I also see a change in Andy after the BW epidodes- I think without Don
Knotts playing a complemenary role, Andy seemed to
feel a sense of frusration and lack of character fulfillment.
Someone on the bulletin board once?characterized the changes in Andy as 1. hick
Andy 2. the calm voice of reason, and in the
color episodes 3. angry Andy. I think that sums it up pretty well...
Eric, this issue has been discussed at length at various other times on the
digest, and it is an interesting thing to ponder. Now, we know from Andy
himself that the more clownish, hick characterization of Andy Taylor was
deliberately changed when Andy realized that he needed to play straight man to
Don's increasingly comic rendering of Barney. But the change in Andy's
character during the color years has, to my knowledge, never been explicitly
addressed by any of those involved with the show. (And if it has, I hope
someone will speak up.) I think there has to be a lot of truth in the fact
that Don Knotts's departure from the show had a profound effect on Andy
Griffith and that the show just wasn't as much fun for him after Don left. It
is apparent to even a casual viewer that Andy and Don had tremendous chemistry
together and played off one another brilliantly. There have been lots of great
comic teams in show business history--Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy,
Martin and
Lewis, George Burns and Gracie Allen, etc., etc.--but I think Andy Griffith
and Don Knotts rank right up there with the best, despite the fact that they
were never considered an official team. The writers of TAGS certainly had a
big part in this, though we also know that Andy and Don often came up with bits
on their own to add to the script. So, Eric, your reasoning is, in my opinion,
quite valid.
But there's one variable that we've never really accounted for, and that is the
role that the writers played in Andy Taylor's transformation after Don left. I
realize that many of the regular writers from the first five seasons didn't
continue into the color years, so there were different writers at work, which
could partly explain it. But what I wonder is, were the writers given specific
instruction about Andy's character? Andy Griffith, as an actor, could
interpret the lines given him, but the lines themselves and the stories also
contribute to how we see Andy in a different light during the color years. So
I guess my question is, was this change to Andy's character as deliberate as
the change from comic to comic foil early in the show's run? Or was it an
evolving of the character that just happened due to changing circumstances?
I'd like to hear others' thoughts on this.
Thelma Lou
(Janet)
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