Andy Taylor

Yeah.

I don't know that I've heard him talk much about his, you know, that Andy Taylor being in the military.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

And he does.

And they have this conversation outside the house where Ellie explains that, oh, they're nothing but sugar pills, Sheriff Taylor.

They have no medicinal properties.

But guess what? Your choices are limited.

Again, you know how you can restore trust in society and go back to Mayberry where it was just Sheriff Andy Taylor? You actually have to get the immigration issue solved and you have to increase the virtue of people.

If you don't do those things, then you know what? You're inevitably going to get a surveillance state.

because the market's going to demand it because people are going to want law and order and they're not going to want crime.

And Barney is sitting on a witness stand and trying to explain why his best friend and boss is really a good sheriff.

And folks, if you've ever wondered exactly what makes Andy Taylor such a good sheriff, this episode gives us an amazing answer.

It's an amazing answer.

So the trouble starts when Andy discovers that J. Howard Jackson, a wealthy newspaper publisher, hasn't appeared in court.

Barney really does admire Andy.

And he really obviously respects Andy.

And when it counts, Barney knows exactly what kind of sheriff Andy Taylor is.

Andy isn't dishonest.

And if you are unfamiliar with The Andy Griffith Show, give it a quick Google, because it was an American TV sitcom that aired on CBS between 1960 and 1968, and it aired for 249 episodes.

And In the sitcom, it starred Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor, who was a widowed, easygoing sheriff in a fictional town called Mabry in North Carolina.

And it was on this show that in six episodes that were aired between 1963 and 1966 that a band was used.

And the band was the Dillards.

I think my favorite classic show would have to be the Andy Griffith show, perhaps the perfect sitcom.

So I would have Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife's uniforms from that production.

And, you know, my taste ran all the way through the 70s.

You know, I was a kid essentially growing up on 70s television.

I think it was his first film appearance.

He would later, as you know, go on to be Andy of Mayberry, Andy Taylor with Little Opie.

He plays this very nice country, a very nice man.

And facing the crowd, I think if he did like the top 50 villains in the movies, his Lonesome Roads character would probably have to be on that list somewhere.

And then there's Andy, the center of Mayberry.

That's Andy, Andy Taylor.

He's almost the exact opposite of Barney.

Barney's constantly trying to prove himself.

Maybe that's why people who watched it when it first aired are still watching it.

Maybe that's why their children watch it and their grandchildren.

And maybe that's why somebody who wasn't even born when Andy Taylor first walked into the courthouse can watch an episode today and say, I

like

Right.

They're fishing, and Andy is... using some of their ham sandwich as bait.

And then Opie's asking him, why are we doing that? Because it looks like part of our lunch.

And I think this was actually a great bit of writing there to kind of give us a little more clue into Andy's character.

He's kind of trying to think like a fish, right? He's saying, maybe these fish are getting tired of worms and bugs and everything else.

Maybe they'd like a little bit of ham.

And we see that a little bit later in the episode because the part or how this is setting up the rest of the story is the rest of the story is about the manhunt where there's an escaped convict from the state prison.

What was cool about this is...

This morning we find out we've lost Sam Neill.

So there at least is some place, a connection, a place where you can warm your heart and, and go back to this time when, uh, you know, Sheriff Taylor was walking down the streets and, and, uh, Ron Howard was there with his fishing pole.

So we gotta thank you very much.

Yeah, man.

You get what I'm driving at?

Why, Sheriff Taylor, that is the sweetest proposal I have ever heard.

Ah, that was, of course, from the Andy Griffith Show.

This is Douglas Viviani on Everything Old is New Again with my co-host for the week, or the weekend, if you will, Barbara Eden.