Griffith was warmly accepted by viewers in the role of this drawling lawman, so Leonard had no trouble launching a spin-off series revolving around that character in the fall of 1960 (scheduled right after The Danny Thomas Show on Monday evenings). In the episode, Thomas – more or less playing himself as a combustible singer-comic with a New York attitude – is stopped for speeding while driving through the sleepy little town of Mayberry, North Carolina, and held in the local jail when he runs afoul of the easygoing, but not infinitely patient, Sheriff Andy Taylor. Leonard resolved to construct a sitcom around the rising star and filmed a backdoor pilot as an episode of The Danny Thomas Show, a top-rated series he already had running on CBS. ![]() The Andy Griffith Show started out as the brainchild of producer Sheldon Leonard, who had been greatly impressed by the folksy charisma Griffith conveyed on Broadway during the 1950s while starring in the hit comedy No Time for Sergeants (later filmed with Griffith repeating his lead role) and a musical adaptation of Destry Rides Again. On the occasion of what would have been his 96th birthday, we’re celebrating the star and his enduringly popular sitcom.Īndy Griffith - who was born on this date in 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina - often said he had an epiphany while filming the second episode of the classic sitcom that bore his name.
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