Interesting point Janet. My take is, yes, there was an infusion of new writers and directors during those later years, especially with Aaron Ruben and others leaving for "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." And think with Barney gone, they decided to make Andy more of a foil for the rest of the town. They seemed to think it would be funny to just so Andy get mad, like Mr. B from "Hazel," or Jack Benny, or Mr. Mooney from "The Lucy Show." In many episodes he's already in an ill mood and sometimes recites a laundry list of reasons why (which, ironically, once included running a laundry).
But the thing is, they thought this from week to week, perhaps even because they ran out of ideas quicker than imagined and found themselves using "Andy gets ticked off" as a crutch. And when you look back at the finished work--something producers didn't do so much like they do now, especially with dramatic shows--it just looks like Andy is chronically angry. to the point of it being a flat-out mental problem. If it were shot today, one of the other characters might've even gone as far as to suggest Andy get help and a prescription. But everyone else in town bears some responsibility too. It seems whenever Andy's busy or not feeling well, or even having to sleep in the daytime, the whole down seems to "machine gun" him with numerous problems or one big one. Goober seems to be the worst offender, and Warren would've had anyone's stress level up, especially in the bingo episode. But I don't think that's what they meant to do. It just worked out that way. Barney's absence re-scrambled the chemistry of the whole show. They meant for Andy to have a happy life except for these things that kept coming up, but that isn't the way it came off or comes off even now The very best episodes from this era are the ones that go for warmth. Aunt Bee's rose, etc. But there were some funny episodes as well--the one about the spaghetti dinners, for instance, or the one where Aunt Bee becomes "the Mayberry Chef"--where Andy's anger is more low-key and slow-boil, like Bob Newhart. I wished they'd stayed with this. In the one about Aunt Bee being on TV, where Opie gets really excited about having dinner at the diner and Andy shooting him a look, like it was a back-handed slap at Andy's cooking--those touches would've worked so much better IMHO. Dixon _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
