BIGGEST JUMP THE SHARK IN TV HISTORY?....................... THE EPISODE OPIE FLUNKS ARITHMETIC OF THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW PREMIERED ON CBS ON THIS DAY- APRIL 19, 1965. IT WAS A RELATIVELY FORGETTABLE EPISODE OF THE SHOW, EXCEPT FOR ONE THING- THIS WAS TO BE THE LAST EPISODE OF DON KNOTTS BEFORE HE LEFT THE SHOW TO DO MOVIES. (DON MADE A FEW RETURN APPEARANCES ON THE SHOW IN 1966-68, BUT IT WAS NEVER THE SAME.) ALTHOUGH THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW SUSTAINED ITS GREAT POPULARITY IN THE THREE YEARS AFTER DON LEFT (IT ACTUALLY LEFT THE AIR AT #1 IN 1968) THE SHOW WAS NEVER CLOSE TO BEING AS FUNNY, CHARMING AND TIMELESS WITHOUT BARNEY. A NEW DEPUTY NAMED WARREN FERGUSON (PLAYED BY JACK BURNS) WAS HIRED BUT NEVER CAUGHT ON WITH AUDIENCES AND WAS FIRED AFTER A HANDFUL OF EPISODES. JERRY VAN DYKE WAS ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO TAKE OVER AS ANDYS DEPUTY ON THE SHOW, BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 15:24:38 +0000