Picking out a consistent throughline among the most popular programs today is probably an impossibility. Variety is certainly great, but for all these wildly different programs that rake in millions of viewers, many lack that key ingredient that Andy Griffith once said enabled The Andy Griffith Show to stand out against all others: a policy of kindness.
Airing on CBS, The Andy Griffith Show ran from 1960 to 1968 and invited Americans to Mayberry where, for just a while, everything was as it should be. We have all been taught the golden rule, treat others the way you would want to be treated, but for some half-hour segments each week, we could see what that looked like in action, because neither the real world nor all the other programs out there stayed dedicated to that edict with such dedication as that series. Here is how Griffith made kindness and togetherness a must in every episode.
Andy Griffith pondered the sense of community and respect that never wavered from ‘The Andy Griffith Show’
Today, a show is lucky if it gets a season two. Sometimes, it barely gets one season, thanks to cancellations serving as handy tax cuts for gigantic production studios that don’t feel gigantic enough. But The Andy Griffith Show stuck around for eight seasons full of 249 wholesome, safe, comfortable endearing and enduring episodes. Can an episode of television feel like cuddling into a warm blanket? Yes, it can.
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But, how did The Andy Griffith Show achieve this? That is what Griffith was discussing in a 1965 interview for the New York Times.
“I think it is because we — everyone on the show — have a real sense of community,” explained Griffith, “of kindness toward one another.”
“The basic rule by which we live comes through on the program, kindness comes through,” he went on. “The show also has a number of featured performers, each with a definite character we can write around for any episode. But equally important is the character of Mayberry itself. We try to make it a real little community with its small problems and those of its people put forth comedically.”
A number’s worth a thousand words
If community and kindness were the key ingredients poured by the bucket into The Andy Griffith Show, then that’s one to write down in the recipe book, because the numbers proved that formula performed quite well with viewers throughout the ‘60s.
For one thing, The Andy Griffith Show never ranked below seventh in the Nielsen ratings. What’s more, it did the near impossible and ended its final season right at number one, an unthinkable feat after we’ve grown so used to the best shows sliding down a gradual incline, or at the very least riding up and down a few hills. But no. The Andy Griffith Show did what only two other programs achieved; the others sharing this honor are I Love Lucy and Seinfeld.
What was your favorite aspect of The Andy Griffith Show?