![\"\"](\"https:\/\/taqcat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/606557111_809591578793606_4494260725570181699_n-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nNEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n\n- The Andy Griffith Show<\/em>\u00a0premiered 65 years ago on Oct. 3, 1960<\/li>\n
- Back in 1986, Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Ron Howard and the rest of the cast opened up to PEOPLE about the series when they reunited for a TV film\u00a0Return to Mayberry<\/em><\/li>\n
- Howard also reflected on the show\u2019s legacy in a September interview with PEOPLE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
On Oct. 3, 1960,\u00a0The Andy Griffith Show<\/em>\u00a0aired its very first episode. The series followed\u00a0Andy Griffith\u00a0as Sheriff Andy Taylor,\u00a0Don Knotts\u00a0as his sleepy deputy Barney Fife and\u00a0Ron Howard\u00a0as Andy\u2019s son Opie. The series, which also included Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee and Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, ran for eight seasons, ending in 1968 and spawning multiple spin-offs. During its run, it was a Top 10 hit every season, and the show has had a second life in syndication, as old fans revisit Mayberry and new ones fall in love with the wholesome town.<\/p>\nIn 1986, the surviving cast from the show reunited for a TV film,\u00a0Return to Mayberry<\/em>. In it, Andy \u2014 who married Aneta Corsaut\u2019s Helen Crump in the series finale \u2014 returns to Mayberry to run for sheriff against Barney. Opie, meanwhile, is married and the editor of the local paper. The only major players who didn\u2019t return were Howard McNear, who played Floyd the barber, who died in 1967, and Bavier, who was too ill to leave her retirement home (she died in 1989 at 89 years old).<\/p>\n\u201cI didn\u2019t think the experience would live up to my expectations,\u201d a then-32-year-old Howard told PEOPLE at the time about the reunion. \u201cBut the feelings are still there.\u201d By then, the\u00a0Happy Days\u00a0<\/em>alum had already found early success as a director, with movies like\u00a0Splash<\/em>,\u00a0Cocoon<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Gung Ho<\/em>.<\/p>\nThe original series was filmed on a Hollywood backlot that stood in for the fictional town of Mayberry, N.C., but for the reunion, Los Olivos, Calif., was transformed to look like the town. \u201cIt feels like old home week,\u201d Nabors told PEOPLE about getting the gang back together.<\/p>\n
George Lindsey, who played Goober Pyle, said, \u201cThis was a family that we all grew up with. They\u2019re going to have to bury me in my Goober hat.\u201d Still, he joked, \u201cI couldn\u2019t remember how to do Goober at first.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Oct. 3, 1960,\u00a0The Andy Griffith Show<\/em>\u00a0aired its very first episode. The series followed\u00a0Andy Griffith\u00a0as Sheriff Andy Taylor,\u00a0Don Knotts\u00a0as his sleepy deputy Barney Fife and\u00a0Ron Howard\u00a0as Andy\u2019s son Opie. The series, which also included Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee and Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, ran for eight seasons, ending in 1968 and spawning multiple spin-offs. During its run, it was a Top 10 hit every season, and the show has had a second life in syndication, as old fans revisit Mayberry and new ones fall in love with the wholesome town.<\/p>\n In 1986, the surviving cast from the show reunited for a TV film,\u00a0Return to Mayberry<\/em>. In it, Andy \u2014 who married Aneta Corsaut\u2019s Helen Crump in the series finale \u2014 returns to Mayberry to run for sheriff against Barney. Opie, meanwhile, is married and the editor of the local paper. The only major players who didn\u2019t return were Howard McNear, who played Floyd the barber, who died in 1967, and Bavier, who was too ill to leave her retirement home (she died in 1989 at 89 years old).<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think the experience would live up to my expectations,\u201d a then-32-year-old Howard told PEOPLE at the time about the reunion. \u201cBut the feelings are still there.\u201d By then, the\u00a0Happy Days\u00a0<\/em>alum had already found early success as a director, with movies like\u00a0Splash<\/em>,\u00a0Cocoon<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Gung Ho<\/em>.<\/p>\n The original series was filmed on a Hollywood backlot that stood in for the fictional town of Mayberry, N.C., but for the reunion, Los Olivos, Calif., was transformed to look like the town. \u201cIt feels like old home week,\u201d Nabors told PEOPLE about getting the gang back together.<\/p>\n George Lindsey, who played Goober Pyle, said, \u201cThis was a family that we all grew up with. They\u2019re going to have to bury me in my Goober hat.\u201d Still, he joked, \u201cI couldn\u2019t remember how to do Goober at first.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Lion\"](\"https:\/\/moviesnewstoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/lion.webp\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n