The Andy Griffith Show is Still Brilliant Television After All These Years

It is more than a cliché to say that baby boomers like to watch and become sentimental about old television shows from the 1960s and '70s. As many of us grew up with television, these show were the comfort foods of our youth. A prominent theme in the plots of these shows was that life wasn't always fair, but that a sense of secular morality undergirded the actions of good people. That right and wrong were clear choices and personal responsibility to accept and care about other people was the ultimate goal.

Perhaps the most comforting of these TV shows were the circa 1960 to 1968 family situation comedies. These more innocent shows were unlike those of the later 1970s with cynical child characters who rolled their eyes at the unknowing adults. I am talking about the Leave it to Beaver genre in which adults seemed to have a clue, and children were sometimes confused while learning the ways of the world. At times their childish naive goodness would end up providing an object lesson to their parents. But the well-meaning parents and other adult characters, though imperfect, modeled a world of stability and sensibleness. Meanwhile, the side characters in these series were endearingly familiar.

Thanks to the miracle of Netflix, these old shows are available to watch from their first to last episode. Having sampled many, I believe that for pure timeless humor, intelligence and good spirit, none hold up as well as The Andy Griffith Show.

The Andy Griffith show managed to combine a sense of the warmth and stability of small town life without being reactionary or maudlin. And Its writers flawlessly supported the brilliant performances of its ensemble cast. It is important to mention that Andy Griffith, though he played the straight man around which much inspired comedic work revolved, was a magnificent actor. As Andy Taylor, the sheriff and single father, he was seamlessly real, evincing a complex man who, though always basically solid, could be moody and have divided thoughts and feelings. For sheer comic brilliance, however, Don Knots was matchless. Watching these shows, one after another on Netflix discs, one never tires of watching Knots play Barney Fife. The beauty of seeing continual shows, in fact, is that one gets to notice traits and habits that the writers and Knots built into the Barney character-- his tendency to mispronounce words, to become an instant expert in everything, his overuse of pop psychology, and his tendency to impulsive overreaction.

Another actor that shone brilliantly in this series was Howard McNear as Floyd Lawson, the barber. Why don't we know more about McNear? His appearances as Floyd are so exquisitely acted, and are such a remarkable example of comic craft, I cannot understand why McNear wasn't seen in lots of movies and heralded as one of the great comic actors of the era.

Joined in this exceptional troop of actors was the actress Frances Bavier who created an iconic character and perhaps the most comforting of characters ever in a television show: Aunt Bee. Not a cardboard cut-out, Aunt Bee was a woman of a passing era. Her character, who would have been born around the turn of the 20th century, was a deeply sensitive small town aunt whose worst flaw was a tendency to worry too much. However, she was always there with a slice of apple pie, a home cooked pot roast and a positive word.

I could go on and on about all the Andy Griffith Show characters and actors including Ron Howard, now the well-regarded movie director, who was one of the most appealing and non-cloying child actors ever to grace the TV screen.

For younger generations wishing to understand their baby-boomer parents; their hopes and expectations, and the experiences that countered the encroaching anxieties of their era, they could do worse than to rent the entire run of the Andy Griffith Show. Despite its date of origin, great art never seems dated. The Andy Griffith Show certainly passes this test.