Andy Griffith Show

With Barney Fife: excellent; after Barney left: not nearly so good

those were the days

Creative and entertaining even today. Andy is able to read people in a way that enables him to manipulate events and see how things will work out. An amazing cast along with a somewhat realistic story line. Barney makes me giggle!

These slow talking hicks just left me cold. They weren't funny when I was watching it occasionally as a kid when it was first on, and it hasn't improved with age on the few times I've seen it since. I'll say one think in its favor. Andy Griffith is better in this than he was in that damned "Matlock" abomination....

I get the feeling that "The Andy Griffith Show" hasn't aged well. My parents, as well as many other people their age and older, love the show, and will still sit down and watch several episodes back to back. I just don't understand why, but there must be something about it that appeals to that generation. I'll admit it has it's moments, and occasionally some of the Andy Griffith and Don Knotts stuff will be hilarious, but for the most part it's slow, somewhat boring, and rather formulaic. Of course it is an old enough show that there is a chance that it created the formula. For whatever the reason, I can watch an episode with my parents, but if there's an Andy Griffith marathon on, I'll go do something else when the second one starts.

Wholesome,Entertaining, and Funny. I don't think kids of today would like it.

I like this show except for one thing. I didn't like the ones without Don Knotts. When MR.Knotts left, the show lost a lot of appeal. Andy Griffith was the one who was responsible for Knott's departure. Griffith said that he was only going to make his show for five years. In 1965 Knotts figured he'd be out of a job so he signed contracts to star in some movies. After Knotts signed the contracts, Griffith announced that he was going to continue making the show. Knotts was no longer available to star in The Andy Griffith Show. The pickle story was a good episode. Another good episode was the one where James Best played the guitar. One of my favorites was the one about the stranger who knew everybody in Mayberry. The five Ernest T Bass episodes were pretty good too. It was always funny when Barney (Don Knotts) accidentally shot his gun off. This is a show that you should be watching. It is a great show for the whole family. I give The Andy Griffith show a 4 star rating.

This one is way overrated and overexposed.

I never cared for this show because it was goofy and the characters were ignorant.

Hands down, the absolute best comedy television show...ever!  That is in the early Black & White years with Barney and a very young Opie.  Andy was less stressed in those days, and Barney was too funny.  All the characters depicted rural America, with a sense of red-neck stupidity thrown in for comedy.  I mean, who would be called Gomer, or Guber?  However, when Don Knotts left and the show went color, something happened to Andy.  It was as though he was adrift in a sea of idiots and he was the only sane one around and he just didn't have the patience to deal with them.  His temperment was different, and he seemed to simply tolerate all the ignorance portrayed around him.  And Helen, his girlfriend...what a b***ch!!  She had to lose her tempor in  every show!The early Black and White days were great, the color days were sub-par.

Andy, Barney, Opie, and all of those other characters are sorely missed! I love this show!

Rates as the all time greatest American sitcom.  I still enjoy watching it today.  I have seasons 1, 2, and 3.  The show lost its touch when Barney left though, and the show went to color instead of black and white and ran out of ideas.  At any rate still a classic.

one of the top 5 shows of the decade

I grew up watching this show (it was in reruns). I can hear the whislting tune in my head. Wished I had an Aunt Bee. She was great!!!! Barney Fife was hysterical!!!

As hoaky as this story line was, I got news for you it taught us 60's kids the "R" word and that was respect. Aunt Bee was always on Andy about raising that boy right, and she was a God fearin good person that Aunt Bee, and with a Sherif like Andy Taylor nothing was pretty much going to go wrong in May Brook rfdc.Besides the towns usual, and lets not forget Barney, and Gomer Pyle, golly, and Floyd, and all the others who made Mayberry seem like a nice place to stop by.

Classic, still watch it from time to time...

This show is timeless. It is a showcase for family, virtue, freindship. Many people probably wish they had lived in Andy Griffiths' world.

Top notch family entertainment. Five stars until Barney left. Three stars after Gomer joined the Marines.

makes one wonder what's in the water that makes everyone - in varying degrees - criminally self-absorbed (bea, clara, floyd, barney) with the iqs of a warm batch o'cowpies (goober, gomer, barney.) no wonder andy's so cynical and opie's so confused. it creeped me out so much as a child - i had to re-watch as adults to see what they could have been thinking. haven't a clue.

Good clean fun but it was kind of derogatory toward Southerners.

One of the best ever. TV produced without having to have "a cause".

