In one of the few appearances by Andy and Helen on this show back in Mayberry, they were accompanied by their newborn baby son with the above name. Yet, not only did he NOT 'Return to Mayberry' with his parents and half-bro Opie but none of the characters bothered to mention where he may have been. He'd have been about 14 [Opie's age when last living Mayberry**. Any ideas why they dropped this character (or ,for the matter, introduced him).

In one of the few appearances by Andy and Helen on this show back in Mayberry, they were accompanied by their newborn baby son with the above name. Yet, not only did he NOT 'Return to Mayberry' with his parents and half-bro Opie but none of the characters bothered to mention where he may have been. He'd have been about 14 [Opie's age when last living Mayberry**. Any ideas why they dropped this character (or ,for the matter, introduced him).

Probably the extent of the mystery is just bad writing and lack of respect for continuity.

But, we should be able to explain it away somehow...

:)

The reason Andy jr wasn't in Return to Mayberry was due to Andy Griffith worrying that people wouldn't know who he was since Mayberry RFD wasn't shown as much as TAGS. I think it's for the best they decided to have him at Summer Camp (Which is where my grandpa said he was during the special) during the special. Plotwise there wasn't much they could do with him. The only story I can think of they could do would be to do a ripoff of Man in Hurry which would mean he would spend most of the episode whining about moving to Mayberry.

The reason Andy jr wasn't in Return to Mayberry was due to Andy Griffith worrying that people wouldn't know who he was since Mayberry RFD wasn't shown as much as TAGS. I think it's for the best they decided to have him at Summer Camp (Which is where my grandpa said he was during the special) during the special. Plotwise there wasn't much they could do with him. The only story I can think of they could do would be to do a ripoff of Man in Hurry which would mean he would spend most of the episode whining about moving to Mayberry.

I think it boiled down to having to deal with too many other things. At the core of the "first 5" (TAGS classic era), was the relationship of Andy and Barney. You didn't need to be a network executive to figure that out, so the primary story had to involve those two and "lawman's work". Next up was a another central theme of TAGS, Andy giving Opie some fatherly advice, and of course the successful resolution to the Barney/Thelma Lou relationship (you know fans of the series loved those scenes , they were the best scenes in the reunion film). Then they had to fit in Gomer, Goober Howard do some kind of tip of the hat to Aunt Bee, given Helen some screen time, Otis, the Darlings and of course Ernest T ,and weave all that into some kind of cohesive story. The movie focused on the characters from the "first 5" with the addition of Howard. The reunion film worked, I think you can make the case it was the best of the TV reunion films.

Andy Jr. was at basketball camp being coached by some older guy named Chuck Cunningham from Milwaukee who happened to have a brother named Richie who he said he hadn't seen for the last ten years or so. Andy Jr. said he hadn't seen his brother very often either and both agreed that their own brother was a rich, selfish *****.

Andy Jr. was at basketball camp being coached by some older guy named Chuck Cunningham from Milwaukee who happened to have a brother named Richie who he said he hadn't seen for the last ten years or so. Andy Jr. said he hadn't seen his brother very often either and both agreed that their own brother was a rich, selfish *****.

Chuck went to the University of Outer Mongolia, according to Tom Bosley in an interview, Andy Jr. must have headed there too!

Poor Ron Howard. Both of his TV brothers just vanished with no explanation. Must have been UFO's:(

There were other continuity issues with "Return".

Andy said he hadn't been back in 20 years...it was 1986.

17 years would have been more correct. 1969-ish fits in with 2nd second "Mayberry RFD".

I can't remember. Were Emmett or Sam mentioned?

I dont think continuity was as much of an issue in the older TV shows. It is interesting to notice those situations though, reminds me of Star Wars, and how closely Lucasfilm has preserved continuity throughout, even changing the color of Darth Vader's eyes digitally in the newer DVDs when he is originally unmasked to match Hayden Christianson's eye color as younger Anakin Skywalker!

I dont think anyone is going to go back and digitally alter any episodes of TAGS to preserve continuity, but it is fun to think about! I remember Margaret Kerry (Tinker Bell from Peter Pan) who played in the Christmas episode in the first season, and then played in "Andy Evicts" later on, and had two different character names!

The reason Andy jr wasn't in Return to Mayberry was due to Andy Griffith worrying that people wouldn't know who he was since Mayberry RFD wasn't shown as much as TAGS. I think it's for the best they decided to have him at Summer Camp (Which is where my grandpa said he was during the special) during the special. Plotwise there wasn't much they could do with him. The only story I can think of they could do would be to do a ripoff of Man in Hurry which would mean he would spend most of the episode whining about moving to Mayberry.

That's better, I was afraid some tragic fate had befallen little Andy Jr.