I was wondering why Andy went from a happy go lucky charecter to basically becoming grouchy by the time the episodes were filmed in color?

I remember reading that by that point in the series, Andy Griffith had just grown tired of doing the show and he just couldn't hide his feelings in his performance. He was tired, he wanted out and he was glad when the show began to shift the attention to Ken Berry's Sam Jones character. As per Ken Berry, Andy was grooming him as his replacement. Andy was more than happy to limit his involvement in the show to little more than cameos.

Yeah, I don't watch the color ones. They're lousy, maybe that's why, but I didn't really like the new characters (okay, I didn't like Warren in particular.)

As for Ken Berry's character, oh man, I had such a crush on Ken back in the day, lol. I loved Mayberry RFD, and wish I could see it again. F Troop too. He was such a cutie!

I agree. Andy's attitude changes noticeably in the color episodes. He's much quicker to get mad and I don't care for episodes where he does a lot of that.

There are actually about ten color episodes that are pretty good. Of course the ones with Barney are cool, but the best color episode, in my opinion, is "Dinner at Eight" where Andy ends up eating three dinners that night because Goober mixes up the phone messages he got for Andy. It's very much in the style of episodes they used to do in the black and white seasons.

I remember reading that by that point in the series, Andy Griffith had just grown tired of doing the show and he just couldn't hide his feelings in his performance. He was tired, he wanted out and he was glad when the show began to shift the attention to Ken Berry's Sam Jones character. As per Ken Berry, Andy was grooming him as his replacement. Andy was more than happy to limit his involvement in the show to little more than cameos.

Frankly, I hate it when the star of a TV series decides to "coast" for the last season or two, and only appear in a limited number of episodes or make token "cameo" appearances in various episodes.

Yes, Andy Griffith did this towards the end of "The Andy Griffith Show"....and so did Bob Newhart during the last season of his original "The Bob Newhart Show", as well as Danny Thomas during his last season of "The Danny Thomas Show". They never include those last-season "Danny Thomas" episodes in the syndication package, but Danny and wife Kathy were on a tour of Europe, and friends Charlie and Bunny Halper were back in NYC taking care of Rusty and Linda. Some of these episodes centered on Danny and Kathy's European trip, but most of the episodes had Danny making a quick phone call to the Halpers to find out how things were going...and then Danny would hang up and the rest of the episode would revolve around the Halpers, Rusty and Linda. That's a classic case of the series star LITERALLY "phoning it in"!

Don't forget about the final season of Welcome Back, Kotter, in which Mr. Kotter appeared all of three times. Not to mention John Travolta becoming a "Special Guest Star" and being replaced by a southern blonde clone, all because of a little movie called Saturday Night Fever.

Personally, I have a perverse love what I've come to think of as the trainwreck seasons of shows. They're so horrible, but you can't stop watching.

I guess when and if Season 8 of TGAS Ever comes out, I'll have to give it a try, because you just can't pass up a good trainwreck (season). ;)

Maybe that is why they are not available on the cheaper DVDs or VHS.

I saw that Andy's southern drawl changes from the first to the second season and he starts to play jokes on Barney too. I did not get to see too many color episodes because my local station only showed it in b/w for awile. I like the older Viacom logos on that show which I only got to see on VHS. Some people wanted it kept on the DVD realeases.

He was much more of a hillbilly in Season 1, and he was much kinder. By Season 6, his attitude changed, and he really got grouchy at times. :(

I believe the main reason his character changed was because he didn't have Don Knotts to play off of anymore. Barney brought an electricity to the show that wasn't there after he left. You were always anticipating what Barney was going to say or do when he was in a scene. Andy said on more than one occasion that the show just wasn't as funny after Don left. When Don left, the show depended a lot more on Andy who had been the straightman for five years. Like Andy said, "It just became another situation comedy" at that point.

