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Even on TV's crowded reunion calendar, Return to Mayberry is a special event. The Andy Griffith Show was one of the biggest hits of its era (ranking in the Nielsen Top Ten, remarkably, for all of its eight seasons on the air), and continues to have a devoted following in reruns. With good reason. The show was one of TV's most endearing comedies, a graceful blend of homespun morality and small-town satire. At its core was a touching relationship between Sheriff Taylor and his adoring son Opie; surrounding it, an unforgettable band of local eccentrics, from garrulous Floyd the barber to Otis Campbell, the town drunk who locked himself in jail after every Saturday- night binge.
The Mayberry reunion was masterminded by Griffith himself, who first raised the idea when he and Howard had dinner following an Emmy Awards telecast three years ago. Several of the original creative team were rounded up, including Writers Harvey Bullock and Everett Greenbaum, Director Bob Sweeney and Composer Earle Hagen. Nearly all the show's stars agreed to return, as well as such minor players as Aneta Corsaut (Helen Crump), Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou), Hal Smith (Otis) and Howard Morris (Ernest T. Bass). The only notable absences: Frances Bavier (Aunt Bea), who was too ill to appear, and Howard McNair (Floyd), who died in 1969.
The town of Mayberry was re-created in the three-block-long community of Los Olivos, 21 miles from the Reagan ranch in the hills outside Santa Barbara. The stars have enjoyed the get-together almost as much as the curious townspeople, though the 19-day shooting schedule has been cramped. "We used to make it a point to move slow," said Knotts, 61, who won five Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the nervous, blustering Deputy Fife. "Now they make it a point to move fast."
For Howard, 31, who has blossomed into one of Hollywood's most successful directors (Cocoon, Splash and the upcoming Gung Ho), the prospect of returning to his childhood role caused some apprehension. He and Griffith were quite close during the series, and Howard recalls crying at the end of each season when the cast disbanded. "I can sleep through anything," he said, "but I was tossing and turning because I was nervous about this. I'm so relieved that the feelings are good."
On the set, Griffith could not resist a few sly pokes at grownup Opie's success. "I thought you had to be 50 to get your own name on a chair," he drawled on seeing the seat marked for his co-star. He was touched, however, when Howard at one point asked his advice on a line reading. Later, standing on the front porch of the tiny, whitewashed Baptist church where the wedding was filmed, Mayberry's gray-haired patriarch looked back pensively on the departed show. "Those," he said, "were the best years of my life."