Return to Mayberry

Return to Mayberry
Written by	Harvey Bullock Everett Greenbaum
Directed by	Bob Sweeney
Starring	Andy Griffith Don Knotts Ron Howard George Lindsey Jim Nabors Aneta Corsaut Betty Lynn Jack Dodson
Composer(s)	Earle Hagen
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Dean Hargrove Richard O. Linke Andy Griffith
Producer(s)	Robin S. Clark
Editor(s)	David Solomon
Location(s)	Arroyo Grande Los Olivos, California
Cinematography	Richard C. Glouner
Camera setup	single camera
Production company(s)	Viacom
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Picture format	NTSC (480i)
Audio format	Monophonic
Original airing	April 13, 1986 (1986-04-13)
Chronology
Preceded by	The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.

Return to Mayberry was a television movie made in 1986 on NBC, even though the original series aired on CBS. The show was a reunion movie for the 1960s American television sitcoms The Andy Griffith Show and, to an extent, Mayberry R.F.D. as well. The movie premiered on April 13, 1986, and was the highest-rated telemovie of 1986.^[1][2] Sixteen of the original cast members reunited for the movie. It might have to led to a further series, but Griffith instead committed to Matlock for the 1986-87 season.^[1]

Plot

Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) returns to his hometown of Mayberry with wife Helen (Aneta Corsaut) (whom he had married in 1968, on the spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D.) but without his second-born son Andy, Jr. (christened on R.F.D.). Andy's main purpose for returning is to see son Opie (Ron Howard) into fatherhood, as his wife is nearly nine months pregnant.

Andy finds that his old deputy and cousin, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), has returned from Raleigh (where he had moved when Knotts left the series in 1965) to become the acting sheriff following the death of the preceding sheriff, and intends to run to win the position outright. However, he becomes annoyed as many townspeople assume that Andy has returned to take over the Sheriff's office (despite Andy's constant denial of the matter) and beg their old friend to take over. Barney also gets caught up in believing a commercial ploy to attract tourists to Myer's Lake via a mechanical monster. Meanwhile, Opie ponders moving his family out of Mayberry to expand his journalism career.

Most of the characters from the old series are revisited. The milquetoast Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson), in an attempt to look younger, is seen in various hues of hair color. The Pyle cousins, Gomer (Jim Nabors) and Goober (George Lindsey), share filling station duties (and are seen together for only the second time in Mayberry history). Howard Morris and Denver Pyle reprise the hillbilly roles of Ernest T. Bass and Briscoe Darling, respectively, along with Maggie Peterson and The Dillards as the rest of the Darling clan. Otis Campbell (Hal Smith), the former town drunk, has become sober and now drives an ice cream truck.

In the end, Andy learns that hotel owner Wally Butler was using Ernest T. Bass and Barney to propagate a lake monster panic. A dragon artifact was confiscated from a defunct restaurant and planted in the lake to boost business. At a "victory rally" for Barney, an informal straw poll is taken. Andy is favored as sheriff despite not being on the ballot. Unwilling to keep Barney from realizing his dream, Andy steadfastly refuses to enter the race. Surprisingly, Barney makes an emotional withdrawal speech and endorses Andy. Andy agrees to serve, and the last shot seen is of the "new" sheriff and deputy putting up an American flag on Mayberry's Main Street.

Changes

Most of the surviving cast members of The Andy Griffith Show reprised their roles in the reunion movie. One notable exception was Frances Bavier, who played Aunt Bee for all eight seasons as well as two seasons of Mayberry R.F.D.. Bavier had retired shortly after leaving R.F.D. in 1970. Her absence was explained by a scene in which Andy visits the cemetery where Aunt Bee is buried. Bee had apparently died at some point between the end of Mayberry R.F.D. and the events of this movie. (Bavier herself died in 1989.) Elinor Donahue (as Ellie Walker) and Jack Burns (as Warren Ferguson) were two other cast members not to be involved in the movie. Some of the main R.F.D. regulars, including Sam Jones, son Mike, and Millie Swanson—all of whom were first introduced on the last season of The Andy Griffith Show itself—were also absent. (Ken Berry, who had played Jones, was forced to decline as he was busy playing Vinton Harper on Mama's Family.) Former series regulars Howard McNear (as Floyd Lawson), Hope Summers (as Clara Edwards), and Paul Hartman (as Emmett Clark) had long since died.

