The Andy Griffith Show, Volume 1

 
    The Andy Griffith Show has always been one of my favorite classic television programs. I never missed an airing of the show when it aired on TV Land. The basic premise of the show was centered on Sheriff Andy Taylor (Griffith) of Mayberry, North Carolina, raising his pre-teen son Opie (Ron Howard) with able assistance from his aunt who moved in with the family after the death of Andy's wife. Throughout the series, Sheriff Taylor must contend with life as a single father, the eccentric citizens of Mayberry, police cases and of course his charmingly inept cousin and deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts).

    The Andy Griffith Show ran for eight seasons, five in black and white and three in color. The black and white episodes are most coveted by fans of the show given the dynamic between Griffith and Knotts who left to pursue a film career after the fifth season and only sporadically appeared thereafter. Griffith served as a father figure to me and I will always cherish his work. In the 1980s through to the early 2010s, it was assumed that quite a bit of the episodes from the show's third season had landed in the public domain, hence the presence of many VHS and DVD releases of those same few episodes in the home video market. These episodes were later proven to be still under copyright and Viacom has aggressively protected their intellectual property ever since. The show is still aired on a wide variety of networks and is still regarded by many sitcom aficionados as one of the all time greatest.

    This 2004 DVD released by Digiview was one of the first DVDs I ever bought and it contains three memorable and in two of them, exceptional episodes from that third season. The main disappointment with this disc is that the famous "Fishin' Hole" theme song has been replaced with a generic jazz tune which does detract from the overall enjoyment of the show. It also appears the Digiview pilfered at least one episode (High Noon in Mayberry) from another public domain source as Delta Home Video's logo is present throughout various moments of the episode. 

1. High Noon in Mayberry (Airdate: January 21, 1963)

    Andy receives a disconcerting letter in the mail from a former convict that he arrested and sent to state prison. Barney jumps to conclusions and assumes the ex-criminal is coming to Mayberry to exact revenge on Andy. Barney elects to deputize two citizens of Mayberry, dim-bulbed Gomer (Jim Nabors)and drunkard Otis (Hal Smith) to guard Andy. Andy, while appreciative of Barney's concern, forbids this, however concerns are raised once the ex-con Luke Comstock (Leo Gordon) arrives in town carrying a shotgun case. Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) calls Barney that night and he, Gomer and Otis arrive to scope out the situation. A concerned, but well adjusted Andy welcomes Luke into his home to be told that all he wishes to do is express his remorse and give Andy a shotgun as a gift.

    While not as fondly remembered as some other episodes of the series, High Noon in Mayberry is one of the best and is an absolute masterclass in how to produce a suspenseful drama out of what is ostensibly a family sitcom. Earle Hagen's music perfectly supplements the sense of unease Andy has once he receives word of Comstock's impending visit to his home. The acting is brilliant with special mention given to young Ron Howard, not yet the film director extraordinaire of Cocoon and other classics. Howard's Opie Taylor shows genuine concern for his father and the final look he gives Andy before leaving the house is just heartwrenching. Lest we forget how great of a dramatic actor Andy Griffith was, he handles these moments of sheer suspense well and you genuinely believe his life is in imminent danger. Of course, Don Knotts provides some genuine bellylaughs as the over-confident deputy who is just scared for the wellbeing of his friend.

2. The Rivals (Airdate: April 8, 1963)

    Opie falls for a girl in his class, Karen Burgess (Ronda Jeter), however she continuously refuses his advances. Feeling lovesick, Barney's girlfriend Thelma Lou (Betty Lynn) steps in and tries to help soothe Opie's broken heart. However, Opie soon begins to get far too attached to Thelma Lou and this makes Barney increasingly more upset. Andy, seeing his best friend in dire straits and also seeing the inappropriate nature of the relationship between Opie and Thelma Lou, decides to convince Opie that he should instead focus his attentions on Karen.

     The Rivals, while a fun and entertaining episode is inessential viewing unless you are a Andy Griffith Show diehard, like me. There are some great comic moments with Don Knotts becoming increasingly flustered over the phone trying to make a date with Thelma Lou and this episode does give Betty Lynn some good material, this is just a middle of the road episode. Not one of the best, but far from the worst. Also, even though Opie and Karen seemingly go off into the sunset together, the character of Karen Burgess never appears again, though Jeter does continue to make appearances in the series under different character names.