Andy was more gruff in the color episodes which I read somewhere was because he and Don Knotts agreed to leave the show at the same time and go into movie acting and Don got a good movie deal and he didnt and he kept doing the show while Don started making movies.

So that may be the reason for his gruffness but he wasnt that gruff in alot of them he was nice in alot of the color ones.

I loved his gruffness in the episode where Goober grew the beard and became a know it all and Andy blows his stack telling him off LOL

Andy was more gruff in the color episodes which I read somewhere was because he and Don Knotts agreed to leave the show at the same time and go into movie acting and Don got a good movie deal and he didnt and he kept doing the show while Don started making movies.

So that may be the reason for his gruffness but he wasnt that gruff in alot of them he was nice in alot of the color ones.

I loved his gruffness in the episode where Goober grew the beard and became a know it all and Andy blows his stack telling him off LOLMore specifically, Andy told Don that he was only going to do five years of the show. So, at the halfway point of season four Don felt like he needed to start looking for work. He was offered a great movie contract and signed. Shortly thereafter Andy announced that he would be staying on. By that time it was too late. Don had signed the contract. Andy wasn't mad about it. He understood. It was Andy's fault that he waited very late before deciding or letting Don know he was staying.

Andy had three personalities throughout the show in my opinion. In the first season, Andy had the Southern accent and was a little goofy at times. He really used weird thinking in the episode where he thought Ellie wanted to marry him. Then, in season 2-5, he lost the accent and became the laid back, logical, straight man. Then in seasons 6-8 he could be downright hateful at times. Just my opinion.

Andy had three personalities throughout the show in my opinion. In the first season, Andy had the Southern accent and was a little goofy at times. He really used weird thinking in the episode where he thought Ellie wanted to marry him. Then, in season 2-5, he lost the accent and became the laid back, logical, straight man. Then in seasons 6-8 he could be downright hateful at times. Just my opinion.
Not just your opinion mine as well you have give a perfect discription of Andy throughout the show one change I would make is I think Andy was starting to show that meaner attitude a bit in season 5 but he was still pretty good most of the time in that last season with Barney.

I think also doing a show for a major network, 8 years in a row, can really make a person grumpy.

I don't know how Michael Landon did it. He was on Bonanza for about 10 years, then Little House for 10 years, and Highway to Heaven for about 8 years. Man, talk about overkill! :eek:

Here are a couple of episodes I think Andy really showed his mean streak. The B&W episode about the worn out freezer where Aunt Bea buys alot of beef and Andy forbids her a grown woman from letting Mr.Foley help her out of a jam when he happily agreed to do so. He was treating her like she was Opies sister or his wife.

Opies band color episode I know Opie was not using his money right and his school work was suffering but heck he got on him constantly and got mad at Aunt Bea for telling Clara who ended up fixing his problems with Opie but he did thank her.

The color episode about Opie and Arnold taping the bank robber in jail whch was illegal but he fussed and fussed about that.

Two episodes that really brought out Andy's mean streak are:
"Keeper Of The Flame" & The one where Opie found the wallet with $50.00 in it. Andy really let Opie have it in both of these episodes. Speaking of "Keeper Of The Flame", Everett Sloane who played Jubal Foster has another connection to the series. What is it?

Two episodes that really brought out Andy's mean streak are:
"Keeper Of The Flame" & The one where Opie found the wallet with $50.00 in it. Andy really let Opie have it in both of these episodes. Speaking of "Keeper Of The Flame", Everett Sloane who played Jubal Foster has another connection to the series. What is it?

He was the lyrcist he wrote the words for the Andy Griffith Show Theme. Tragically he committed suicide by overdosing on barbituates because he was scared he was going blind at his Brentwood Ca home on August 6th 1965 at the age of 55

Andy did change over the years on the show from happy goofy sheriff to being alot more serious,but he still was a charming man.I liked him all the way thru.

What irritated me about the change in Andy was the way he treated Aunt Bea He treated her like she was a child. For instance having to get his approval to buy a car and learn to drive that was ridiculous

I think also doing a show for a major network, 8 years in a row, can really make a person grumpy.

