The Change in Andy's Character - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Vince 887 · 08-19-2005, 05:25 PM

I was wondering why Andy went from a happy go lucky charecter to basically becoming grouchy by the time the episodes were filmed in color?

caladon · 08-20-2005, 05:35 PM

I remember reading that by that point in the series, Andy Griffith had just grown tired of doing the show and he just couldn't hide his feelings in his performance. He was tired, he wanted out and he was glad when the show began to shift the attention to Ken Berry's Sam Jones character. As per Ken Berry, Andy was grooming him as his replacement. Andy was more than happy to limit his involvement in the show to little more than cameos.

sg1niner · 08-21-2005, 01:51 PM

Yeah, I don't watch the color ones. They're lousy, maybe that's why, but I didn't really like the new characters (okay, I didn't like Warren in particular.)

As for Ken Berry's character, oh man, I had such a crush on Ken back in the day, lol. I loved Mayberry RFD, and wish I could see it again. F Troop too. He was such a cutie!

Americansportzfan · 08-22-2005, 05:33 PM

I agree. Andy's attitude changes noticeably in the color episodes. He's much quicker to get mad and I don't care for episodes where he does a lot of that.

There are actually about ten color episodes that are pretty good. Of course the ones with Barney are cool, but the best color episode, in my opinion, is "Dinner at Eight" where Andy ends up eating three dinners that night because Goober mixes up the phone messages he got for Andy. It's very much in the style of episodes they used to do in the black and white seasons.

pilotguy · 08-24-2005, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caladon

I remember reading that by that point in the series, Andy Griffith had just grown tired of doing the show and he just couldn't hide his feelings in his performance. He was tired, he wanted out and he was glad when the show began to shift the attention to Ken Berry's Sam Jones character. As per Ken Berry, Andy was grooming him as his replacement. Andy was more than happy to limit his involvement in the show to little more than cameos.

Frankly, I hate it when the star of a TV series decides to "coast" for the last season or two, and only appear in a limited number of episodes or make token "cameo" appearances in various episodes.

Yes, Andy Griffith did this towards the end of "The Andy Griffith Show"....and so did Bob Newhart during the last season of his original "The Bob Newhart Show", as well as Danny Thomas during his last season of "The Danny Thomas Show". They never include those last-season "Danny Thomas" episodes in the syndication package, but Danny and wife Kathy were on a tour of Europe, and friends Charlie and Bunny Halper were back in NYC taking care of Rusty and Linda. Some of these episodes centered on Danny and Kathy's European trip, but most of the episodes had Danny making a quick phone call to the Halpers to find out how things were going...and then Danny would hang up and the rest of the episode would revolve around the Halpers, Rusty and Linda. That's a classic case of the series star LITERALLY "phoning it in"!

The Obsolete Man · 08-29-2005, 01:51 AM

Don't forget about the final season of Welcome Back, Kotter, in which Mr. Kotter appeared all of three times. Not to mention John Travolta becoming a "Special Guest Star" and being replaced by a southern blonde clone, all because of a little movie called Saturday Night Fever.

Personally, I have a perverse love what I've come to think of as the trainwreck seasons of shows. They're so horrible, but you can't stop watching.

I guess when and if Season 8 of TGAS Ever comes out, I'll have to give it a try, because you just can't pass up a good trainwreck (season).

nice · 09-30-2005, 06:24 PM

Maybe that is why they are not available on the cheaper DVDs or VHS.

nice · 09-30-2005, 06:27 PM

I saw that Andy's southern drawl changes from the first to the second season and he starts to play jokes on Barney too. I did not get to see too many color episodes because my local station only showed it in b/w for awile. I like the older Viacom logos on that show which I only got to see on VHS. Some people wanted it kept on the DVD realeases.

Munsters#1 · 09-30-2005, 11:14 PM

He was much more of a hillbilly in Season 1, and he was much kinder. By Season 6, his attitude changed, and he really got grouchy at times.

