Return to Mayberry

When this movie first aired I was 8 yrs. old, now that I'm 23 I can appreciate this movie more. I am a huge fan of Andy Griffith and The Andy Griffith Show and after seeing this movie it was clear that the same magic was still there even 18 yrs. after the original series ended. Andy was still just as wise and sweet as he always was, solving the towns problems and making his deputy look like the hero and Barney was still sweet-talking the unseen Juanita over the phone. The differences were even great to see. Otis had gone sober and was now the ice cream man, Opie was all grown up now married and with a child on the way, and Howard was going through mid life crisis. It was especially great to see that Thelma Lou was now divorced and free for Barney again. There are some things that left me wondering like where was Andy and Helen's child Andrew Jr. that we learned about on RFD? Why didn't Opie marry Mary Alice Carter, the girl he had a crush on since 1st grade? I'm just glad to see all the familiar faces from Mayberry back together again in this outstanding reunion movie! If you ever catch this on t.v. do what I did and tape this movie!!!

The awful script notwithstanding, it is great to see the cast get back together in this trip down memory lane. Those of us who grew up with the Andy Griffith Show like it. When Barney asks Andy to answer the telephone in the Sheriff's Office, and hearing Andy simply say "Sheriff's Office," well, talk about your nostalgia! What's amazing is that in 2004, almost all of these people are still alive and many still working (Don Knotts for one).

This is just a nice movie for the "fans" of the show. No stunning acting, no over the top in your face "shock" humor we are all too sick of now.

They just don't make them like this anymore (the origional show, that is). These new so-called comedy sitcoms don't even come close....

if you liked the original cast, then you'll get a kick out of them twenty years later, even though it means we're all older as well.i see where Helen,Howard and Otis have passed and barney as well recently, and that is sad but we can still look at this as a last get together for the group.living in north Carolina myself i have been to mt. airy and the surrounding area many times and always get a bit nostalgic for the good old' days of the 60's when the show first aired and life in general was much simpler.the movie,once again was'not quite a classic but it was still Andy and the gang and i have watched it several times ,as i did tape it when it first aired.it is worth a look if you have not checked it out.

This update of the old "Andy Griffith Show" is one of the better reunions of the many that popped up in the 1980s. No fewer than 16 actors who appeared in the original series are present, including Ron Howard, who by this time had gone on to much bigger and better things as the director of many hit feature films.

The plot finds former Mayberry sheriff Andy Taylor and his wife Helen returning to town for the birth of son Opie's first child. Perennial second-banana (and Andy's former deputy) Barney Fife is now running for sheriff, the job he always wanted. But it turns out that Andy wants his old job back, too. This unspoken conflict and the selfless efforts by Andy and Barney to resolve it are very touching.

There's a silly subplot about alleged sightings of a monster in the town lake that detracts from the proceedings. And some of the continuity from the sequel "Mayberry RFD" series isn't followed. But what you really want is to see how these old friends and neigbors are doing, and to feel some nostalgia. And on these two points, "Return to Mayberry" doesn't disappoint.

I always regarded THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW as a once a week visit to a bunch of good friends. I just didn't have to drive to Mayberry; it was a matter of tuning in each Monday night, and I never missed it. How nice it was to get to visit with most of the old gang again when RETURN TO MAYBERRY aired. Now I suppose the context of the show wasn't all that "cool" but then the original show never was and never tried to be. RETURN TO MAYBERRY was like going home again after a number of years away. Barney was just the same, flying off at the handle in six different directions while Andy's cool head prevailed to solve the mystery of the monster of Myers Lake. There were two very nice touches near the end; one of which was Barney's marriage to Thelma Lou. (I recall always feeling sort of sad that they never were married during the run of the original show.) The other was of course Andy and Barney taking down the flag at the end of the movie, and I thought it fitting that they ended it this way...Andy as the sherriff and Barney the ever dependable deputy...forever the stalwart keepers of law and order in that mythical little North Carolina town we will have in our hearts. I always feel kind of warm as I drive through Mount Airy and Siler City and Pilot Mountain (Mt. Pilot). Maybe Mayberry isn't really there in name, but it is a wonderful feeling to know I am in Andy Taylor and Barney Fife country.