The Andy Griffith Show was one of the most wholesome and family-friendly TV programs in history. But let’s face: it even widowed sheriffs still have needs and sometimes a man has to move on. So, who does Andy end up with in The Andy Griffith Show? How did The Andy Griffith Show end and why did it end so abruptly? With this deep dive, we learn about all that and Andy’s behind-the-scenes affair with Aneta Corsaut – by his own admission.
Andy Griffith struggled to develop chemistry with his female co-stars, but boy did all that change when Corsaut joined the cast. In fact, Griffith was so smitten with the auburn-haired beauty that he was even prepared to leave his wife and children behind. You won’t want to miss this steamy and salacious tale of forbidden love in Mayberry. Now, it’s time to grab our cane poles and start whistling.
Welcome to Mayberry!
The fictional town of Mayberry was inspired by Andy Griffith’s hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina, and the show’s indoor scenes were filmed at Desilu Studios. Meanwhile, the exterior shots were filmed at the RKO 40 Acres Backlot in Culver City, California, with the downtown scenes filmed on Gone with the Wind’s Atlanta set.
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The crew had to choose their camera angles carefully because huts from Gomer Pyle USMC were across the street from Wally’s filling station. The famous 40-acre slot was demolished in 1976 and is now a business park.
Andy and Barney
The characters of Andy and Opie debuted in a backdoor pilot on the Danny Thomas Show in 1960. When Andy was offered his own show, he brought his good friend Don Knotts along to play Deputy Barney Fife. The two actors met on Broadway in the 1950s and had always worked very well together. Viewers tuned in each week to hear Andy’s folksy wisdom and watched Barney steal every scene he was in.
Griffith had already been a successful stand-up comic and expected to be the main funny character in the show… whoops. Barney became an instant fan favorite and Andy was
content to become his straight man. Both actors only expected the show to run for five seasons and Don Knotts left some huge shoes to fill when he left the show to pursue other acting opportunities.
Jerry Van Dyke guest stars in the season five episode “Banjo Playing Deputy.” He was considered as a replacement but decided to star in My Mother the Car instead. What a bad decision.
So, they got Jack Burns to join the cast as Deputy Warren Ferguson but that tested so poorly he was written off the show without any explanation after 11 episodes.
What happened to Opie’s mom
When Andy and Opie appeared on the Danny Thomas Show, viewers learned Andy lost Opie’s mother when the boy was the least little speck of a baby. But otherwise, we never hear too much about the mom. Ron Howard said his on-screen relationship with Andy was influenced by his relationship with his own father and that Griffith became a father figure to the young actor both on and off-screen.
Andy nods approvingly after Opie throws a rock in the show’s opening credits and many years later, Griffith realized his own father gave him that same nod of approval when he was growing up. Life imitates art!
Aunt Bee moves in
Aunt Bee moves into the Taylor home after their housekeeper Rose gets married on the show’s first episode. That doesn’t sit well with Opie, who spends the rest of the episode getting used to the idea. But Aunt Bee did a great job keeping the home fires burning in the Taylor household Unfortunately, Andy Griffith and Frances Bavier did not get along backstage and he once said, “There was just something about me she did not like.”
Other cast members also found her temperamental and difficult to work with. In one interview, Ron Howard said, “I just don’t think she enjoyed being around children that much.” Once Bavier even hit George Lindsay with an umbrella for using foul language off-camera.
Bavier moved to North Carolina after she retired from acting and lived alone with 14 cats. When Andy Griffith and Ron Howard paid her a visit in 1972, she turned them away but Bavier contacted Andy in 1989 to reconcile after she had become terminally ill. The great Francis Bavier passed away on December 4, ten days before her 87th birthday.
How many girlfriends did Andy Taylor have
Andy Taylor wore many hats, including Sheriff, Justice of the Peace, and Opie’s dad. He was also Mayberry’s most eligible bachelor and had several love interests over the years but Andy Griffith told author Richard Kelly, “We never knew how to write for women.” He blamed his own awkwardness for his struggles to develop a romantic rapport with his female co-stars.