I don't know how Michael Landon did it. He was on Bonanza for about 10 years, then Little House for 10 years, and Highway to Heaven for about 8 years. Man, talk about overkill! :eek:
Michael was actually on BONANZA for 14 years, LITTLE HOUSE for 8 years, and HIGHWAY for 5 years. The difference is that, on the two latter series, Michael had complete control. According to a TV GUIDE cover story (Jan. 9, 1982), he was "obsessed with being in charge" on the LITTLE HOUSE set. As far as his first series, BONANZA, is concerned, I think that -- after Dan Blocker's untimely death -- he was probably glad when the series ended. He, Dan and Lorne Greene had formed a close bond. But, with Blocker's absence, doing the show was no longer fun. Of course, by that time, Landon had had ample opportunity to show his talent as writer and director (as well as actor). He was ready to take on another challenge: producer. This he did (and
extremely competently) on LITTLE HOUSE, where he supervised every
little detail. Landon said, of the four jobs he held (actor, writer, director,
and producer), acting was his least favorite.

I was wondering why Andy went from a happy go lucky charecter to basically becoming grouchy by the time the episodes were filmed in color?
because at the end of the 5th season the last black & white season not only did don knotts leave the series but so did executive producer AARON RUBEN who had set the tone for the first 5 seasons,all the black & white episodes.
when season 6 started the first filmed in color.
don knotts was gone and was replaced with jack burns(warren) & AARON RUBEN was gone as executive producer and was replaced with BOB ROSS.

BOB ROSS was executive producer for all the color 1965-68 episodes who set the tone for the last 3 seasons which explains the changes in the characters especially andy taylor becoming more smug and grouchy and aunt bee becoming very insecure and childlike as well the bad casting choices like jack burns as warren!

however i would take the last 3 seasons of TAGS over 80% of the new sitcoms that are on the air today.

Yes, Andy did seem more miserable and grouchy the last few seasons of the show. He was more happy go lucky and seemed to enjoy life more during the "Barney" years. In some episodes, he just seemed downright miserable and angry. Well, with the additions of the characters of Warren, Goober, Howard, and Emmit plus the departure of Barney would probably make me angry and miserable as well. :D ;) :lol: I turned on TV Land last night when Andy Griffith was on and you just can't imagine the big, broad grin that I got on my face when I saw it was glorious black and white!!!!! :lol: :D I agree that even the later "color" episodes of TAGS are better than 90 percent of what's on TV right now but compared to the B & W episodes of TAGS, these color eps. are almost unbearable for me to watch.

Signed,
Respectfully,
Dutch

BOB ROSS was executive producer for all the color 1965-68 episodes who set the tone for the last 3 seasons which explains the changes in the characters especially andy taylor becoming more smug and grouchy and aunt bee becoming very insecure and childlike as well the bad casting choices like jack burns as warren!

Excellent point, and you're right, Andy became smug and grouchy. Although, I've always felt that in the later (color) episodes, the character of Aunt Bee became more dimensional and was allowed to grow as a person. I'll credit Bob Ross for realizing that as the character of Opie grew older and became more independent, Aunt Bee's role in the Taylor household had to evolve as well. The later season's episodes saw Aunt Bee, going into the workplace, getting her driver's license, flying solo in a plane, traveling to Mexico, becoming a partner in a business, hosting a cooking show, and running for a local office. Of course she still retained her established nervous and easily flustered edge, but after all it was still a comedy.

Also, it wasn't uncommon that Aunt Bee's ambitions, were initially met with Andy's smug and grouchy dissapproval. It was this dissapproval that brought out the childlike angle. I didn't care for that element of the show that had Andy treating his Aunt as though he was her parent.