Americansportzfan · 10-02-2005, 08:20 PM

I believe the main reason his character changed was because he didn't have Don Knotts to play off of anymore. Barney brought an electricity to the show that wasn't there after he left. You were always anticipating what Barney was going to say or do when he was in a scene. Andy said on more than one occasion that the show just wasn't as funny after Don left. When Don left, the show depended a lot more on Andy who had been the straightman for five years. Like Andy said, "It just became another situation comedy" at that point.

teddybare · 10-03-2005, 01:29 PM

Andy was more gruff in the color episodes which I read somewhere was because he and Don Knotts agreed to leave the show at the same time and go into movie acting and Don got a good movie deal and he didnt and he kept doing the show while Don started making movies.

So that may be the reason for his gruffness but he wasnt that gruff in alot of them he was nice in alot of the color ones.

I loved his gruffness in the episode where Goober grew the beard and became a know it all and Andy blows his stack telling him off LOL

Americansportzfan · 10-03-2005, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teddybare

Andy was more gruff in the color episodes which I read somewhere was because he and Don Knotts agreed to leave the show at the same time and go into movie acting and Don got a good movie deal and he didnt and he kept doing the show while Don started making movies.

So that may be the reason for his gruffness but he wasnt that gruff in alot of them he was nice in alot of the color ones.

I loved his gruffness in the episode where Goober grew the beard and became a know it all and Andy blows his stack telling him off LOL

More specifically, Andy told Don that he was only going to do five years of the show. So, at the halfway point of season four Don felt like he needed to start looking for work. He was offered a great movie contract and signed. Shortly thereafter Andy announced that he would be staying on. By that time it was too late. Don had signed the contract. Andy wasn't mad about it. He understood. It was Andy's fault that he waited very late before deciding or letting Don know he was staying.

showfan · 10-15-2005, 05:16 PM

Andy had three personalities throughout the show in my opinion. In the first season, Andy had the Southern accent and was a little goofy at times. He really used weird thinking in the episode where he thought Ellie wanted to marry him. Then, in season 2-5, he lost the accent and became the laid back, logical, straight man. Then in seasons 6-8 he could be downright hateful at times. Just my opinion.

Angelique 2 · 10-21-2005, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by showfan

Andy had three personalities throughout the show in my opinion. In the first season, Andy had the Southern accent and was a little goofy at times. He really used weird thinking in the episode where he thought Ellie wanted to marry him. Then, in season 2-5, he lost the accent and became the laid back, logical, straight man. Then in seasons 6-8 he could be downright hateful at times. Just my opinion.

Not just your opinion mine as well you have give a perfect discription of Andy throughout the show one change I would make is I think Andy was starting to show that meaner attitude a bit in season 5 but he was still pretty good most of the time in that last season with Barney.

Munsters#1 · 10-21-2005, 12:58 AM

I think also doing a show for a major network, 8 years in a row, can really make a person grumpy.

I don't know how Michael Landon did it. He was on Bonanza for about 10 years, then Little House for 10 years, and Highway to Heaven for about 8 years. Man, talk about overkill!

08-21-2005, 01:51 PM	#3
sg1niner Bill Maxwell's Woman Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 10, 2005 Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 132	Yeah, I don't watch the color ones. They're lousy, maybe that's why, but I didn't really like the new characters (okay, I didn't like Warren in particular.) As for Ken Berry's character, oh man, I had such a crush on Ken back in the day, lol. I loved Mayberry RFD, and wish I could see it again. F Troop too. He was such a cutie!
	__________________ sg1niner My Original Fanfic (Stargate SG-1, MASH, I Dream of Jeannie, Star Trek, Greatest American Hero, Gilligan's Island)

08-29-2005, 01:51 AM	#6
The Obsolete Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Nov 18, 2000 Location: Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, Earth Prime Posts: 567	Don't forget about the final season of Welcome Back, Kotter, in which Mr. Kotter appeared all of three times. Not to mention John Travolta becoming a "Special Guest Star" and being replaced by a southern blonde clone, all because of a little movie called Saturday Night Fever. Personally, I have a perverse love what I've come to think of as the trainwreck seasons of shows. They're so horrible, but you can't stop watching. I guess when and if Season 8 of TGAS Ever comes out, I'll have to give it a try, because you just can't pass up a good trainwreck (season).
	__________________ Nothing to see here. Move along.

