Andy's Southern Accent

[Dan]

On the Newer or the Later episodes of Andy Griffith why does Andy try so hard to talk so proper. He had the stong southern accent during the first few years. As the show went on, he starts talking real proper. like hes trying to shed the southern accent. Did anyone else notice that. Did it have something to do with ratings or something.

[JOBO]

When the show first began,all the people were looked at like just simple people from a small town,but as the show progressed and some of the people left like barney and were replaced with people like warren,and howard sprague with a more proper look and act,andy as the star of the show had to kind of break away from the southern accent.i think this was a mistake because andy's accent and the stories he told were such a big part of the show.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by JOBO

When the show first began,all the people were looked at like just simple people from a small town,but as the show progressed and some of the people left like barney and were replaced with people like warren,and howard sprague with a more proper look and act,andy as the star of the show had to kind of break away from the southern accent.i think this was a mistake because andy's accent and the stories he told were such a big part of the show.

Yet another change for the worse in the color era...

Many, or most of the incidental character actors appearing on the show even use distinctly "Yankee" accents, while supposedly being small town folks down South in Mayberry, North Carolina.

[PracTz]

Originally Posted by Will Dockery

Yet another change for the worse in the color era...

Many, or most of the incidental character actors appearing on the show even use distinctly "Yankee" accents, while supposedly being small town folks down South in Mayberry, North Carolina.

Ironically, Aunt Bee didn't even remotely sound Southern but that was because Miss Bavier always spoke in an upper-crust Old New York City accent. Oddly enough, no one seemed to object but I guess folks just thought Aunt Bee was unique enough in her own right to not need to speak like those she supposedly grew up and had interacted with her entire life.

As for Mr. Griffith, I think I read somewhere that after the first season, he thought Andy's accent was over the top and too broad so he deliberately toned it down to his more natural speech.

[SarahBellum]

I have a hard time watching some of the season one episodes due to Andy's over-exaggerated southern accent. I'm glad he subsequently toned it down.

[TSMIV]

In season 1, Andy was still doing Will Stockdale. He toned it down because he realized he needed to be the straight man to Barney. His speech in the later seasons was weird and so was his attitude. He was almost always angry and put out with everybody. It probably wasn't that noticeable when watching one episode a week, but now we can watch a bunch in a row so it seems more pronounced.