Mayberry R.F.D.

Mayberry R.F.D.
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Bob Ross
Starring	Ken Berry Frances Bavier George Lindsey
Theme music composer	Earle Hagen
Opening theme	"Mayberry March"
Composer(s)	Earle Hagen Pete Carpenter Carl Brandt
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	78 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andy Griffith Richard O. Linke
Producer(s)	Bob Ross
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production company(s)	R.F.D. Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 23, 1968 (1968-09-23) – March 29, 1971 (1971-03-29)
Chronology
Preceded by	The Andy Griffith Show

Mayberry R.F.D. (R.F.D stands for "Rural Free Delivery", a quaint postal depiction of the rural Mayberry community) is a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title, for the same sponsor, General Foods. When Andy Griffith decided to leave his series, most of the supporting characters returned for the new program, which ran for three seasons (78 color episodes) on the CBS Television Network from 1968-1971. During the final season of The Andy Griffith Show, widower farmer Sam Jones (Ken Berry) and his young son Mike (Buddy Foster) are introduced; the two then become the focus of the sequel series. Sheriff Andy Taylor and newlywed wife Helen make guest appearances until late 1969, and are then written out. The show's first episode had the highest ratings in recorded television history (up to premiere date in 1968), and the series was popular throughout its entire run. It was canceled in CBS's infamous "rural purge" of 1971.

Plot and characters

Sam and Andy give Mike a hand with his swing.

The sequel's plot follows Sam and Mike Jones in stories reminiscent of the parent series. Both characters are introduced in the last season of The Andy Griffith Show (TAGS), beginning with Sam's election as head of town council. The two become the center of Mayberry R.F.D. with many performers from the Griffith show reprising their roles in the sequel. Sheriff Andy Taylor and his sweetheart, Helen Crump (Aneta Corsaut), marry in the sequel's first episode. Each makes additional appearances, (mostly Andy) then leave the series in late 1969, with a move to Raleigh as the explanation. Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) becomes Sam's housekeeper but leaves after the second season to be replaced by Sam's cousin, Alice Cooper (Alice Ghostley). Mayberry regulars Goober Pyle (George Lindsey), Clara Edwards (Hope Summers), Emmett Clark (Paul Hartman), and Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson) are seen regularly. Don Knotts and Ronny Howard, as Barney Fife and Opie Taylor (respectively), appear in the first episode. Actress Arlene Golonka (who plays Howard Sprague's sweetheart Millie Hutchins in the Griffith show) becomes Sam's love interest, Millie Swanson, in the sequel. A recurring African American character named Ralph (Charles Lampkin) lives with a teen daughter and pre-teen son next to the Jones farm. Episodes include Andy's wedding ("Andy & Helen Get Married", episode #1); the christening of their infant son Andy ("Andy's Baby", episode #27); Aunt Bee getting engaged, ("Aunt Bee and the Captain", episode #16); friction over a parade ("Mayberry's Float", episode #39); and a visit from Goober's rocket-scientist brother ("Goober's Brother", episode #44).

Public acceptance

The social upheaval which occurred during The Andy Griffith Show's final 1968 season, (including the Vietnam stalemate, street protests, the slayings of Martin Luther King, Jr and Bobby Kennedy, and racial riots) had much of the nation wistful for a more stable, idealistic America. The final episode of the Andy Griffith Show was entitled, "Mayberry RFD", which added an Italian- American family to the Sam Jones homestead. The series bowed-out as the number one rated show. The producers, however, chose to forego a big overhaul, and instead stuck with the winning premise of a widower, his son and the matronly Aunt Bee. Therefore, the series was much the same as, "The Andy Griffith Show", absent Andy Taylor and son Opie. Mayberry RFD's first two seasons held number four in the Nielsen ratings.

Episodes

Main article: List of Mayberry R.F.D. episodes

Trivia

A young Jodie Foster (series star Buddy Foster's sister) made her television debut in the 1968 episode "The Church Play" and appeared later in the 1970 episode "All For Charity". Emmy-winning sound engineer Richard S. Steele, a familiar child-actor of the 1960s-70s, appears in several episodes as Mike Jones' friend Harold. Emmy winning actress Frances Bavier left the show at the end of the second season, retired from acting in 1975, and moved to Siler City, North Carolina - an actual location sometimes mentioned on the show.

In the show's opening sequence, Sam and his son play baseball to an instrumental song that originated on The Andy Griffith Show as "The Mayberry March." The march was reworked for background music a number of times with different tempos and orchestrations.

An NBC reunion movie, Return to Mayberry, was produced in 1986 and featured many original performers from The Andy Griffith Show. Ken Berry, Buddy Foster and Arlene Golonka do not appear in the movie, nor do The Andy Griffith Show regulars Francis Bavier, Elinor Donahue, and Jack Burns. Nevertheless, Return does share continuity with the R.F.D. storyline, by maintaining that Andy and Helen are married. The Taylors' son Andy Jr, however, is never mentioned despite his nephew's birth to brother Opie.

Cancellation

In 1971, CBS, seeking a more urban image, canceled all its rural-themed shows including Green Acres, Hee Haw and The Beverly Hillbillies, in what became known as the "rural purge". While Mayberry R.F.D.'s ratings were strong enough for renewal at the end of its third season, with a Nielson's #15, it too was canceled. In comparison, CBS' "Knots Landing" ran for fourteen years, with only two seasons (#5 and 6) in the top 15 (TV.COM).

DVD release

There are no current plans to release this series on DVD.^[1]

Reception

The series was popular, safely perched in Nielsen's top five for its first two years, and, despite the loss of Aunt Bee, a producer, and some top writers, the show ranked 15th in its last season.

Nielsen ratings

Ratings

Season	Rank (rating)
1) 1968–69	# 4
2) 1969–70	# 4
3) 1970–71	# 15

References

1. ^ "Mayberry R.F.D. on DVD at TVShowsOnDVD.com". 2003-04-19. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shows/Mayberry-RFD/2304. Retrieved 8 February 2010. 

External links

• Mayberry R.F.D. at the Internet Movie Database
• Mayberry R.F.D. at TV.com
• Mayberry R.F.D. at epguides.com
• Behind the Scenes of the Real Mayberry A behind the scenes look at The Andy Griffith Show and the "real" Mayberry.