Mayberry’s answer to Carrie Grant, Andy spent most of the first season wooing Ellie Walker but Eleanor Donahue decided not to return for the second season. Donahue claimed she had no on-screen chemistry with Griffith and the relationship didn’t appear real or believable.
Joanna Moore joined the cast as Peggy McMillan for the show’s third season. But she was let go after four episodes because the producers thought she was too glamorous for Andy.
Now Aneta Corsaut appeared as a school teacher Helen Crump for the first time in season three. It was just supposed to be a one-time appearance, so the writers thought it would be funny to give such a pretty girl an ugly name, but after witnessing Helen Crump and her on-screen chemistry with Griffith, the producers made her a recurring character.
Did Andy Griffith ever kiss Helen
In 1964, Andy Griffith told the Associated Press that he wanted his on-screen courtship with Helen to develop slowly and admitted that he was uncomfortable shooting one particular romantic scene outside his office. That scene featured Andy leaning in for a kiss but chickening out at the last minute.
Andy told the director that it was a little too much for the conservative sheriff and said, “Wouldn’t it be better if we sort of made love with her eyes a little bit?” Probably everyone can agree, no Andy, that’s weird. Andy thought it would be funnier and More in-character if they were interrupted by Barney and the director agreed. Thank goodness!
The rumor of affairs and other secrets on ‘The Andy Griffith Show’
Andy and Helen keep their relationship under wraps for as long as possible but the cat got out of the bag during the season four episode “The Rumor.” Barney spots Andy kissing Helen in the jewelry store and mistakenly assumes the couple is engaged. Word spreads quickly around Mayberry and Aunt Bee organize a surprise party to celebrate.
Well, the rumor mill was just as active in real life. Andy Griffith was married with two children but openly flirted with Corsaut on set and they frequently snuck away together.
In 2015 the author of Andy and Dawn claimed that he couldn’t get enough of Aneta and “he popped the question” at least once and possibly two or three times, as Aneta hinted in later years. She turned him down.
Despite their attempts to keep their affair a secret, the word got out. According to Andy and Don, Andy was furious after a young crewman dressed up as a writer and delivered dinner to their Hollywood hotel room as a practical joke.
Did Andy and Helen have a baby
Andy decided to turn in his tin star after eight seasons and the series continued for three more as Mayberry RFD, with Andy serving as the show’s executive producer. Many original cast members remained on the show or made guest appearances and the show’s pilot featured Andy and Helen’s marriage.
That season the newlyweds returned to Mayberry to show off their little bundle of joy. Griffith guest-starred in five episodes of Mayberry RFD and he reunited with Don Knotts in the 1986 made-for-TV film Return to Mayberry as well as reunion specials in 1993 and 2003.
Life after Mayberry
The Andy Griffith Show ended its run while it still topped the Nielsen ratings, a rare accomplishment shared only with the esteemed I Love Lucy and Seinfeld. After leaving the show, Andy Griffith appeared on programs including Headmaster and The New Andy Griffith Show, but in 1983 Andy was diagnosed with leg paralysis from Guillain-Barre syndrome.
He spent seven months in rehab but returned to the airwaves in 1986 as country lawyer Ben Matlock. Matlock enjoyed nine seasons and Aneta Corsaut guest-starred on nine episodes. We can only speculate about whether or not they pick things back up where they left off.
In 1976, Andy Griffith received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his Andy Taylor ranked number eight in TV Guide’s list of the 50 greatest TV dads. Griffith was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in 2005, and he retired from acting at the age of 83 after playing his final role as Grandpa Joe in 2009’s play The Game.
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The great Andy Griffith passed away in 2012 and was buried in the Griffith Family Cemetery in Mateo, North Carolina.
Aneta continued her acting career for two more decades after The Andy Griffith Show but she never married or had children. Aneta died of cancer in 1995 at the age of 62 and was interred at the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood.
All right, now that we’re back from Mayberry, it’s time to hear from you all. What was your personal favorite episode of The Andy Griffith Show? Do you think Andy Taylor needed a girlfriend or was he too busy for such things? Could you tell a sizzling romance was happening behind the scenes when you watched these classic episodes? What other secrets of The Andy Griffith Show do you know? Get in the comments and tell us all things Andy Griffith and all things Aneta Corsaut!
