Category Archives: TV Roles

Don Knotts and the Bullet (Exclusive Guest Post by Author Daniel de Vise)

Did a Little Boy’s Toy Bullet Inspire the Most Famous Photograph of Barney Fife? Anyone familiar with the great Don Knotts and his best-known character, the over-caffeinated deputy to Sheriff Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show, will recognize the … Continue reading

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Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest TV Shows”: Standing the test of time?

“Our list is guaranteed to start plenty of loud arguments” Tastes change. When Entertainment Weekly ranked the “100 Greatest CDs” (remember those?) in 1993, the resulting list included an entry from the musical artist Slayer – – no doubt a … Continue reading

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Our Endless Numbered Mayberry Days

The 27th ‘Mayberry Days’ Festival, September 21-25…  Twenty-six years ago, on the thirtieth anniversary of The Andy Griffith Show’s televised debut, the citizens of Mount Airy, North Carolina, gathered for the first Mayberry Day. A couple hundred people turned out at City … Continue reading

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Don Knotts: Three Fine Summer Flicks

Born July 21, 1924, Don Knotts…  Don Knotts played Barney Fife, the bumbling deputy on The Andy Griffith Show, so well and so memorably that the part would come to define the man. Don, who would have turned 92 today, … Continue reading

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Celebrating the Mysterious Birth of Andy Griffith…

Andy Griffith was born in Mount Airy, NC… Of all the facts in a person’s life, the birthday is supposed to be an easy one. Yet, to this day, I’m not exactly sure of Andy Griffith’s birthday. I’m not even … Continue reading

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Citizen Knotts

Don Knotts and the Great Orson Welles… On television and in the movies, comedic actor Don Knotts generally played second banana, deputizing himself — literally or figuratively — to someone else. Off screen, the reality of his theatrical relationships was … Continue reading

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Some Credit, Please, for Aunt Bee

Some Credit, Please, for Aunt Bee… A reader named Larry posed an interesting question by e-mail the other day: Why wasn’t Frances Bavier‘s name listed on the opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show? Why not, indeed? Frances was one … Continue reading

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An Invitation to Mayberry

An Invitation to Mayberry… Woody Allen once said 80 percent of success is showing up. Had Art Spelman followed that advice half a century ago, it’s just possible we might be honoring him today as a celebrated alumnus of Mayberry. … Continue reading

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My Fair Ernest T. Bass

  My Fair Ernest T. Bass The woman at the book signing sounded more dismayed than angry. Why, she asked, hadn’t I devoted a single sentence of Andy & Don to Ernest T. Bass? Ernest T. was the Tasmanian devil of … Continue reading

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Christmas in Mayberry… in Color

“The Andy Griffith Show Christmas Special” Christmas Night on CBS! Television columns around the country lit up this month with news that CBS, the network that launched The Andy Griffith Show, will air two original episodes of the celebrated series on Christmas … Continue reading

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