RIP Andy Griffith

You beat me to it, laughed like hell watching that again today.

 

Another slice-of-life in Today's America: Just snapped off the radio after listening to about a 10-minute stretch of talk radio callers berating Griffith for being a "dupe" and "senile" for his recent political endorsements.

 

As noted earlier, the show came from an episode of Make Room For Daddy.

Here is the first appearance on TV of Sheriff Andy Taylor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NOFoeNU2rl0

 

I would imagine Danny Thomas got a pretty nice slice of TAGS residuals the rest of his life.

 

I must say, I'm not surprised he died. Maybe a year ago, I saw him in a commercial for insurance(?) or something else that would appeal to seniors, and he looked damn near dead then; like, way worse than he ever looked on Matlock.

Unemployed for way too long until recently, I had the chance to watch two or three Matlock episodes every morning. As the series wore on, you could see him growing older and becoming more stooped over as he walked. Still, had a presence on the screen that his costars couldn't match.

Rest easy, Andy.

 

On Twitter today I saw a guy I know, mid 30s, who seemed almost proud of the fact that he had never watched anything Andy ever did. Then, when I encouraged him to check out a couple of TAGS episodes, he replied that he had no desire to watch "Andy Griffin."

Which is a damned shame, because.....



RIP, Sheriff Andy.

 

These days, I can't take a shit without some political commentator analyzing whether my turds float to the right or left side of the bowl.

Politics! Politics! Politics! Nothing else matters!

I'm sick of it.

 

It is somewhat fitting that there was a rain delay at Turner Field on Tuesday.

 

The Andy Griffith Show, Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, Ultraman, The Twilight Zone, Prince Planet, The Brady Bunch, Hazel, My Three Sons, All in the Family, etc. were all staples of my childhood.

Coming from a fatherless home, I always wished I could have a dad like Andy Taylor while growing up.

RIP, sir...

 

I don't know. That 25-cent allowance is pretty cheap. And you had to do a whole lot of chores to get it. And he wouldn't even be taken in by temper tantrums or holding your breath until your face turned blue.

 

Couple thoughts on one of my favorite childhood shows that remains a fav today:

1) In the first episode (after the Danny Thomas episode) Barney says he's Andy's cousin;

2) Show went downhill quickly when it went color after Barney left;

3) Helen came to a producer's attention when she was walking across the lot and he took a liking to a body part of hers that rhymed with Crump;

4) Show still airs daily at noon for an hour on TVLand and I watch every day if possible.

5) Andy always insisted Ron Howard (or Ronny as he always called him) was the best child actor ever.

6) "Shazam" as Andy said to end the episode about the gold truck, one of my favorites.

 

Andy Griffith did a commercial in support of Obamacare months ago. The irony of that is under some interpretations regarding Obamacare, he'd have been given the death pill for passing 85 and then being on his last leg.