Was there a good reason that Ronny Howard (Opie) was not used as a regular in Mayberry RFD?

I thought there could have been more plots involving Mike and Opie.

It looks like he had a few guest star and minor roles until he landed on The Smith Family (1971-72) for 39 episodes. I have never seen this show so I have no idea as whether Ronny Howard was good in this series.

It looks like he had a few guest star and minor roles until he landed on The Smith Family (1971-72) for 39 episodes. I have never seen this show so I have no idea as whether Ronny Howard was good in this series.

The whole series is on YouTube.

Wow, never heard of that series, "The Smith Family". I would have been 6 to 7 when it originally aired but don't remember my family watching that one.

Is this the only acting Ronny Howard did between TAGS and the 1972 Love American Style segment and the 1973 American Graffiti movie?

I like the total abandonment of continuity trivia. Opie gets multiple mentions up to the "Andy Jr" episode. He's missing because of a cold, or multiple times studying for an exam. He ridiculously even missed his ½ brother's christening to study for exams. The whole MRFD show is a wonderful nostalgic mess. I'm really enjoying watching into the dreadful at times season 2. Ken Berry and Buddy Foster were at the right place and time for a pay day cashing in on the TAGS juggernaut train they rode on.

[QUOTE=rusty spike;6201212]Was there a good reason that Ronny Howard (Opie) was not used as a regular in Mayberry RFD?

I thought there could have been more plots involving Mike and Opie.

The show already had 7 regulars, 4-7 regulars is the general range for half hour sitcoms, so there's that. There's also the fact that retaining the Opie character would have thrown the show out of kilter. Sam was now the center of the Mayberry universe, Goober, Howard, Emmett were his friends, Millie was his girlfriend, Mike his son, and Aunt Bee was his homemaker. The Opie character didn't fit in anymore, it wouldn't have made sense to try to shoehorn him into this group of characters.

Not pertinent to "Where's Opie". But, one interesting aspect of MRFD is there seems to be an actor per episode limit. I'm betting it was cost savings related. Regular integral cast members are missing from episodes more frequently than TAGS. Especially if an episode has multiple one and done additional actors. One of many examples is the season 2 multiple episode Palm Springs trip. The last episode no Aunt Bee or pretty Millie. Like poof...they disappeared...and never were part of the trip group. Great stuff!

Not pertinent to "Where's Opie". But, one interesting aspect of MRFD is there seems to be an actor per episode limit. I'm betting it was cost savings related. Regular integral cast members are missing from episodes more frequently than TAGS. Especially if an episode has multiple one and done additional actors. One of many examples is the season 2 multiple episode Palm Springs trip. The last episode no Aunt Bee or pretty Millie. Like poof...they disappeared...and never were part of the trip group. Great stuff!

Good observations~

There must have been a rule about how many could be used in an episode. Must have come down to wages and the show's budget.