Before Andy Griffith rubbed elbows with rising and established Hollywood stars on Matlock, he did so on his original small-screen claim to fame, The Andy Griffith Show.
On that CBS sitcom — a spinoff of The Danny Thomas Show — Griffith played Andy Taylor, the widowed sheriff of the fictional Mayberry, North Carolina. Ron Howard, meanwhile, played Andy’s son, Opie; Frances Bavier played his aunt, Bee Taylor; and Don Knotts played his deputy, Barney Fife. The show ran for eight seasons from 1960 to 1968, ending its run at No. 1 and inspiring the spinoffs Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and Mayberry R.F.D.
