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Topo,

I have a liberal friend who once opined the same thing regarding minorites on television. I then proceeded to whip off a few shows in which the central characters were white yet had regular characters who were 'ethnically diverse' (just trying to be PC there), and he pooh-poohed those characters as being 'token' minorities. This guy wanted it both ways. He loved complaining about the lack of minorities on TV yet when given a laundry list of them, he dismissed it out of hand. There are plenty of black sitcoms to choose from, if this really bothers you. Go for it.

This is the type of thinking that I have encountered with a couple of different liberals in my lifetime (although, to be fair, they were more liberal than you seem to indicate that you are).

Also, your saying that only conservatives are portrayed as having ethics and morals may be a double-edged sword. I know that to many liberals, things such as racism, sexism, money-grubbing, etc are also confined to conservatives, which is a crock of crap. So what you say goes both ways. Liberals are often portrayed as the 'compassionate' group, which is also a very misleading stereotype.

I think The Andy Griffith Show fairly accurately portrayed Mayberry as an all-white small town, much like many small towns in rural America in the early-mid '60s in North Carolina.

Peace.

I'm a moderate liberal and I love the Andy Griffith show (the black and white version) because it showed a community with good moral values and the humor was gentle, not vulgar or cartoonish. I think it's a shame that some people think ethics and morals are only for conservatives. As for it being racist, to be realistic all the shows in the early to mid-sixties were segregated. Even now, a lot of shows have few if any minorities in them. Sad, but true.

I have to agree that Barney ruined the show by leaving. It went from an excellent production to an embarrassment. The episodes got REALLY stupid, and the show lost its character. Andy changed a lot after Barney left. You'll notice that he goes from humble to in some instances(after Barney left) very self centered. I think that the production staff wanted him to replace Barney, so they cranked up his ego. Big mistake. They should have ended the show as soon as Knotts left.

I also agree that Helen Crump is a huge disappointment. I get mad watching episodes with her. What is her problem??? She is UGLY also. Aunt Bee gets pretty annoying later on, and the Howard stuff is just soooo dumb...Maybe one episode with him would have been OK, but like 20??? No way.

I liked Leroy(with the sandwich), Otis, the Darlins, Floyd(although they overused him and ruined his character), and Opie.

It really bothers me what happened to the show. It is very sad . I wish there were more B&W episodes, they were the best.

The Andy Griffith Show jumped when it went to color. Not just because Don Knotts left and was replaced by Jack Burns(Warren) and then Jack Dodson(Howard), it was also because a lot of other geat characters on the show left as well or showed up a lot less frequently. You had the innocent and funny Gomer leaving and replaced by the retarded and annoying Goober, Howard McNear as Floyd came back after having a stroke but then he died and was replaced by the dull and unfunny Emmett the fixit man, And Otis and Ernest T. Bass were barely heard from again. No wonder Andy seemed either bored or annoyed in the colors episodes. Not only did the great chemistry he had with Don go out the window, but all his A list supporting characters became C lists.

This thread has jumped the shark!!

Thank you Earl of Duke and Concerned Reader - good comments and REAL insight. I remember a gay co-worker of mine at work saying he wouldn't watch Andy Griffith because it was "too moral". And in our culture, that is OK. I don't really care if he watches it or not. But for those of us who don't watch Queer as Folk (talk about a fantasy show) because we find that lifestyle unnatural and abominable, well that's a different story, isn't it? And I still think gawleeee is Hillary Clinton with her panties in a wad over the Obama thing. But I will stop here because she is reading it now and preparing to vomit more of her self-contradicting projections. Sad thing is, she will never get it and she has managed to take all the fun out of these posts like bashing Helen Krump.

To, Well, Gaawwllleee....,

I've got to agree with the Earl of Duke here, a conservative fantasy show about very slack laws and a non-nuclear family is not exactly a conservative fantasy show.

