Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: RIP Andy Griffith

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Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 07-03-2012, 12:51 PM:

Can't believe I'm the first with this.

He will be immortalized forever for his amazing performance in A Face In The Crowd.

And, since I stumbled across this episode about a week ago, Andy Taylor's first "real" job was popping popcorn in the movie theatre.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 07-03-2012, 01:35 PM:

Don't forget his awesome turn as a villain in the Leslie Nielsen classic Spy Hard.

AJG

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 07-03-2012, 01:43 PM:

He had a great body of work, "No Time for Sergeants" was great satire.

I remember "Face in the Crowd" more for Lee Remick.

What a warm caring guy. At least that is his persona.

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 07-03-2012, 02:22 PM:

How can we ever forget him as "PLO" in "No Time for Sergeants".

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-03-2012, 02:53 PM:

Of course he'll be best remembered for his two TV shows, "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Matlock." I never really saw "Matlock," but "TAGS" was a must-see every week when I was growing up. Funny thing about that show ... the first year or so, Andy was the comic star. After that, he tended to be the straight man and let the rest of the cast get most of the laughs. It made the show better, because there were multiple characters to enjoy.

I think Andy Griffith took a page out of the Jack Benny playbook. Benny famously said, "It doesn't matter who gets the laughs...what's important is the next day, having people say 'The Benny show sure was funny last night.'"

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-04-2012, 02:53 PM:

Not to worry, Mike -- people don't believe me when I say I never saw a single episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" either. They look at me like I am some sort of alien. Then I hit them with, And I never saw a single episode of "Gilligan's Island" or "Beverly Hillbillies" either. Somehow I don't feel as deprived because of it as people seem to think.

Personally, I think Andy was a MUCH better villian -- quite evil, in fact -- than the good-ole-southern-boy, clawing, dripping with honey sweet roles he became famous for.

By the time he got to the Matlock role, his dental work had taken a turn for the worse and he had a discernable and VERY annoying (at least to me) whistle with is his ESSSSes as they blew past his dentures, although I did try to ignore it because the writing on Matlock was pretty good.

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 07-04-2012, 11:47 PM:

I'm with Frank here. I maybe saw 3 episodes of Mayberry and none of the Hillbillies. Also none of Green Acres. What a snob right? I did watch Hee Haw for some reason.

I just never saw the point of these dumbed down shows that CBS seemed to specialize in. Tiffany Network my ass!

I always wanted to watch shows that imparted just a little knowledge even if it was just an eyedropper's worth.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-05-2012, 01:43 AM:

Well… I've never seen an episode of "Gilligans Island." but I thought the writing on Green Acres was really clever.

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 07-05-2012, 10:53 AM:

There was obviously a charm to Green Acres as it is still talked about and even mentioned in "Pulp Fiction".

I think the Gabor sisters were the Kardashians of yesteryear. Famous mainly for the many wealthy men they bagged.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-05-2012, 11:09 AM:

Matt Groenig (creator of "The Simpsons") is a big fan of "Green Acres." He said the show can be summed up this way: "Oliver Douglas in hell." If you watch it and keep that in mind, it makes it even funnier.

But this is supposed to be about Andy Griffith. It must be stated that without Don Knotts, that show probably wouldn't have been the hit that it was. It really hit its stride starting in the second season, when Andy became the straight man for Barney's screwups. My favorite episode (or one of them) is "Barney and the Choir." Knotts' comic acting, and Griffith's backup for him, is perfect in this one.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 07-05-2012, 05:51 PM:

As others have said, Andy was GREAT in the roles where he was just downright evil.

I've always thought of Green Acres as Oliver Douglas In Hell. Makes that show just that much better.

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 07-05-2012, 06:19 PM:

I have great memories of Andy Griffith and his shows, humor, songs and my son loves Matlock beyond reason. I remember reading about him being ill and losing the ability to walk how he had to relearn it. He was a great human as well a great actor, comedian. Sigh so many of my child hood hero's of screen are gone or going. Hang in there Dick Van Dyke and do some work again.