Yes folks, although not widely known today that classic comedy The Andy Griffith Show is in fact a spin off!

   This is not a case of spinning off a long running supporting character however but rather spinning off a character that appeared in one episode of The Danny Thomas Show and just clicked.

   The episode had Danny Thomas's entertainer character of Danny Williams being arrested and detained in the small town of Mayberry by a hick sheriff named Andy. Danny feels the charges are trumped up and he is being abused. He wants to take care of matters and get the heck out of town in a hurry. But layed back Sheriff Andy is happy to take his own sweet time and not be rushed which, of course, makes Danny angrier and angrier. By the time he leaves though, Danny has of course had a chance to experience a little bit of the slow paced, quiet life of Mayberry and grows to appreciate it (a plot later reused on The Andy Griffith Show). Of course, just as he has calmed down and is going to get out of jail, things go wrong, back into jail he goes and he gets angry all over again.

   It must be noted that even though The Andy Griffith Show is clearly a spin off from this episode, some major changes happened to Andy and Mayberry before The Andy Griffith Show appeared. Many of the same elements are present but scrambled up a bit. For example, Frances Bavier who appeared in the series as Aunt Bee appears in this initial episode as a different character entirely. Also, in this initial outing, Andy is not just Sheriff but also the local Judge, Mayor and Editor of the City Newspaper. It's a gag sitcoms use a lot with plots like this. It gave Andy a dictator-like stranglehold on poor Danny making his predicament all the more frustrating. But it just would never work for a regular series.

Other Danny Thomas Show Crossover Links
The Danny Thomas Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Danny Thomas Show and I Love Lucy
The Danny Thomas Show and The Joey Bishop Show
The Danny Thomas Show and Make Room For Granddaddy

Other Andy Griffith Show Crossover Links
The Andy Griffith Show and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
The Andy Griffith Show and It's Gary Shandling's Show
The Andy Griffith Show and The Joey Bishop Show
The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.

Click here to return to main Crossover List

Buy these shows on Amazon.com and support this site at the same time! Check out Danny Thomas and The Andy Griffith Show on DVD! The Danny Thomas Show: The Fifth Season has as a bonus feature the Andy Griffith episode! Also check out the ANdy Griffith Show book!






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