I read that Andy and Helen got married and had a baby in Mayberry RFD. Was it a boy or a girl? Did this child grow up and appear in the Return to Mayberry reunion movie? He or she would have been a teenager. Any mention?

The baby was a boy. It was named Andy Jr. and no, there was no mention of the baby in the reunion movie.

Thanks for your fast reply! :)
I wonder if the writers were trying to rewrite history or sweep it under the rug, and pretend it never happened. Maybe they thought the audience wouldn't remember. They could have made a passing reference like, "How's Andy, Jr.," "Good. He's away at college" or something to that effect.

Thanks for your fast reply! :)
I wonder if the writers were trying to rewrite history or sweep it under the rug, and pretend it never happened. Maybe they thought the audience wouldn't remember. They could have made a passing reference like, "How's Andy, Jr.," "Good. He's away at college" or something to that effect.

Sure looks like that, another vanishing character like the brothers on Happy days and My Three Sons, or even more noticable, Adam Cartwright.

Watched the reunion movie and I thought Opie was too old to be called Opie. He had a mustache!! Wasnt the pilot of Mayberry R.F.D. of Andy and Helen getting married? So I'm assuming that the baby was born offscreen and mentioned by somebody.

What else would Opie be called? That's his name, isn't it? (Of course, if it's a nickname or short for something, I'd be interested to know- I always thought Opie was kind of an unusual name...)

Watched the reunion movie and I thought Opie was too old to be called Opie. He had a mustache!! Wasnt the pilot of Mayberry R.F.D. of Andy and Helen getting married? So I'm assuming that the baby was born offscreen and mentioned by somebody.
Andy and Helen got married in the first episode and Andy guest starred a few more times during season 1. It was later explained that he and Helen left Mayberry.

Andy and Helen then both guest starred in the second season and the baby was shown.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0644681/

Here are some pictures of Andy Jr.

What else would Opie be called? That's his name, isn't it? (Of course, if it's a nickname or short for something, I'd be interested to know- I always thought Opie was kind of an unusual name...)

I know thats his name but he really didnt look like an Opie by that time.

If it was a good movie, not mentioning Andy Jr. would seem more interesting. As it was, it was the least of the movie and script's problems.

Thanks for posting the screen caps. I hope to see them someday on DVD soon!

If it was a good movie, not mentioning Andy Jr. would seem more interesting. As it was, it was the least of the movie and script's problems.

With respect to the TV reunion movies genre, I really thought this was the best of the bunch by a country mile. It's one thing to identify the characters to include in a reunion movie, but trying to structure a story is another matter. I thought they got enough right here, i enjoyed the movie.

As far as Andy Jr. goes, let me put on my Big Bang Theory thinking cap, maybe Andy Jr. was born in an alternate TV universe. Mayberry RFD was a different series, in the movie was there any reference to Sam Jones (I don't think there was).

With respect to the TV reunion movies genre, I really thought this was the best of the bunch by a country mile. It's one thing to identify the characters to include in a reunion movie, but trying to structure a story is another matter. I thought they got enough right here, i enjoyed the movie.

As far as Andy Jr. goes, let me put on my Big Bang Theory thinking cap, maybe Andy Jr. was born in an alternate TV universe. Mayberry RFD was a different series, in the movie was there any reference to Sam Jones (I don't think there was).
Yea but Sam and Mike did guest star on TAGS before Mayberry RFD began.

Here are some pictures of Andy Jr.

Yes... Andy Taylor Jr. big as life!

I remember finding it interesting as a kid in the late 60's the connection between Mayberry and Petticoat Junction. They both had a baby born, and several men who each thought he would be the godfather. In PJ, one of those was the local barber, "Burt," who was played by several different actors, one of which was Paul Hartman, "Emmett" on Mayberry. But I think it was Olan Soule who played Burt the barber in that PJ ep, and he also had a connection to TAGS/Mayberry, having played John the town choir director. And the solution was the same-- just let ALL of them be godfathers. I'm not sure which show did this first, but I figured out what the was going to happen in the second one because of the other :lol: . And I didn't even understand about christening a baby and calling it 'baptism,' since I was raised a Baptist and got dunked at the age of 10-- which was around the times of these eps.

So then, the word "godfather" meant that to me-- something we didn't do or recognize in my church... until a few years later a movie by that name became popular, and I was rather stunned about this new meaning of the word. Then finally, I became aware that the Andy & Mayberry cast resented having their show equated with the Henning shows. And indeed, there is a different level of reality suspension.

I remember finding it interesting as a kid in the late 60's the connection between Mayberry and Petticoat Junction. They both had a baby born, and several men who each thought he would be the godfather. In PJ, one of those was the local barber, "Burt," who was played by several different actors, one of which was Paul Hartman, "Emmett" on Mayberry. But I think it was Olan Soule who played Burt the barber in that PJ ep, and he also had a connection to TAGS/Mayberry, having played John the town choir director. And the solution was the same-- just let ALL of them be godfathers. I'm not sure which show did this first, but I figured out what the was going to happen in the second one because of the other :lol: . And I didn't even understand about christening a baby and calling it 'baptism,' since I was raised a Baptist and got dunked at the age of 10-- which was around the times of these eps.

So then, the word "godfather" meant that to me-- something we didn't do or recognize in my church... until a few years later a movie by that name became popular, and I was rather stunned about this new meaning of the word. Then finally, I became aware that the Andy & Mayberry cast resented having their show equated with the Henning shows. And indeed, there is a different level of reality suspension.

All Souls Church is Protestant, very likely, but is it ever established if the church is Baptist, Methodist, or what?

I see here that

http://mayberryusa.yuku.com/topic/832

"Andy Griffith grew up in a Christian home in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, and he originally studied to be in the ministry before changing his major to music. It is little wonder to find the church and Mayberry intertwined as Griffith patterned Mayberry after his own experiences growing up in the South..."

Then, looking into Griffith's youth:

http://hollowverse.com/andy-griffith/

"He was raised a Baptist, where he says he learned his social skills.1 But as a teenager, Griffith came to greatly look up to a Moravian preacher, Reverend Edward Timothy Mickey, who taught Griffith how to play a wide range of musical instruments and encouraged Griffith to go to college.2 During college, Griffith actually studied to become a Moravian preacher himself, but quit when another preacher told him he couldn’t both study music and become a preacher..."

So, since Mayberry at core is based on Andy Griffith life (very loosely) we can say All Souls Church is Baptist, or possibly Moravian, which I know zero about?

Please excuse if all this has been discussed here already, which seems very likely...

There was also a continuity problem regarding the Darlings. Throughout the run of the series, Charlene Darling married Dud Walsh and they later had a baby daugher Andelina (after Andy.) However in the reunion movie she's semi-engaged to Ernest T. Bass and there's no mention of her daugher or (late?) husband, Dud.

Watched the reunion movie and I thought Opie was too old to be called Opie. He had a mustache!! Wasnt the pilot of Mayberry R.F.D. of Andy and Helen getting married? So I'm assuming that the baby was born offscreen and mentioned by somebody.

Opie appears once in The Andy Griffith Show spinoff Mayberry R.F.D. and also in the 1986 reunion telemovie Return to Mayberry. The character is portrayed by Ron Howard. There are two explanations of the name's origin. One is that Opie Taylor was named by Andy Griffith after bandleader and radio actor Opie Cates.[1][2] The other is that he was named for Opie Shelton (1915–1999), a childhood friend of Griffith, who went on to become president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opie_Taylor