Watching a rerun of this feel-good show is a great way to help a person unwind at night before going to bed .

funny classic good

Best show on T.V

A great classic show. I still like to watch this show. I remember wishing I knew characters like Andy Taylor, Barney, and OPie.I ANdy's calm common sense and Barney always so hyper and nervous with the one bullet he always kept in his pocket. Opie was so adorable. One of my favorite episodes was when Opie killed a mama bird with his slingshot and now he has to take care of the baby birds until they can be out on their own. the shows are well written,will acted, and still can get a laugh out of me. I still wish there could be a town like Mayberry. glad I can still catch it on TV land.

Excellent TV that is still appropriate for the family today. A simple life with less violence; a time where families could solve any crisis in 30 minutes less the commercials.

Classic television at its finest! Ernest T. Bass was one of my favorite characters. And  the Darling family jug band was always fun to watch too. Ahhh, the memories.

Here was a gentle, family oriented, slice of life show with funny likable characters. Every week you were entertained! I do think it jumped the shark when Barney left although it went on for a while longer.

Except for the intro, this show never really interested me. I guess they used to sit Floyd The Barber down while filming the show after his stroke.

Though the show was somewhere between mdiocre and bad when they went color, I would still say it is the best comedy of all time- one of the best TV shows period.

They don't get much better than Mayberry.

My all time favorite. It made me sad when Don Knotts died. They had a biography show on him and he had an unusual life. I've thought about having a t-shirt made saying "I Miss Barney". Because I do. He was a classic.

#1 best 60's sitcom! Does it get any funnier than Barney and the Mayberry townsfolks? I never tire of this comedy show.

Not many older television shows have held up as well as "The Andy Griffith Show". This longevity can be largely attributed to the timeless humor of the series, recognizable life situations and characters, and the generally non-topical storylines (the latter of which were often rewrote for the show's spin-off for the character of Gomer Pyle). In addition the cast was excellent from Griffith himself, the Emmy winning Don Knotts (Barney Fife), and Ron Howard (Opie Taylor), as well as a strong supporting array of characters (Floyd, Gomer, et. al.). Rumor has it that Griffith was supposed to play the primary comic role (a fact noticeable in the earlier episodes), but he and the screenwriters quickly realized that the show worked best with him playing the straight man to Barney. The rest is now TV history. As I'm sure others have noted, Mayberry is presumed to be based on Griffith's actual hometown of Mt. Airy, NC, but I'm equally sure others haven't noted that Andy Griffith is my 5th cousin... Read more

As good as television gets.

It was always great but especially good when Don Knotts was on as the lovable Barney. Liked the shows with Earnest T Bass also.

Need more shows like it today.

I love this show and for sentimental reasons too. It is just a funny show that takes you to a place where life goes at a slower pace and the stress does not seem as enormous as it sometimes gets. I like to go to Mayberry for the characters like Andy, Barne, Opie, and Floyd. The think I like most though is that my dad, who died in 1993 watched this show throughout my life. When I watch it, I can remember where he laughed at Barney and Floyd and repeated what they would say. I hope this show never goes away. My son is two now, but I want him to know about a place like Mayberry.

A wonderful, clean show. always a joy to watch.

Aunt Bee was a mess. ANNN-DEEE! OOOH-PEEE!

Barney made the show, period. Andy just wandered around like some lost virgin dad.

I like Robbo's comments, but I guess I am "jaded" in that I just don't find the series interesting, nor much else of the genre. Perhaps it's because I'm my father's son, who found the entire decade of the 1950s boring and oppressive.

Hmmmm. Are there really people out there that are so jaded that they cannot see the quality and relevance that a superior program like thius can have on our collective national psyche? I read entries tht spoke of "slow talking hicks" and hating their fathers for making them watch this show and am hoping that I never have the displeasure of running into any of these people in real life. Andy was a man in the process of life who was at times the wisest and at times humbled and a grateful student to a son (Opie) who could be both a student ans a taecher. Don Knotts, as Barney Fife was possibly the funniest character in the history of the medium. And the supporting characters (Floyd the barber, Ernest T. Bass, Aunt Bee, Gomer, and a host of guest stars) were all delightful and impeccably played. This was a show about a time that is well past, but much missed. These people cared for and truly loved each other and the viewer learned a lesson about life in nearly every episode.

The Andy Griffeth Show is an all time classic, and its one of my favorite shows to watch. Don Knotts is Hilarious, I like the black and white shows better then the color andy griffeth shows....5 stars

Another Tv classic. A good case study on how our moral condition has changed since then. I am not sure how far TV can go but I really do not feel I want to be around when it "reaches the end".

this show is truly a classic with some really great characters played by some very good actors. don knotts and jim nabors were very funny. it was a show for the whole family.

The black and white shows are American classics. The ones in color aren't worth watching. And all those NYC accents.