https://www.metv.com/stories/andy-griffith-had-to-prove-he-was-still-a-good-actor-after-tags-ended

"They all told me, 'You're not Andy Griffith. You're Andy Taylor,'" Griffith said.

I don’t think so, I think after at least two failed shows “The New Andy Griffith” and “The Headmaster” he sort of reinvented himself for a few years in TV movies and other things. He did well what I would call “Evil Andy” where he played really bad and psychopathic guys (including a TV movie called Under the Influence where he played a bad patriarch of a family with no redeeming values). Andy did work and there was demand for him but he probably did a lot of this and that before Matlock put him on a regular show for years.

I love Andy Griffith! A good actor but he has his negative sides like every person!!

I don’t think so, I think after at least two failed shows “The New Andy Griffith” and “The Headmaster” he sort of reinvented himself for a few years in TV movies and other things. He did well what I would call “Evil Andy” where he played really bad and psychopathic guys (including a TV movie called Under the Influence where he played a bad patriarch of a family with no redeeming values). Andy did work and there was demand for him but he probably did a lot of this and that before Matlock put him on a regular show for years.

Andy Griffith really just made bad choices for new series, when he decided to get back to television, in my opinion.

I don't really have any memory of Headmaster but I'm new AGS was pretty awful.