3. Barney's First Car (Airdate: April 1, 1963)

    Barney withdraws his lifesavings from the bank in order to purchase a car, he stumbles upon a listing in the classifieds for a cheap automobile that was rarely used. Andy insists that Barney take it to Wally's Filling Station to have him look it over but Barney declines Andy's advice. The car is being sold by Myrt Lesh (Ellen Corby), who claims Barney bears a passing resemblance to her late husband (also named Barney). The deal is made, Ms. Lesh walks away and meets up with Jake (Allan Melvin). It turns out, she is a swindler who cheated Barney and others out of their hard-earned money and sold them non functional cars. Barney, Andy, Aunt Bee, Thelma Lou, Opie and Gomer find this out too late when they become stranded on the road. It is then discovered that the car has immeasurable issues with it and was only running due to the sawdust placed in the engine. Barney and Andy track the trail of ""Hubcaps" Lesh and her gang and ultimately arrest the whole gang.

    Barney's First Car is an absolute classic episode of the series. Indeed, it was Andy Griffith's personal favorite and the episode is a brilliant vehicle (no pun intended) for Knotts' comedic talents. My personal favorite sequence is when the steering wheel rises up in Barney's face and you get to see those wonderful bulging eyes of Don Knotts just pop right out of his head. Just absolutely great comic material. Ellen Corby is also great as sleazy Ms. Lesh and it was great to see perennial character actor Allan Melvin as her scheming partner. 

BOTTOM LINE:

    Was this DVD worth a dollar? Absolutely, theme song replacement notwithstanding, this DVD contained two excellent and one good episode of such an iconic television series. Just great, classic comedy of the variety that will likely never be seen again. 

Until next time Digiviewers!

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Introduction, or Why Did I Start This Blog?

     I was not your normal nine year old boy. I wasn't an athlete, nor did I care much for sports on television. I was mostly an introvert as a child, I didn't have any friends, the television was my friend. Indeed, I would spend hours in front of it, devouring whatever I could find. I mostly held a fascination with older movies, cartoons and TV shows. As such I frequented Nickelodeon's "Nick At Nite" block as well as their sister network TV Land which, at the time, was the only place to watch such classic sitcoms as The Andy Griffith Show and The Munsters, two of my all time favorites. I was fatherless, as my dad had died two years earlier, so Andy Griffith and Fred Gwynne served as my role models.

    In addition to my love of classic TV, I also held an obsession with vintage animation. I would always have my dial turned to Cartoon Network late at night for airings of their anthology animation programs, one of which being my absolute favorite The Popeye Show. It was this wonderful gem of a program which made me want to be a cartoonist. While that occupation and I never crossed paths, I still dabble in the arts from time to time, mostly after a steady diet of classic Max Fleischer cartoons.

    This was 2004 and a bulk and majority of this vintage material hadn't been released on officially licensed DVD yet. Add to that, the fact that we were a lower-income household and couldn't afford the pricier DVD sets. As such, the early days of my DVD collecting began and ended with the dollar product which frequented stores like Walmart, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and the like. These were released by various companies who specialized in public domain content and even licensed product on the cheap. I remember walking into Walmart in 2004 with my mom and seeing at the front of the store, this turnstile rack filled to the brim with slim-case DVDs. While she would shop, I would spend hours leaving through the many titles that occupied that rack. The company who released these DVDs for the exquisitely low price of one dollar, was Digiview Productions, a newly established organization headed by one Michael Omansky. 

    These DVDs were a Godsend to someone like me, I was wowed when I would see DVDs of The Andy Griffith Show or Popeye for such a low price, making them irresistible to both me and my mother's wallet. Sadly though, Digiview appears to have closed in 2007 as a result of multiple lawsuits brought forth by copyright claimants who claimed that the company had invalidated their intellectual property.

    I was crushed, the dollar DVD era was over, however I never forgot Digiview and the education those inexpensive DVDs gave me in film, television and animation history. This blog is dedicated to Digiview and especially Mr. Omanky who made nine year old Geno Cuddy ecstatic with the opportunity to own his favorite shows and cartoons for low prices. I will be collecting and discussing the company's film, television and animation output and will provide my own thoughts as to whether the disc was worth the dollar paid back in the day.

    This is the Digiview Deep Dive!