Mayberry R.F.D. (R.F.D. is a postal abbreviation for Rural Free Delivery) was a spin-off, or perhaps, more accurately, a direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title. When Andy Griffith decided to leave his show, most of the supporting characters continued on the new show. It first aired on the CBS network in 1968 and lasted until 1971. Rural Free Delivery was and still is the means by which the United States Postal Service delivers mail directly to residents in areas defined as rural at no cost to them (The money is supplied by the USPS). ... A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one such as a new company formed from a university research group. ... The Andy Griffith Show was an American television series that aired from 1960 to 1968. ... Andy Samuel Griffith (born June 1, 1926) is an American actor, Grammy Award winning singer[1], writer and producer from Mount Airy, North Carolina. ... A character of a book, play, movie, TV show or other form of storytelling usually used only to give dimension to a main character, by adding a relationship with this character, although sometimes supporting characters may develop a complexity of their own. ... CBS is one of the largest radio and television networks in the United States. ... See also: 1967 in television, other events of 1968, 1969 in television and the list of years in television. For the American network television schedule, please see 1968-69 American network television schedule. ... See also: 1970 in television, other events of 1971, 1972 in television and the list of years in television. For the American network television schedule, please see 1971-72 American network television schedule. ...

CBS wished to profit from the sensational popularity of The Andy Griffith Show, which ended its eight-season run in the #1 spot in 1968. The new premise keeps the familiar characters of Goober Pyle, Clara Edwards, Emmett Clark, Howard Sprague, and Aunt Bee (alas, no Otis, the town drunk, or Opie, Andy's son). After Sheriff Andy Taylor marries his longtime girlfriend Helen Crump, Aunt Bee Taylor (played by Frances Bavier) remains in Mayberry, serving yet another widower, Sam Jones, whose character was introduced during the 1967-68 season of The Andy Griffith Show, easing the transition. Sam, played by Ken Berry, was elected town council chief by beating fix-it/handyman Emmett Clark in a 1968 election. Choosing to give the newlywed Taylors their own space, Aunt Bee becomes housekeeper to farmer Sam and son Mike (Buddy Foster), who live in the outskirts of Mayberry. Actress Arlene Golonka, who earlier had played Howard Sprauge's fiance on the original "Andy Griffith Show" now played Sam's love interest, bakery clerk Millie Swanson. A recurring black character named Ralph lives with a son next to the Jones farm—the first black person ever portrayed as a resident of the Mayberry area. Griffith appears as Sheriff Taylor in several first-season episodes (his wedding, sponsoring parolees as Sam's farmhands, his second-born's christening, and a youth-day episode), after which it is established that he has moved from Mayberry. Goober Pyle Goober Pyle was the fictional auto mechanic for the town of Mayberry in the 1960s American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show and its later spin-off series Mayberry RFD. He was played by George Lindsey. ... Clara Edwards was the character played by actress Hope Summers on The Andy Griffith Show. ... Howard Sprague is a fictional character on the CBS television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, and its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D. He was played by Jack Dodson from 1966-71. ... Aunt Bee was a character on the long-running 1960s American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show and its successor program, Mayberry R.F.D. Aunt Bee was played by actress Frances Bavier. ... Hal Smith in a publicity photo as Mayberry town drunk Otis Campbell Otis Campbell was the fictional town drunk in Mayberry on the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. ... Opie Taylor was the name of the character played by Ronny Howard on The Andy Griffith Show, an American sitcom of the 1960s on the CBS television network. ... Sheriff Taylor was a character on The Andy Griffith Show, a sitcom of the 1960s. ... Frances Bavier (December 14, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American character actress, best remembered for her role as Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show in the 1960s. ... Mayberry is the name of a fictional town in North Carolina which was the setting for the American television sitcoms The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.. Mayberry, population 1,800, was a small rural town which is remembered as much for its slow-paced life as it... The Andy Griffith Show was an American television series that aired from 1960 to 1968. ... Kenneth Ronald Berry (born November 3, 1933 in Moline, Illinois) is an American actor, comedian, and dancer. ... An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. ... Arlene Golonka (Born January 23, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actress. ... A Masai man in Kenya Black people or blacks is a political, social or cultural classification of people. ...

