The Andy Griffith Show was a much beloved sitcom that ran for eight years. The show’s premiere episode aired on October 3, 1960 with the series finale airing on April 1, 1968. The show was about a widowed sheriff who was trying to run the town of Mayberry, North Carolina while also trying to manage his own life. Both his personal life as well as running the town was complicated by his lovable but daft deputy, Barney Fife, who was played by well-known actor, Don Knotts. Things were just as complicated at home for Andy Taylor, who was played by Andy Griffith, by his aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and his son, Opie, who was played by Ron Howard.

A Neilsen study showed that the last season was ranked number one among blue collar workers. Despite this, and despite being nominated for an Emmy in 1961, 1962, and 1967 for Outstanding Comedy Series, the show, nor Andy Griffith, ever won an Emmy. However, Don Knotts did win a personal Emmy five times for his portrayal of Barney Fife and Frances Bavier, who played Aunt Bee, won once in 1967 for Outstanding Supporting Actress.

The show created a spinoff in 1964 that was called Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C, and it also had a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D. in 1968. And in 1986 a television reunion movie was aired called Return to Mayberry. However, none of these were quite as popular as The Andy Griffith Show and in 2002, the show was ranked ninth on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. And in 1998, thirty years after the show’s final episode, there were still 5 million people a day watching the shows reruns on over 120 different stations.