{alltv} Relive 'The Andy Griffith Show' on DVD

 

 

Sheriff Andy Taylor didn't spend much time chasing crooks on The Andy Griffith Show, but he kept plenty busy in sleepy Mayberry, N.C., helping a lovable cast of colorful characters sort through all manner of quirky predicaments and minor quibbles.

A new three-disc DVD set, The Andy Griffith Show: 50th Anniversary — The Best of Mayberry (2010, CBS Home Entertainment, unrated, $25) takes a nostalgic look back at the show TV Guide called "one of the greatest TV shows of all time." It aired from 1960 to 1968 and was beloved for its homespun humor, gentle life lessons and whistled theme song, The Fishin' Hole.

The 17 episodes, which have been digitally remastered with restored audio, are some of the most memorable shows, featuring Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts), gas station attendant Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors), mechanic Goober Pyle (George Lindsey), Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), Otis the town drunk (Hal Smith), Floyd the Barber (Howard McNear) and Andy's son Opie (Ron Howard). No matter what misadventure befell them, they could always count on Andy to find a common-sense solution.

In Barney's First Car, the earnest, but inept and easily alarmed lawman thinks the car he buys off an old widow is a steal, but soon learns that he's been hornswoggled. In Fun Girls, Gomer (best known for his oft-repeated exclamation, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!") shares a rare appearance with cousin Goober (who replaced him on the show when Nabors' character moved on to Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. in 1964). Aunt Bee, who is renowned for her cooking skills, faces embarrassment for her inedible "kerosene cucumbers" in The Pickle Story, and Opie learns about responsibility when he kills a mother bird with his slingshot and has to raise her chicks in Opie the Birdman.

The DVD set has more than seven hours of material. It also has several special features, including the 1960 episode of The Danny Thomas Show, Danny Meets Andy Griffith, in which Thomas is arrested in Mayberry. The Andy Griffith Show premiered a few months later.

Also in the package is the full-length 1986 TV movie Return to Mayberry, for which most of the cast returned in their original roles, though an ailing Bavier was unable to participate. While the collection is by no means definitive, it includes more than enough highlights for a leisurely trip down memory lane.

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