RIP Andy Griffith

[D'Snowth]

Looks like TV Land has waited until the weekend for their special tribute marathon, but this is nice that we get an idea weekend dedicated to some good, clean, wholesome TV (and I'm glad they're only playing the black-and-white episodes, as the show just wasn't the same during the colored years).

The bad thing is that the episodes are even more butchered than they were before, and what hasn't been cut is played in PAL format (sped up making everybody sound like they've been breathing helium).

 

[Hubert]

Are you sure they're sped up? They seemed normal to me...or have I been watching too much sped-up TV?

 

[D'Snowth]

Yep.

 

[Oscarfan]

I wondered why that happens. The Frasier re-runs on Hallmark were like that, especially during the credits, while the other channels I'd watch 'em on are fine.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm pretty sure it's so they can cram more commercials into the time slot... first it was butchering episodes, then it was shrinking the credits, and now in some cases, it's speeding up certain parts of the program, whether it's the titles (Hallmark started doing the same with M*A*S*H), or the episode itself (like TV Land seems to be doing exclusively with black-and-white programming, because they recently did the same with an I Love Lucy marathon).

 

[D'Snowth]

I just found out that Jim Nabors is gay... I never knew that, and I actually wouldn't have suspected him either...

But anyway, here's an interesting little factoid: have you ever noticed from time to time in discount bins, you'll find off-brand compilation sets of Andy Griffith with the same specific episodes? Well apparently some kind of legal error resulted in those specific episodes being public domain, which is why you can always find them on off-brand DVDs, or even on YouTube, but it wouldn't be illegal to see them that way... the only thing is because the theme song is copyrighted, certain copies of those episodes actually have to replace the theme song during the main and end titles (I have one DVD with three episodes on it, "High Noon in Mayberry", "Barney's First Car", and "The Rivals", and on each of those episodes, the main and end titles instead have that little tune that would play whenever Andy would stroll through town throughout the first season).

 

[Princeton]

In spite of how great the show was, there was always ONE little aspect that actually annoyed me: Ellie May Walker. I'm glad she wasn't on the show for the whole run, because she could be really annoying at times... in fact, just about all of her episodes were the same: she an Andy are involved in something, Andy says something he thinks is funny to joke with her, she takes offense to his comment acting like he's sexist and storms off in a huff, then Andy spends the rest of the episode trying to make sense of her reaction, while other characters try to bring them back together. I do remember reading Andy had her written off of the show because he felt they really had no believable chemistry, I agree.

Agree with all of this. But it should be said that despite the bad writing, Elinor Donahue was an incredible actress. Believe me, I tend to have some feministic views myself, but that was the only arc to the Ellie character. I've always felt that Peggy was the best of Andy's love interests, but realistically they probably had less chemistry.

 

[mr3urious]

The bad thing is that the episodes are even more butchered than they were before, and what hasn't been cut is played in PAL format (sped up making everybody sound like they've been breathing helium).

Same goes for other Viacom-owned shows, such as South Park. The edited syndicated versions played before 9 pm don't get this treatment, however.

 

[D'Snowth]

I've always felt that Peggy was the best of Andy's love interests, but realistically they probably had less chemistry.

I read something somewhere that Helen Crump was supposed to be a one-shot character, hence why they gave her such a unpleasant-sounding name, but she ended up becoming Andy's main squeeze.

 

[Princeton]

I read something somewhere that Helen Crump was supposed to be a one-shot character, hence why they gave her such a unpleasant-sounding name, but she ended up becoming Andy's main squeeze.

Well, that may be because Aneta Corsaut (the actress who played Helen) was dating Jim Fritzell (one of the main writers).