The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color.

Mayberry Days, an annual festival celebrating the sitcom, is held each year in Griffith's hometown, Mount Airy, North Carolina.

[7] In the episode, Griffith played the fictional Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, North Carolina, who arrests Danny Williams (Thomas' character) for running a stop sign.

Future players in The Andy Griffith Show, Bavier and Howard, appeared in the episode as townspeople Henrietta Perkins and Opie Taylor (the sheriff's son), respectively.

[7] First-season writers (many of whom worked in pairs) included Jack Elinson, Charles Stewart, Arthur Stander, and Frank Tarloff (as "David Adler"), Benedict Freedman and John Fenton Murray, Leo Solomon and Ben Gershman, and Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum.

Knotts auditioned for the show's creator and executive producer, Sheldon Leonard, and was offered a five-year contract playing Barney Fife.

[12] In 1961, actor Everett Sloane, who also guest starred as Jubal Foster in the episode "The Keeper of the Flame", wrote lyrics for the theme after he learned it did not have any.

The show's sole sponsor was General Foods,[7] with promotional consideration paid for (in the form of cars) by Ford Motor Company (mentioned in the credits).

Producer Aaron Ruben recalled: He was being that marvelously funny character from No Time for Sergeants, Will Stockdale [a role Griffith played on stage and in film] ... One day he said, "My God, I just realized that I'm the straight man.

Andy's friends and neighbors include, at various times, barber Floyd Lawson (Howard McNear; Walter Baldwin portrayed the role in the 1960 episode "Stranger in Town"), service station attendants and cousins Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) and Goober Pyle (George Lindsey), and local drunkard Otis Campbell (Hal Smith).

The actor who portrayed him, Howard Morris, also played George, the television repairman in episode 140 ("Andy and Helen Have Their Day") and two uncredited voice roles, as Leonard Blush and a radio announcer.

Unseen characters such as telephone operator Sarah, and Barney's love interest, local diner waitress Juanita Beasley, as mentioned in the first season, are often referenced.

The show's announcer for the first five seasons, Colin Male, portrayed Game Warden Peterson in episode 140 ("Andy and Helen Have Their Day").

In the series' last few episodes, farmer Sam Jones (Ken Berry) debuts and later becomes the lead of the retitled show, Mayberry R.F.D.

His last appearance is in the final season, in a story about a summit meeting with Soviet dignitaries "ranked eleventh among single comedy programs most watched in television between 1960 and 1984, with an audience of thirty-three and a half million.

In the last episodes of the eighth season, as Griffith was preparing to leave, the character Sam Jones, played by Ken Berry, was introduced as the new star and the series was retitled Mayberry R.F.D.

Griffith and Howard reprised their roles a final time for a Funny or Die skit supporting the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama.

[26] In 2003, four surviving cast members (Griffith, Howard, Knotts, and Nabors) came together for a reunion special that featured the actors reminiscing about each other's time on the show.

[27][28] The Andy Griffith Show was a top ten hit through its entire run, never ranking lower than seventh place in the yearly ratings.

[38] There was also a soundtrack album, two coloring books, and a 1966 Grape-Nuts cereal box with a photo of Griffith in character as Sheriff Andy Taylor beside a lemon pie recipe on the back.

[36] The show's enduring popularity has spawned considerable merchandise during the decades following its cancellation,[36] including board games, bobblehead dolls, kitchenware, and books.

Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina, annually hosts a week-long "Mayberry Days" celebration featuring concerts, parades and appearances by the show's players.

[40] The cable television network TV Land erected bronze statues of Andy and Opie in Mount Airy and Raleigh, North Carolina (see: Pullen Park).

[42] The Mayberry Cafe in Danville, Indiana, features Aunt Bee's Fried Chicken and a replica of Andy's Ford Galaxie police car.

In the early to mid-1990s, United American Video (under license from the show's then-syndicator Viacom Enterprises) released VHS tapes of various episodes.

[43][44] Note: The Region 1 release of The Third Season contains two episodes edited for syndication: "The Darlings Are Coming"—which had several scenes cut—and "Barney Mends a Broken Heart", which had its epilogue cut.