Browning already is booked through 2000 for his “Mayberry Deputy” show, which is a big hit with churches and law enforcement agencies. Or, in the case of David Browning, what would Barney do?īrowning, 50, is a longtime actor from Bristol, Va., who has worked as a full-time Barney impersonator since 1987. “I find that parents often tell me that when they encounter a challenging parenting situation, they ask themselves, ‘What would Andy do?”‘ Clark says. Such gentle diplomacy, particularly with young Opie, is a hallmark of the show among many fans. Mayberry-philes will recognize that reference to an episode in which Barney buys an Army-surplus motorcycle for police business and proceeds to disrupt the town – until Andy gets the contraption away from him on the pretense that it is a historic artifact. He always wanted more firepower and machine guns – and he got the sidecar.” After all, he was always trying to bring Mayberry up to date with the latest technology. They stay in touch through The Bullet, a thrice-yearly newsletter with a circulation of 15,000, and on – the club’s official Web site.Ĭlark, who was born the year the show debuted, chuckles about how Barney might have reacted to a Mayberry Internet site. The Rerun Watchers Club now has 20,000 dues-paying members worldwide in 1,100 chapters, including two in Saudi Arabia and others in Japan, Italy and Australia. “It gives me great pride that my show can touch your heart like that and make you laugh too.” “These life lessons, whether it’s to stand by a friend or believe in the word of a child, they don’t go out of style,” Brower said. Brower is proud of the show’s commitment to old-fashioned values. The class has been offered 20 times at six community colleges and can be used to meet the state’s teacher renewal credit.īrower has written a book, Mayberry 101, which is in its third printing by John F. It also is the inspiration for “The Andy Griffith Show: An In-Depth Study,” a college course taught by Neal Brower, a Methodist minister in Greensboro, N.C. “It’s one of the finest examples of television entertainment that we’ve ever produced as a nation. “I found that whenever I was watching The Andy Griffith Show, I was basically studying American culture,” said Clark, now a free-lance writer. “I think The Andy Griffith Show is one of those evergreen shows that will be around for a long, long time,” said Jim Clark, “presiding goober” of the Rerun Watchers Club, an organization he founded 20 years ago while pursuing an American Studies degree at Vanderbilt University. Through reruns, principally on TBS, Mayberry has endured in the hearts of fans, who say the appeal is more than nostalgia. The show never fell out of Nielsen’s Top 10 in ratings in its original 1960-68 run on CBS and was television’s top-rated show in its final season. Other characters included Andy’s young son, Opie (child actor-turned-film director Ron Howard) Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) barber Floyd Lawson (Howard McNear) Gomer and Goober Pyle (Jim Nabors and George Lindsey) and town drunk Otis Campbell (Hal Smith). It featured Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor and Don Knotts as Fife, a role that earned him five Emmys but never the opportunity to carry more than one bullet. Such is the devotion inspired by The Andy Griffith Show, the utterly unpretentious comedy set in fictional Mayberry, N.C. The couple’s house includes a life-size poster of Barney Fife on the door to Janine’s workshop and a miniature scale-model of Mayberry in another room. “We’ll skip Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune to watch that,” said Johnson, whose husband Ken has been known to dress as Sheriff Taylor for club events. That Mayberry connection already has earned two viewers. weekdays on WRDQ-Channel 27, a new independent station being programmed by WFTV-Channel 9. In addition to watching the show on TV Land, Central Florida Mayberry fans can look for back-to-back episodes at 7 and 7:30 p.m. “Now this generation of shows from the 1980s will have an effective life like Andy did.” “We hate saying goodbye to Andy, but these shows are the favorites of another generation,” said Bill Cox, TBS’ senior vice president of programming.
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