Well, gaawwllleee...., you are wrong, it is a comedy not a hard hitting news report, The Bill O'Reilly show is a conservative show, not a sitcom from the sixties. Grow up, The Harry Potter series really is Fascist propaganda because it glorifies an elite group of people, Star Trek is actually Liberal propaganda because it promotes intergalactic peace, Reno 911 is supported by anarchic factions because it shows retarded law enforcement, and Survivor is the environmentalist fantasy show because there is no pollution. right?

The Amos 'n Andy Show is xenophobic because it had an all black cast. The cast in that show were racist pigs, right? perfect segregation is what all of the conservatives today want, right? I doubt you would say the same thing about the Amos 'n Andy show that you did about TAGS.

You seem to have some hatred against conservatives and, as you put it in such a hateful way, "whitebread America". No one here is defending segregation, and certianly not putting down anybody's race or color, like you have been doing. I think TAGS isn't the biggot here.

OK, Well, gaawwllleee...., please try to calm down a bit before you stroke out.

Please name one conservative who has ever said that life was just like TAGS. People enjoy watching the show because it provides comedy relief--it's a fantasy about a town that never existed.

Anyway, I'm not all that sure TAGS was all that conservative--Andy was a single father who who was raising his son in an extended family. His sheriff-ing style was not at all about law and order (a conservative favorite)--he preceded the Clinton Administration by several years in his embracing community oriented policing. Hey, the dude rarely carried a gun and was a mediator & peacemaker. The only "law & order" type on the show was Barney--and his antics and demeanor were made to seem ridiculous.

The show was all about friendship, loyalty & love--are you ceding those values to conservatives? Sure you wanna do that? And really, how do you translate peacemaking and mediating into xenophobia & racism?

A guest wrote: what about hazel, father knows best, donna reed show, beverly hillbillies, etc. your issue is not the andy griffith show - that is just a projection - again open YOUR eyes

If you would bother actually reading anything that I've written, I've made it clear that there are a whole slew of conservative shows out there. That is my point.

TAGS is simply one of the best examples of the conservative fantasy world.

what about hazel, father knows best, donna reed show, beverly hillbillies, etc. your issue is not the andy griffith show - that is just a projection - again open YOUR eyes

The Earl of Duke wrote: Huh? Andy was in the Klan? I must have missed that episode. And Otis, that raging xenophobe, in one of his drunken rants, disparaged other cultures and countries, right? Oh wait, I get it, Barney's single bullet represented the threat of nuclear missiles pitting the East & West in a suicidal struggle of mutually assured destruction. Gee, I missed a lot as a kid...

Gee, Earl...I guess Andy & Co. really pulled a fast one on you, didn't they? What rot... just play ignorant and that removes all argument, huh? Nice try but it doesn't cut it.

TAGS represented a fantasy community that never existed -- it completely ignored any aspect of reality in favor of presenting an image of whitebread America that conservatives love to imagine. Open your eyes.

A guest wrote: HC - your issue is not with the Andy Griffith show - there is something much deeper here. Nobody says TAGS was absolute reality - but perhaps "Queer as Folk" is?

My issue is with the fact that the conservatives in this country speak incessantly about the "liberal" agenda in television programming but ignore the fact that there have always been just as many programs with a conservative agenda. The whole 'liberal bias' idiocy is nothing more than a disingenuous propaganda tactic.

What bothers me is that so many conservatives buy into the revisionism that a show like TAGS peddles. They buy into it because it helps them to justify their xenophobia and racism and all their fears of the realities of a multi-cultural society in which we live.

Huh? Andy was in the Klan? I must have missed that episode. And Otis, that raging xenophobe, in one of his drunken rants, disparaged other cultures and countries, right? Oh wait, I get it, Barney's single bullet represented the threat of nuclear missiles pitting the East & West in a suicidal struggle of mutually assured destruction. Gee, I missed a lot as a kid...

HC - your issue is not with the Andy Griffith show - there is something much deeper here. Nobody says TAGS was absolute reality - but perhaps "Queer as Folk" is?