series, McNear suffered a massive stroke and had complications with his arms, and even trouble standing. But The Andy Griffith Show presented some unique challenges. There’s something about Floyd… ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, Howard McNear, Andy Griffith, 1960-1968 / Everett Collectionįloyd Lawson became one of Howard McNear’s most famous roles, next are his early ’60s Elvis flicks… Blue Hawaii and Follow That Dream. Griffith proposed a back-and-forth taping in front of a live audience and recording that laughter, then adding it to the broadcast, but it was deemed too difficult and costly. Andy also had thoughts on the three-camera setup. Part of this came Don Knotts, who had just come from the downfall of The Steve Allen Show and he apparently told Griffith that he believed the fall was correlated to the laugh track.
A sheriff is a county employee while a mayor is a local town official. Griffith’s big hangup was that a mayor couldn’t have been Taylor’s boss. Leonard pushed for the inclusion of Mayor Pike – later Mayor Stone – as Sheriff Taylor’s boss. If he had it his way, there wouldn’t be a mayor. photo: Richard Hewett/TV Guide/courtesy Everett CollectionĪndy Griffith sure had a lot of power, but there were some big points of disagreement. The Art of Compromise THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, Don Knotts, Ron Howard, Andy Griffith, 1960-68. That’s a direct tribute to Griffith’s own father, who did that same gesture to say “Good job!” Filming this iconic intro took place at Franklin Canyon Park in Los Angeles, but Mayberry itself was inspired by Mt. So, they had a prop guy toss one at the same time for that big splash.Īnd Andy’s little nod of approval. Because whenever little Ron threw his stone, it always landed on…well, land. And if you chuck a rock into the lake, you’ve already done more than Opie. Nothing seems more idyllic as a father and son strolling along a lakeshore throwing rocks into the water. Hewett/TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection
They don’t come up in the show, but Griffith himself recorded the words, and now it’s online for us all to enjoy! Lakeside Living THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, Ron Howard, on set, (September 1962), 1960-68. He earned enough street cred to make Broadway musicals into movies and got to collaborate with the John Williams, who basically wrote every film score of all time, I think – can we check that? Yeah, that’s true.Īnd “The Fishin’ Hole” was a tune we could all recite, even without lyrics. Spencer worked with Hagen on The Danny Thomas Show, but composing “The Fishin’ Hole” was quite the breakout opportunity. He would also co-write the theme for the western comedy Rango.
Hagen’s credits include favorites like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mod Squad, and I Spy. But did you know the song actually has a name: aptly titled “The Fishin’ Hole”, composed by Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer.
The Andy Griffith theme knew how to get us to stick around.