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‘The Andy Griffith Show’: What Bob Sweeney Meant When He Said Mayberry Looks Like a Normal Town ‘With a Border of Insanity Around it’

Every small town has its own host of “insane” characters. The town of Mayberry in The Andy Griffith Show is the perfect example of this.

Everyone with their quirks and unique personalities is what made the town of Mayberry so endearing on The Andy Griffith Show. During an interview, Andy Griffith talks about the town of Mayberry and how they chose to write the show’s characters.

“It was family-oriented. It was about a little town and all the people who live in it. As Bob Sweeney said, ‘It looks like an ordinary little town but it has a border of insanity around it,’” said Griffith.

Griffith said that the comedians who starred on the show made up that little border of insanity.

“All those fine comedic actors like Don Knotts, Howard McNear, Jim Neighbors, all of them made it. They represented that little insane border that was Mayberry,” said Griffith.

Griffith also talked about his role as the “straight man” on the show. As the straight man, it was Griffith’s job to ground the show with rationality while all the more eccentric characters and their antics spun around him.

“Andy had to be there to catch anybody before they actually hit the ground,” said Griffith.

A clip from The Andy Griffith Show.

Did You Catch This Mistake In The Opening Credits Of The Andy Griffith Show?

The opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show feature Andy Griffith walking along a river with a young Ron Howard. During the clip, Howard picks up a rock and tosses it into the river – at least, that’s what it looks like. What really happened was much more staged than it looks.

At the time, Howard was only 6 years old at the time and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t quite throw the rock far enough to reach the river from where he and Griffith stood. So, producers got creative. They placed a crew member in the bushes behind a tress, just out of sight of the camera.

When Howard threw the rock, the director would yell to the crew member, and the crew member would toss a rock into the water. They timed it so that it looked like Howard’s throw reached the water. The timing is pretty accurate, but if you look closely, you’ll notice a bit of a lag between the time Howard throws the rock and the time the rock actually hits the water.

Regardless of how it came about, the scene is iconic for fans of The Andy Griffith Show.