Also in the movie, Gomer and his long time sweetheart LuAnn (Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.) had gone their separate ways, as Gomer was shown as being unattached in this TV movie. Barney and Thelma Lou (Betty Lynn) finally married in the movie. In a 1966 episode Barney returned home to rekindle their relationship only to find out that Thelma Lou had married someone else. In the movie, it is briefly mentioned by Andy that Thelma Lou's first marriage had lasted only 18 months, although Barney quickly corrects him stating that they were only married 16 months. There is also no mention of Andy and Helen having any children, although Griffith and Corsaut's final guest appearance in Mayberry R.F.D. was in the episode "Andy's New Baby".

Since the original outdoor sets from the original Andy Griffith television series had long since been destroyed, the producers had to rebuild the "town" set from scratch. As a result, there were some differences between this version of Mayberry and the one from the TV series. One of the more notable differences was that the main street went past the courthouse rather than ending at the building, and that there was a small island with a flagpole on the street in front of the courthouse.

Reception

Although a ratings success, its critical reception was more ambiguous. The New York Times considered it to have "slow pace, extremely modest level of humor and straightforward and predictable plotting make Return to Mayberry a less appealing reunion for the audience than it may have been for its actors."^[3] Time discussed the film only when it was in its last days of production, and – despite the lauditory "Even on TV's crowded reunion calendar, Return to Mayberry is a special event" – offered no substantive comment on the merits of the finished product.^[4] More modern reviews have been kinder, calling it "marvelous blast from the past"^[1] and a reunion that "worked largely because the producers kept the original flavour of the series yet brought the show up to date".^[2]

2004 re-broadcast

In a few US markets, Mayberry was controversially rebroadcast on Veteran's Day in 2004. Some ABC affliates used Mayberry as a replacement for the network's unedited rebroadcast of the film, Saving Private Ryan. These affiliates opted out, because Ryan included language which the FCC had, in March 2004, ruled "indecent and profane". Mayberry was seen as a "safe" alternative, despite the fact that Ryan had already aired on the network (and these same affiliates) in 2001 and 2002. The then-chief executive of Citadel Communications — the main affiliate owner to rebroadcast Mayberry — cited the then-recent 2004 US Presidential election as a justification: "We're just coming off an election where moral issues were cited as a reason by people voting one way or another," the executive claimed, "and, in my opinion, the commissioners are fearful of the new Congress."^[5][6] In the end, however, no complaints were lodged against ABC affiliates who showed Ryan, perhaps because even conservative watchdogs like the Parents Television Council supported the unedited rebroadcast of the film.^[7]

Confusion with other reunions

In 2003, four surviving cast members (Griffith, Howard, Knotts, and Nabors) came together for a reunion special that featured the actors reminiscing about their time on the show. The production was interspersed with archival footage and short filmed interviews with some of the other surviving cast members. This special was called The Andy Griffith Show: Back to Mayberry.^[8] Some media outlets have occasionally called this show, too, Return to Mayberry, which led to some confusion between the two productions.^[9] The title, The Andy Griffith Show: Back to Mayberry, distinguishes this production from a 1993 production titled The Andy Griffith Show Reunion.^[10]

Other media

The film was originally released on NTSC VHS in 1989 by Video Treasures under license from Viacom (ASIN B001D1G5KY). It was re-released in 1994 by Regent Entertainment (ASIN B0001JUGLI). Later, the rights reverted to Paramount, which had been sold to Viacom in 1994.

The film was re-released on DVD as a bonus feature included with the The Andy Griffith Show boxed set (ASIN B000NA21YA).^[11]

References

External links

• Return to Mayberry at The Internet Movie Database