The later season's episodes saw Aunt Bee, going into the workplace, getting her driver's license, flying solo in a plane, traveling to Mexico, becoming a partner in a business, hosting a cooking show, and running for a local office. Of course she still retained her established nervous and easily flustered edge,

those are all very good points!

becoming a partner in a business?? is that the episode about the chinese restaurant where aunt bee believes a message from a fortune cookie as the gospel truth and nearly has a nervous breakdown?

i forgot about aunt bee flying solo in a plane! great episode!

but remember that episode where aunt bee doe's the commerical for furniture polish?

or the episode where aunt bee becomes attached to the WIG like a security blanket? she was very childlike in that episode

the episode where aunt bee wins a trip to mexico was'nt one of my favorites!
aunt bee and her two friends acted like spoiled children!

those are all very good points!

becoming a partner in a business?? is that the episode about the chinese restaurant where aunt bee believes a message from a fortune cookie as the gospel truth and nearly has a nervous breakdown?

i forgot about aunt bee flying solo in a plane! great episode!

but remember that episode where aunt bee doe's the commerical for furniture polish?

or the episode where aunt bee becomes attached to the WIG like a security blanket? she was very childlike in that episode

the episode where aunt bee wins a trip to mexico was'nt one of my favorites!
aunt bee and her two friends acted like spoiled children!

Thank you. And I agree that Aunt Bee did have her share of irrational and childlike behavior.

Becoming a partner in the Chinese restaurant was the one I was mentioning. Believe it or not, I've met many people like that and I've noticed that in many cases, their religious beliefs are in direct proportion to their level of superstition. Something which I've never been able to understand.

In fact all the examples you've pointed out, I've come across in my lifetime. In particular your point regarding the trip to Mexico episode. My wife has spent many hours working with senior citizens and childish behavior like that is not uncommon.

The maddest I saw Andy Taylor was when he came back from a business trip and saw that Goober was working on a car inside the courthouse. Andy really wanted to kick Goober's ass and then shoot him in the head with the shotguns he kept on the wall.

He was angriest at Goober because the second most maddest. I ever saw Andy was in the color episode where Goober grows a beard and he becomes a snooty know it all that everybody hates to be around till Andy blows his stack in Floyds barber shop and blesses him out

yeah it could defanitly make someone grouchy

Andy had three personalities throughout the show in my opinion. In the first season, Andy had the Southern accent and was a little goofy at times. He really used weird thinking in the episode where he thought Ellie wanted to marry him. Then, in season 2-5, he lost the accent and became the laid back, logical, straight man. Then in seasons 6-8 he could be downright hateful at times. Just my opinion.

Reading up now on the post-AGS years, immediately following the show, I notice Griffith was obviously really keen to evolve into a "mature" actor stage, and his seriousness and gruff manner in the last seasons was probably a part of that, he was sick of playing the lovable hick that he built hois career on, even before AGS, with "No Time For Sgts" and all that, the comedy routines and so on. So he just played Andy straight, and was the long-suffering "sane' person in the final seasons.

This is made really clear that when Griffith returned to televison a short time after walking away for the hit AGS, he was the ultra serious "Headmaster"... unfortunately, audiences couldn't accept that, and his watered-down Andy on the "New Andy Griffith Show" was really way too little... too soon?

those are all very good points!

becoming a partner in a business?? is that the episode about the chinese restaurant where aunt bee believes a message from a fortune cookie as the gospel truth and nearly has a nervous breakdown?

i forgot about aunt bee flying solo in a plane! great episode!

but remember that episode where aunt bee doe's the commerical for furniture polish?

or the episode where aunt bee becomes attached to the WIG like a security blanket? she was very childlike in that episode

the episode where aunt bee wins a trip to mexico was'nt one of my favorites!
aunt bee and her two friends acted like spoiled children!

I admit that I can watch /any/ episode of AGS and enjoy it, but these outlandish and unrealistic stories with Aunt Bea and Howard usually can bring on the cringes, I almost feel embarrassed for the actors, and in a different way, for the writers... like, what were they thinking?