10-03-2005, 01:29 PM	#11
teddybare Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 13, 2003 Location: Martinsville Virginia Posts: 744	Andy was more gruff in the color episodes which I read somewhere was because he and Don Knotts agreed to leave the show at the same time and go into movie acting and Don got a good movie deal and he didnt and he kept doing the show while Don started making movies. So that may be the reason for his gruffness but he wasnt that gruff in alot of them he was nice in alot of the color ones. I loved his gruffness in the episode where Goober grew the beard and became a know it all and Andy blows his stack telling him off LOL
	__________________ Sanford & Son Fanatic

08-19-2005, 05:25 PM	#1
Vince 887 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 29, 2005 Posts: 110	The Change in Andy's Character I was wondering why Andy went from a happy go lucky charecter to basically becoming grouchy by the time the episodes were filmed in color?

08-20-2005, 05:35 PM	#2
caladon Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 30, 2001 Location: Massachusetts state home for the bewildered Posts: 1,151	I remember reading that by that point in the series, Andy Griffith had just grown tired of doing the show and he just couldn't hide his feelings in his performance. He was tired, he wanted out and he was glad when the show began to shift the attention to Ken Berry's Sam Jones character. As per Ken Berry, Andy was grooming him as his replacement. Andy was more than happy to limit his involvement in the show to little more than cameos.

08-22-2005, 05:33 PM	#4
Americansportzfan Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 19, 2005 Posts: 42	I agree. Andy's attitude changes noticeably in the color episodes. He's much quicker to get mad and I don't care for episodes where he does a lot of that. There are actually about ten color episodes that are pretty good. Of course the ones with Barney are cool, but the best color episode, in my opinion, is "Dinner at Eight" where Andy ends up eating three dinners that night because Goober mixes up the phone messages he got for Andy. It's very much in the style of episodes they used to do in the black and white seasons.

09-30-2005, 06:24 PM	#7
nice Member Occasional Poster Join Date: May 24, 2004 Posts: 87	Maybe that is why they are not available on the cheaper DVDs or VHS.

09-30-2005, 06:27 PM	#8
nice Member Occasional Poster Join Date: May 24, 2004 Posts: 87	I saw that Andy's southern drawl changes from the first to the second season and he starts to play jokes on Barney too. I did not get to see too many color episodes because my local station only showed it in b/w for awile. I like the older Viacom logos on that show which I only got to see on VHS. Some people wanted it kept on the DVD realeases.

09-30-2005, 11:14 PM	#9
Munsters#1 Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 29, 2004 Posts: 2,928	He was much more of a hillbilly in Season 1, and he was much kinder. By Season 6, his attitude changed, and he really got grouchy at times.

10-02-2005, 08:20 PM	#10
Americansportzfan Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 19, 2005 Posts: 42	I believe the main reason his character changed was because he didn't have Don Knotts to play off of anymore. Barney brought an electricity to the show that wasn't there after he left. You were always anticipating what Barney was going to say or do when he was in a scene. Andy said on more than one occasion that the show just wasn't as funny after Don left. When Don left, the show depended a lot more on Andy who had been the straightman for five years. Like Andy said, "It just became another situation comedy" at that point.

10-15-2005, 05:16 PM	#13
showfan Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 24, 2005 Posts: 163	Andy had three personalities throughout the show in my opinion. In the first season, Andy had the Southern accent and was a little goofy at times. He really used weird thinking in the episode where he thought Ellie wanted to marry him. Then, in season 2-5, he lost the accent and became the laid back, logical, straight man. Then in seasons 6-8 he could be downright hateful at times. Just my opinion.

10-21-2005, 12:58 AM	#15
Munsters#1 Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 29, 2004 Posts: 2,928	I think also doing a show for a major network, 8 years in a row, can really make a person grumpy. I don't know how Michael Landon did it. He was on Bonanza for about 10 years, then Little House for 10 years, and Highway to Heaven for about 8 years. Man, talk about overkill!