The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 24, 1981, Page Page 9, Image 9
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By Davi 1 Corvette
8t?ff Writer
Outside, the clock a ton
Rutledge Chapel slowly tolls
the hour of 11 p.m. Inside
scores of dorm rooms all
over campus, the hour is
marked by another sound: a
familiar whistle.
The Whistle is the theme
song for the 4 4Andy Griffith
Show," a black-and-white
comedy series begun in the
late 1950s. Now in syndication,
"Andy" has
become one of television
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significant contributions to
late-night television.
The series centers around
the mythical town of
Mayberry, N.C., and the
lives of its citizens. Andy
Taylor, Mayberry's sheriff,
is the lead character. The
show's plots are .usually
mundane, but the characters
are so skillfully crafted the
shows are hilarious.
ESPECIALLY FUNNY
are Barney Fife, a conceited
but inept wisp of a deputy
sheriff; Opey, the sheriff's
young son; Floyd Dawson,
the brainless town barber;
and Otis Campbell, the town
drunk who lets himself into
the jail every Saturday night
to sleep off his overindulgence.
According to Gene
Upright, sportscaster and
programming director for
WLTX, more than 26,000
homes in 13 counties tune in
"Andy" every weeknight.
Despite the series' age, it
still pulled a 37 share in the
February Nielson ratings,
which means 37 percent of
the television sets in use at 11
p.m. within range of WLTX's
transmitter were set on
"Andy."
Upright attributed the
series' popularity to its
ability to "cut across
demographic lines." He
said, "We have received
feedback from many different
age groups. 'Andy' is
just one of those shows from
the 1950s that had the best
writing, the best production
staff and the best characters."
Upright said, however,
that many viewers watch
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to the news programs
offered at that hour by the
other stations.
"SOME SHOWS JUST
work best at certain times,"
Upright said. "A few months
ago we experimented with
moving 'Andy' to another
time slot, but got such a
reaction from regular
viewers that we decided to
leave it on at 11 p.m."
A ^A.I ??f* mv ?
miuurcr wlia employee
said the station receives
many telephone calls about
"Andy." "Sometimes we
have technical problems,"
she said. *4The films are so
old that they often break
right at the end and we get
complaints from viewers left
hanging in mid-episode."
But the same source also
said, "We like to get calls
from our viewers. Calls let
us know that people are
watching. It lets us see how
they are responding to our
programming."
4 MVUVUgll 11IV/& C (111VI 1I1UI C
of the telephone calls are
coming from college
students as the cult status of
"Andy" continues to grow on
campus, others come from
different areas. A WLTX
programming secretary
remembered a request for a
photograph of Barney Fife,
from a Kings tree high school
student doing a term paper
on the show.
USC student Tyler
Scofield, 24, an avid "Andy"
fan said he watches the
show because he "can
identify with the characters."
Scofield said, "Most TV
shows focus around the story
line, but in "Andy" the
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characters are more important.
"Andy" is
predictable because the
characters seem like people
I know, but it's still always
funny."
Examples of dedication to
"Andy" are numerous at
USC. A female resident of
Rutledge College who does
not have her own television
set loyally treks across the
Horseshoe every night to
watch the show with some
trienas in Harper college.
She said she likes the show
because "Barney is such a
nerd."
Dedication sometimes
extends even to the extreme.
Sophomore Wayne Smoak
recalled a former roommate
whose girlfriend would
phone at 11 p.m. when the
long-distance rates went
down. "It got to the point
where he asked her to wait
until 11:30 to call so he could
watch all of 'Andy,'" Smoak
said.
USC even has its own Andy
Griffith. Maurice Anderson
'Andy' Griffith, 22, who
ironically is a criminal
justice major, watches his
namesake '.'four out of five
nights a week."
WATCHING "ANDY" has
become "a regular thing
around here," Griffith said.
"Almost every night at 11
p.m. my roommate and I fix
a snack and settle down to
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said.
Griffith frequently gets
teased about his name, he
said. "When professors call
my name giving back tests,
you can hear a few laughs
here and there. After a
certain amount of time,.
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though, I got used to it and
justlaughedalong," Griffith
said.
Another student, Tommy
Darnell, of Denmark, S.C.,
has earned the nickname
"Opey" because his father is
a county sheriff.
Not everyone, however,
thinks "Andy" is perfect,
and instead find flaws within
it. One Horseshoe resident,
who wished to remain
anonymous, said "Andy" is
"unrealistic because you
never see any minorities or
real criminals on it."
However, he said, "I guess
that's the way it was in a
small town in North Carolina
in the 1950s."
Regardless of any faults
"The Andy Griffith Show"
may have, tonight, hundreds
of USC students and
thousands of other viewers
across the Midlands will
nonetheless turn on _ their
television sets at 11 p.m. and
wait for the sound of that
familiar whistle. .
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