Relating to life in Mayberry

Gooooooooooood morning, welcome back to another exciting episode of Cecil’s World in Print.
I have been a television buff all my life. Just like many of you, I grew up watching TV in the 1950s and ’60s, not playing video games. I know that’s hard to believe, no video games, but back then, we didn’t have Nintendo or Wii. When we were not watching TV, we were outside playing cowboys and Indians. I don’t know about you, but I still watch those same TV shows I watched growing up.
My favorite show is “The Andy Griffith Show.” I watched this show when it was first on in the ’60s, and I watch it at least three or four times a week. I watch them so much I can recite what they are going to say before they say it.
 Andy and Barney hit the airwaves in 1960, and the show ran for eight years. This show taught us a way of life. We got to watch how a single dad raised his son and dealt with everyday problems that many of us were faced with. Mayberry, N.C., became your typical small town USA. Now, I want to see how many of you are fans of the show. It’s contest time. I am going to find out who knows what about “The Andy Griffith Show.”
During the first seasons, the show was filmed in black and white. My first question is, what TV show did “The Andy Griffith Show” spin off from?
It was the 1960 “Danny Thomas Show.” Danny was arrested for running a stop sign in Mayberry, and Sheriff Andy Taylor arrested him. Most of the filming took place with Thomas still in jail. Andy really played up the hick sheriff part, which landed him his own TV show.
The 1958 movie “No Time for Sergeants” also helped launch Griffith’s career. Don Knotts, who played Barney Fife in “The Andy Griffith Show,” was in that movie, too.
Everyone knows Andy Taylor was married at one time and had a son named Opie. What’s the name of Opie’s mother, who is never seen in the show? Think about it. There are no family photos, and there is no mention of her living or dying.
That was a trick question. Her name was never given during the show’s eight-year run.
Here is the real question: did Andy Taylor and Helen Crump ever get married? Yes, they did, but not on “The Andy Griffith Show.”
They got married in the spinoff, “Mayberry RFD” and eventually became the parents of Andrews Taylor Jr.
Several big stars appeared on “The Andy Griffith Show” during its run, such as Buddy Ebsen, Bill Bixby, Alan Hale Jr. and Barbara Eden.
Now my question is, who played the man accused of stealing a TV and on whose jury Aunt Bee served? She was the only person on the jury who thought he did not do it.
It was a young Jack Nicholson.
How many of you remember the name of the deputy who worked with Andy after Barney? His TV name was Warren Ferguson, played by Jack Burns. Warren appeared in 11 episodes and then vanished with no word as to why. Knotts left the show at the end of its fifth season to pursue a career in films. At this point, his girlfriend Thelma Lou left the show, but did return once more as a married woman, though not to her true love, Barney.
Several surveys have been taken to determine the most popular episodes of the show. Do you know what was voted No. 1? It was from the fifth season, “Opie the Birdman.” This is when Opie kills a small bird, and he raises its baby. It is a very touching story.
My favorite was the one with Ernest T. Bass, when Andy and Barney try to teach him to be a gentleman so he can get a girl. However, the true Ernest T. comes out and Mrs. Wiley calls him a creature. It is so funny.
OK, the final questions: In season four, why is Floyd the barber always sitting down when he is on camera? Floyd, played by Howard McNear, had a stroke and could not stand. “The Andy Griffith Show” is listed as the ninth most popular TV of all time.
That’s it for another Cecil’s World in print. Me and Opie are going down to the fishing hole to do a little fishing. I’ll see you next week, right here in the Morning News and on the tube.

— Cecil Chandler is a veteran reporter at WBTW News13. His column appears Mondays in the Morning News.