What if Andy Left instead of Barney at the end of Season 5

[Mayberry'sBadBoy]

Some time ago i wrote a thread about what might've happened if Barney had stayed on past season 5. However today while reading about the last season of Gomer Pyle USMC (At the end of season 5 Jim Nabors decided to leave for his variety show. Given the good ratings CBS tried to continue with Frank Sutton and Ronnie Schell who refused because they were loyal to Jim) i wondered what might've happened if the season 5 finale of TAGS was alternate versions of Goodbye Sherrif Taylor or Barney runs for Sheriff where unlike those episodes Andy does decide to become a big detective in Raleigh (Goodbye Sheriff Taylor) or decides to go to South America to work on the plantation Ed Crumbpacker is affiliated with. (Barney Runs for Sheriff. Griffith was getting tired of the role and given how Knotts was proving to be a competent leading man would it have worked and most importantly would it have been better or worse than the color episodes we have now

[vitoscotti]

Originally Posted by Mayberry'sBadBoy

... or decides to go to South America to work on the plantation Ed Crumbpacker is affiliated with.

Opie asked Andy, "What do they eat?"
Andy replies, "They eat something called a tortilla."

No Mexican food in grocery stores, or Mexican restaurants in 60s North Carolina?

[SarahBellum]

Originally Posted by vitoscotti

No Mexican food in grocery stores, or Mexican restaurants in 60s North Carolina?

At least not in Mayberry. And apparently there was no Chinese food either. They always had to go to Mt. Pilot for Chinese dinner.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by Mayberry'sBadBoy

Some time ago i wrote a thread about what might've happened if Barney had stayed on past season 5. However today while reading about the last season of Gomer Pyle USMC (At the end of season 5 Jim Nabors decided to leave for his variety show. Given the good ratings CBS tried to continue with Frank Sutton and Ronnie Schell who refused because they were loyal to Jim) i wondered what might've happened if the season 5 finale of TAGS was alternate versions of Goodbye Sherrif Taylor or Barney runs for Sheriff where unlike those episodes Andy does decide to become a big detective in Raleigh (Goodbye Sheriff Taylor) or decides to go to South America to work on the plantation Ed Crumbpacker is affiliated with. (Barney Runs for Sheriff. Griffith was getting tired of the role and given how Knotts was proving to be a competent leading man would it have worked and most importantly would it have been better or worse than the color episodes we have now

I wonder if the production company ever gave any thought to approaching Don about taking over the series lead at the end of season 8. Two of Don's five Universal films had already been released and the third one had already been shot, it must have been clear to Don and his management team that his career as a film star had limits. If they had approached Don about taking the lead in the RFD series (instead of Ken Berry) maybe making Howard the head of the town council that premise might have worked.

With respect to Schell and Sutton and a potential Gomer Pyle spin-off, I believe Jim had made his intentions to leave the series after season 5 clear and public so there may have been some very preliminary thought to trying to continue the franchise by the production company, but I doubt it was ever seriously considered or pitched. Without Jim this would have been treated as a new show, would CBS have been interested in launching a pollyannaish view of life in the military during the heart of the antiwar movement. Keep in mind CBS was already moving away from the demographic groups a show like this would attract.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by SarahBellum

At least not in Mayberry. And apparently there was no Chinese food either. They always had to go to Mt. Pilot for Chinese dinner.

Of course, by season 7, episode 21, "Aunt Bee's Restaurant", Aunt Bee opens a Chinese restaurant in Mayberry.