When you think of The Andy Griffith Show, which premiered on October 3, 1960, the cast feels as if it could not have been any other way. Don Knotts as Barney, Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee, Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, and Ron Howard as Opie — plus, of course, Andy Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor — all became such an integral part of Mayberry life, it felt as if they were always destined to be there. But the truth is, some of those familiar faces almost didn’t make it into town at all; it turns out that three of the major characters including Aunt Bee, Barney Fife and Gomer Pyle were almost played by entirely different actors, or could have not existed at all.