We watched part of the Andy Griffith Show marathon that TVLand ran after his death. Absolute CLASSIC comedy. Wholesome. Funny. Poignant. Brought back a lot of wonderful memories.
After Don Knotts left the show, it went downhill, which was a shame. Just the whole premise of the show was hilarious. Andy played the "straight man" to Barney. Barney was the bumbling deputy who carried an unloaded revolver, with one bullet in his shirt pocket. Then you had Aunt Bee, the town drunk who would let himself out of the local jail after he slept off his "binge", Opie and his subplots, and a whole cast of small town characters.
CLASSIC television that will NEVER be repeated, and nobody should ever attempt to.
As a footnote, Ernest Borgnine also died this past week, at the age of 95. He was also a legendary character actor, on TV and in the movies. He won an Academy Award early in his acting career, then he, of course, was the star of McHale's Navy in the 60s, and appeared in many,many movies for many decades.
I always liked Borgnine. You could never tell he was "acting'. An absolute natural, and a funny man too.
If you get a chance, watch "Marty", the movie that earned Borgnine an Academy Award. CLASSIC!