In October 1970, the end of an era seemed near when Sam's cousin Alice Cooper (Alice Ghostley) took Bee's place-while the warm-hearted matriarch (who logged more Mayberry years than any other character) left the picturesque town. (Horror-rocker Alice Cooper said in 1973 that he took the Ghostley character's name as a sort-of inside joke.) The series was enormously popular, safely perched in Nielson's top five for its first two years. Despite the loss of Aunt Bee, a producer, and some top writers (Danny Bonaduce's dad, Joseph, was a Griffith/RFD writer), Mayberry R.F.D. ranked 15th (out of 47) in its last season. The series was still strong enough for renewal. Ironically, the network which had axed The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour a couple years earlier for its "provocative" religious and political themes, was now seeking a more progressive image. In 1970 and 1971, during what became known as the infamous "Rural purge", CBS canceled all its rural based series including Mayberry R.F.D., Petticoat Junction, Hee Haw, Green Acres, and The Beverly Hillbillies. Hee Haw went into first-run syndication for the next 21½ years, featuring Mayberry's George "Goober" Lindsey. Concomitantly, as CBS cancelled these venerable series, they began introducing another set that would soon come to represent some of the best television of the 1970s – The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All In The Family, The Bob Newhart Show, Maude and M*A*S*H. Alice Ghostley (born August 14, 1926 in rural Missouri), is an American actress best known for playing the character of Bernice Clifton on Designing Women, Esmeralda on Bewitched and Aunt Alice on Mayberry R.F.D. after Frances Bavier left the show, and her character Aunt Bee was written out. ... Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948), is a rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans four decades. ... Danny Bonaduce, in a still from The Partridge Family. ... The Smothers Brothers are an American musical-comedy team, formed by real-life brothers Tom and Dick Smothers. ... See also: 1969 in television, other events of 1970, 1971 in television and the list of years in television. For the American network television schedule, please see 1970-71 American network television schedule. ... See also: 1970 in television, other events of 1971, 1972 in television and the list of years in television. For the American network television schedule, please see 1971-72 American network television schedule. ... The Rural Purge at American television network CBS was a series of cancellations of still-popular rural-themed shows instigated by executive Fred Silverman in 1971, following research highlighting the greater attraction to advertisers of the more affluent urban viewer demographic. ... CBS is one of the largest radio and television networks in the United States. ... Petticoat Junction was an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Green Acres was an American television series that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ... For the 1993 film, see The Beverly Hillbillies (film) The Beverly Hillbillies was an American television program about a hillbilly family living in Southern California. ... George Lindsey (born December 17, 1935) is an American character actor, born in Jasper, Alabama. ... The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 to March 19, 1977. ... All in the Family is a popular and acclaimed American situation comedy that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971 until April 8, 1979, when the final original episode aired. ... The Bob Newhart Shows Complete Second Season DVD. Pictured (clockwise, bottom left): Newhart, Daily, Wallace, Bonerz, Pleshette The Bob Newhart Show is the name of two different television series. ... Maude is a half-hour American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 29, 1978. ... M*A*S*H is an American television series created by Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds, inspired by the 1961 novel Catch-22, the 1968 Richard Hooker novel M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors and its sequels; and—primarily—the 1970 film of the same name. ...

See also

• The Andy Griffith Show
• Rural purge

The Andy Griffith Show was an American television series that aired from 1960 to 1968. ... The Rural Purge at American television network CBS was a series of cancellations of still-popular rural-themed shows instigated by executive Fred Silverman in 1971, following research highlighting the greater attraction to advertisers of the more affluent urban viewer demographic. ...

External link

• Behind the Scenes of the Real Mayberry A behind the scenes look at The Andy Griffith Show and the "real" Mayberry. Includes filming locations, the stars made on the show, and Mayberry trivia.