What I've Learned From The Andy Griffith Show

It's definitely no secret that I have become an avid watcher of The Andy Griffith Show. I've mentioned it, oh, only a few times (yeah, right!) on Facebook and in my blogs. I've spent many nights over the past 10 and 1/2 months watching episode after episode of the 8 seasons it ran and have even recently started watching the series all over again from the beginning episode. 

I can just see myself at one of our Warm Place meetings (our grief recovery center) when the question of the evening might be: "What has brought you consistent comfort as you grieved for your loved one?" I can only guess my answer would have to be: "Ummmm.... Watching The Andy Griffith Show.?." Bwahhahahaaa! But seriously, there were some nights I just couldn't have fallen asleep without being lulled into their safe little world. 

Ahem. Hello, my name is Sharon and I am an Andy Griffith Show junkie.

What can I say? There's just something about that whistle. It just sets me at ease and puts a spark of joy in my spirit. And the old-time, clean-cut, small-town atmosphere has been somewhat of an escape for me and somehow quickly moves my mind off of my worries and anxieties as I catch myself belly-laughing at Barney's silly shenanigans. Oh my goodness, I just love that show!

But I have noticed some rather interesting tidbits over the time I've invested in watching this series and thought hey, why not write a blog about it and subject everyone else to the Andy Griffith Show trivia that runs through my mind from time to time? Yes, I know I live a rather exciting life. It's quite mind-blowing. 

And now Ladies and Gentleman, please enjoy the following mindless drivel for the next few minutes as I share with you non-pertinent information about a show you may not currently watch but are surely missing out on (all 8 seasons are available on Netflix streaming!) and pray you don't get the theme song/whistle stuck in your head! I dare you not to whistle and bounce your head along!

Andy was a major country bumpkin with an extremely twangy accent at the beginning of the series that somehow dropped out over the years to just a country drawl. As I began re-watching the series I realized he definitely didn't sound the same and found myself laughing at how thick his hick accent and how countrified his expressions/sayings were in the early episodes compared to the later ones.

The black and white episodes, in my opinion, are definitely better than the colored episodes in the later years and this has a lot to do with two things: 

1. Barney was in most of the black and white episodes and let's just be honest, besides all the other great and quirky characters in the series, Barney just steals the show of every scene he is in. He's such a kook and is so good at playing the klutzy egocentric, know-it-all, inept goofball that when he leaves the series towards the later years he is sorely missed and the extra oomph and giggle factor is nearly gone.
2. Opie was such a cute kid. And then he entered puberty. He was still a cute kid after that, but he was seriously so much more adorable as a youngster and made me wish he was one of my brothers, or my 2nd son, or my 3rd cousin, or something. Seeing him older and going through the older kid issues wasn't as appealing to me as when he was in his younger years.

The colored episodes revealed some oddities that I never noticed in the black and white episodes. For instance, everybody's teeth looked so yellow and gross in the colored episodes! It made me realize how greatly our society has changed and how much we strive to keep our pearly whites 'bleached white' these days. Compared to back then, well those wide mouthed country smiles can be a little off-putting with their imperfect teeth glaring at you in full color! It was just a bit of a shock after seeing them looking white for so long in the black and white episodes. The characters' wrinkles and age spots also became more visible in color. Now that I've entered my forties, it makes me wish I could walk around with a black and white filtered bubble around me! HA!

They gave me the urge to google. Whether it was to find out if the theme song whistle had words to it (it does) or to look up recipes Aunt Bea made so I could figure out what they were eating, I found myself turning to google on more than one occasion to find out more about this intriguing show. I was floored in one episode when Aunt Bea served homemade apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese on it. Upon googling, I found it was common during that time to serve pie with a slice of cheese on the side or melting on top. Weird, but interesting.

The way they talked about and treated women was a bit off-putting from time to time. Not in every episode, but often enough that it was a little eyebrow raising. 

• Barney was a hypocritical two-timer: He and Thelma Lou were quite the item and yet he often called Juanita at the diner for some risque conversations and also went out with other women when he was out of town and yet he fully expected Thelma Lou to stay faithful to him. Ummmm, okay??
• Floyd was a nasty old man: I'm sorry, I had to say it. He wagged his eyebrows at women and loved to insinuate in conversations with other men about women's bodies. One episode he and Andy were reading a letter out loud from one of Barney's vacations in Raleigh where he mentioned waitresses were wearing 'peek-a-boo blouses' at which Floyd giggled in his weird way and asked Andy to read it again, read it again!
• Andy talked down to and about women: The way he talked to women characters, including Helen his longtime girlfriend, put them in 'their place' and was at times a bit degrading. Although he was gentlemanly and kind, it was obvious he felt they were somewhat subservient to and valued as less than the dominant male. 

Now, I don't want to upset anybody or make you believe they were all male chauvinists, but at the time they lived in that was the common attitude or it wouldn't have been written into the scripts. I would catch myself thinking 'How could women watch this at home with their families and feel good about themselves in those moments?'. We are living in a different hour and a different world now than it was then. Truthfully, it didn't upset me enough to stop watching the show, it just made me wish those small parts were cut out.

Of course now on the flip side in TV shows these days EVERYTHING ELSE seems to be acceptable except the mistreatment or belittling of women. It's okay on Disney or primetime family shows for kids to sass their parents and be rebellious and talk rude to adults and disrespect authority. It's fine to have affairs daily and jump into bed with every person you shake hands with or work beside and laugh at others expenses. It's normal for teenagers who seriously don't have any clue as to what the world is really all about or how today's choices can and will impact their future, make grown up decisions about their bodies that they'll likely regret when they hit their late 20s, mid 30s or early 40s. And many, most or sometimes even all of these behaviors are considered acceptable in today's society. Hmmmmm.

So I don't mind if I DO take a piece of apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese on the side of an Andy Griffith episode, even with the occasional yellow-teethed, women-bashing, redneck lingo-ed, Barney-less episode. No sir, No ma'am; I don't mind if I do.