I could no more imagine Aunt Bea flying an airplane or really any of that other stuff than I could my grandmother, the surreal qualities were a mistake as a direction for the show to go in, a "bigger is better" kind of thing.

Ah well, enough ranting for now...

Two episodes that really brought out Andy's mean streak are:
"Keeper Of The Flame" & The one where Opie found the wallet with $50.00 in it. Andy really let Opie have it in both of these episodes. Speaking of "Keeper Of The Flame", Everett Sloane who played Jubal Foster has another connection to the series. What is it?

Everett Sloane, who was Orson Welles' sidekick in so many of his masterpieces, including Citizen Kane, Magnificent Ambersons, and Lady From Shanghai... fantastic actor.

Aunt Bee, not "Bea." Common mistake for that particular character! :)

Aunt Bee, not "Bea." Common mistake for that particular character! :)

Thanks, I'll try to remember that!

I really disliked the way "Aunt Bee"kept going on &on about the freezer &was being so stuborn &then when she got a new freezer (even if I think she was happy about it)Still argued with him that he could have gotten it cheaper!She wouldnt give up &admit ahe was wrong!

but then he kind of "backed down"&went with it when the other policeman thought it was for car safety,until the police left&then he was back at Goober!I didnt like how Andy could be so sneaky sometimes

It is "Bea", short for Beatrice.

It is "Bea", short for Beatrice.

Well, that does seem logical.

Like many here indicate, my favorite seasons are 2 through 5; although I think even as season 5 progressed, we can begin to sense some of the frustrations of Andy Griffith, who has agreed to continue the show for a few more years, but already doesn't like what he has set up, knowing he inadvertently connived at Don Knotts' departure. This is especially seen in "Opie Flunks Arithmetic," where Andy goes berserk over the idea that Opie's recent poor showing in math may mean keeping him from getting into college. The situation presented is not unimportant, but it seems almost too real that Andy Taylor, the good-natured yet competent small town law man and family man, would snap like that. And it might make knowledgeable fans of the show uncomfortable because we know that is, in fact, Andy Griffith's disposition; that is, he shows us the real Andy, not the 'good old boy' character we want to see.

One easily overlooked tradition of the show does remain through all 8 seasons, and it's one I like-- that in every season opener Opie is the "featured character." And generally IMHO that is one thing that does make seasons 6,7, and 8 better-- when Opie is more prominent. I especially like "The Ball Game," finding out the truth of "The Battle of Mayberry," and "Goodbye, Dolly."

Andy Griffith didn't like watching the first season of The Andy Griffith Show, and changed because of Howard McNear (https://www.metv.com/stories/andy-griffith-didnt-like-watching-the-first-season-of-the-andy-griffith-show-and-changed-because-of-howard-mcnear)

The real reason Andy Taylor changed between Season One and Season Two.

I was wondering why Andy went from a happy go lucky charecter to basically becoming grouchy by the time the episodes were filmed in color?

I think he was really getting burned out on the Andy Taylor role.

Andy Griffith subtly evolved in his iconic role as Sheriff Andy Taylor— here's how Howard McNear helped! (https://www.metv.com/stories/andy-griffith-didnt-like-watching-the-first-season-of-the-andy-griffith-show-and-changed-because-of-howard-mcnear)

Delve into Andy Griffith's transformation as an actor and how his portrayal of Sheriff Andy Taylor grew!

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We all remember Mayberry's wise Sheriff Andy Taylor, but the main character on classic TV show "The Andy Griffith Show" wasn't always the same man (https://www.quora.com/In-the-last-few-seasons-of-The-Andy-Griffith-show-why-was-the-star-Andy-Griffith-seemingly-more-grumpy-than-in-earlier-seasons-It-was-like-his-whole-personality-changed-What-happened?q=Andy%20Griffith%20grumpy). Join Pop Culture Historian Dave Sundstrom as he talks about Andy's surprising evolution.