Beloved sitcomThe Andy Griffith Show ran from 1960 to 1968, giving viewers eight seasons to fall in love with Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor, a very young Ron Howard as his son Opie, and Don Knotts as the bumbling but hilarious Barney Fife. Fans loved the show so much that, 25 years after the show took its final bow, cast members reunited in 1993 for a TV special.
The one-hour special, which originally aired on February 10, 1993, is infrequently seen today — but fans can tune in for a very special presentation of it on Sunday, May 4, at 5pm EST, on MeTV, as part of the channel’s special “Month of Mayberry” celebration, which will be airing special and rare episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry R.F.D., and more.
Before you watch the special, brush up with this flashback to the show that brough Mayberry together once again.
Griffith, who hosted the special, introduces a number of classic clips from the show and provides his own memories — and then brings Howard, Knotts, and Jim Nabors in for a series of one-on-one interviews about their favorite episodes and memories of working on the show. Among the memories discussed are how Howard’s real-life relationship with his father inspired Opie’s relationship with Andy, and how Nabors’s first episode of Andy Griffith was actually his first acting job ever. The special even includes home videos from the set, taken by Howard’s mother.
The special didn’t just include interviews with the stars of the show — it also included some celebrities giving their take on the classic series including Randy Travis, Burt Reynolds, Reba McEntire, Lisa Hartman and more. Among the stranger celebs interviewed? Kenny G and football players Howie Long and Steve Wright.
In addition to airing episodes each weeknight, MeTV will also air the 1986 TV movie Return to Mayberry, which served as a romantic comedy that pays tribute to the original series. That special, which included appearances by Griffith, Knotts, Nabors, and more of the show’s stars, was successful and could have potentially led to a new Mayberry series — but Griffith was committed to an additional season of Matlock at the time.
Will you be watching the reunion? Do you remember watching it live on television in ’93?
