Andy Griffith passed away today. He was 86.
As a child of the 80’s, The Andy Griffith Show was way before my time but its influence on my upbringing is no less present. I was raised on a well-rounded television diet that included Andy Griffith, along with other classics like The Donna Reed Show and My Three Sons; shows with idealistic depictions of everyday American life.
My father tended to wax nostalgic about these shows and spoke fondly of “the way things used to be.” We’d often watch old re-runs together or I’d catch them on Nick-at-Night. Because of my dad passing on his appreciation for these old classics to me, I’d like to think, in some small way, Andy Griffith and shows like his have helped form me into the person I am today; for whatever that’s worth.
There’s going to be a zillion tributes about Andy Griffith on the internet today, so I thought I’d do something a little different and share some Andy Griffith-related nostalgia that’s more true to my era of television and the spirit of this blog:
That time ‘Married with Children’ parodied ‘The Andy Griffith Show’
If there were ever two shows that were polar opposites of each other, it would be The Andy Griffith Show and Married With Children. The Bundys are about as far removed from Mayberry as it gets, which I’m sure is the reason Andy Griffith was parodied several times. When Al Bundy gets depressed about the shit heap his life has become, Andy Griffith is probably the domestic ideal he’s daydreaming about.
(I apologize in advance for the Spanish subtitles; these clips are the only versions I could find on YouTube!)
The Bundys Do the Andy Griffith Intro
Watch Al and Bud channel the spirit of Andy and Opie at the Bundys’ retirement property on the beautiful toxic waste dump of Lake Chicamacomico.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8jF0dN4utU
Greetings from Dumpwater, Florida
In the Season 2 two-part episode “Poppy’s By The Tree”, one of my personal favorite MWC episodes ever, the Bundys go on a vacation to Dumpwater, Florida which only has two things–a serial killer, and the man who met Andy Griffith. Unfortunately for the Bundys, they turn out to be the same man.
The Andy Griffith mention is at 1:31 in this clip:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8vVND5sUq8
