Andy, Barney, Aunt Bee, Opie, and the rest are all fifty! And now they're together for a special 50th anniversary compilation of the best episodes of the classic series, The Andy Griffith Show, containing 17 of the best episodes of the series and a special feature! The Andy Griffith Show all began with an episode of The Danny Thomas Show in 1960 (included on this set) and ended up becoming not only one of TV's biggest series of the 60s, but continues to be a hit show in syndication to this day, airing nonstop in syndication. In this DVD set, we get to see what is truly the "best of" the series in order to celebrate fifty years of going down to the fishing hole!

Read our review by skees53 here:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/theandygriffithshow50thanniversarythebestofmayberrydvdreview.html

Please post any questions or comments about this set.

This is nice for all of us who bought the show season by season and weren't able to get the pilot episode and "Return To Mayberry" movie that was only offered in the complete boxed set. Aside from the episodes, some interesting little tidbits not included in any other DVD release of the series have been added.

Even nicer is the COMPLETE version of the pilot on this DVD set unlike the previous release by Paramount! It now includes the suit rental shop owner scene with Wil Wright, Andy's final speech on Danny's television show is extended, the epilogue is longer, and there is now a Maxwell House commercial with Andy and Danny right before the closing credits.

Season Three's "The Darlings Are Coming" is another episode that was edited on Paramount's previously released DVD. The 50th Anniversary disc contains a still edited, but different version. A Post Cereals commercial with Andy and Opie has been added just after the opening credits. Now only a line or two of dialogue has been snipped from Andy's first meeting with the Darlings (I believe more was cut from the previous release). A brief portion of the Darlings playing music just after they arrive in their hotel room is missing along with their performance of "Salty Dog" and the bit of dialogue just before. The epilogue showing Andy marrying Charlene and Dud just before the Darling family plays "Cindy" has been added.

Season Four's "The Sermon For Today" still loses its laugh track at the 18 minute mark of the program. The first DVD release of this episode contained no laugh track. Paramount treated this as a defect and replaced the DVDs with a "fixed" version, but this episode along with "A Black Day For Mayberry" (which does NOT appear on this 50th Anniversary set) still have incomplete laugh tracks.

Even with its flaws, this disc set is a "must buy" for hardcore Andy Griffith Show fans. Especially those who bought the individual seasons as opposed to the complete series boxed set.