The Andy Griffith Show transitions to Mayberry RFD

A blast from the long past

Mayberry RFD (1968-1971)was the spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968) that came about after Griffith (Andy Taylor) decided to leave the popular sitcom. Don Knotts (Barney Fife) made his exit in 1965 to do feature films and a piece of Mayberry went with him. Cousins Andy and Barney had worked together since day one and their unique dynamic was appreciated and missed.

The year 1965 was also when The Andy Griffith Show began airing in color. This also changed the dynamic of the series and if you pay attention to reruns on MeTV, TV Land, and other networks it is rare to see the colorized episodes. The black-and-white versions reign supreme.

MeTV airs the Mayberry RFD episode

On Sunday, December 31, at noon, MeTV will air the classic last episodes of beloved television shows on 'The Lasts on the Last''. At 6:00 p.m. viewers will see Mayberry RFD the final episode of The Andy Griffith Show.

Whether you never saw the series finale, have forgotten it, or recall it fondly you have an opportunity to see it on the last day of this year. MeTV will wrap up 2023 by airing some bittersweet moments of the shift in Mayberry. Andy Taylor leaves town to move to Raliegh with his wife the former Helen Crump (Aneta Corsaut). and newcomer Sam Jones becomes the central focus.

Life changed for Aunt Bee

Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) remains in Mayberry assisting Sam and helping to raise his son Mike Jones (Buddy Foster) for the first 2 seasons and then she leaves being replaced by Alice Cooper (Alice Ghostly) in the third season of Mayberry RFD. Fans of The Andy Griffith Show will recall that Clara Edwards (Hope Summers) advised Aunt Bee she should have a boyfriend and prepare for Helen and Andy to get married.

Andy assured his aunt that if and when he married Helen she would remain with the family. There were also rumors that Bavier did not like her role as Aunt Bee but she continued portraying the beloved character for 2 years after the original series stopped airing episodes.

The Andy Griffith Show continues to be popular

The Andy Griffith Show ran on CBS from 1960 until 1968 and has never been off the air, running in syndication every year since for 63 years. The series remained in the top 10 and was never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings. The final season ended at number one in the ratings according to Wikipedia.

Although Mayberry RFD had good ratings it became a casualty of the Rural Purge in the early 1970s. Hollywood execs canceled the series along with other popular shows like Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Petticoat Junction.

What happened to Andy and Helen?

Fans across the Internet disagree on who was running the town in Mayberry RFD. This is because Andy was still shown early in the spin-off making 5 appearances. Some fans believe he remained sheriff iff-screen because he was in 5 episodes of RFD. Others say Goober was the deputy sheriff. The fact that Aunt Bee moved in with Sam suggests Andy was nowhere around plus he returned home in the movie Return to Mayberry.

The series creators probably wanted to get away from the sheriff's office and the reminders of how it used to be so fans would embrace Sam. If you would like to see the final episode of The Andy Griffith Show which was also the pilot for Mayberry RFD tune in to MeTV Sunday New Year's Eve, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. EST and relieve the changing of the guard or view it for the first time.