After his departure from his classic TV series and after the failure of his drama series "The Headmaster" which soon followed, Andy Griffith returned in a comedy which looks all too familiar. When the mayor of a small town announced his retirement, Andy Sawyer (Griffith) returned to his home town to act as temporary mayor along with his wife Lee (Meriwether), 2 kids and a housekeeper. As you may have already guessed the formula is quite familiar to The Andy Griffith show. In fact, in the pilot episode Goober and Emmitt are featured along with a surprise appearance by Don Knotts playing an unnamed character (you know it's Barney, he even calls Andy "Ange") The show had it's funny moments but suffers by falling on the heels of the original, and never really breaks out on it's own. Most of the main characters are only shadows of a show long gone, lacking many of the "quirks" which made the original so memorable. The show only lasted less than 4 months and as far as I know has never been seen in syndication.
Review of The New Andy Griffith Show
