Quote:
Originally Posted by TMC
|
The article's title is a bit misleading, it's more about the work in progress that became Mayberry RFD. I found this statement most interesting:
"Originally it was planned for me to bring to Mayberry a family of Italian farmers I had met while in the service. now that we've done the show, I understand the family won't be used, after all, just one Italian."
Ken's comments suggest there was a clear difference of opinion between the production team and perhaps the network on how this show would be oriented. The vision going into the pilot would have had the three Italian farmers added to the cast that would feature widower Sam and his son Mike. That's 5 slots, TAGS operated with 7 characters, so did Mayberry RFD. In other words, several actors would not have transitioned to the new series. Goober is mentioned in the story so he may have been referenced in the article itself so we can assume he would have been retained. That leaves one opening, the town council aspect might suggest that Howard would also have been retained. That leaves three characters, Emmett, Aunt Bee and Millie out (although Millie might have been a recurring character).
The pilot obviously did not sit well with some party, it could have been the network, the CBS executives may have just wanted the new show to replace Andy with as little disruption as possible. The final three seasons had been very successful, the attitude may have been why reinvent the wheel. At the time of Ken's interview he's seems to be under the impression that his Italian army buddy would be retained.
I thought Mayberry RFD could have been a better show, I blamed Andy and his team on their ultra conservative approach to the show which seemed to restrict it from growing in any way. It may have been the network that held the show back.